I Left a Big Firm to Build Healthier Homes. Here's What I Learned

What Big-Firm Architecture Gets Wrong

I spent years doing work I was proud of, with talented people, at firms with real resources and reach. I'm not here to throw anyone under the bus. But there's a structural problem in conventional architecture that's hard to see from the inside.

The system optimizes for aesthetics, for budget, for schedule, and for code compliance. Those are legitimate goals. But "does this building support the health of the people inside it?" is almost never on the checklist. It's not that architects don't care — most of us got into this field because we believe the built environment matters. It's that the incentives don't reward asking the question.

So we don't. And the result is that we design and build spaces filled with materials that emit toxins, that harbor mold because we've sealed buildings too tight without proper ventilation, that use finishes and adhesives that are linked to respiratory issues, hormone disruption, and worse. All within code. All considered normal.

I couldn't keep calling that good work.

The Learning Curve No Architecture School Teaches

When I started researching what healthy building actually looks like, I was struck by how much there was to learn — and how little of it had been part of my formal training.

The International Living Future Institute's Red List was one of the first frameworks I encountered. It's a list of chemical compounds — phthalates, formaldehyde, heavy metals, halogenated flame retardants, and others — that are common in building materials and known to cause harm to human health. The goal of Red List Free design is simple: if it's on the list, it doesn't go in the building. That sounds obvious until you realize how many standard-issue materials you have to replace to get there.

Then came Passive House. I pursued my certification as a Passive House Consultant because I'd become convinced that the way we handle energy and air in buildings is inseparable from how healthy they are. A building with controlled, filtered ventilation rather than random infiltration through gaps and cracks is a building where indoor air quality can actually be managed. You can't have a healthy building with a leaky envelope.

These weren't trendy add-ons. They were the foundation of a completely different way of thinking about the purpose of architecture.

What I Actually Wanted to Build

I started ADG because I wanted to answer a question I couldn't stop asking: what would it look like to design buildings that are actively good for the people inside them?

Not just code-compliant. Not just "green" in the marketing sense. Actually, measurably, demonstrably better for human health.

The answer turned out to involve a lot of things working together: materials free of known toxins, envelopes tight enough to control what air gets in and out, ventilation systems designed to bring in fresh filtered air rather than recirculate stale indoor air, finishes that don't off-gas, and spaces designed for real living — light, outdoor access, easy to clean.

It also turned out to be achievable at a price point that doesn't require a luxury budget. That matters to me. Healthy buildings shouldn't be a premium only available to wealthy clients. The families who would most benefit from lower-toxin environments — kids with asthma, people with chemical sensitivities, older adults spending more time indoors — are often the least able to pay a significant premium for it.

What I Tell Every New Client

The first thing I tell people who come to ADG is that healthy building doesn't have to be complicated or dramatically more expensive. The cost premium for Red List Free materials is often smaller than people expect. The cost premium for a Passive House-standard envelope, over the life of the building, is frequently negative — you spend a little more upfront and save significantly on heating and cooling for decades.

What it does require is intention. You have to ask the question at the beginning of the process, not try to retrofit it at the end. You have to be willing to specify a different adhesive, to source a different flooring product, to think about ventilation as a design element rather than a mechanical afterthought.

That's what ADG does. We ask the question at the start, every time.

Why Now Is the Right Time

I'll be honest: when I started ADG, I wondered whether the market was ready for this conversation.

It is more than ready.

People are spending more time in their homes than any previous generation. Indoor air quality has become a topic of mainstream conversation in a way it simply wasn't a decade ago. The demand for ADUs — backyard cottages, multigenerational suites, small rental units — is exploding, and those compact spaces are exactly where healthy materials and Passive House ventilation make the most tangible difference. A 650-square-foot ADU with poor air quality is a much more concentrated problem than a 2,500-square-foot house with the same issues.

And the regulatory environment is slowly catching up. Building codes are tightening. States are adopting more aggressive energy standards. The direction is clear — the question is whether you want to be ahead of it or scrambling to catch up.

What's Next

ADG is a small firm, intentionally. I'm not trying to build a machine that cranks out square footage. I'm trying to do work that I can stand behind completely — where I know that every project we deliver has made someone's daily life measurably better.

I’m planning to launch a line of pre-designed ADU and cabin plans that bring Red List Free and Passive House principles to buyers who want to build healthy from the start, even without a fully custom engagement. They're the distillation of everything I've learned into something accessible and affordable. Sign up for my newsletter if you want to know more or be notified when they’re available for purchase.

But the core of ADG will always be the same thing it was on day one: the conviction that what we build shapes people’s heath, how they feel and think, every single day. That's worth taking seriously.

If you've ever walked into a building and felt, without quite being able to explain it, that something was right about it — the air, the light, that feeling — you already understand what I’m reaching for.

Let’s build that, together.

Jon Huffmaster is a licensed architect and Certified Passive House Consultant based in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Architectural Design Group specializes in healthy, Red List Free residential & Commercial design and Passive House-standard construction. To learn more or inquire about a project, drop us a note.