Designing for building health

Building health

It is evident that a well-designed building which provides access to fresh air and daylight and which utilises non-toxic materials in indoor environments promotes better health and a greater sense of well-being, improved productivity and reduced demand for energy. 

Studies have shown that buildings in which occupants report greater levels of comfort also have higher levels of occupant productivity. Surveys of building occupants repeatedly reveal that there is a desire to have access to daylight, external views, fresh air and some control of their surroundings. Designing for the wellness of building occupants can produce a building that is better for the environment, better for the occupants and better economically for the building owner and tenants. On average, Australians spend 90 per cent of their time inside, so it is not hard to imagine that the quality of the indoor environment plays a greater role in influencing people's health than does the external environment.

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Building health effects

An important basis for understanding the health effects of buildings on their occupants is the definition of health from the World Health Organisation (WHO):

A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

When considering the impacts of indoor environments on health, it is not simply physical symptoms that may be caused by a building, but the overall well-being of occupants (physically and mentally). Despite the effect on overall well-being, attention has mostly focused on buildings that have been the cause of notable sickness to their occupants and finding solutions to these problems.

Sick building syndrome 

Sick building syndrome (SBS) is a term widely used in relation to unhealthy buildings. It describes the concurrence of symptoms brought about in persons as a result of their occupation of a particular building. Where more specific characteristics can be identified on behalf of either the building or its occupants two further building health problems can be defined:

1. Building related illness (BRI) Where specific causal factors have been identified within a building this can be termed a BRI. Examples are allergic reactions, infections such as Legionnaires’ disease and illnesses related to inhaling fibres, such as asbestosis.
2. Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) relates to a small percentage of the population with high sensitivity to chemicals in indoor air, meaning they are adversely affected by even low concentrations of those chemicals.That is, where a building’s negative effects may not generate symptoms in the average person, sensitive people are affected.

It is most often the case where building health problems occur that multiple characteristics of a building are contributing to the problem. Hence it is often difficult or impossible to identify one specific causal factor in cases of SBS, BRI or MCS.

Health and well-being problems are most commonly understood to be suffered by occupants of poorly designed office buildings and this is the most commonly researched building type. Other building types however, are often associated with this significant problem. Schools and houses are buildings in which occupants spend long periods of time and have also been the focus of study.

Various attempts have been made to estimate the extent of building malaise and the hidden health costs and loss of productivity. When efforts are made to design and manage a building with consideration of building health issues, productivity gains have been estimated at between 5 per cent and 20 per cent. Invariably it will be combinations of multiple factors that contribute to the problem:

• Poor building design, particularly the complete isolation of occupants from the outside environment and the use of artificial lighting and recirculated air;
• Poor thermal environment: extremes of heat or cold caused by artificial or natural systems;
• Poor visual environment: lack of visual connection to outside, lack of long vision potential, colours, poor artificial light rendition, lack of natural daylight, or excessive glare;
• Poor olfactory environment: odours produced by building materials, systems, introduced from outside of the building, or by occupants of the building;
• Poor aural environment: excessive or nuisance noise from internal or external sources and/or a lack of aural privacy;
• Poor ergonomics, including furniture design, spatial requirements, and layout planning;
• Lack of control over environment, including control over thermal comfort, lighting, ventilation and spatial organisation;
• Indoor air pollutants, including chemical, biological and physical pollutants from building and fitout materials and HVAC systems;
• Poor HVAC design, including lack of fresh air intake, position of fresh air intake, and poor filtration;
• Psychosocial factors, such as management attitudes to the workplace, stress and interpersonal relationships; and
• Electromagnetic radiation from electrical systems and circuits within the building.

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Checklist for healthy buildings

The following list provides a starting point for the investigation of building health in the design of buildings.

New Buildings

Renovating existing buildings

The principal cause of poor building health in existing modern buildings is reliance on a sealed environment with HVAC to deliver thermal comfort and fresh air. The focus for improvement should be on reducing the need for HVAC, as well as a focus on the HVAC system itself, its fresh air delivery, and the level of occupant control of that delivery. In addition to the strategies listed in the table above, key strategies for maximising building health when renovating a building include:

• reconfiguration of internal layout;
• HVAC maintenance and cleaning;
• removal of indoor pollutant sources such as asbestos, lead, carpets, plastics, sealants, reconstituted wood products;
• rezoning or reorganising occupants’ activities that are causing building health problems or are in a high-risk space; and,
• removal or demolition of high-risk areas (extreme care must be exercised when undertaking work while a building is in use in order to prevent exacerbating the problems).

Maintenance of buildings

Maintenance regimes, though not the direct responsibility of the architect, are often determined according to needs arising from the building design. Often, maintenance tasks such as dusting, vacuuming and window cleaning are not undertaken as regularly as desired. Hence designing for the minimisation of these tasks will assist in reducing building health risks. The following are points to note in this regard:

• Attempt to specify products that have maintenance schedules that require no harsh cleaning agents.
• Avoid products that may increase maintenance requirements. For example, building products such as carpets and other soft furnishings can be the source of indoor air pollutants, but they can also be a sink for other pollutants in the environment. Pollutants become trapped in the fibres, and are then re-emitted when people walk over the fibres or rub against the surfaces. Hence avoiding such materials can reduce the potential harbouring of pollutants, and also reduce the need for cleaning these materials.
• A Building Owners Manual is critical to assist in communicating design strategies to the owner and occupants. It should describe the maintenance and operation of design features such as blinds, shutters, light fittings and HVAC, which are critical for maintaining high levels of occupant comfort and health. The Green Star Technical Manual from the Green Building Council of Australia has good information to assist with the compilation of a comprehensive manual.

Neglect of building maintenance issues, by the architect or later by the building facilities manager can possibly be deemed negligence if it causes issues relating to building health.

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Considerations for larger scale projects and building health

Though some of the contributing factors to building health are not under the direct influence of the architect during building design, many are, and many can be indirectly influenced by the design of the building. For example, HVAC design typically comes down to a services engineer, but the greater or lesser requirement for fresh air is related to indoor and outdoor temperatures which the architect can influence through passive design strategies. Another example is the need for cleaning during the operation of a building. Chemicals used can be the source of indoor air pollutants. Building design and material selection to minimise the need for harsh cleaning chemicals will assist in reducing this problem.

The design of healthy buildings requires a coordinated approach that optimises the intellectual resources of the whole team of consultants. Depending on the nature of the project, it may be prudent to call upon the services of a building health or occupational health specialist to provide detailed analysis of the design as it proceeds.

It should be remembered that for building health, as with other consequences of building design, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Hence, a holistic approach to dealing with building health should be taken in which consideration is given to the possible multiple interactions that could form causes of, or solutions to, building health problems.

There are now many environmental guidance and assessment tools available in Australia that can assist architects with issues of building health. Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) and building health are dealt with, for example, in Green Star (Green Building Council of Australia) and NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System).

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