Going outside and breathing fresh air, not being stressed by traffic or having streets full of trees and having green spaces like parks nearby will have a positive effect on our health, as many studies have already shown. However, we spend very little time outdoors, which mitigates these effects. Considering that, according to a much-cited survey from 1994 – even more relevant today – we spend 87% of our day indoors, it’s a good idea to also think about the impact that the architecture and design of those places has on our physical and mental health. This is what biohabitability is all about: designing and building spaces that are not only environmentally friendly, but also healthy.
Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of the Green Building Council (GBC) of the United States, explained at a conference in 2014, constructing buildings with the sole idea of not damaging the environment is no longer enough: their sustainability also depends on the quality of life and well-being they provide to the people who live or work in them.
What is biohabitability and how does it influence building for good health?
“The classic definition of biohabitability speaks of five key points – interior climate, construction materials and equipment, architectural interior design, environment, energy and water and eco-social habitat – but I believe that more than that, it is about focusing architecture on an environment in which health is the main objective”, says architect Jose Luis Esteban Penelas, professor of Architecture at the European University.
These five principles that the expert speaks of are those established by the Institute of Baubiologie (IBN, in German), a German organization, also based in Spain, which is the one that has most promoted the concept of biohabitability or bioconstruction (in German Baubiologie; in English, building biology).
Each of these principles includes five other guidelines, such as reducing polluting and irritating substances and providing sufficient fresh air, minimising the moisture content of new construction, favouring lighting conditions and spectrum close to natural light, conserving natural resources and protecting flora and fauna or selecting construction sites that are not contaminated, among others.
The building as a living being
Biohabitability sees buildings as living beings that are born, develop and eventually disappear, even if it takes several centuries, explains Penelas. For this reason, we seek to use natural and biomaterials, such as wood or ceramics, or those that can be reused, such as aluminium or steel. In addition, the importance of connecting with the environment and with traditional materials is emphasized. In Nordic countries, wood is very important in construction, while in the Mediterranean region, “ceramics and bricks are used more”.
This return to tradition is also a response to the technological prism through which everything was seen a few decades ago. “The international style or modern movement said that any building could be built anywhere in the world, because technology would adapt everything. Many glass buildings have been built, for example, in the south of Spain, where it is unfeasible due to the heat and there is no point in trying to fix it with technology. Bio is related to biology, but from the human point of view. What is logical in a climate like Madrid’s, for example? Well, in terms of orientation, protecting it from the west, using lattices to protect from the sun, etc. It’s the same as when you get dressed and in winter you put on a coat and in summer you go cool”, the architect exemplifies.
This does not mean, however, turning our backs on technological advances that are also revolutionising architecture and construction, but rather using them always without losing sight of sustainability and human well-being. Buildings, returning to the metaphor of living beings, can not only make people sick (there is a sick building syndrome), but can also cause illness to those who inhabit them or live in their surroundings.
The keys to a healthy and biohabitable building
It is not only the IBN that is concerned with studying and promoting healthy buildings. In 2018, the Centre for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment, an agency of Harvard University, published a report in which they explained this biohabitability in nine factors, not all related to construction or design, but also to maintenance: ventilation, air quality, thermal health, humidity, dust and pests, security, water quality, noise and lighting, and views.
Furthermore, since 2013 there has been a certification, the WELL Building Standard, which evaluates buildings precisely from the point of view of the well-being of their occupants. According to the official certification website, these standards will benefit some 25 million people in nearly 74,000 commercial and residential buildings spread across 130 countries by 2024.
In their case, they assess the well-being and comfort of people who spend time in these spaces through eleven variables: air, water, food, light, movement (facilitating exercise, with ergonomic designs or, for example, promoting the use of stairs), thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind (such as contact with nature) and community (universal and accessible design, for example).
The path is clear, but is this already being built on a majority basis or is it still something marginal? José Luis Esteban Penelas explains, first of all, that the economic obstacles are or should already be overcome: building like this is not more expensive, he assures. “It is necessary that the developers and all the construction agents accept it as such”, he says.
However, he does see that, right now, and only very recently, “construction is already immersed in a traditional construction process”, which is positive. There is still a need to move forward with other materials, use mechanized construction systems (but without forgetting creativity, which is key in architecture) and continue with the process of renaturalizing buildings, introducing plants and vegetation.
In his opinion, one of the keys to biohabitability is also to adopt a glocal perspective: it is global because it is spreading across the entire planet, but also local because it must be adapted to the conditions of each place.
Two examples of biohabitable projects
Sustainability and green construction are concepts that have long guided the steps of many architectural projects. The well-being of the people who will use these spaces is also important in all these initiatives. Here are some examples:
Tomas Breton Building
It is the first sustainable CO2-zero residential building in the centre of Madrid. This is an initiative of Distrito Natural, whose communications manager explained to Connections by Finsa that its philosophy is “to create homes that not only minimise environmental impact (especially the carbon footprint), but also promote healthy and sustainable community life”.
Foxos
This 75-home project, which we also told you about in Connections by Finsa, has been recognized with the Green certification awarded by the Green Building Council Spain (GBCE). One of the pillars of this organization’s philosophy, and which it takes into account when awarding its certificates, is the health of those who live in the buildings.
