How Does Good Air Homes Score Building Systems?
Good Air Homes scores every building system on three fixed axes: Drying Ability (Fast, Moderate, Poor, or None), Inspectability (Open, Partial, or Sealed), and VOC Tier (Zero-VOC, Near-Zero after cure, Documented, or Undisclosed). Those three scores produce one verdict — Recommended, Conditional, or Not Recommended. The first two axes are the Two-Question Test (can it dry, can you inspect it); the third is the Chemical Question. The rubric is frozen, so every system is measured the same way, and the verdict always follows the scores rather than the reverse.
The Short Answer
It is a rubric, not a checklist. Buildings are systems, so we score how an assembly behaves when water gets in and how its chemical load is handled — not its ingredient list. A wood wall that dries fast and stays inspectable can outscore an inorganic one that traps moisture.
The Three Axes
Drying Ability asks whether the wall can dry itself out after it gets wet. Inspectability asks whether you can examine the assembly when something goes wrong, without demolition. VOC Tier scores the chemical disclosure of every wet-applied layer. A system with strong drying and inspectability and a near-zero VOC tier earns Recommended; one that can work only under stated conditions earns Conditional, with the condition named on its badge; one that fails an axis — None drying, Sealed inspectability, or an Undisclosed VOC tier — earns Not Recommended.
Why the Verdict Follows the Scores
This is the part that makes the scores trustworthy. We do not start from a conclusion and reason backward to justify it. At least one recommended system is published with its limitations shown, and at least one common default (standard stick-frame) is scored Conditional rather than dismissed — both as proof the rubric drives the verdict, not the other way around. Every claim on an evaluation is either backed by an inline source or labeled as our evaluative judgment; there is no third category.
See It in Practice
Read the full scoring rubric for the axis definitions and the badge legend, the method and sources page for how evidence and independence are handled, and the spray foam scorecard for the rubric applied end to end.
Last reviewed: August 2026