Buildings for Health

By Deepa Sathiaram, LEED Fellow, WELL Faculty and Executive Director – En3 Sustainability Solutions and a speaker at the upcoming Greenbuild India, 2017.

“Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.” – Sir Winston Churchill

The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”This is very true. Unlike many simple parameters that can be measured easily and its impact ascertained, well-being in buildings is really a complex issue and there are so many factors that influence it. This article attempts to explore the impact that the physical environment has on human health and well-being and some of the key concerns and issues that designers of sustainable built environments need to be wary of while designing buildings for the future.

Globally, sustainability and green buildings have evolved very wellduring the last 20 years. Energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management are all areas that have received excellent emphasis and priority from building owners, governmental agencies and building designers. Several innovative ideas, solutions and products have come up in recent times to help buildings to reduce their negative impact on the environment. While this is all indeed laudable, one question that remains unanswered still is “what do buildings need to do to reduce their negative impact on its occupants?” Prima facie this may seem an irrational question. How can buildings negatively impact its own people? Unfortunately, this is true and there are several studies in the recent past that demonstrate how buildings can affect both the physical and mental health of people.

Being a sustainability expert and having worked with on over 250 million square feet of green buildings, I have always believed that “building physics” is of utmost importance. We have done several studies on the impact of heat transfer, air movement, thermal performance, light, ambient energy, and climate in buildings and how we can design better buildings that are energy efficient, harvest natural light, reduce energy use and improve performance. But over the last few years,with my close involvement in various technical and research initiatives with the International Well Building Institute, Harvard School of Public Health, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)and the International Code Council (ICC),I have begun to realize the power of “building chemistry” and its impact on people.

Bluntly put, today buildings are nothing more than a chemical box. An average building occupant is exposed to thousands of chemicals during his/her lifetime in buildings and each of these chemicals impact various body systems including cardiovascular systems, immune systems, endocrine systems, nervous systems and even reproductive systems. The U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has identified more than 16,000 chemicals in buildings as “chemicals of concern” and have so far only restricted 5 chemicals or chemical classes for use in buildings.

There are several chemicals that we typically encounter in some form or another in buildings today. Materials such as chlorinated plastics (such as PVC) are a huge health hazard due to the dioxins they contain. These dioxins contain some of the potent carcinogens known to mankind. Also since PVC is rigid, often plasticisers or softeners are added such as phthalates that are semi volatile organic compounds and adversely affect the human body systems. Today in buildings we use PVCs and phthalates in plumbing pipes, floor coverings, wall coverings, signages and other interior works. These materials are a significant health risk for occupants and need to be avoided to reduce risk of contamination.

Another material that is commonly used in buildings today is polyurethane. Polyurethane especially isocyanate based polyurethane is extremely harmful to human inhalation since it is typically made up of hazardous chemicals including formaldehyde (which is a known carcinogen) and phosgene which is a highly lethal gas that was originally used in Wold War I as a poison gas. Today polyurethane can be found in buildings in various applications including rigid foam insulation, paints and coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers, resin flooring, gaskets and other materials. It poses a huge risk to people and can severely affect many occupants over an extended period of time.

The third most risky and dangerous chemical group is the Volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are defined as carbon compounds that can vaporize at normal room temperatures and hence tend to evaporate from a building product into the air over a period of time where humans can breathe them and get affected. VOCs released from building materials is often very high during the initial installation period and reduces over a period of time. VOC emissions occur from various products including carpets, furniture, furnishings, paints and coatings, adhesives, sealants, fabric among other things and significantly affect the cardiovascular, nervous, respiratory, endocrine, immune and integumentary systems. Infact studies show that the level of VOCs can be upto 5 times higher indoors than outdoors and can significantly impact human health.

Perflourinated compounds (PFCs)that are typically found in furniture, furnishings, drapes, curtains etc. are another group of chemicals that are harmful for humans and there have been several studies linking them to cancer and developmental damage in people. Similarly Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (commonly known as PBDEs)which are used as flame retardants has been seriously linked to cancer effect on the immune, reproductive and endocrine systems. Infact flame retardants are required in the United States as per building codes but with the latest revelations of the links of PDBEs with cancer and other effects it has created a huge debate.

So how do we move forward? How do we as designers and specifiers ascertain the negative impact of these various materials and specify the appropriate ones? This is a challenging question and there is no straightforward answer. While we cannot expect change overnight, there are some alternatives already in the market that illustrate the potential for greater sustainability and healthier products. Today research and development is focusing on creating more safe and performing products. In addition manufacturers are being asked to reduce or remove potentially harmful chemicals quickly without compromising the performance of products. There are talks about mandating health product declarations (HPDs) for manufacturers similar to the environmental product declarations (EPDs) that are becoming more common as per LEED v4 and other requirements. With greater awareness of the health issues in relation to building materials,end users and designers can make more informed decisions.

Apart from selection of the appropriate materials, another key area to focus on is the design of the ventilation systems to ensure better indoor air quality and reduced exposure to indoor chemicals and pollutants. As designers we will need to ensure that the HVAC systems design ensures enhanced ventilation, better air filtration, humidity control, microbe and mold control and moisture management. Moreover it would be imperative that the building is flushed out effectively to remove contaminants as well. We need to ensure cleaning chemicals are non-toxic and reduce the over all toxic material usage within buildings. The HVAC systems design is very critical to ensure air quality and reduce contaminants within spaces and more attention and importance to these factors must be given by all designers and building operators.

Even when designs ensure these requirements are met, practically we have seen buildings change over time. To ensure that we continuously track the building and the chemical contaminations, it is recommended that we do air quality testing in a periodic manner to measure various levels such as formaldehyde, TVOCs, Particulate Matter – PM2.5 and PM10, carbon monoxide, ozone and radon and compare them with established threshold limits and initiate corrective action when the chemical levels exceed these thresholds. The various acceptable threshold levels for the key parameters are as under:

So are there guidelines and standards that can help designers design healthier buildings? The International Well Building Institute (IWBI) has come up with a rating called the WELL Building Standard that marries best practices in design and construction with evidence-based healthand wellness interventions. The standard harnesses the built environment as a vehicle to support human health, well-being and comfort. WELL Certified™ spaces can lead to a built environment that helps to improve the nutrition, fitness, mood, sleep, comfort and performance of its occupants.This is achieved in part by implementing strategies, programs and technologies designed to encourage healthy, more active lifestyles and reducing occupant exposure to harmful chemicals and pollutants.

The WELL Building standard comprises of 7 integral concepts – Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Fitness, Comfort and Mind as indicated in the WELL Building Standard extract below:

The WELL Building Standard is a great tool that provides a structured approach and framework for designers to follow best practices and implement strategies, programs and technologies designed to encourage healthy, more active lifestyles and reducing occupant exposure to harmful chemicals and pollutants.

In summary, it is imperative today that we not just look at energy, water and waste but also more importantly look at the wellness quotient of buildings and ensure that we design, construct and operate buildings that take care of the health and well-being of its occupants. As designers we can make use of well-established tools such as the WELL Building Standard as a technical framework to ensure our designs and specifications address some of the key attributes for healthier buildings. We need to make clients and building users aware of these issues and educate building owners and the industry to design, build and operate better and healthier buildings. As Sir Winston Churchill put it; “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us”; it is indeed true that what we do is what we become and hence it is critical that for our future generations we not only leave a legacy of green built environments but alsovery importantly healthy buildings for all.