The Awakening Spaces Podcast - Conscious Construction for a Healthy Home

Ashley Spanovich
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Home & Garden

Awakening Spaces explores the profound connection between our physical environments and our inner consciousness. We guide homeowners, designers, and wellness seekers beyond simply discussing "toxin-free" building methods to examine who we actually become on our "toxin-free" journey. In this podcast we’re not only talking about windows, walls, and wiring. Through expert interviews, case studies, and actionable guidance, we will explore how mindful design choices affect our relationships, stress levels, and overall well-being. Drawing from my background in design, building biology, and building science I guide listeners through both the practical and philosophical aspects of creating homes that elevate our health and consciousness. Each week, you’ll receive grounded guidance and actionable tips to help you eliminate the stress and overwhelm of finding, renovating, building, or maintaining your healthy home—so that you can create a space that truly supports who you are becoming. Just by tuning in, you’re already stepping into what it means to be an Awakened Homeowner. Together, we’re building a new way forward—one conscious choice at a time.

  1. 2 days ago

    How an Autism Diagnosis & CIRS Lead This Attorney To Creating Consciously Healthy Homes with Cristina of Conscious Healthy Home | EP52

    What if your daughter's autism diagnosis was not autism at all, but a mold-induced inflammatory response that could be reversed? In this episode, Ashley sits down with Cristina, founder of Conscious Healthy Home and former corporate attorney, for one of the most powerful origin stories this podcast has ever shared. Cristina's family spent years living in a home with mold compacted inside the HVAC plenum, watching their daughter regress in ways that three years of speech, occupational, and physical therapy could not explain, before a single question from a functional medicine doctor finally cracked the case. When the inflammation was addressed, the behaviors stopped, the diagnosis was removed, and Cristina's entire sense of what mattered began to change. Together Ashley and Cristina walk through the full arc of what it looks like to discover mold in a home, navigate insurance denial, find a remediator fast, move out, move into a rental that also had moisture in the plenum, test forty homes with ERMI before finding one that was safe enough, and then slowly put a family back together on the other side of all of it. They also dig into what Consciously Healthy Home does now, including a real estate agent certification program that helps agents ethically and legally market themselves as healthy home specialists, why no one can promise a mold-free home and what the right language actually looks like, and why the mold space desperately needs people who lead with solutions instead of fear. This one is for anyone who has felt like every door keeps closing and wonders whether they are being redirected rather than defeated. It is also for every parent who trusted their gut when the system told them to stop asking questions. THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Conscious Healthy Home realtor certification program: https://www.conscioushealthyhome.com/realtorcertERMI testing for mold (referenced throughout as part of home search process)CIRs, chronic inflammatory response syndromeShoemaker ProtocolBuilding Biology InstitutePassive House NetworkHVAC plenum mold and UV light limitationsColorado Green Building GuildCONNECT WITH ASHLEY Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube | Website Ashley helps you renovate and build healthier homes to prevent future health issues from arising from your environment. Whether you’re searching for a new home, assessing concerns with your current one, or embarking on a renovation or new build, Awakening Spaces can guide you every step of the way. Ashley brings her background in Building Biology and Building Science and years of hands-on experience helping families build and renovate homes to prevent mold, chemical exposure, and EMFs in their living spaces. If you’re looking to build or renovate a new home, Ashley has courses to empower and one on one offerings to guide you through the whole process so you can avoid costly mistakes and enjoy the process again! Curious about how we can help with your project? Explore our offerings here. CONNECT WITH GUEST Instagram | Website Cristina Greenfield, J.D. is the founder of Conscious Healthy Home, LLC, a healthy home consulting and homeowner representation firm based near Houston, Texas, serving clients nationwide. A corporate attorney with 15+ years of legal experience, Cristina holds certifications as a Certified Passive House Builder (PHIUS), Building Biology Advocate, and Healthy Materials Advocate from the Parsons School of Design. She also serves as an Advisor on the Air Advisory for the International WELL Building Institute. Her work sits at a rare intersection — combining legal advocacy, building science, and a deep personal mission rooted in her own family's journey through toxic mold exposure. She trains real estate professionals through the CHH Realtor Certification Program and serves as Vice President of Malachi's Message Foundation, a nonprofit supporting families affected by toxic mold. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT If you found this episode valuable, share it with a friend and leave us a rating/review! Thank you for listening ✨

