IQAir Success Stories

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Last year, the old house in which India Dickinson and five of her children lived in historic Beaufort, S.C., was falling apart. There was shoddy electrical work, a faulty foundation, flood damage. The needed repairs were overwhelming. Even frightening.

The old Dickinson family home, top. Photo by Seth Herald/Bluffton Today.
And the new home, above. Photo by C. Heyman.

But it was the mold inside the house, between the walls, that scared India the most. The mold was growing and thriving like Spanish moss dangling from the trees in the yard.

India's baby, Sophia, was struggling to breathe since the first day home from the hospital a year before.

“It was very scary at night,” says India. “I would listen to her breathe in her crib. As her mom, I was afraid to sleep myself. I was wondering if she would stop breathing in the middle of the night.”

To make matters worse, India's husband Bill was stationed in Afghanistan with the U.S. Marines, unable to help from 7,000 miles away.

That was before ABC's hit show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” took notice of her situation and stepped in to coordinate the donation, design and construction of a new home for the family.

India Dickinson shares an emotional moment with her baby, Sophia, and Ty Pennington of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Photo by Paul Nurnberg.

And, as usual when air quality is an issue, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” called in IQAir's Clean Air Team to find a solution to a family's critical need for pure air to breathe. The Clean Air Team designed an air purification solution that would turn the new Dickinson home into a haven where baby Sophia's tiny lungs could breathe and grow, free from mold and any other toxins in the air now and in the future.

The Clean Air Team specified not one but two IQAir Perfect 16 air purification systems for the home's heating and air conditioning system. The two systems clean 100 percent of the air in the Dickinson home.

The Clean Air Team was also on the scene to inspect the installation and performance, using hand-held IQAir electronic particle counters to verify the systems were emitting pure air and to ensure the new home was free of airborne mold, dust, bacteria and other threats to Sophia and the rest of the family.

Since moving into the home in January, Sophia's health has rebounded. The medications are gone, the breathing treatments are no longer necessary, and Sophia is filled with energy and is a constant source of amusement and delight.

“Sometimes we don't appreciate how great 'normal' is,” says India. “But Sophia is now a normal, thriving toddler ready to take on anything.

“It is obvious that our air purification system has made this tremendous difference in Sophia's health. It has changed our lives and we will be forever grateful for this gift," India says.

Perhaps best of all, mother and baby are both breathing better and sleeping better.

“Clean air has not only changed our lives, it has possibly saved my baby's life. How can you ever put into words how that feels?” she asks.

“I no longer get up five times a night to put my hand on her chest and make sure she is breathing.” she adds. “IQAir is a blessing. Thank you.”

IQAir systems used in the Dickinson home:

• For the whole house in conjunction with the central air conditioning system: IQAir Perfect 16 (2)
• To assess and verify air quality throughout the house: IQAir ParticleScan Lite

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Minyak the Orangutan

Particle scanners are a tool commonly used in the indoor air quality industry. They give a quantitative and accurate measurement of airborne particle concentrations in normal and polluted indoor and outdoor environments. Advanced laser particle counters have a wide range of applications. They are used in cleanrooms to verify particle levels, to test HEPA and ULPA filters for efficiency and leakage, and they are used to inspect HVAC equipment and ducting. We can now add a new use to this versatile tool – it can help find the source of air pollution. This case study's specific application was to track down the source of an orangutan's air quality issue.

