Building Biology Services
Building Biology attempts to source and reduce the potential health hazards that affect our every day life from the buildings we live and work in. The most effective way of doing this is of course at the design and construction stage of a building. But when the building has already been constructed we have to try to fix up the built in problems.
Any building constructed during the last 45 years has the potential to be considered a 'sick building'.
These buildings have all commonly used materials and products during construction and finishing that have been found to have a negative impact mainly on the Indoor Air Quality, but also on the Electromagnetic environment.
Health problems can come from exposure to moisture intrusion and mould, leaking gas appliances, dirty water storage, dirty air systems, inadequate ventilation, high level electromagnetic fields, radon as well as building products and furnishings that emit toxic and noxious chemicals.
At Building Biology Australia, we would like to think that no-one is going to willingly want to create a building that may have detrimental health impacts for the occupants, and so we offer three main services to assist you to have somewhere to live and work that should be considered to be healthy.
A building environment inspection will investigate and document sources of indoor environmental complaints, then provide advice and guidance for the mitigation of the problem/s found; using safe and non-toxic alternative materials and products and/or building maintenance protocols.
Building Biology works predominately with the elements in buildings that can be measured and where necessary mitigated.
These include:
-
Air exchange rates, humidity and particulate levels.
-
Mould, bacteria, and moisture problems.
-
Chemical contaminants in the air mainly from the materials and products in the building.
-
The effects of the electromagnetic spectrum from static electricity to Geopathic zones, low frequency household power, high frequency radio and microwaves, heat and visible light, x-rays and radiation. Magnetic Field Shielding.
   
Opening up the wall. Installing more insulation. Magnetic Field Shielding. Ready for plastering.
By minimising and reducing the most obvious of the health hazards, the overall living and working environment improves dramatically and the potential for illness connected to the building can be more acceptable for the occupant/s.
By following the Building Biology Design and Planning Criteria we can help you to create a building that is the most appropriate for the site it is to occupy, using as little energy as possible to create and maintain and that will be considered by those who use it to be no threat to their health.
Some of the parameters that we cover in the design stage are the specific microclimate the building will have, the type and placement of ventilation, heating and insulation required, the maintenance of a suitable fresh air mass within the building, reduced moisture and mould problems, reduced indoor chemical exposures, reduced technical electromagnetic fields, and adequate energy efficient lighting.
3. Building Materials.
Building Biology Australia uses a Building Material Criteria to rate individual building materials for use within a building. This criteria covers a range of environmental concerns that can come from the use of various materials and products, like Ecological compatability, Embodied energy, Toxic vapours and gasses, Electromagnetic climate impacts, Diffusability and Hygroscopicity.
The rating a material or product receives allows you to easily see which are better than others and why.
| 