Indoor air quality: the key to a healthy home

Patrick Calvey from Siegenia looks at the importance of air quality within buildings, and the role ventilation has to play in wellness

Wellbeing and the creation of ‘healthy’ homes are topics that have recently gained considerable traction within architectural circles, highlighted by the introduction of the WELL Building Standard and Fitwel certifications. Indeed, last summer RIBA published its ‘Wellbeing In Interiors’ book, further showing what a hot topic this is.

As well as striving for better standards, the increased focus on this topic is also in part a reaction to the poor current state of our buildings. A recently released Healthy Homes Barometer report has placed the UK 21st out of the 28 EU countries in a scale of healthy homes and has estimated that ‘unhealthy’ homes will cost the EU €55.6bn over the next 40 years. It is therefore clear that standards need to improve.

Emphasis is, quite rightly, placed on measures increasing the flow of natural light, retaining heat and energy and on smart products. However, ventilation is a key area that, although it has been on the radar in other European countries for some decades now, often gets overlooked in the UK. Indeed a Healthy Homes Government White Paper published in 2018 stated that 65 per cent of UK homes suffer from poor indoor air quality.

What’s more vital to wellbeing than the air we breathe?

Studies have shown that a family of four produces an average of 14 litres (24 pints) of water vapour each day. And with the introduction of Passivhaus, and modern buildings being increasingly airtight, this brings with it issues such as condensation and mould which can exacerbate, or even cause, health problems such as asthma, stroke and cardiovascular issues. It is therefore vital that any healthy home design includes plans for the consistent, year-round provision of clean fresh air, ideally via mechanical ventilation.

Why mechanical ventilation should be considered

While trickle vents are reliant upon the air pressure differential, mechanical units provide controllable fresh air ventilation and, unlike natural ventilation methods such as the opening of windows, modern mechanical systems can filter out pollen, carbon, coarse and fine dust and NOx particles from exhaust fumes. Furthermore, the sustained provision of fresh air can help to prevent damage to the building structure and windows caused by damp and mould, thereby decreasing future maintenance costs. They also negate other disadvantages of natural ventilation in terms of security, energy wastage, and noise pollution in busy areas.

Noise pollution is another big topic to consider in plans, as it can have similar detrimental health effects to poor air quality, including heart problems and impaired cognitive performance. Not only does mechanical ventilation have the benefit of reducing noise pollution through keeping windows closed, there are also units available that can dampen external noise by up to 50 dB while running extremely quietly at only 20 dB(A). Siegenia, for example, has successfully installed hundreds of thousands of mechanical vents in clean air and noise reduction schemes in proximity to airports and train stations across the UK and Europe, due being designed for high sound absorption performance and low inherent noise.

Centralised ventilation systems are not the only way

When considering ventilation, thoughts often go straight to centralised systems, which can be daunting in terms of the expense and time-consuming, disruptive installation of ducting required. However, single-room ventilation units are available on the market and can be just as effective, while only requiring sometimes as little as 45 minutes to install and one core drill hole in the wall per unit. Nor need maintenance be a costly job. Some filters need only be cleaned or replaced once a year and units are available that will indicate this to the user.

Single-unit vents can also be paired with smart technology such as air quality sensors or apps. They can therefore be set to automatically kick into action when the air quality drops below a certain level, or be controlled remotely via a mobile device to suit users’ needs.

With air quality being so important to health, ventilation clearly ought to be an important piece of the wellness puzzle. If the right system is chosen, mechanical ventilation can provide an extremely positive impact on the health of buildings and their inhabitants and could serve to complement your other wellness measures.

Patrick Calvey is national sales manager at Siegenia-Aubi