Healthy Buildings

Healthy Buildings

Author: JOSEPH G. ALLEN

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2022-10-18

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0674278364

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Buildings can make us sick or keep us well. Diseases and toxins course through indoor spaces, making us ill. Meanwhile, better air quality and light levels improve productivity. At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has us focused more than ever on indoor air quality, Healthy Buildings shows how much we have to gain from human-centered design.


Healthy Buildings, Healthy People

Healthy Buildings, Healthy People

Author: U.s. Environmental Protection Agency

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2017-07-06

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13: 9781548592493

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is pleased to issue the Healthy Buildings, Healthy People (HBHP) report, a vision for indoor environmental quality in the 21st Century. The importance of the indoor environment to human health has been highlighted in numerous environmental risk reports, including the 1997 report of the Presidential and Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management. On average, we spend about 90 percent of our time indoors, where pollutant levels are often higher than those outside. Indoor pollution is estimated to cause thousands of cancer deaths and hundreds of thousands of respiratory health problems each year. In addition, hundreds of thousands of children have experienced elevated blood lead levels resulting from their exposure to indoor pollutants. The HBHP report is the outcome of a cross-Agency effort to define a strategic vision and potential actions for improving the quality of our indoor environment and was jointly led by the Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) and the Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) with substantial involvement from the Office of Research and Development (ORD). The report challenges all of us to work together to improve the quality of our environment. It can also serve as the basis for discussion and education among professionals in public policy, health, building sciences, product manufacturing, and environmental research. Already, EPA has undertaken program initiatives focusing on childhood asthma characterizing the effect of building and consumer products on the indoor environment, increasing the demand for cleaner indoor products for use in schools, creating standards of care for existing buildings, and designing guidance for new schools. We challenge others, including government, tribes, the health community, academia, non-profit organizations, and industry, to embrace the HBHP goals and work together to invest in the actions outlined in the report. In this way we can begin to make progress towards realizing the vision of HBHP.


The Healthy Indoor Environment

The Healthy Indoor Environment

Author: Philomena M. Bluyssen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-30

Total Pages: 794

ISBN-13: 1134581440

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Despite policy directives, standards and guidelines, indoor environmental quality is still poor in many cases. The Healthy Indoor Environment, winner of the 2016 IDEC Book Award, aims to help architects, building engineers and anyone concerned with the wellbeing of building occupants to better understand the effects of spending time in buildings on health and comfort. In three clear parts dedicated to mechanisms, assessment and analysis, the book looks at different indoor stressors and their effects on wellbeing in a variety of scenarios with a range of tools and methods. The book supports a more holistic way of evaluating indoor environments and argues that a clear understanding of how the human body and mind receive, perceive and respond to indoor conditions is needed. At the national, European and worldwide level, it is acknowledged that a healthy and comfortable indoor environment is important both for the quality of life, now and in the future, and for the creation of truly sustainable buildings. Moreover, current methods of risk assessment are no longer adequate: a different view on indoor environment is required. Highly illustrated and full of practical examples, the book makes recommendations for future procedures for investigating indoor environmental quality based on an interdisciplinary understanding of the mechanisms of responses to stressors. It forms the basis for the development of an integrated approach towards assessment of indoor environmental quality.


Creating Healthy and Sustainable Buildings

Creating Healthy and Sustainable Buildings

Author: Mateja Dovjak

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-05-28

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 3030194124

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The open access book discusses human health and wellbeing within the context of built environments. It provides a comprehensive overview of relevant sources of literature and user complaints that clearly demonstrate the consequences of lack of attention to health in current building design and planning. Current designing of energy-efficient buildings is mainly focused on looking at energy problems and not on addressing health. Therefore, even green buildings that place environmental aspects above health issues can be uncomfortable and unhealthy, and can lead to public health problems. The authors identify many health risk factors and their parameters, and the interactions among risk factors and building design elements. They point to the need for public health specialists, engineers and planners to come together and review built environments for human wellbeing and environmental sustainability. The authors therefore present a tool for holistic decision-making processes, leading to short- and long-term benefits for people and their environment.


