Before purchasing or renting a house or apartment to live in, look carefully at the Construction of the house and the materials with which the house has been built. Generally speaking, you are looking for a house that can act as a Faraday cage and an Anechoic chamber, protecting you from electromagnetic fields by either conducting fields away from you or shielding you from these fields. If you already own a house, you might consider making the following upgrades or renovations to help make your house more environmentally friendly. If at all possible, you or a friend should perform the renovations. Both the Location and the Construction of a house will determine the EMF exposure of a house. A) House Construction: Walls The walls of your house are an important part of your protection from EMF fields. Walls will help block fields from surrounding towers, as well as any fields that emanate from your neighbors' houses or hotel rooms. Materials that provide good shielding from EMFs include: Metal (e.g. Steel, Copper) Stone (e.g. Slate, Granite) Stucco (covering chicken wire) Cement block Double Brick (two layers of brick) Houses that are made of wood should be avoided. Fungus, which is considered to be a possible cause for EMF sensitivity, thrives in wood. Wood also does not offer strong shielding from electromagnetic fields. B) House Construction: Roof The roof of your house is your primary protection from surrounding towers, as well as satellite transmissions. Consider houses that use one of the following roofing materials: Metal (e.g. Steel, Copper) Tile Stone (e.g. Slate) Concrete Roofs made of asphalt or wood are usually not strong enough to provide significant protection from EMF fields. It is important to consider the materials used for your roof in conjunction with the materials used for your walls as there can be an interaction between the two materials. In particular, if you use metal throughout your house (both the walls and roof, for example) you will need to pay attention as metal can cause reverberations in certain situations. A good combination is to use stone walls and a steel roof. C) House Construction: Foundation Use a concrete foundation for your house. Skip the crawlspace, if possible (make sure that you have good drainage around your house e.g. by installing a French drain). D) House Construction: Interior Tiling We recommend that you tile all of your interior walls as well as your ceiling - not only in your bathrooms, but throughout your house. Porcelain and stone are good tile choices. You should pick a fairly lightweight tile for your ceiling, such as porcelain. Tiles are good insulators and will provide protection from EMF fields. Tiles are a good choice for an environmentally sensitive individual. They are easily cleaned and are less likely to collect dust, mold, and pollution. E) House Construction: Floors Your floors should be made of concrete, if possible. This makes it more difficult for the electromagnetic fields to pass from one floor to the next. Additionally, tiling your floors with porcelain, ceramic or stone tiles is recommended. F) House Construction: Insulation Insulation can offer significant protection for an EMF sensitive individual. Select a foil covered insulation (e.g. foil backed rigid insulation). This may be available in your local hardware store, or through companies that install insulation in houses in your area. We like the foil backed insulation from Reflectix which can be purchased at Home Depot in the U.S. You may wish to use multiple layers of this insulation or supplement it with other insulation if you are using it in the interior walls of your house. NOTE: Insulation that is placed near electrical wires and lights has the potential to cause fires. You should be careful with installation. G) House Construction: Doors Steel doors can help mitigate EMFs from room to room. They can be purchased inexpensively through Home Depot, for example, and can be customized to fit the size of your existing door frames. H) House Construction: Plumbing Surprisingly, the plumbing of a house can be a source of EMF Sensitivity. This is particularly true if you have large stretches of copper pipe in your house, as is frequently seen with heaters. One way to mitigate problems with plumbing is to use plastic pipes for your plumbing. PEX is one option for plastic plumbing, although several other options exist. You will need to ensure that whatever piping that you choose meets the water and plumbing standards in your area, and can safely carry hot water in particular. Given that replacing your entire plumbing system can be very expensive, a cheaper solution that can also be very effective is to replace a stretch of your metal piping with plastic pipe, for example, where the plumbing enters your house. This is done to insulate your house from the rest of the "plumbing grid." Municipal or private water pumps for example are known to be an extremely high source of magnetic fields and should be separated from your house plumbing. I) House Construction: Basements Basements are a good solution for EMF individuals. It is important to note that EMF sensitive individuals can still have health problems in basements and other underground structures. Improper wiring will continue to be a problem in basements and underground structures. Additionally, basements frequently house the main electrical panel and major appliances such as water heaters, which generate large EMF fields[1]. Also, many basements have been used as garages, or for storing toxins and other chemicals that can make them hazardous. Basements are frequently damp and can grow mold. Houses built partially into a hillside or underground also offer good protection.

1. Milham, 2004 (A cluster of male breast cancer in basement office workers)