Pills, tissues and an inhaler were staples in Jeff and Salena Gallo’s century-old Minneapolis abode for years. But all that changed when the couple moved into their new LEED platinum home last August.

“We both suffer from allergies and Salena has asthma, so we wanted a place that was healthy,” Jeff says. “One of our goals with this home was good air quality.”

Another major goal was to save energy; however, efforts since the 1970s to make homes more energy efficient have raised concern that a tighter house traps toxins inside. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the air quality indoors is two to five times worse than outside, and the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology estimates that 50 percent of all illness is caused — or at least aggravated ¬?— by indoor air pollution. A scary thought considering people spend 90 percent of their time inside.

“There are a myriad of causes of indoor air pollution,” says Leslie Shankman-Cohn, president of Eclectic Interiors in Memphis, who has studied healthy building practices. “Some are not so obvious, such as the chemicals that go into producing the building materials and fabrics in our homes.” One of the worst offenders is formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, used to make everything from fiberglass insulation to particleboard cabinets. This and other noxious chemicals found commonly in adhesives, carpet and paints continuously release dangerous Volatile Organic Compounds into the air.

To counteract that unintended consequence, most green building certification programs rate air quality. The Gallos scored all of the indoor air quality points available for LEED: they installed an air purifier and an air exchanger in their HVAC system for improved ventilation and balanced humidity, and sealed off the air ducts during construction. They also used organic furnishings and low-emitting VOC paints.

Only months after moving, Jeff completely stopped taking the prescribed allergy pills he’d relied on for years and Salena quit using her inhaler. “It’s a humongous victory,” Jeff says. “It blows my mind how big a difference this home has made in the quality of our lives.”

Sometimes it just takes the right cleaning products to make all the difference. Florida residents Miguel Santiago, 13, and his mother Jessica Aponte had no idea their house was a trigger for their chronic asthma until they hired Framado Cleaning Services, a green housekeeping company in Tampa, Fla., a year ago. Their asthma has improved, and Aponte’s husband and stepson’s dust allergies have vanished. “We feel healthier every day,” she says.

Framado cleans with all-natural products instead of harsh chemicals that Aponte says made her asthma flare-up. They also “wet dust” using damp cloths that pick up the dust instead of blowing the dirt particles around and change her hypoallergenic air filter once a month.

“Good air quality makes your home a healthy, safe place,” Aponte says, “and you should always feel good when you are at home.”

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