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Creating Healthy Buildings
Dr. Balwant Saini speaks of ways, using ancient principles of Life-Force energy, of "greening" modern buildings, homes, and cities.
Date: 6/18/2005 10:35:44 PM ( 19 y ) ... viewed 5335 times Excerpted and summarized from:
"From Grey to Green: Creating Healthy Buildings"
by Balwant Saini
Emeritus Professor of Architecture, University of Queensland, Australia
To read the whole article, go to:
http://www.fengshuiseminars.com/articles/healthybuildings.html
"ABSTRACT
There is increasing evidence that the destruction of the natural environment, the increase in industrialisation and urbanisation and the corresponding increase in pollution levels have begun to affect our health. When we deny ourselves the essential sources of life-force energy, we decrease vitality and effectively weaken our immune systems which , in turn, leads to reduction in our ability to withstand the effects of pollution and infectious viruses and parasites. With all these forces operating against us, it is important that we give the utmost priority to the task of restoring the balance between development and the natural world and preserving our environment.
In this paper, based on ancient wisdom supported by scientific research, I discuss what is wrong with buildings that alienate us from nature and what can we do to make them healthier.
Buildings are important when we realise we spend well over 95% of our lifetime indoors.
OUR BUILDINGS: A THIRD SKIN
Ancient wisdom tells us that if we learn to live in harmony with everything and everyone with whom we share this planet, then it is possible that we may rediscover a similar harmony within ourselves. Our buildings can help us to achieve this harmony.
Like the clothes we wear, I see a building as a kind of third skin. Its main job is to make the human body comfortable and to protect it from extremes of climate...a building is much more comfortable to live in if its skin, that is, its walls and roof, breathes and acts like a filter. It will not make us comfortable if a building seals off and isolates us from the natural world that nourishes our body, mind and spirit.
It has been my experience that, if we use natural materials and carefully orient a building, then we can maximise the advantages and minimise the disadvantages of being close to nature. Our aim should be to harness natural energies, such as those produced by the sun and the wind to heat or cool our buildings. This is a good way to create comfortable environment naturally.
Early in the 20th century we experienced what is known as the Modern Movement in Architecture. It had a great influence on how we still build our towns and cities.
Once designers...found that they could use reinforced concrete and steel frames to construct buildings of all kinds that had free and open plans...they were able to design highrise buildings which now dominate the skylines of our city centres.
Walls were no longer seen as barriers between the inside and the outside. They were seen as filters that could bring nature and the natural energies into the building in a way that was not possible before.
THE PROBLEM: SICK BUILDINGS
Sadly...it has become normal practice to turn away from nature, seal buildings, especially highrises, and leave it to the high energy consuming mechanical systems, such as airconditioning, to make people comfortable.
In reality, this climate control is rarely comfortable and can never give the variety of experiences and physical and mental stimulation that nature provides. In fact it has now been scientifically proven that buildings designed in this way fail to provide healthy environments. A 1984 World Health Organisation report told us that something like 30 percent of new and remodelled buildings worldwide are unhealthy.
The risks are high. People have started to complain about indoor air quality...In the USA, hundreds of millions of dollars have been paid out in settlements for the ill health caused by what we now call ‘sick building syndrome’.
This situation has become worse since we started to use synthetic building materials, chemicals, and other products whose long term effect is only now starting to be revealed.
The problem is that most designers believe that we escape pollution as soon as we go inside the buildings. In fact, the opposite is true... Indoor pollution has been found to be as much as 5 to 10 times higher than outside levels.
The best quality air we can expect inside any building is the same as outside. This is obvious when you think about it, as our buildings are literally bathed in this outside air.
We know that we can only clean the air, any air, properly if we use very expensive particulate and charcoal filter systems, normally reserved for special situations. For the majority, it is a case of Indoor air=Outdoor air+whatever we add indoors.
The ‘tighter’ the building, the longer the added chemicals remain and the higher the indoor contamination. Buildings are often designed to be ‘tight’ for reasons of energy conservation and other running costs. The rationale is that heating or cooling ‘fresh’ outdoor air requires more costly energy than recycling indoor air, which is already about the right temperature. This is false economy because recycling air can spread disease.
Airconditioning systems do not produce pure fresh air, they only contaminate it. People often add their own viruses and bacteria to the airconditioned air. Scientists have recorded that even a simple normal cough produces 5000 droplets of liquid while a sneeze may generate a million.
It works like this: The warm air exhaust from the airconditioning system is often located close to the cooling tower where fresh air is brought into the system. Bacterium multiply in the warm environment of the cooling tower, pass into the airconditioning ducts and spread throughout the building.
Out of doors, nature uses the ultra-violet component of sunlight to kill bacteria in the air. I believe scientists are already working on developing methods to simulate this natural force in airconditioning systems.
A group at the University of Florida found that air-borne micro-organisms die when exposd to ultraviolet rays in the presence of a titanium dioxide filter. Such a system, when developed, could be highly effective in sterilising circulating air in airconditioned buildings.
A further problem is cigarette smoke. We now know a lot about the health hazards of passive smoking. In a study involving 2100 office workers, non smokers continually exposed to cigarette smoke in the work environment suffered about as much damage to the small airways in the lungs as the light smokers.
