Hyper ventilation
February 2016

So Granny was right all along when she told us to get more fresh air and open the window. Yes, we should regularly refresh the air in our buildings, and the importance of this was spelled out in graphic detail in a recent report into the lifelong impact of air pollution by the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Air pollution has been linked to cancer, asthma, stroke and heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and changes linked to dementia. While the health impact of outdoor air pollution is relatively well known, the report also warns that exposure to indoor air pollution from household products and fittings is also putting lives at risk. The report referenced a recent World Health Organisation study which estimated that as many as 99,000 deaths across Europe in 2012 were attributable to indoor air pollution.

It has been reckoned that people in developed countries spend around 90% of their time indoors. Construction workers must be one of the few groups where some of their working life can be spent outdoors and not stuck indoors, chained to a computer monitor (it’s a hard life, I know). Of course, the outdoor air is not always “fresh” and for some, opening a window could actually increase the indoor air pollution levels. While the report’s authors note that there is good awareness of the risks from badly maintained gas appliances, radioactive radon gas and second-hand tobacco smoke, they state that indoors we can also be exposed to NO2 from gas cooking and solvents that slowly seep from plastics, paints and furnishings. They also point out that, for example, lemon and pine scents that we use to make our homes smell fresh can react chemically to generate air pollutants, and ozone-based air fresheners can also cause indoor air pollution. The problems caused by damp and condensation are also noted.

While the report recommends we strengthen our understanding of the relationship between indoor air pollution and health, one of the actions highlighted for us to take as individuals is to improve the energy efficiency of our homes, thereby reducing the burning of fossil fuels and levels of pollution. Yet the report also acknowledges that in our efforts to conserve energy in buildings, ventilation levels have generally reduced. The authors write: “Unless properly addressed in a coordinated fashion through planning, design and construction policies, the pressure to save energy will continue to degrade the quality of the indoor environment. The possibility of colder winters will add to this pressure while, if summers become hotter, the use of air conditioning in domestic buildings may supplant window opening, which will similarly lead to a more polluted, and less healthy, indoor environment.”

We see increasing realisation that we need measures of comfort and wellbeing for building occupants. Behind these measures is a complex balance of factors including heating, cooling, energy efficiency, ventilation, noise, security and daylighting, all directly affected by the building facade. While for new build, the use of building management systems and automated elements may be the answers for controlling the indoor environment, assuming the people inside know how to use and maintain these systems properly, we need to be better at this holistic approach to comfort and wellbeing, particularly when retrofitting energy efficiency measures into the existing building stock.