Congratulations to all of you working on radon!
Sometime in 2011 the radon community of practice passed a radon milestone. The one millionth American home was mitigated for radon!
At the close of 2011 we estimate that 1,047,000 U.S. homes had an operating mitigation system. These new mitigations saved an estimated 679 lives in 2011. Of course we only knew that we’d reached this milestone due to the cooperation of the major radon vent fan manufacturers. Each year, soon after the close of the year, they voluntarily send me their data. In 2011, vent fan sales increased about 5.5% from their 2010 level. A very good sign when compared to the 2.6% decline in 2010 from the 2009 level.
On the new construction front, a National Association of Home Builders Research Center report estimates that 16.8% of the 465,000 new single-family detached homes built in the U.S. in 2010 included radon-resistant features. More than 40% of these same single-family homes built in Zone 1 included radon-resistant features. The percentage of Zone 1 radon-resistant new homes has now surpassed the previous year for six years running.
However, despite these successes we still face the challenge of mitigating the more than seven million homes estimated to be above the action level. Keep up the great work you all do!
United States