    How an Autism Diagnosis & CIRS Lead This Attorney To Creating Consciously Healthy Homes with Cristina of Conscious Healthy Home | EP52

  2. 3 Sept

    Non-Toxic Interior Design, Cleanwashing, and How to Furnish a Home That Actually Heals with Kaleigh Concannon of Uniquely You Decor | EP51

    What happens when an interior designer watches her husband get taken down by mold toxicity, CIRS, and Lyme disease and realizes that everything she was putting in their home was making him worse? In this episode, Ashley sits down with Kaleigh Concannon, founder of Uniquely You Decor and one of the only non-toxic interior designers in Denver, for a conversation that is equal parts practical, personal, and genuinely eye-opening. Kaleigh's path into this work runs through Seattle during COVID, a moldy apartment in LA, a Denver home that tested positive for black mold after purchase, a GC who spilled asbestos and got the house condemned, and three and a half years of watching her husband deteriorate before he finally got the right diagnosis. Together Ashley and Kaleigh dig into what non-toxic interior design actually means in practice, why green and sustainable do not automatically mean healthy, how cleanwashing is manipulating well-intentioned consumers every single day, and what the biggest offenders are when it comes to furnishings that are quietly harming the people living with them. They also get into what to do when you cannot afford to start from scratch, why certifications are often more marketing than protection, and why bamboo flooring, recycled polyester, and antimicrobial paint are three examples where the sustainability story and the health story are telling you completely different things. This one is for every homeowner who has ever felt overwhelmed trying to figure out what is actually safe to bring into their home, every designer who has not yet connected their material selections to their clients' health, and every partner who has wondered whether to believe what they cannot see. THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Kaleigh's monthly newsletter: https://www.uniquelyyoudecor.com/newsletterToxic by Design event for interior designers (annual, Denver)CIRs conference Fort Lauderdale, June 2026Dr. Eric Dorninger, Roots and Branches, Boulder: [drdorninger.com](http://drdorninger.comhttps://drdorninger.com/)Coyuchi organic bedding and pillows: coyuchi.comAFM Safe Coat sealers and paints: afmsafecoat.comEC3 cleaning products for mold remediationMindful Materials guideColorado Green Building GuildCONNECT WITH ASHLEY Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube | Website Ashley helps you renovate and build healthier homes to prevent future health issues from arising from your environment. Whether you’re searching for a new home, assessing concerns with your current one, or embarking on a renovation or new build, Awakening Spaces can guide you every step of the way. Ashley brings her background in Building Biology and Building Science and years of hands-on experience helping families build and renovate homes to prevent mold, chemical exposure, and EMFs in their living spaces. If you’re looking to build or renovate a new home, Ashley has courses to empower and one on one offerings to guide you through the whole process so you can avoid costly mistakes and enjoy the process again! Curious about how we can help with your project? Explore our offerings here. CONNECT WITH GUEST Instagram | Website Kaleigh Concannon is the founder and principal designer of Uniquely You Decor, a non-toxic interior design firm based in Denver, Colorado serving clients across the country. After watching her husband navigate mold toxicity, CIRS, and Lyme disease over the course of several years, Kaleigh transitioned her twelve-year career in advertising and marketing into interior design with a singular focus: furnishing homes that support human health rather than undermine it. She presented at the SursX conference in 2025 and runs an annual event called Toxic by Design to educate fellow interior designers on the health implications of the materials they specify every day. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT If you found this episode valuable, share it with a friend and leave us a rating/review! Thank you for listening ✨

    Non-Toxic Interior Design, Cleanwashing, and How to Furnish a Home That Actually Heals with Kaleigh Concannon of Uniquely You Decor | EP51

  3. 27 Aug

    A Consumer Protection Attorney’s Journey To Healthy Home Consultant with Karen Bloom of Natural Haven | EP50

