Improve Indoor Climate

More and more people not only want to live beautifully, but also healthily. But how can healthy buildings be built?

And how can the indoor climate be improved? How can you live healthy? The World Health Organization (WHO) defined the term "health" in 1946 as follows: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not the mere absence of illness or ailment." That is why "healthy living" also depends on the terms security, Comfort and well-being. This results in, among other things, requirements

· The temperature and humidity of the indoor air, · the air movement, · the pollution, · the daylight supply as well as

· the shape and color of the built environment.

Modern people spend 80 to 90 percent in closed rooms, which is why the quality of their built living and working environment is crucial for their well-being and health.

The required thermal insulation and the associated energy savings only work if buildings are airtight. In order to save heating energy, the air exchange in inhabited rooms is throttled. However, ventilation deficits can cause thermo-hygric and olfactory discomfort, hypersensitivity to chemical and biological substances and thus an impairment of well-being. Inadequate air changes can also lead to room air humidity being in an uncomfortable range (see comfort diagram in the slide show).

The "natural air conditioning"

Due to its special sorption capacity, clay can have a moisture-balancing effect. Clay walls and walls plastered with clay prevent the air humidity from being too low. As a result, the airways do not dry out as easily and the risk of infection decreases. This is a point (not only) that has a high health relevance for older people. That is why planners, for example in senior housing, always use clay plaster in combination with suitable paints, such as a silicate paint.

Thanks to sophisticated clay-sand ratios and adapted sieve lines, clay plaster systems suitable for machines are available today. Clay plaster does not set, but solidifies solely by drying the mixing water. In terms of ecology and sustainability, clay plaster is undisputedly number one. Because loam does not have to be converted by energy-intensive processes (in comparison to the burning of lime, gypsum and cement).

The clay plaster look differs from the uniformity of painted surfaces. Smoothing with the smallest possible smoothing trowel (a so-called Venetian trowel) not only leads to a much better surface strength by pushing the clay tiles together and pressing them into the clay plaster, but also to a velvety marbling play of colors on the clay plaster surface. In order to maintain this surface appearance in all its naturalness and in no way to impair the exciting light reflections depending on the incidence of daylight or artificial light, we only recommend spraying the clay plaster surface with dilute silica fixative to increase the abrasion resistance. This is highly recommended, particularly on areas subject to greater wear and tear, such as in public buildings, kindergartens or hallways. Corners and edges are worked as rounded as possible. Fabrics are required wherever they are also used when working with lime plasters (material change in the substrate).

Color and light

Winston Churchill is said to have once said "First, man forms the building, then the building forms the man". Therefore, healthy living for many people also means harmoniously designing rooms. In the Chinese theory of Feng Shui, everything is permeated with the life energy Qi, man as well as inanimate matter. It is then important to design the enclosed space (living space) so that the life energy Qi can flow freely and harmoniously in it. But not only in Feng Shui, but in general the topic of healthy living is deeply connected and permeated with colored design. Because colors have a decisive impact on well-being.

Light is life, it conveys vitality, joy and warmth. Therefore, the spatial design, which includes the lighting design, is an indispensable aspect of healthy living.

sustainability

The topic of sustainability should also be mentioned as an aspect of healthy living. Whoever builds today shapes the environment of tomorrow. Therefore, building is largely associated with great responsibility. Because it is not only important to protect natural areas to a large extent, to take advantage of opportunities for space-saving construction or to reduce energy requirements, but above all to select the building materials according to their suitability and environmental compatibility. Renovation and refurbishment are the ideal case for space-saving construction. Healthy living is possible if the choice of materials, the interior design and building physics factors are brought into harmony. Planners, craftsmen and manufacturers are constantly challenged to find this balance in their daily work.

example

A really successful example of healthy living is the newly built primary school in Hamm, Luxembourg.

The planning took into account not only how much energy the building needs in the operating state, but also the primary energy requirement of the building materials used on this property. Against this background, the decision was made to use a wooden structure with large south-facing glass surfaces, in a very optimized, compact form in relation to the enclosed area.

The draft of the architecture office witry & witry from Echternach in Luxembourg contains many special features: The entire school foyer is grouped around a zone with multifunctional rooms. In the large, open lounge area, which extends over two floors, the light also falls from above through the window openings in the roof area. The central structure in the middle of the building is surrounded by a ditch that is stocked with many plants.

The architects would have liked to have designed this central structure as a rammed earth wall, not only because of its special natural appearance, but also in order to achieve its effect: despite the plant fillers inside the school building, the room air humidity should be kept in optimum balance. The central structure was finally realized in a perforated brick construction in order to have a relatively high internal mass, which is able to store heat or cold, with regard to temperature compensation in winter and summer. In line with the appearance of rammed earth walls, the brick walls were then coated with at least 20 millimeters of clay plaster (clay plasters from the “Viton” product line from Baumit were used). Together the plants havethe fired brick and the clay plaster now have a natural regulative effect on the air humidity.

In the new school building in Hamm, nature is reflected from outside to inside. Depending on the light and the time of year, the play of colors of the clay plaster, the waxed, smoothed concrete floor and the variety of jungle-like plants change.

Barbara Wiedemann, Baumit Source: Malerblatt 07/2010 Room climate The primary school in Hamm / Luxembourg is a successful example of healthy living: natural materials, harmonious colors, lots of light and a healthy indoor climate were combined here. Indoor climate Natural air conditioning: the clay plaster impresses in this primary school building Not only due to its special appearance, but also regulates the room air humidity. Room climate Natural building materials in harmonious colors have a calming effect on people. Room climate Comfort scheme: From a medical point of view, a relative air humidity of 50 percent is considered optimal, up to approx. 35 percent as Comfortable. Indoor climate light conveys warmth and vitality. Rooms flooded with light are therefore perceived as comfortable. Indoor climate The renovation of old buildings is the ideal case for space-saving construction. Natural materials underline the idea of sustainability. Photos: Baumit