The Principles of What Are We Aiming For
Principles – What Are We Aiming For?
When entering a building – be it your home, your workplace, a school, a factory or any other structure – I am wearing my Indoor Environmental Health Consultant Goggles. These goggles enable me to see beyond the immediate – a little like Superman's x-ray vision.
These goggles are formed based on the Building Biology Principles – which are like the core belief system of someone trained to assess the way the building affects health.
Simply put, nature is our ideal – and this is what we are striving to achieve in the internal of a building.
Building Materials
Buildings should be built in harmony with their environment – with the building materials used reflecting what suits the individual site.
As well, the materials used should have low embodied energy and rate well in a life cycle analysis.
Indoor Air Quality
Indoor air is affected by the materials used, and therefore materials are selected that enhance the quality of the air, the moisture content, and the thermal nature.
The air should smell like natural clean air – as though you were in the country.
Mould and Water Damage
Our goal is to ensure that the mould inside our buildings is similar in variety to that in the environment our building is in, and the levels are equally as low or lower.
Mould is ultimately a moisture issue, so we need to design and build to prevent issues.
ElectroMagnetic Fields (EMF) also known as EMR or EME
The electro-climate (electromagnetic fields) should preserve the natural fields of the planet and minimise the impact of the human-created ones.
The “background” levels of nature are what we are striving to achieve.
Buildings and Health
Buildings, ultimately, should be beneficial – to people, animals and the environment.
They should support our health, our sense of happiness and vitality as well as supporting us “in the world” (in terms of being productive and social).
Where We Can Help
We can become involved:
- at the planning stage – to match your building to its environment;
- before building or renovating – to advise on suitable (both to the site and sustainable) building materials and design; and
- existing buildings – to identify both problems and solutions for health.