IQAir on Extreme Makeover

The Thibodeau Family

Twelve-year-old Siehera Thibodeau was born with a hole in her heart. Due to this birth defect, she has undergone four major open heart surgeries. During her most recent surgery she went through some serious complications when her kidneys went into failure and both of her lungs collapsed. This made Siehera's doctors particularly concerned that she recover in a healthy indoor environment. Since Siehera is very susceptible to infection, bacteria and viruses could be life threatening. Even a minor cold or flu could put her back into the hospital for weeks. Mold spores, allergens, pet dander - any of the everyday indoor air pollutants could seriously compromise Siehera's health. The Design Team knew that they needed to give Siehera the healthiest indoor environment possible.

"Call in the Clean Air Team!"

With those words, IQAir's Clean Air Team was summoned to Brookings County, South Dakota to help the Extreme Makeover Design Team build a healthy home for Siehera. The episode marks IQAir's third season working with the show's staff to build America's healthiest homes.

"The Design Team wanted Siehera to have the healthiest indoor environment possible," says Frank Hammes, President of IQAir and leader of the Clean Air Team. "She has already had four heart surgeries, and she needs to recover her strength fully so that she can have a fifth and hopefully final operation."

The Clean Air Team knew that the Thibodeau family's new home needed some extreme air cleaning. It arrived in the form of IQAir's new Perfect 16 whole-house air filtration system and the CleanZone commercial strength air purification system. With the help of local HVAC contractor Central Heating & Air Inc. the filtration systems are installed in the home's ducted heating and air conditioning system.

"The Perfect 16 is the world's most powerful residential air purification system, and the CleanZone, an air purification system for hospitals and professional environments. Together they clean 100% of the air passing through the home's heating and air conditioning (HVAC) system down to 0.003 microns - smaller than the smallest virus. This powerhouse air purification combination creates the cleanest indoor air possible for Siehera's recovery," says Frank Hammes.

On location, Extreme Makeover's film crew follows the Clean Air Team as they go from room to room testing the air quality and airflow in every room of the house. The final moment comes when host Ty Pennington catches up to the Clean Air Team while they finish their testing and says, "Guys, we can only let Siehera come home when you tell me this house is clean."

Clean Air Team leader, Frank Hammes gives the official verdict. The air purification systems are operating perfectly.

"I was very proud to be able to tell Ty that we had fully tested and certified the performance of the system," says Frank. "We tested the indoor air for particles like mold, pollen, dust, and even bacteria. Our testing showed we succeeded in creating America's healthiest home."

Ty lets out a big cheer when he hears the news and immediately tells an army of volunteers that they can now bring in the brand new furniture for every room of the house.

"Every time we work with Extreme Makeover we are able to help a very deserving family live a better life," says Frank Hammes. "This is a testament to the power of clean air. And while we often use commercial systems, such as the CleanZone for these extreme homes, I am very proud that with the Perfect 16 we have created an incredibly powerful whole-house air purifier that just about every family can afford."