Introduction

The orangutan I am speaking of is named Minyak. He is a 23 year old male purebred Borneo, 365 pound orangutan. Purebred Borneo males like Minyak are rare and considered very valuable to those who are working to preserve the orangutan species. Minyak was born at Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It has in the past housed more than 3,500 gorillas, great apes, orangutans, chimpanzees, and other primates at one time on its vast campus. When Yerkes shifted its research away from the large primates, the research programs that used them were shut down and the animals were placed in zoos and sanctuaries around the country, all except for Minyak. Minyak sat in solitary confinement for more than two years while his keepers looked for a new home for him. Minyak was something of a hard luck case. He had developed tonsillitis when he was only two years old. The living conditions of a research animal are often not the best. Some develop a condition called airsacculitis, an infection of the air sac on the base of the neck that great apes use to bellow. Minyak's airsacculitis became a chronic condition, and then he developed chronic pneumonia. He was often so sick he would just sit in his cage and not move. The long term illnesses gave him depression. One veterinarian who worked at Yerkes suggested Minyak be euthanized. She thought no zoo would ever take the sick animal, and even though he was very valuable as a purebred orangutan for potential breeding – she didn't think his health would ever recover enough that he could breed. Minyak's plight came to the attention of Jennie McNary, Curator of Mammals at the Los Angeles Zoo. Jennie McNary urged her zoo to take in the potentially burdensome orangutan with the long list of health problems. She felt that the warm dry sunny Southern California climate would be good for Minyak. She also knew that if Minyak's health could be recovered he could mate with her zoo's three Borneo females.I received a phone call from Dr. Leah Greer at the zoo. Dr. Greer was the head veterinarian working with Minyak. She knew that my company specialized in medical grade air cleaning systems. She had an unusual request – could we build an air cleaning system for Minyak? I needed to see the facility and understand their air quality goals.

Diagnostic Procedure

The first thing I did when I got to the zoo was to take ParticleScan measurements. I was going to need to quantify Minyak's air quality. Dr. Greer met me at the zoo security station. As we drove up to the area where they housed the orangutans, she detailed for me the work they had done with Minyak. She had put him on antidepressants to help him get over his years in solitary confinement. She was treating his infections aggressively with a nebulizer and antibiotics, and she had led a team of surgeons on an innovative procedure to remove Minyak's infected air sac. She told me Minyak had recovered well at the hospital after his surgery but had begun to go downhill after being moved to live at the Orangutan Habitat. This gave me a hunch – something must have changed in Minyak's air quality between when he was at the hospital and when he was moved to the Orangutan Habitat.The Orangutan Habitat itself was an impressive building. It was a large and spacious concrete structure. There was an outdoor play area and indoor bedrooms spoke to Dr. Greer about installing an air cleaning system into Minyak's bedroom. The room offered enough enclosure that with a few high output systems pumping in fresh filtered air we could create a positive pressurized environment for Minyak. We could put Plexiglas over the windows and openings so he could still see out and his keepers could see in.The first thing I needed to do, though, was an air quality diagnostic on Minyak's indoor environment. The normal steps I would take for an air quality inspection would be:

1. Get 6 outdoor air quality readings. (The outdoor reading was very good for Los Angeles. The average particles per cubic foot was 950,000 (0.3 microns or larger). This was within normal range for Los Angeles outdoors. A bad day would be in range of 3 million.)
2. Get 6 air intake readings. (I measured the air quality readings for the air that the HVAC system takes in to be redistributed throughout the facility. It was about 950,000.)
3. Get 6 room readings. (standing in 6 different locations in the room). Average the readings. (It was when I went to take the room readings indoors that the ParticleScan count began to concern me. In Minyak's bedroom the average of six readings was 10 million. This was more than three times worse than a smoggy day. I was surprised by the reading as well because the indoor air didn't seem bad to me. If it wasn't for the ParticleScan reading I wouldn't have known that it was unhealthy air.)
4. Get 6 supply vent readings. (I stood directly under the supply vent to begin my first of six readings. I watched as the ParticleScan reading climbed immediately to 12 million as I held the inflow tube directly to the source of the vent. The reading was higher at the vent than in the room. I knew right away what was wrong. There was a problem with the HVAC system. Most likely it was exposed fiberglass. Every time it turned on the invisible dust was blowing into Minyak's bedroom. This was what was making him sicker.)

