How does a building biology consultant support your wellbeing?
A healthy environment nurtures healthy people. If the spaces we live in don’t mimic an enriching ecosystem, they won’t nurture our health. If you don’t keep your sanctuary clean and clutter-free, you won’t find the peace of mind you’re looking for.
The truth is that we spend most of our time indoors, whether it’s in the office, a cafe, or at home. This means that we are mostly disconnected from the natural environment and seek safety and comfort inside man-made buildings.
These structures can impact our physical and psychological health to a great degree.
How can we ensure that these spaces don’t affect our wellbeing? How can your home or workplace support your health? This is where the expertise of a building biology consultant can be useful.
What is building biology?
Building Biology is a form of health science. It looks at the relationship between humans and the buildings they inhabit.
A building biology consultant, therefore, investigates and analyses hazards in the built environment and educates people about their potential health effects.
As a concept, building biology originated in Germany in the 1960s and operates on 25 principles, developed by Professor Anton Schneider. These principles revolve around the creation of healthy, beautiful, and sustainable buildings for people to live in.
These principles roughly encapsulate:
• Air quality
• Water quality
• Soil pollution
• Electromagnetic radiation
• Toxic chemicals in cleaning products
• Building materials
• Building design
These principles ensure that the space you live in doesn’t contribute to any negative health effects. Today, they reflect what it means to live or work in a healthy environment and how you can achieve this.
How can buildings affect our wellbeing?
Many environmental contaminants thrive indoors that can affect your wellbeing and prevent you from living a healthy and fulfilling life.
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I like to refer to these as silent thieves. They are quiet and stealthy when it comes to robbing you and your family of your health and wellbeing.
These contaminants can cause a range of health problems including:
- Serious respiratory issues due to the presence of toxic gas and mould
- Poisoning from dirty water and toxic chemicals
- Illnesses from insects and other pests
- Exposure to electromagnetic fields that cause electromagnetic sensitivities
- Undiagnosable symptoms like headaches, skin rashes, sleeplessness or a runny nose
- Emotional and psychological effects such as stress, lack of confidence, and low self-esteem
- Long-term exposure to hazards that cause liver damage, kidney damage, and cancer
How can a building biology consultant help you?
As a building biologist, I help you identify these contaminants and provide you with the necessary recommendations on rectifying these issues. The role of a building biology consultant is to help make your living space healthy. This includes:
- Identifying the presence of environmental contaminants that may be affecting your health
- Investigating the extent of each issue
- Understanding how it may be affecting you
- Identifying how to fix these issues and maintaining a healthy space
Not everyone reacts the same way to the environmental issues present in your home or workspace. Some people have strong constitutions and can cope with almost anything while others react even to low levels of a transient smell of new paint.
With the support of a building biology consultant, you don’t have to worry about long-term exposure to these issues. We investigate their source and provide you with recommendations on how to fix them. These are generally low-cost solutions.
Work with a building biology consultant to make your living environments healthy spaces
Whether you’ve been living in your home for a long time or have just moved in, the support of a building biology consultant can help you make your home a healthy and nurturing space. This is the same for your place of work.
Get in touch with me and find out if your space fosters health and happiness or breeds silent thieves. Take control of your living space before it takes control of your wellbeing.