    What happens when the attorney who spent years suing companies like DuPont for deceiving consumers about toxic products becomes the patient who gets taken down by mold, Lyme, and CIRS? In this episode, Ashley sits down with Karen Bloom, founder of Natural Haven, for one of the most layered and honest conversations this podcast has had on what it actually takes to detox your home, your body, and your life at the same time. Karen's path runs through a traumatic ankle break in Shenandoah that triggered a cascade of mysterious symptoms nobody could diagnose, years of pharmaceuticals that made things worse, a bullseye rash nobody connected to Lyme until it was too late, and mold hiding in her HVAC that took multiple rounds of air testing to finally catch. Together Ashley and Karen dig into the difference between greenwashing and cleanwashing and why even well-intentioned consumers get tricked by both, what certifications actually mean and which ones are nearly meaningless for health purposes, the top offenders in nurseries and fertility-focused homes from EMF-emitting baby monitors to off-gassing furniture adhesives, and why the nervous system piece of healing is not optional and cannot be outsourced to supplements alone. Karen also brings her attorney's skepticism to every product claim she evaluates, and what she shares about how to actually read past the marketing is genuinely invaluable. This episode is for anyone navigating chronic illness, trying to create a healthier home for a baby, or simply exhausted by the impossible task of figuring out what is actually clean versus what just says it is. THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Karen's fertility and healthy home course: naturalhavensb.comKaren's free guides and home detox resources: naturalhavensb.comTech Wellness hardwired baby monitor: techwellness.comBebe Care audio baby monitor (referenced as lower EMF option)REACH database for EU chemical safety informationDr. Andrew Heyman, integrative medicine Virginia (referenced)Shoemaker Protocol for CIRS treatment (referenced)Brownell Landrum wishing episode of The Awakening Spaces PodcastRiun Ashlie EMF and nervous system episode of The Awakening Spaces PodcastBook referenced: Your Biography Becomes Your BiologyFeldenkrais Method for nervous system and movement rehabilitationCONNECT WITH ASHLEY Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube | Website Ashley helps you renovate and build healthier homes to prevent future health issues from arising from your environment. Whether you’re searching for a new home, assessing concerns with your current one, or embarking on a renovation or new build, Awakening Spaces can guide you every step of the way. Ashley brings her background in Building Biology and Building Science and years of hands-on experience helping families build and renovate homes to prevent mold, chemical exposure, and EMFs in their living spaces. If you’re looking to build or renovate a new home, Ashley has courses to empower and one on one offerings to guide you through the whole process so you can avoid costly mistakes and enjoy the process again! Curious about how we can help with your project? Explore our offerings here. CONNECT WITH GUEST Instagram | Facebook | Website Karen Bloom is a consumer protection attorney and the owner of Natural Haven, a healthy home consulting practice creating homes that support families’ health. She provides non-toxic product recommendations, mold guidance, and healthy building and renovation consultations. Karen's path to healthy home consulting work and education was personal. She spent nearly a decade with a debilitating chronic illness stemming from CIRS, Lyme disease, mold toxicity, and all that goes with it. She is deeply passionate about helping people who are struggling with what she once did and formed Natural Haven to help people reduce their toxic exposure in their homes and calm down their nervous systems. Karen draws on her background as a consumer protection attorney where she brought multi-million dollar cases against major corporations, like Dupont, for selling products with harmful chemicals without warning consumers of the harmful chemicals. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT If you found this episode valuable, share it with a friend and leave us a rating/review! Thank you for listening ✨

    A Consumer Protection Attorney’s Journey To Healthy Home Consultant with Karen Bloom of Natural Haven | EP50

  4. 20 Aug

    Tips for buying a Healthier Home and avoiding red flags with Real Estate Agent Rachel Klein | EP49