An additional factor was the ozone water purification system located within 20 feet of the facility. I tested the ozone levels in Minyak's bedroom. They were slightly higher than normal due to the ozone created by the system. This was another factor that contributed to Minyak's illness. Ozone creates a myriad of ultra-fine aerosols and volatile chemicals. Remediation I went straight back to our office and called an air duct cleaning company. We scheduled to get them there the next day. We needed them to:

1. Encapsulate the fiberglass insulation in the HVAC system and
2. clean the metal ducts.

The company sent a full crew to get the work done as quickly as possible for the zoo. I took ParticleScan readings before and after their work was finished. The readings were now normal. What was coming out of the ducts was actually a little lower than the outdoor air reading. The newly changed electrostatic filters were removing a small percentage of the particulate matter in the air. We were able to start installing Minyak's air cleaning system the very next day. This system was designed to provide positively pressured filtered air to Minyak to combat the ultra-fine particles and chemical soup that the ozone created. Minyak's air cleaning system was a unique design. It worked around the interesting obstacles that cleaning the air for an orangutan presented, such as making sure there were no exposed nuts or bolts his powerful fingers could play with, and no parts an inquisitive primate could disassemble. Most importantly – it worked. We turned on the system to test the design and left a ParticleScan scan running in Minyak's room. Within an hour the particle level was already down 85%. Minyak was on his way to a healthier indoor environment.The big test, though, was going to be the long haul. Was purified air going to help the orangutan with lung problems?

Observed Results

Dr. Greer emailed me after the system had been in place for about two months. Minyak was doing so well she had already been able to take him off of one of his medications, and she thought she would soon be able to take him off his other medications. Minyak's health was recovering wonderfully. The best news of all, though, came in a letter just this week from one of Minyak's keepers. They had introduced a female orangutan, Klima, to Minyak and he and his new girlfriend were getting along very well. Minyak was healthy enough now to have a companion, and his years of loneliness and isolation were over. The keeper's letter noted that Minyak and Klima had been observed in "breeding behavior." I'm not fully sure what "breeding behavior" is a euphemism for, but I think we may be seeing a new baby orangutan at the Los Angeles Zoo in the near future. Minyak's strength and energy are obviously recovering.

Discussion and Conclusion

There are many aspects of this tale that are an amazing testimonial to the kindness and compassion that the zoo staff brought forth to make Minyak's life better. The thing that astounds me the most, though, is the role that the ParticleScan played in all this. Minyak's sensitive lungs were being assaulted by something invisible – the dust from the exposed fiberglass. HVAC systems with unencapulated fiberglass are common around the world and many people are breathing bad air every day because of them. In this case, though, the invisible was able to be seen, even when the person using the device couldn't perceive the problem with the naked eye. It told us there was a problem. It told us the air was bad. It told us where the bad air was coming from. It told us what we needed to do to help Minyak.

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges the Los Angeles Zoo for their care and dedication in improving the life of Minyak.

References

May, Jeffrey. My House is Killing Me! The Home Guide for Families with Allergies and Asthma. University Press, 2001.Sarwar, Golam; Corsi, Richard; Allen, David; Weschler, Charles. 2003 The Significance of Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation and Growth in Buildings: Experimental and Computational Evidence. Atmospheric Environment, vol. 37 (9-10): 1365-1381Wolkoff P; Clausen PA; Wilkins CK; Nielsen GD. Formation of Strong Airway Irritants in Terpene/Ozone Mixtures. Indoor Air; 2000 June, Vol. 10, Issue 2, Page 82.Glory Dolphin, CIE, is CEO of IQAir North America. She has been involved in the development of affordable customized air cleaning solutions for residential, medical and commercial applications for nearly 10 years. After graduating with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California she went to work with the Switzerland based IQAir Group. Recently she successfully partnered IQAir North America with the American Lung Association. She can be reached by email at gdolphin@iqair.com or by phone at (562) 903-7600.

"This article originally appears in Volume 5, Issue 8 (June 2004) of Indoor Environment Connections newspaper and is reprinted with permission. For subscription information, visit www.ieconnections.com."

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On Monday, October 27, 2003, soft white flakes of ash were falling like snow from the sky. Dangerous wildfires were sweeping through the forests nearby, eventually destroying more than 600,000 acres and consuming more than 1,900 homes. Thousands of residents were forced to stay in evacuation shelters.

The smoke from the fire was quickly becoming its own health concern. Even as far away as the Las Vegas strip, visibility was poor and air quality readings were 20 times worse than they had been the day before. President Bush declared California a state of disaster.

