Health and building materials

It pays off to take a close look: pollutants in residential and in working environments

Building materials can constitute a significant source of contamination of indoor air. We differentiate between three types of pollutants: biological (mould, germs), physical (e.g. radon, or electro-magnetic fields) as well as chemical ones (e.g. asbestos, VOCs, formaldehyde). Many products like interior plaster or floorings are used all over the room and can be sources of pollutants. One can only produce temporary relief through extensive airing. Many emissions, however, cannot be noticed by the nose and may lead to health problems for the residents in the medium and long term.

Due to the energy saving regulation, this problem exacerbates because the required measures of insulation and sealing result in a smaller natural air exchange and thus increase pollutants in the indoor air.

Ecological is not the same as healthy

A healthy indoor air climate depends strongly on the use of products that are low in pollutants. These products should preferably derive from renewable resources like timber, flax, hemp, sheep wool, cellulose or cork to reduce the impact on the environment. This does still not mean, however, that these products are automatically healthy. Especially ecological colours emit e.g. natural terpentines and other organic compounds which can cause health problems, from irritations of the mucous membrane to long-term effects like allergisation or cancer formation. "Nothing but nature" does not mean that these products do not contain pollutants.

Increase of allergies and illnesses due to building materials

Today, one out of five Germans suffers from allergies. Illnesses which are triggered by pollutants increase dramatically. The percentage of children with symptoms of asthma has reached 14% nowadays. The study LiNA of the Centre of Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany (or short: UFZ) proves that the risk for children to suffer from allergies is significantly increased if the mother has renovated during pregnancy, i.e. if she had direct contact with building materials.

Healthier constructing and renovating: is it possible?

We have to deal with 6 complexes of causes of unhealthy buildings:

1. Building materials
2. Causes due to construction (building mistakes, selection of the material, usage of harmful building materials, additional substances)
3. Minimised air exchange (bad air, humidity, mould, accumulation)
4. Causes due to behaviour (humidity, airing techniques, smoking, fragrances, décor, copy machines, etc.)
5. Causes due to the environment (immissions, exposure to pollutants in the environment or floor, e.g. radon)
6. Products from industrial chemical applications (e.g. chlorine, bisphenyl, softeners)
 

Especially the possibly harmful sources, i.e. building materials and construction processes, are dangerous because the user assumes that the executive companies produced them so that they will not bear any danger. To solve this problem, SHI developed Sentinel-Haus® Concept. The Health Passport of Sentinel-Haus embraces international values of recommendation for pollutants and allows them to extensively and practically evaluate the state of healthy housing of a building. Independently inspected model projects all over Germany, Austria and France prove the efficiency of the concept in practical use.