    Most people buying a home are thinking about square footage, school districts, and whether the kitchen has been updated. Almost nobody is thinking about what is behind the walls, under the floors, or in the crawl space until they are sick and the remediation quote arrives. In this episode, Ashley sits down with Rachel Klein, licensed real estate agent and healthy home advisor based in Boulder, Colorado, for a conversation that every homeowner and prospective buyer in America needs to hear. Rachel bought a home, got sick from it, spent months figuring out why, and came out the other side with a completely different approach to how she represents her clients. Rachel walks through what a healthy home-focused real estate process actually looks like from the very first conversation, why she does an environmental walkthrough before her clients ever set foot in a property, what red flags she is flagging in the Colorado market that most agents would never mention, and why the seller's property disclosure is one of the most underused tools available to both buyers and sellers. They also cover dirt crawl spaces, spray foam, whole home humidifiers, swamp coolers, attic fans, flat roofs, and what freeze-thaw cycles in Colorado are doing to older homes that nobody is talking about. This episode is for anyone buying, selling, or even just thinking about their next home. It is also for anyone who has ever felt like they were the only one asking these questions in a room full of people who had no idea what they were talking about. THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Dr. Terry Fox episode of The Awakening Spaces PodcastBrownell Landrum wishing and manifestation episode of The Awakening Spaces PodcastStacy Levy, somatic guide: https://www.stacylevyyoga.com/coachingErica Bonfanti flat roof episode of The Awakening Spaces PodcastAshley's Awakened Homeowner guide: https://awakeningspaces.com/awakened-homeownerAwakening Spaces offerings and Conscious Construction ContainerColorado seller's property disclosure requirementsMoisture detectors and whole home leak detection systemsCONNECT WITH ASHLEY Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube | Website Ashley helps you renovate and build healthier homes to prevent future health issues from arising from your environment. Whether you’re searching for a new home, assessing concerns with your current one, or embarking on a renovation or new build, Awakening Spaces can guide you every step of the way. Ashley brings her background in Building Biology and Building Science and years of hands-on experience helping families build and renovate homes to prevent mold, chemical exposure, and EMFs in their living spaces. If you’re looking to build or renovate a new home, Ashley has courses to empower and one on one offerings to guide you through the whole process so you can avoid costly mistakes and enjoy the process again! Curious about how we can help with your project? Explore our offerings here. CONNECT WITH GUEST Instagram | Website Rachel Klein is a licensed real estate agent in Colorado and healthy home advisor with the Goodacre Group at milehimodern in Boulder. After purchasing a home that made her seriously ill with mold-related symptoms, Rachel combined her personal recovery journey with her real estate practice to create a process that helps buyers find healthier homes and sellers present their properties with greater transparency. She is building a national network of like-minded agents and educating colleagues on how to advocate for clients with health sensitivities in the real estate process. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT If you found this episode valuable, share it with a friend and leave us a rating/review! Thank you for listening ✨

    Tips for buying a Healthier Home and avoiding red flags with Real Estate Agent Rachel Klein | EP49

  5. 13 Aug

    Flat Roofs, Envelope Failures, and Why Your Building Inspector Is Not Enough with Erika Bonfanti of Actin Partners | EP48

    Most homeowners never think about their building envelope until something goes wrong. And by then, the mold is already there, the sheathing is already rotting, and the remediation quote is already six figures. In this episode, Ashley sits down with Erika Bonfanti, structural engineer turned building enclosure specialist and forensic consultant, for one of the most practical and eye-opening conversations this podcast has had on what actually keeps water out of your home and what happens when it does not. Erika breaks down what an envelope consultant actually does, why they are not the same as an architect, and why bringing one in on the front end of a project is one of the most cost-effective decisions a homeowner can make. They go deep on flat roofs specifically, covering why membranes fail, what happens when you put a deck or pavers on top of one, why the seals around every penetration need to be replaced every two to three years, and what the building code actually requires for above-deck insulation in cold climates that almost nobody is following. They also walk through a real project in Santa Fe where all of these issues converged at once and what the solution actually looked like. This episode is for anyone buying, building, or renovating a home with a flat roof, anyone who has ever had a leak they could not locate, and anyone who wants to understand what good looks like before something goes wrong. THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: ASHRAE technical committee on health and buildingsIRC and IBC requirements for above-deck insulation ratios by climate zoneTPO, PVC, EPDM, and modified bitumen membrane typesInfrared scanning for flat roof moisture detectionDense-pack cellulose and denim insulation in flat roof assembliesIECC energy code insulation requirementsCONNECT WITH ASHLEY Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube | Website Ashley helps you renovate and build healthier homes to prevent future health issues from arising from your environment. Whether you’re searching for a new home, assessing concerns with your current one, or embarking on a renovation or new build, Awakening Spaces can guide you every step of the way. Ashley brings her background in Building Biology and Building Science and years of hands-on experience helping families build and renovate homes to prevent mold, chemical exposure, and EMFs in their living spaces. If you’re looking to build or renovate a new home, Ashley has courses to empower and one on one offerings to guide you through the whole process so you can avoid costly mistakes and enjoy the process again! Curious about how we can help with your project? Explore our offerings here. CONNECT WITH GUEST Instagram | Erika’s IG | Website Erika Bonfanti is a principal at Acton Partners and a building enclosure specialist and forensic engineer with over fifteen years of experience in condition assessments, leakage investigations, material distress evaluation, and enclosure design on new, existing, and historic structures. She applies her deep knowledge of how and why buildings fail to consulting and design peer review work with the goal of improving the hygrothermal and functional performance of enclosure systems. Erika currently serves as chair of ASHRAE TC 1.12, Moisture Management in Buildings, and is a dedicated board member of Preservation Austin. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT If you found this episode valuable, share it with a friend and leave us a rating/review! Thank you for listening ✨