We quickly realized that IQAir could make an important contribution during this crisis. Hospitals couldn't keep the ash out of their operating rooms and ICUs. Doctors and nurses were desperately duct taping doors and windows in an attempt to keep the heavy particulate from the smoke out of the hospital nurseries to protect the newborns. At the evacuation shelters there was a growing crisis – asthmatics and even healthy people were suffering from smoke inhalation.

IQAir rented a U-haul truck to donate air cleaners to hospitals, emergency rooms, and evacuation shelters that were affected by the crisis. We are grateful to have made a difference along with many other individual volunteers and companies during the wildfire crisis

IQAir systems provided to hospitals during wildfires: IQAir HealthPro Plus, IQAir GC MultiGas

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For more than 100 years, the American Lung Association has been America's leading organization working to prevent lung disease and promote lung health. Progress against lung disease is not keeping pace with other major causes of death. The American Lung Association funds vital research on the causes of and treatments for lung disease. It is also one of the most respected organizations in the education and information of the public about lung health.

IQAir North America is proud that the American Lung Association has selected IQAir as an educational partner to raise awareness on indoor air quality issues.

"IQAir is a natural partner that shares our commitment to protecting the public from polluted air indoors," said Charles D. Connor, President and CEO of the American Lung Association, "Air pollution indoors can often be two to five times more concentrated than outdoor air, which can have serious health effects, particularly in those with lung disease, like asthma."

"We are honored to partner with the American Lung Association. They are the world's most reputable organization committed to lung health," said Frank Hammes, President of IQAir. "We share a common vision of providing superior scientific information on creating healthier indoor environments."

This exclusive partnership will combine the American Lung Association's over 100 year commitment to preventing lung disease and promoting lung health with IQAir's over 40 year commitment to air cleaning excellence.

"The quality of the air we breathe indoors is critical to our health," said Frank Hammes. "This partnership allows us to bring the public the best possible information on the importance of clean indoor air and how to achieve a healthier indoor environment."

For further information on lung health, visit the American Lung Association's website at www.lung.org.

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Kayla Woodhouse was born in Louisiana and appeared to be a healthy, happy, normal girl. But very soon after she was born, Kayla's parents noticed that on hot days she quickly turned red and even collapsed and passed out cold. Kayla's pediatrician learned that Kayla has a rare genetic disorder that keeps her body from being able to regulate its temperature or feel pain. Temperatures higher than 75 degree could be fatal for her. Worse yet, she also has severe allergies to even the most ordinary household allergens and these allergens would cause her to scratch herself uncontrollably.

To save her life, Kayla's parents moved the entire family to Colorado Springs so that Kayla could live in a cooler environment and be closer to her doctors. Her father, Jeremy, took a job as an Associate Pastor at a local church, and the family did everything they could to make the home as safe and healthy as possible for Kayla, but it wasn't enough. The allergens in her home were making her sick and she was steadily getting worse.

"Call in the Clean Air Team!"

With those words, IQAir's Clean Air Team was summoned to Colorado Springs to help the Extreme Makeover Design Team build an ultra-healthy home for Kayla and her family.

"We recognized with Kayla that we had to take a bold air cleaning approach to her environmental needs," says Frank Hammes, President of IQAir and head of the Clean Air Team. "She had severe reactions to dust mites, pet dander, mold and other airborne particles. We knew we had to make her entire home an ultra-clean, allergen-free zone."

And that's exactly what IQAir achieved with the installation of the Perfect 16 whole-house air purification system. As the world's most effective product of its kind, the Perfect 16 is able to remove virtually all airborne allergens from the air in the home every 12 minutes and bring healthy, clean air to every corner of Kayla's home.

"With a healthy home, there now is one thing less for Kayla and her family to worry about. The Perfect 16 is giving this brave girl a fighting chance to live and love life," says Hammes.

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Sarah and Lou Vitale have two sons, Kane (3 ½) and Louis Angelo Jr. (2). Life has not been easy for the Vitale family. Louis Jr. was born with multiple birth defects. He will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, is fed through a feeding tube, and breathes with the help of a ventilator. Although he can't move very well, he loves to paint. Seeing her son's art as his bridge to the world – Sarah created a website, Angel Boy Art, to show and sell his paintings.