Healthy Buildings

Healthy Buildings

Author: Joseph G. Allen

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2022-10-18

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0674287460

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A revised and updated edition of the landmark work the New York Times hailed as “a call to action for every developer, building owner, shareholder, chief executive, manager, teacher, worker and parent to start demanding healthy buildings with cleaner indoor air.” For too long we’ve designed buildings that haven’t focused on the people inside—their health, their ability to work effectively, and what that means for the bottom line. An authoritative introduction to a movement whose vital importance is now all too clear, Healthy Buildings breaks down the science and makes a compelling business case for creating healthier offices, schools, and homes. As the COVID-19 crisis brought into sharp focus, indoor spaces can make you sick—or keep you healthy. Fortunately, we now have the know-how and technology to keep people safe indoors. But there is more to securing your office, school, or home than wiping down surfaces. Levels of carbon dioxide, particulates, humidity, pollution, and a toxic soup of volatile organic compounds from everyday products can influence our health in ways people aren’t always aware of. This landmark book, revised and updated with the latest research since the COVID-19 pandemic, lays out a compelling case for more environmentally friendly and less toxic offices, schools, and homes. It features a concise explanation of disease transmission indoors, and provides tips for making buildings the first line of defense. Joe Allen and John Macomber dispel the myth that we can’t have both energy-efficient buildings and good indoor air quality. We can—and must—have both. At the center of the great convergence of green, smart, and safe buildings, healthy buildings are vital to the push for more sustainable urbanization that will shape our future.


The Healthy Workplace Nudge

The Healthy Workplace Nudge

Author: Rex Miller

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2018-04-11

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 111948023X

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Discover how healthy buildings, culture, and people lead to high profits Organizations and employees now spend an average of $18,000 per year per employee for health costs, a 61% increase in 10 years. Every indicator projects these costs will double before 2030. This is an unsustainable path. These costs are the tip to an even bigger iceberg, the hidden costs of time out of the office, distraction, disengagement, and turnover. The Healthy Workplace Nudge explains the findings of research on 100 large organizations that have tackled the problems of employee health costs and disengagement in five fresh ways: Well-being leads to health and high performance Wake up to the fact that 95% of traditional wellness programs fail to improve health or lower costs Behavioral economics has become a new powerful tool to nudge healthy behavior Healthy buildings are now cost effective and produce your strongest ROI to improving health Leaders who develop healthy cultures achieve sustainable high performance and employee wellbeing In addition to proving highly effective, these approaches represent a fraction of the cost sunk into traditional wellness and engagement programs. The book explains how to create a workplace that is good for people, releases them to what they do best and enjoy most, and produces great and profitable work. • Find actionable strategies and tactics you can put into use today • Retain happy, productive talent • Cut unnecessary spending and boost your bottom line • Benefit from real-world research and proven practice If you’re a leader who cares about the health and happiness of your employees, a human resource professional, or a professional who develops, designs, builds, or outfits workplace environments to improve employee health and wellbeing, this is one book you’ll want to have on hand.


The Power of Existing Buildings

The Power of Existing Buildings

Author: Robert Sroufe

Publisher:

Published: 2019-11-12

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 164283050X

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In The Power of Existing Buildings, academic sustainability expert Robert Sroufe, and construction and building experts Craig Stevenson and Beth Eckenrode, explain how to realize the potential of existing buildings and make them perform like new. This step-by-step guide will help readers to: understand where to start a project; develop financial models and realize costs savings; assemble an expert team; and align goals with numerous sustainability programs. The Power of Existing Buildings will challenge you to rethink spaces where people work and play, while determining how existing buildings can save the world. The insights and practical experience of Sroufe, Stevenson, and Eckenrode, along with the project case study examples, provide new insights on investing in existing buildings for building owners, engineers, occupants, architects, and real estate and construction professionals.


Intersections

Intersections

Author: Kathleen McCormick

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780874202823

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Based on worldwide public health data, this report lays out the premise for building healthy places and illuminates the role of the real estate and development community in addressing public health issues. This is an essential resource for public officials, real estate developers, engineers, consultants, and students of urban planning.


Green Healthcare Institutions

Green Healthcare Institutions

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2007-06-14

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 0309179432

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Green Healthcare Institutions : Health, Environment, and Economics, Workshop Summary is based on the ninth workshop in a series of workshops sponsored by the Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine since the roundtable began meeting in 1998. When choosing workshops and activities, the roundtable looks for areas of mutual concern and also areas that need further research to develop a strong environmental science background. This workshop focused on the environmental and health impacts related to the design, construction, and operations of healthcare facilities, which are part of one of the largest service industries in the United States. Healthcare institutions are major employers with a considerable role in the community, and it is important to analyze this significant industry. The environment of healthcare facilities is unique; it has multiple stakeholders on both sides, as the givers and the receivers of care. In order to provide optimal care, more research is needed to determine the impacts of the built environment on human health. The scientific evidence for embarking on a green building agenda is not complete, and at present, scientists have limited information. Green Healthcare Institutions : Health, Environment, and Economics, Workshop Summary captures the discussions and presentations by the speakers and participants; they identified the areas in which additional research is needed, the processes by which change can occur, and the gaps in knowledge.