What is Building Biology?

What is Building Biology?

Building Biology is the new emerging science of healthy buildings.
It explores the holistic relationship between human life, the natural environment and the built environment, and its aim is to create healthy, life enhancing buildings.

Building Biology means building for life

Conventional building practices can overlook some basic requirements for human health. Your home can be beautiful, warm, dry and fitted-out with the best of modern conveniences, but not be healthy for you. Some aspects of our buildings, both old and new, are now known to be biologically active, meaning they have an effect on our own human biological systems.

Building Biology researches and establishes guidelines for exposure to many of these hidden factors in our environment, to determine what is safe and what may be creating increasingly adverse conditions for human health. As a Building Biology Practitioner, I follow these safe level guidelines with my healthy home consultations. They apply to existing buildings as well as new buildings. They help create a healthy environment in your home, to support your whole health and quality of life.

The primary job of every home is to create an environment that allows human life to flourish

Your Home is Your Third Skin

In Building Biology your home is described as your Third Skin. It acts as a third layer after your first flesh skin and your second skin of clothing, enclosing, protecting and regulating conditions for your comfort.
This shows how closely you interact with your home and everything in it – and therefore how directly your home can affect your health.

It could therefore be the cause of a broad range of health concerns including:

  • Specific acute conditions or a general ongoing malaise
  • poor sleep, respiratory problems, headaches, palpitations, stress
  • declining vitality, fatigue and mood disturbance

Sometimes our homes impact our health rather than being the safe havens they’re meant to be.

Do you notice that you feel better when you’re away from home? If you do, there could be something in your home that is affecting you.

It’s a good idea to check your home if you have any kind of health concerns, and to take preventative measures before health problems start.

The Key Guidelines of Building Biology in your home

Electromagnetic Fields from the electrical and electronic things inside your home to be as low as possible. High levels of electromagnetic fields have been shown to contribute to serious health problems and are an issue of growing medical concern.

Geopathic Stress distortions in the electromagnetic field of the land below your home are to be avoided where you sleep, sit or relax. These disturbing energies can be both naturally occurring and man-made.

Has anything changed in your health since you moved to your current home?

Indoor Air Quality to be free of irritants and toxins, combustion gases and hazardous synthetic chemical vapours which are released from many common interior materials, furnishings and household products.

Materials, Finishes and Furnishings to be non-toxic and not emit toxic chemical gases into your indoor air. This includes building materials, paints, flooring, fittings and furniture.

Tap Water to be healthy for drinking, cooking and bathing.

Design and layout of your spaces, rooms, furniture, fittings and storage, to be practical and harmonious for your body, mind and senses. Designed to support your comfort, function and ease of use as well as your psychological wellbeing and delight.

You are physically, biologically, psychologically and spiritually connected to your home

A Healthy Bedroom
Building Biology considers your bedroom to be the most important place in your home, and therefore in your life, to support your good health.
When you sleep your body is repairing, rejuvenating, and keeping your immune system strong and your many bodily functions in balance. These processes are needed to live an active healthy life. It is therefore essential to get the key elements of Building Biology right in your bedrooms to ensure a good night’s sleep.

Most people don’t realise that their home can be detrimental to their health.

When can Building Biology be considered?

Building Biology healthy options can be introduced at any time

  • when building new
  • when renovating or decorating
  • with a review of your home as it is now

Healthy Home Design is an overview of design and layout in your home, considering design for your biology, body, mind and senses, and the selection of healthy materials, finishes and furnishings.

Healthy Home Survey is a health check throughout your home including measurements of electromagnetic fields, geopathic stress, indoor air quality, and other hazards to health, with remediation of problem issues.

Creating a Healthy Bedroom focuses on your bedroom spaces to make sure they are healthy for you and your family to get a good night’s sleep. As well as checks for electromagnetic fields, geopathic stress and indoor air, this also reviews your room design, room layout, beds, bedding, lighting, darkness, and creating a clear energetic space to allow you to let go into sleep.

Potential benefits are far reaching:

  • a return to health and vitality
  • good refreshing sleep
  • improved quality of life.

A healthy home is essential for supporting your personal health and quality of life

The Precautionary Principle
Building Biology follows the Precautionary Principle, which states:
‘when an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not yet fully established scientifically.’
It means taking preventative action in the face of uncertainty and choosing safer alternatives.

Background of Building Biology
The term Bau Biologie was first coined in Germany in the 1950s to describe the work of a group of professionals from a range of backgrounds who were concerned about the inability of post-war housing to support health and ecology. The movement has since grown to other countries and become the recognized authority on healthy building design.

Healthy Building as a Priority
With the many stresses and health challenges of our modern lives, it is ever more important that our homes are built with health as a priority value. Taking care of occupants’ health and the environment too. This is based on the understanding that our own human biology is not separate from the biology of the built environment around us.
Building Biology now brings new considerations to the way our homes are created, and its approach reinforces the essential purpose of a home – health, comfort and wellbeing, as well as shelter.

Building Biology is the way to create a healthy home, for both new and existing buildings.

Building Biology in your home

There are many ways to introduce healthy options into your home, whether you are building new, renovating or decorating, or you want to check and improve what you already have:

An overview of design and layout in your home, considering design for your biology, body, mind and senses, and the selection of healthy materials, finishes and furnishings.

A health check throughout your home, including measurements of electromagnetic fields, geopathic stress, indoor air quality and other hazards, with remediation of problem issues.

A review of the bedrooms in your home. Checks for electromagnetic fields, geopathic stress and indoor air, as well as room design and layout, beds, bedding, lighting, darkness, and creating a clear energetic space to support a good night’s sleep.