Our Systems
and Products:
Human Health
It is estimated that we now spend on average 90% of our time in buildings. This is a far greater proportion of our time than at any other time in history, and is mainly related to the decline in manual work in this country. At the same time we are significantly changing the function of the outer shell of buildings from simply keeping weather out to also keeping heat in. This is not in response to changing building use but to concerns about energy supply and use (and now to concerns about CO2 emissions). The problem is that while building function may change, human biology does not. We need certain environmental conditions for health. Unfortunately UK building form and systems are particularly bad for human health. The attempt to make buildings more energy efficient through insulation and airtightness but without regard to human health is likely to exacerbate this problem, with potentially dire consequences.
The main issues regarding human health and buildings are
- Microbiological pollutants
- Chemical and particulate pollutants
- There are also issues as regards
- Radiation
- Electro-magnetic fields
- Water
- Lighting
- Acoustics
I shall only be commenting on the first two issues in this section. I shall be looking at lighting and acoustics under the section on comfort, although it should be noted that at certain levels discomfort becomes a cause of ill health and in certain situations this can be extremely serious. Water is largely controlled through building regulations and by the supply side and should not be a problem in most situations. Issues of radiation and electro magnetic fields are less well understood, although increasingly accepted as valid concerns. It should be noted that all of these issues apart from water quality are mainly to do with the shell of the building.
