Ensure A Good Climate

We live in hectic times, stress and obligations determine our everyday life. Since we are increasingly staying in closed rooms, these should invite you to relax and unwind. In addition, more and more value is placed on a healthy living environment.

Author: Barbara Wiedemann | Photos: Baumit

Everything we do for our health and well-being is becoming increasingly important. The Eurobarometer research project across Europe shows that for three quarters of all Europeans, health is the most important factor for their happiness.

Our health also depends on whether we find inner balance and feel comfortable in the rooms around us. This is in a clear connection with the visually visible designed ambience, color and furnishings.

The air we breathe

Rooms with warm walls, without noticeable drafts, unpleasant smells and a climate that is neither too warm nor too dry or too humid and not too dry make us positive.

These factors are noticeable, but often take place in the subconscious. The room air temperature, the surface temperature of the surrounding walls, the air circulation and the room air humidity have a significant influence on this interaction.

A healthy indoor climate contributes to healthy living. There are various factors that influence the indoor climate:

• Physical factors: These include strong fluctuations in air humidity and temperature, too few ions, air currents, drafts or an increased amount of fine dust.
• Biological factors such as mold, bacteria, viruses and parasites. In addition, there are various allergens with house dust, mold spores, animal epithelia, building materials or plants.
• Chemical factors are smells, solvents, formaldehyde, CO2, VOC and smoke. Unpleasant smells can come from furniture and floor coverings, sewage pipes or from outside.
• Pollutants in the room: VOCs are volatile organic substances that are released into the air through solvents, paints, varnishes and adhesives.

Minimize harmful influences

Prevention and selection of healthy building products can keep the harmful effects as low as possible. Due to the denser construction of modern low-energy or passive houses, there is significantly less air exchange. Pollutants remain in the interior. VOCs in particular ensure “thick air” with reduced air exchange. Extensive ventilation or controlled, controlled ventilation should keep the concentration of pollutants low. This is important and good. The safest option, however, is to avoid introducing pollutants into the interior.

Indoor humidity factor

It is also the plaster that plays a central role in terms of well-being as a surface coating in interiors. Because once on the wall, it usually stays there for a rather long time and thus makes a not insignificant contribution to the indoor climate. Even building materials that are not visible but are covered by other coatings (e.g. masonry mortar, screeds, leveling compounds) can affect the room air. The use of emission-tested products can provide security here.

"Ventilate" moisture

Too high a humidity level increases the risk of mold growth on the walls. This moisture must be ventilated, but is also absorbed by the wall, floor and furniture and later released into the room air. The ideal indoor air humidity is between 40 and 60 percent.

Lime plasters can even have a preventive effect here. Due to their natural alkalinity (high pH value), lime plasters do not provide a breeding ground for mold. Climate Lime plasters are "breathable", are said to be open to vapor diffusion and are designed as natural moisture regulators to improve the indoor climate.

Insulation creates comfort

Good insulation ensures a balanced, comfortable room climate and increases the overall quality of life. A different, but stable temperature in the different rooms of the apartment is ideal. We feel most comfortable at room temperatures between 19 and 22 ° C (depending on the use of space).

To achieve this ideal condition, a warm wall surface is required. If the wall surface temperature is sufficiently high and even, then we immediately feel much more comfortable in the room.

More photos:

PraxisPlus

VIVA research park

Baumit has been dealing with the subject of “healthier living” for many years. In 2015, the manufacturer launched a Europe-wide research project to investigate the relationship between building materials and their effects on the human organism.. The largest building materials research park in Europe was built to simulate real living situations. This means that a wide variety of building materials can be tested and analyzed under the same conditions.

After two years of research, one thing is certain: construction methods and building materials have a significant impact on health and quality of life. According to the research results, healthier living is composed of freedom from pollutants, a healthy indoor climate and improved indoor air.

www.healthyliving.baumit.com

The standardized show houses have a size of 4 × 5 meters and have been provided with a wide variety of interior and exterior coatings.

Photo: Baumit