Another study found that...none of the existing ventilation standards were adequate and even if these were substantially increased it made no difference whatsoever.
In the workplace, passive smoking leads to higher health risks and potential future litigation, as well as increased absenteeism and reduced performance. In our homes, we pay with ill health and sickness from common illnesses such as asthma and infection.
Air conditioning is also the main contributor to skin diseases such as eczema, psoriasis and acne. These conditions are the result of dry skin caused by low relative humidity levels. Humidity, in case of aircrafts, can get as low as 3%, whereas we humans like the humidity levels to be somewhere between 46% and 65%.
Ross Thorn and Terry Purcell, two researchers from Sydney University’s architecture school, found that airconditioning also affects our natural daily (circadian) temperature rythms. They discovered that our body temperature falls well below the normal 37 degrees Celsius when we are in airconditioned areas for some time.
After coming into contact with what we call ‘dead air’, our skin appears to suffer a form of sensory deprivation. Our skin is no longer stimulated by air so our body becomes lethargic in the afternoons...our skin needs constant stimulation from moving air to maintain its normal temperature. Over a long period, the lowered body temperature can literally make us ill and increase our susceptibility to viral infection.
The obvious answer to these problems is to do just the opposite to what we do now - provide high quality ventilation by opening up our buildings to natural energies.
Two other things we can do is to specify safe and non toxic materials, and bring plants and shrubs inside the buildings. This is exactly what our ancestors have practiced for centuries.
THE SOLUTION:LIVING BUILDING MATERIALS
Ancient seers of India viewed all buildings as living organisms...all construction materials were also seen as living organisms, as long as their origin could be traced to nature.
Natural organic materials such as wood, soil or stone, especially sandstone, limestone or marble...radiated positive energies, and therefore provided a healthy environment.
They also thought that all inorganic or non-natural materials, especially synthetic materials, were ‘dead materials’ that radiated negative energies...lacking in what they called the ‘life force’ meaning everyone who came into contact with them was likely to suffer ill health.
Mud houses were considered a blessing as were timber buildings. In a deep and spiritual sense such buildings sent out positive messages to everyone who was fortunate to live in them.
The ancient seers extended this awareness to the process of the ageing of objects and buildings. They had found that synthetic and new materials simply did not age in the same slow natural way as natural materials. Synthetic materials had no memory or sense of history.
The negative impact of synthetic building materials and furnishings on our health has been clearly shown by a number of research studies. We don’t use timber in its natural state anymore. It is chipped into little pieces and glued into boards for walls, floors, cupboards, shelves and furniture.
Plastic polymers are used to manufacture fabrics for floor coverings and curtains. The walls and ceilings are insulated with plastic foams which are also used to stuff cushions and bed mattresses.
In their book, The Perils of Progress, two Australian scientists, Dr. John Ashton and Dr. Ron Laura of the University of Newcastle, maintain that all these synthetic materials let loose trace amounts of unreacted monomers, plasticisers and other chemicals into the air, especially when new. Take, for example, the suffocating smell of new (synthetic) carpet or of a new car.
They mention several studies that have shown that as a result of exposure to these toxins people suffer from a range of symptoms such as “headache, flushing, laryngitis, dizziness, nausea, extreme weakness, joint pains, unwarranted depression, voice impairment, exhaustion, inability to think clearly, arrhythmia or muscle spasm.
Another study of over 1000 patients identified undiagnosed chronic symptoms associated with the purchase of new carpets, furniture, beds, cabinets, the renovation of buildings, moving into new buildings and insulating with synthetic foam (ureaformaldehyde) insulation.
Formaldehyde...is issued by glues, resins and similar agents used in the manufacture of synthetic products, which are now widely known as one of the main sources of indoor pollution caused by so- called volatile organic compounds ( VOCs) in buildings.
Other sources of VOCs include synthetic tiles and flooring, contact adhesives and sealants, paints and varnishes. Synthetic carpets are the worst offenders issuing such VOCs as vinyl acetate and propane-1,2-diol and the compound 4-phenylcyclohexane (4-PCH).
Then there are VOCs released from flooring materials, including toluene and xylene from adhesives, and phenol and trimellitic from leveling resins which are all extremely toxic as they cause immunological sensitisation and severe respiratory irritation. The list goes on.
Dr. Bill Lawson of the School of Architecture at the University of New South Wales, has conducted scientific research on this subject. He found that natural organic materials were not only non-toxic, they were far more energy efficient and had less environmental impact than synthetic materials.
KINSHIP WITH NATURE
...we (can) bring nature closer to people by introducing plants and shrubs to buildings.
Several hymns in the ancient Indian text, the Rig Veda, praise trees, rivers, herbs, forests, night, dawn, dusk, fire and clouds. Plants were believed to contain the divine presence.
Trees...and flowering shrubs were thought to possess qualities which could enhance a person’s spiritual life.
They also believed in the therapeutic value of plants and vegetation...they provided physical and psychological benefits. Basil, Neem, mango, coconut and banana are given pride of place in a courtyard or surrounding garden.
