Focus on Certified Green Buildings: 12 Strategies To Enhance Health and Energy Efficiency Through Integrated Habitat Assessment

Every corporation, every system, and every individual is transforming due to the adverse effects of Coronavirus. We are struggling to get back on track but are still concerned about the shortcomings. Everyone seems to understand and appreciate the importance of good health and a safe environment. “Health first” seems to be a major concern right now and to implement it in our building environment, we need to think seriously about integrating green building concepts into the core design and construction practices.?

A healthy building is the next trend to follow in the world of architecture. An eco-friendly green building design reduces the energy costs related to construction and operations, and at the same time, creates healthy buildings. Such buildings are designed keeping in mind the physical, psychological, social health, and well-being of their users. Occupants of most existing buildings want to adopt green building rating systems on an urgent basis to improve the health and energy efficiency of these buildings. Be it the places where they work, live or play, it is important to drive attention towards the topic of a green building rating programme as people spend most of their time indoors. The Covid pandemic has proven itself as an eye-opener to start caring for the environment around us and keeping its inhabitants safe. Healthy buildings incorporate not only the green building strategies and resource-efficient building concepts but also make a building safe for the well-being of its users.?

Below are 12 things that green building certification programmes help you achieve in a building:

1. Selecting a site is considered the most important component as sometimes the surroundings work better than the architecture itself. Select a site that is connected with city infrastructure, is surrounded by basic amenities, and encourages people to take a walk rather than driving.
2. These trying times have left us all appreciating the value of good quality air and the role it plays to support human life. Indoor air quality is one of the most important aspects of a safe and healthy building. Buildings with poor indoor air quality may lead to chronic lung diseases and breathing problems. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and semi-volatile compounds (SVOCs) can be generated from various building materials such as paints, flooring, cleaning products, etc. Dirt and dust can be a source of exposure to harmful chemicals as well as pesticides and allergens. Effective filtration systems are essential for good air quality. Select building materials and housekeeping chemicals that do not contain such harmful chemicals.
3. Proper natural ventilation eliminates pollutants, odors, and harmful gases that may be generated by diluting contaminants in the air and exchanging the air thoroughly. It is proved that raising the standard rate from 8.3 L/s/person to 15 L/s/person decreased sick building symptoms by 18.8% and increased performance by 1.1%. Ask your air-conditioning provider how much fresh air is being added to the spaces in proportion to re-circulated air.
4. As everything is slowly getting back to normal, optimizing thermal comfort is pivotal. Thermal conditions can affect learning abilities, intellectual performance, task completion, disease transmission, and sleeping pattern. To dispel these negative effects, it is critical to have complete visibility and control over the HVAC systems. With the incorporation of user control over their surroundings, energy consumption can be brought down while earning more weightage when applying for a green rating for integrated buildings.
5. To prevent undesirable moisture and exposure to pollutants and improve inhabitant comfort, it is recommended that the indoor relative humidity should be between 30-50%. High temperatures, flooding, and building maintenance enable mold resulting in poor indoor air quality, to rectify which vapor retarders are installed. One special category is green homes that can benefit from better quality construction and integrated habitat assessment.
6. In today’s world, mental well-being is equally important as physical health. Excessive noise has a direct relationship with poor mental health, hypertension, irritation, discomfort, stress, etc. It is extremely important to negate this factor by implementing sound-absorbing building materials.?
7. The construction process and the materials used can contaminate the water quality through various chemicals and microorganisms. Large water distribution systems in large buildings may house harmful bacteria and the contaminated water may lead to various health issues. Independent water supply, water pressure, and temperature, cross-connections, minimization of stagnation, etc. are some of the solutions which can be implemented.?
8. It’s not just the quality that is getting affected, the groundwater level is also furthering away from the surface day by day. By incorporating stormwater management strategies, such as vegetated rooftops, pervious pavement, and absorbent gardens to capture the water and release it back to the ground. Green building rating systems are available from a few agencies such as the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC),? GRIHA certification from TERI, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) from the US. These rating systems are implemented by green building consultants such as Ecoinch Services Pvt. Ltd. to apply all the theories to actual buildings and improve the health and energy efficiency of buildings.
9. Safety issues are increasing in our country at a rapid pace which brings along a lack of sense of security in people. To rectify this issue, buildings must be incorporated with the latest building automation systems and safety control systems capable of tracking risky behavior and activity to let the inhabitants live fear-free. A green building rating for integrated habitat assessment assures occupants of the integration of technology to serve their needs.
10. Lighting plays an extremely important role in the performance and good health of people. It is crucial to optimize the natural daylight as much as possible and factor it into the design of a building. Architects from Rationale de Design, an architectural firm based out of Delhi highlight the role of this important element. “The building has to be designed in such a way that the daylight can be efficiently optimized in both the summers and winters. More daylight in winters proves to reduce stress and improve human performance but the same light and its associated heat can be extremely discomforting in summers. Thus it is crucial to rightfully design a building and implement various systems, materials, and methods to modulate the negative impacts of this element. Further, the design considerations change from one climate zone to another. In India alone, there are five distinct such zones where design considerations can completely change and be contradictory to other zones.”
11. Brilliant views do reduce stress levels and unhappiness but sometimes an architect is not in control of site selection. In such a case, the interior must be designed in a colorful and contrasting manner to provide good views to the users.?
12. Incorporating all the above components in the building design and construction process is as important as incorporating the needs of its users. A healthy building shouldn’t just promote the good health of its users but also promote happiness and high workability. Social spaces have always proven themselves as a stress-buster and this is the major concept that should be included in all types of buildings. For example, office space is designed with an open-air area or a terrace garden or a cafeteria, or some type of social gathering place. Workers here will not just be happy and stress-free but the work efficiency will also increase resulting in a good office environment and the progress of the company.??

A healthy building considers the needs of every one of its users, incorporates the necessary environmental control systems, and contributes to the well-being of not just its users but its surroundings as well. The time has come for occupants to demand healthy buildings that are certified by green building rating systems for integrated habitat assessment. A new benchmark that needs more importance, just as we are now giving more importance to our health and wellness.