The Elements That Make A Healthy Home
In my last article, I discussed the relationship between the Passive House standard and the making of a healthy home. I spoke about how the Passive House standard, which can be considered a measure of peak fitness, can serve as a strong foundation for your healthy home, a home that will also embrace more holistic issues.
With this article, I wanted to expand on the key components that define a healthy home, whether or not you adopt the Passive House standard.
Thermal Comfort
Thermal comfort in your healthy home means a comfortable temperature maintained throughout the house no matter the weather. It means a home that is draught free, warm in the winter and cool in the summer, with no cold spots or condensation.
For us, the optimum solution for achieving thermal comfort is the Passivhaus standard, but limitations of space or budget may influence how far you can go. Sensible alterations to improve insulation and airtightness will go a long way to improving thermal comfort in a refurbished property.
Air Quality
Good air quality in your healthy home is about feeling fresh and alert. It means having plentiful fresh air free of toxins with surfaces that are free of mould and condensation.
If you improve the insulation and airtightness of an existing home, careful detailing is essential to avoid exacerbating existing problems or creating new ones. The breathability of the building's envelope might also need consideration or the use of mechanical extraction. For optimum efficiency and effectiveness, your healthy home should have a whole-house Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery system.
Energy-efficiency and Sustainability
Your healthy home should be energy-efficient, use small amounts of renewable energy and be inexpensive to operate.
People have different builds and physical characteristics, and our bodies are more efficient at certain physical activities. Similarly, our existing housing stock can present a range of challenges for energy efficiency due to age, size, orientation, location and heritage.
A healthy retrofit will make an existing building as energy-efficient and sustainable as feasibly possible. You should take a long-term view since the construction will most likely lock upgrades into the building's fabric for a considerable time.
Materials and Sustainability
The materials of your healthy home are ideally natural, renewable, durable, long-lasting and recyclable at the end of their use. Their production should have used minimal energy, and the materials should be of low toxicity, so they do not contribute to poor indoor air quality.
With a home built to the Passive House standard, the insulation selected is often “hi-tech” phenolic foam, requiring only half the thickness of traditional mineral-based insulation products. Super insulating products such as Aerogel take even less space but cost considerably more. With the high ventilation requirements needed to achieve the Passive House standard, the toxicity of these products is less of a concern for the indoor air quality. But there is still the environmental impact of producing the materials to consider.
Space and sustainability
Buildings last a long time, and your healthy home should be flexible and adaptable to future use. It should allow for the changing needs of all current and future occupiers.
Acoustics
Your healthy home should provide a quiet indoor environment, reducing external noise from outside the dwelling and noise between rooms within the house.
It should provide places for quiet work and uninterrupted sleep.
Internally, it should consider surfaces that create calm and echo-free spaces.
Lighting
Daylight is essential for human health and circadian cycles, and it has a dramatic impact on personal well-being. But designers of eco-homes often minimise glazing to conserve heat. Your healthy home should provide ample daylight to boost productivity and alertness and link you to circadian cycles.
Connection to Nature
A connection to nature is vital in a healthy home. Green has healing qualities. Views expand your gaze and provide relief from focused work.
Changes in weather and external conditions can create joy and improve mood. Think of the sun streaming across surfaces, dappled light from trees above or the movement of passing clouds.
Stress-free spaces
Your healthy home should be stress-free, composed of materials and spaces that make you feel calm and good.
Its heating and ventilation systems should be easy to operate. Opening doors and windows when desired should not impact its operation.
Your home should provide plentiful storage to keep your home looking good, making it easy to keep clean and tidy.
Social Inclusion
Your healthy home should play an active role in making and connecting you to a healthy community.
It should foster and promote entertaining family and friends. It should set a positive example within your community.
Conclusion
All of these components impact your physical, mental and social well-being. The best solution for you and your home will be a balance of these criteria.
So, when you think about your home, think about:
what is more important to you
how your existing spaces make you feel
the types of room and experiences that make you feel good
using your budget to alter your home in a way that delivers the best environment for you to thrive.
To simplify this process, we set up our healthy home checklist to help homeowners identify their priorities and clarify thoughts towards creating a healthy home. Our checklist will get you thinking about your priorities and what makes you healthy. If you haven’t downloaded our Passive House Checklist and Questionnaire, you can do so below. If you have and would like to discuss your answers or thoughts, please contact us to arrange a free consultation. If you have a project in mind, please get in touch.