Louis Jr.'s delicate respiratory system is sensitive to mold, and the unhealthy environment of the family's existing home has resulted in many emergency calls for emergency medical technicians (EMT's) to come to their home. Often when the EMT's arrived – Louis Jr. was not breathing and his respiratory distress was life threatening.

IQAir's Clean Air Team has been called upon many times by Extreme Makeover's Design Team. We've helped them build healthy homes for a young girl with a heart transplant, children with HIV, a mom with lung cancer, stem cell transplants, and many others – but this was the first time we were asked to help an Angel.

"It was a unique call," says Frank Hammes, President of IQAir. "Louis Jr. had critical respiratory problems, and he needed the healthiest environment possible."

IQAir installed the Perfect 16 in the Vitale home. The Perfect 16 gives Louis Jr. medical-grade air in every room of his house. IQAir also placed a GC MultiGas air purifier next to his bed.

"Louis Jr. is very sensitive to chemicals," says Hammes. "The Perfect 16 will keep him safe from particulates. The GC MultiGas will protect him from gases and chemicals."

The Vitale home was the first exclusive "green" home built for Extreme Makeover. This is the show's green season and all homes have green elements – but the Vitale home was dedicated from the ground up to being an entirely green project: a green builder, all green building materials… and a green air purifier.

"IQAir makes the only truly green air purifiers in the world," says Hammes. "We were the first air purifier manufacturer to adopt 100% RHOS compliance for all of our manufacturing. This means that no heavy metals or other toxic substances are used in our manufacturing process. Our Perfect 16 whole-house air cleaner actually lowers a home's HVAC system energy consumption, when compared to other filter systems. But most importantly our air cleaning systems are green because they create the healthiest homes possible. And that is what this deserving family really needed."

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Pinon, Arizona - The Yazzie family lived in a single-wide trailer on a remote section of the Navajo reservation. They had no running water, no electricity, no heat, no hot water, and no telephone. To make things, worse, the family's youngest daughter, Gwendolyn, was suffering from severe asthma. Without access to electricity, the families on the reservation had to use coal burning stoves to heat their homes. This however presented a problem to Gwendolyn, as the soot from the coal would put her at serious risk of another asthma attack.

Gwendolyn's older brother, Garret, then aged 13, decided to use the power of the sun to provide clean and green heating for the home. He used an old car radiator, tin cans and other junk from a nearby junkyard to make make an innovative solar heater.

His invention worked. It warmed their house – and it did so without creating soot that could worsen Gwendolyn's asthma. Garret's invention won him a national science award, and the press soon named him the "Junkyard Genius."

Inspired by Garret's green innovation and Gwendolyn need for clean air, Extreme Makeover's design team decided to build the family the first ever "green extreme" home – a home built entirely with recycled materials and one that used renewable energy resources to power it.

When Extreme Makeover approached IQAir's Clean Air Team the challenge was clear: to equip the new home with an air purification solution that would do justice to Gwendolyn's severe asthma and at the same time be ecologically sound.

Fortunately, the Clean Air Team had just the right air cleaning solution in their arsenal: the IQAir Perfect 16…the world's first green, medical-grade whole-house air cleaning system!

Not only is the IQAir's Perfect 16 the world's most effective whole-house air cleaning system ever built, but it is also the first truely "green" medical grade whole-house air cleaner. The Perfect 16 uses the solar powered heating and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system of the Yazzie family to distribute virtually allergen-free air to every corner of their home. It requires no additional electricity to run. Best of all, the Perfect 16 actually makes the Yazzie's HVAC system itself more energy efficient and actually lowers the their electricity consumption.

The Extreme Makeover Production Team was so impressed with Perfect 16's air cleaning effectiveness and energy-efficiency, that it will be used throughout the new season's green and healthy homes.

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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."

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John and Monica Kubena of East Bernard, Texas needed a new home. But what they really needed was for their family to be “home.” The Kubena’s have four children, twin daughters Sara and Tara, age 7, son Brady, 17, and daughter Kelly, 10. For five months the family was separated as Sara and Tara were treated for leukemia at Texas Children’s Hospital. Both girls had weakened immune systems, but Tara had relapsed and needed to be kept in a special sterile isolation environment. She had to wear a special mask that filtered out all viruses and bacteria.