    Flat Roofs, Envelope Failures, and Why Your Building Inspector Is Not Enough with Erika Bonfanti of Actin Partners | EP48

  6. 6 Aug

    Zara Interviews Ashley: Owner's Reps, Oversight, and What It Actually Takes to Build a Healthy Home | EP47

    What happens when the host becomes the guest? In this special episode of the Awakening Spaces Podcast, Ashley's dear friend and building biology colleague Zara D'Cotta flips the microphone and interviews Ashley herself, pulling back the curtain on the work Ashley does behind the scenes on every project she touches. From the lawsuit that changed everything in her early career to what owner's rep work actually looks like day to day. Ashley walks through how a project gone wrong became the foundation of everything she does now, why oversight is the single biggest indicator of project success, and what it actually means to advocate for a homeowner in a room full of specialists who all have different opinions. She also gets candid about her own health journey, what finally shifted after years of outsourcing her healing, and why neurofeedback, morning walks, and learning to stop scanning her environment for threats changed things more than any supplement protocol ever did. This one is for every homeowner who has ever felt overwhelmed by decisions, every builder or designer who wants to understand what a healthy project team actually looks like, and every practitioner in this space who has ever wondered how Ashley holds it all together. Spoiler: she is still figuring it out too, and that is exactly what makes this conversation so good. THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Conscious Construction Container: https://courses.awakeningspaces.com/cccZara D'Cotta, The Healthy Home: thehealthyhome.com.auBuilding Biology Institute: buildingbiologyinstitute.orgGreen Building Advisor: greenbuildingadvisor.comBuilding Science Corporation: buildingscience.comCONNECT WITH ASHLEY Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube | Website Ashley helps you renovate and build healthier homes to prevent future health issues from arising from your environment. Whether you’re searching for a new home, assessing concerns with your current one, or embarking on a renovation or new build, Awakening Spaces can guide you every step of the way. Ashley brings her background in Building Biology and Building Science and years of hands-on experience helping families build and renovate homes to prevent mold, chemical exposure, and EMFs in their living spaces. If you’re looking to build or renovate a new home, Ashley has courses to empower and one on one offerings to guide you through the whole process so you can avoid costly mistakes and enjoy the process again! Curious about how we can help with your project? Explore our offerings here. CONNECT WITH GUEST Instagram | Youtube | Website Zara D'Cotta is a Building Biology New Build Consultant, Electromagnetic Radiation Specialist, and founder of The Healthy Home in Australia. After navigating two cancer diagnoses and years of environmental illness across multiple water-damaged homes, Zara made it her mission to bridge cutting-edge research and real-world building practice. She holds both the BBNC and EMRS certifications, placing her in a small group of building biologists globally qualified to integrate EMF awareness with moisture control, material health, and healthy design principles into mainstream construction. Today she works with builders, designers, and industry organizations across Australia and beyond through her Healthy Building Materials Mastermind, her Low EMF Home Design and Construction course, and her consulting and speaking work with some of the most forward-thinking organizations in the built environment. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT If you found this episode valuable, share it with a friend and leave us a rating/review! Thank you for listening ✨