The Basil (Tulsi) plant contains 27 minerals and is used in 300 Ayurvedic medicines. It destroys disease carrying germs, and is also used in the treatment of asthma, tuberculosis and leprosy. It is known to purify blood and improve the digestive system. Neem cleanses the air, acts as a pesticide and its oil is extensively used in physiotherapy.
THE LUNGS OF THE EARTH
Air, or oxygen, is known as the breath of plants and plants are considered the lungs of the earth. The ancients viewed the earth as an extension of the human body and plants effectively as an extension of the lungs of our body.
Through the process of photosynthesis, plants produce the oxygen we breathe in and absorb the carbon dioxide we breathe out...Approximately 90% of the body’s energy is created by oxygen. All body activities, from brain functions to elimination, are regulated by oxygen. A toxic and polluted environment, devoid of oxygen, creates imbalance in the body’s energy system, making a person prone to stress and disease.
We are all contributing to reduced oxygen levels in our living environments by adding chemical and auto pollution and by removing minerals from the soil and forests from the planet.
Tree cover is an important indicator of the health of the planet, as it provides oxygen for us to breathe. Yet we are clearing eleven million hectares of forest each year without adequately replacing it.
Environmental scientists working with NASA have found that many plants are very good at absorbing indoor pollutants such as benzene and formaldehyde. They are very effective in reducing allergic reactions triggered by these toxins.
By placing appropriate indoor plants within buildings we can minimise the adverse effects of the various toxic materials used in their construction.
During the night, plants should be removed from the sleeping areas because they reduce oxygen levels and increase the quantity of carbon dioxide. This is the reason why ancients in India advised against sleeping under trees and bushes at night.
At Sydney’s University of Technology, Professor Margaret Burchett found that plants in the home and office not only reduce pollution; they also benefit us psychologically. Her studies clearly validate the ancient wisdom which has emphasised a close rapport between humans and their natural environment. This rapport was reflected in traditional garden concepts of the Persians, Indians, Chinese, Japanese and others whose culture goes back thousands of years.
A WAY FORWARD
In recent years many architects have started to follow the basic principles of energy conservation in buildings. They are showing the way by using energy saving techniques like generating power from roof mounted solar collectors. These are amplified by reusing waste heat that comes from people, carparks and lifts, for example, and storing it in extensive ice banks in the basement.
Others have used computerised techniques to respond to natural energies, such as those of the sun, to maintain optimum conditions inside. A louvred facade automatically changes according to the movement of the sun during the day, shading the walls during summer and letting the heat in during winter. Such a facade is not a barrier, but a filter that reduces heat transfer and noise pollution while opening up to let in light and fresh air.
There have been some great ideas about how to bring nature into densely populated urban areas. In his design for a tall office building in a congested area of Sydney, architect Harry Seidler has used an atrium with shrubs and even tall trees to bring nature closer to people.
Malaysian architect Ken Yeang has developed what he calls bio-climatic or green facades for high rise buildings. They involve sun shading, deep cavities and a landscaping strategy that takes into account vegetation all the way from the ground up to the top floor.
GREENING THE CITIES
The concept of roof gardens in city centres offers some exciting possibilities. Roofs are generally unused spaces that are well exposed to sunlight and rain. They can bring nature into places where office workers...and... People in apartment buildings can enjoy the outdoors all year round, breath fresh air and even get some exercise in a relatively safe and private setting.
Apart from a clean environment, roof gardens have also been seen as urban places where people will be able to feed themselves and deal with waste.
Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IRDC) based in Ottawa has promoted research into urban farming for almost three decades. Its aim is to teach people ecologically sound agriculture practices, based on locally available resources, for small scale farms. Such moves will bring agriculture back into towns, guarantee food security, regenerate the environment and strengthen urban economies. They could help us to achieve clean, green, healthy, low maintenance cities.
In 1982, City Farmer, Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture established a 2500 sq.ft. Demonstration Garden in the heart of the city of Vancouver. Its aim was to demonstrate the large quantity of food one person can grow in a city backyard using intensive, organic methods of cultivation.
The Centre has also initiated awards for students who wish to conduct urban and peri-urban agriculture. It has also funded community media such as the Toronto-based Developing Countries Farm Radio Network ( DCFRN) which is able to spread its message to listeners in 121 countries around the world.
Experienced broadcasters explain such practical ideas as how to grow fruit and vegetables in small spaces, use old tyres as gardening pots, reduce lead levels in vegetables, breed guinea pigs and rabbits for meat and turn roof-tops into perfumed gardens.
We live in an overcrowded and increasingly polluted environment. We must bring nature into our day to day lives; create a sense of urgency and do whatever we can to make up the loss and neglect that has done so much harm to our health and well being."
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Read the companion article, "Healing Homes": http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=309&i=31
"Your Sick Buildings": http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=92&i=434
"Products Cause Bad Air": http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=309&i=1
Rainforest Deforestation: http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=309&i=23 (Rainforest Action Network/information and petition campaigns)
"Save the Heart of the Boreal Forest in Canada": http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=309&i=12 (National Resources Defense Council Biogems petition campaign)
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