"Call in the Clean Air Team!"

Whenever Extreme Makeover's Design Team sets out to help a family with special indoor air quality needs – they call on IQAir. IQAir is the world leader in medical grade air filtration. IQAir's products are the top choice in hospitals in more than 100 countries, and IQAir was chosen by the Hong Kong Hospital Authority as the only room air cleaner suitable to be used in the fight against SARS. More importantly to Extreme Makeover, IQAir is able to put hospital grade air filtration into normal homes. IQAir has worked with Extreme Makeover on numerous episodes where clean air was critical.

For the Kubena's IQAir had a very special air cleaning system in store: IQAir's new PerfectHome whole-house air cleaner.

More powerful and more sophisticated than the air cleaning system on the space shuttle, the IQAir PerfectHome is the first whole-house air cleaner to filter 100% of the air passing through a home's heating and cooling system (HVAC) down to 0.003 microns with a certified minimum efficiency of over 99.5%. This means that it is the only system that is able to help eliminate even the smallest of viruses. The PerfectHome transforms a home's indoor air to an environment virtually free of dust, mold, allergens, bacteria, viruses, and other indoor air pollutants.

The fact that IQAir was able to provide a healthy home for Tara and Sara to return to was attested to by Jason Earle of Lab Results LLC (www.stopmold.com) and Florida Canine Academy's Master Trainer, Bill Whitstine (www.mold-dog.com). Their dogs, Oreo and Petey, are trained to track down 1000 times smaller quantities of mold and indoor air contaminants than the most sophisticated measuring instruments. They were joined by Design Team member Preston "Big Ideas" Sharp in their final inspection of Tara and Sara's new healthy dream home.

For the Kubena home IQAir used the following PerfectHome configuration in conjunction with the central air handling system:

• IQAir CleanZone Series
• IQAir Perfect 16

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The community of El Segundo came together recently to rebuild the home of police officer Bruce Lewis. Bruce, a popular motorcycle officer on the El Segundo police force, had hired a contractor to remodel his home. The contractor skipped town with $40,000 of the Lewis family's money. Heavy rains came in a short time later and damaged the home's roof and walls – making it uninhabitable. The El Segundo community brought the Lewis family's plight to the attention of the Extreme Makeover Design Team, and plans soon begun to remake the Lewis' home.

Paulita Lewis, Bruce's wife, had recently been diagnosed with cancer. If she was going to recover properly – she would need the healthiest home possible.

"Call in the Clean Air Team!"

The Lewis Family episode marks a landmark moment in the history of air cleaning. This episode will show the first commercial installation of IQAir's new CleanZone – the most efficient whole-house air cleaning system ever designed.

The CleanZone is IQAir's HyperHEPA whole-house air cleaning system. The Extreme Makeover Design Team was amazed at how easily the CleanZone was retrofitted into the Lewis family's heating and air-conditioning system.

IQAir systems used in the Lewis home:

• In Bruce and Paulita's bedroom: IQAir HealthPro Plus
• For the whole house in conjunction with the central air conditioning system: IQAir CleanZone Series

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For many people mold, bacteria, and allergens in their homes can be harmful – for Jhyrve Sears they could be fatal.

A year ago, Jhyrve Sears, 17, life changed when she was diagnosed with Krabbe Disease, a rare genetic disorder that attacks the nervous system. Krabbe is usually fatal, and most patients diagnosed with the disease die within two years. Jhyrve was given an experimental stem cell transplant.

What lie ahead for Jhyrve, though, was a long and lonely recovery. The chemotherapy that made her life saving treatment possible had destroyed her immune system.

Extreme Makeover was facing their biggest challenge ever. For Jhyrve's to be able to leave the hospital her doctor said she would need a home that was completely free of bacteria, viruses, and allergens. The slightest cold or virus, something a healthy person could easily resist, could be fatal to Jhyrve.