    Zara Interviews Ashley: Owner's Reps, Oversight, and What It Actually Takes to Build a Healthy Home | EP47

  7. 30 Jul

    Mold Codes, Material Health, EMF Awareness, and Why Australia Is Leading the Way with Zara D'Cotta of The Healthy Home | EP46

    What does it take to go from two cancer diagnoses and years of undiagnosed mold illness to becoming one of the most quietly influential voices in the healthy building industry? In this episode, Ashley sits down with her dear friend and longtime colleague Zara D'Cotta, building biology educator, electromagnetic radiation specialist, and founder of The Healthy Home in Australia, for one of the most personal and wide-ranging conversations this podcast has had. Zara's path into healthy building ran through a breast cancer diagnosis at twenty-nine, a melanoma two years later, and a slow, devastating journey through multiple water-damaged buildings in Sydney before she finally understood what was happening in her body and decided to do something about it at industry scale. Together Ashley and Zara explore what is happening in Australia right now that the US building industry should be paying close attention to, including landmark 2023 National Construction Code changes that officially recognized mold as a hazard to human health and opened the door to lawsuits against builders and designers for mold in walls and roofs. They also talk about what it actually looks like to educate builders on EMF, why so many of the builders Zara works with are now taking electromagnetic radiation seriously enough to carry meters on site, and why the supply chain is finally starting to ask better questions about material health. And because this is the Awakening Spaces podcast, they go there on astrology, human design, and what it means to build a life and a business that is aligned with who you actually are. This one is equal parts building science, lived experience, and soul. If you have ever wondered what the healthy building conversation looks like from the other side of the world, or what it looks like to rebuild yourself from the inside out while also trying to change an industry, this episode is for you. THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Building Biology Institute BBNC certification program: buildingbiologyinstitute.orgSafe and Sound Pro RF meter (used by builders in Zara's programs)Use code: AS5 for 5% OFFMitch Marchand, EMF specialist (referenced for collaborative site testing)ClimaSure hygrothermal analysis (Jess, Building Biology Podcast Australia)Enduro Builders, South AustraliaWood fiber insulation and ProClima weather resistive barrierCONNECT WITH ASHLEY Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube | Website Ashley helps you renovate and build healthier homes to prevent future health issues from arising from your environment. Whether you’re searching for a new home, assessing concerns with your current one, or embarking on a renovation or new build, Awakening Spaces can guide you every step of the way. Ashley brings her background in Building Biology and Building Science and years of hands-on experience helping families build and renovate homes to prevent mold, chemical exposure, and EMFs in their living spaces. If you’re looking to build or renovate a new home, Ashley has courses to empower and one on one offerings to guide you through the whole process so you can avoid costly mistakes and enjoy the process again! Curious about how we can help with your project? Explore our offerings here. CONNECT WITH GUEST Instagram | Youtube | Website Zara D'Cotta is a Building Biology New Build Consultant, Electromagnetic Radiation Specialist, and founder of The Healthy Home in Australia. After navigating two cancer diagnoses and years of environmental illness across multiple water-damaged homes, Zara made it her mission to bridge cutting-edge research and real-world building practice. She holds both the BBNC and EMRS certifications, placing her in a small group of building biologists globally qualified to integrate EMF awareness with moisture control, material health, and healthy design principles into mainstream construction. Today she works with builders, designers, and industry organizations across Australia and beyond through her Healthy Building Materials Mastermind, her Low EMF Home Design and Construction course, and her consulting and speaking work with some of the most forward-thinking organizations in the built environment. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT If you found this episode valuable, share it with a friend and leave us a rating/review! Thank you for listening ✨

    Mold Codes, Material Health, EMF Awareness, and Why Australia Is Leading the Way with Zara D'Cotta of The Healthy Home | EP46

  8. 23 Jul

    What Residential HVAC gets wrong and Why Planning Ahead Changes Everything with Dylan Hutcheson of Holistically Built | EP45