IQAir consulted with Extreme Makeover on what would be required to build a proper hospital sterile environment in a home. IQAir President, Frank Hammes, flew in from Switzerland for the installation of Jhyrve's CleanZone HVAC air filtration system. IQAir also placed GC MultiGas systems in the home. Jhyrve needed to be protected from chemicals as well as particulate. IQAir's GC MultiGas systems are the world's most powerful and efficient chemical absorption filters.

After the installation of the CleanZone HVAC and GC MultiGas systems were complete came the most critical step in the process. IQAir needed to certify that Jhyrve's house was safe for her return. The IQAir team conducted an indoor air quality inspection of the entire home. The air tests showed that the installation and design of the home were a complete success. The air in Jhyrve's new home was actually cleaner than it had been when she was in the hospital.

IQAir notified the Extreme Makeover staff that Jhyrve could now come home.

IQAir systems used in the Sears home:

• In Jyhrve's room and living room: IQAir GC MultiGas
• For the whole house in conjunction with the central air conditioning system: IQAir CleanZone Series

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The Broadbent Family

Patricia Broadbent, a single mother with a big heart adopted three girls, Hydeia, 20, Tricia, 12, and Shaina, 16. All three have HIV. Through their public work, the Broadbent family has inspired an entire community with their passion and love for life, despite the disease. Yet, funds were tight and their tiny 40 year old cinderblock house was falling apart.

The producers of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" realized, that this family needed more than a cosmetic house remodel. The girls' compromised immune systems and Patricia who had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer needed an extremely healthy house, a house free of mold, allergens, bacteria and viruses.

Having already designed a special air filtration system for a previous episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” the IQAir team was asked back with a mission: "create America's healthiest house for this very special family."

"The air quality in this house had to be equal that of the most modern operation theaters," said Frank Hammes, President of IQAir. We needed to create a clean haven for the Broadbent family."

Putting all their resources and best scientists together, IQAir met the challenge and created the most powerful whole house air cleaning system ever. Air freighted from the Swiss production facility to North Las Vegas just hours before the installation, the HyperHEPA system was the technology buzz of the show.

Hosts Ty Pennington and Preston Sharp personally monitored the installation of the IQAir system. "We don't get things this cool very often," Preston, the "Big Ideas" man commented.

"I am proud of what we have been able to achieve with the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Team on this project," said Frank Hammes. "It inspired us to create an entirely new product line and make these awesome HyperHEPA air cleaning systems available to the general public in the Spring of 2005. I think this is what a lot of people have been waiting for."

IQAir systems used in the Broadbent's family home:

• In Patricia's room: IQAir HealthPro Plus
• For the whole house in conjunction with the central air conditioning system: IQAir CleanZone Series

IQAir's Perfect 16 gives baby Sophia a chance to breathe

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The Grinnan Family

After their infant daughter received a heart transplant to save her from the same condition that their son died of as a newborn, Cathy and Bill Grinnan made a promise that they would do whatever they could to protect their daughter's fragile health. The Grinnans left their beautiful New Mexico home behind to move to Southern California to be close to Loma Linda Medical Center, the only hospital that would be able to care for Hanna's new heart. Mounting medical bills and the high California house prices meant, that they had to move into small home in disrepair, which was less than ideal for Hanna's condition.

The producers of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" decided that they needed to give the Grinnan family home a complete health makeover.

Since Hanna's weakened immune system needed to be protected from bacteria, viruses and allergens, it was particularly important to provide her with the cleanest air possible. This is were the producers of "Extreme Maker: Home Edition" decided to bring in IQAir. In addition to placing a HealthPro Plus stand-alone air cleaning system in Hanna's room, they asked IQAir to design a special whole house HyperHEPA air purifying system to filter the air in the entire Grinnan home.

Once the air cleaning systems were installed, the results astounded everyone. The air in the entire home was over 100 times cleaner and the air in Hanna's room was over 1,000 times cleaner than before the makeover.

The makeover was so successful that Hanna can be said to live in America's healthiest home with cleanest indoor air ever to have been achieved in a home.

IQAir systems used in the Grinnan home:

• In Hanna's room: IQAir HealthPro Plus
• For the whole house in conjunction with the central air conditioning system: IQAir CleanZone Series