    What happens when a commercial construction veteran with a five-hundred-million-dollar mixed-use project on his resume gets taken down by mold? In this episode, Ashley sits down with Dylan Hutcheson, healthy home builder and founder of Holistically Built in Atlanta, Georgia, whose path from high-rise construction management to residential healthy home construction runs straight through two years of mystery illness, medical leave, a disability insurance lawsuit, and a slow, humbling rebuild of his health and his career. Dylan brings something rare to the healthy home conversation: deep mechanical systems knowledge earned not just from building but from years of tearing sick buildings apart and figuring out why they failed. Together Ashley and Dylan walk through the mechanical systems conversation this space has been waiting for, from why oversizing an HVAC unit is one of the most common and expensive mistakes in hot humid climates, to what ductboard actually is and why one of Atlanta's top ENT doctors will not see patients who still have it in their homes. They dig into manual J, S, D, and T calculations, why a dehumidifier is sometimes a necessary evil and sometimes misunderstood, how ERVs interact with the rest of your system, and why the IQ Air Perfect 16 filter may be one of the most underrated upgrades available for an existing home. They also talk about planning ahead, collision plans for mechanical and structural coordination, roof geometry, window placement, and all the decisions that cost you almost nothing to think about in design and a fortune to fix in the field. This is a part one, and they are already planning part two around what it actually looks like to build Dylan's own home from scratch. If you are building new, renovating, or just trying to understand why your HVAC system is not doing what you think it is, start here. THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: IQ Air Perfect 16 central HVAC filter: iqair.comIQ Air standalone air purifiers (note: measure for magnetic fields and keep away from sleeping areas)EC3 products by Micro Balance Health Products, Dr. Donald Dennis, Atlanta ENTShielded Healing whole home EMF assessment: https://shieldedhealing.com/pageBioflex Laser Clinic, Toronto (photobiomodulation therapy)Therasage infrared saunaSanta Fe and AprilAire dehumidifiersNikki Krueger episode of The Awakening Spaces PodcastAlex Kessler, Healthy Home Guide YouTube channel (air purifier testing episode)CONNECT WITH ASHLEY Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube | Website Ashley helps you renovate and build healthier homes to prevent future health issues from arising from your environment. Whether you’re searching for a new home, assessing concerns with your current one, or embarking on a renovation or new build, Awakening Spaces can guide you every step of the way. Ashley brings her background in Building Biology and Building Science and years of hands-on experience helping families build and renovate homes to prevent mold, chemical exposure, and EMFs in their living spaces. If you’re looking to build or renovate a new home, Ashley has courses to empower and one on one offerings to guide you through the whole process so you can avoid costly mistakes and enjoy the process again! Curious about how we can help with your project? Explore our offerings here. CONNECT WITH GUEST Instagram | Website Dylan Hutcheson is a licensed general contractor and founder of Holistically Built, LLC in Atlanta, Georgia. After a career in large-scale commercial construction with Brasfield and Gorrie, Dylan was sidelined by a serious environmental illness that took years to recover from. That experience led him to environmental consulting, where he spent years conducting indoor air quality investigations and helping homeowners navigate remediation before concluding that the best solution was simply building healthier homes from the start. Today Dylan combines his construction background, environmental consulting experience, and certification as a Building Biology New Build Consultant through the Building Biology Institute to build homes designed to support the health of the people living inside them. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT If you found this episode valuable, share it with a friend and leave us a rating/review! Thank you for listening ✨

    What Residential HVAC gets wrong and Why Planning Ahead Changes Everything with Dylan Hutcheson of Holistically Built | EP45
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Awakening Spaces explores the profound connection between our physical environments and our inner consciousness. We guide homeowners, designers, and wellness seekers beyond simply discussing "toxin-free" building methods to examine who we actually become on our "toxin-free" journey. In this podcast we’re not only talking about windows, walls, and wiring. Through expert interviews, case studies, and actionable guidance, we will explore how mindful design choices affect our relationships, stress levels, and overall well-being. Drawing from my background in design, building biology, and building science I guide listeners through both the practical and philosophical aspects of creating homes that elevate our health and consciousness. Each week, you’ll receive grounded guidance and actionable tips to help you eliminate the stress and overwhelm of finding, renovating, building, or maintaining your healthy home—so that you can create a space that truly supports who you are becoming. Just by tuning in, you’re already stepping into what it means to be an Awakened Homeowner. Together, we’re building a new way forward—one conscious choice at a time.

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