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A Guide to Healthier Homes and a Healthier Planet

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A Guide to Healthier Homes and a Healthier Planet A guide to healthier homes and a healthier planet Is your home making you sick? Why green buildings? Did you know that the construction of the On average we spend 90% of our time indoors1. building, its light source, how it is heated Because the world’s buildings have a direct and cooled or even furnished could be impact on our environment and our wellbeing, we need to look at ways to make our buildings harming both you and the planet? There good for human health as well as beneficial to are easy, affordable steps you can take to natural, urban and suburban environments. make your living space greener and healthier for you and your family, while also reducing Currently buildings and your environmental footprint. construction account for This guide will focus on three key features of your home 36% 39% Light Air quality Thermal and of global of global acoustic comfort energy use2 energy-related carbon emissions3 For each feature we present the latest research on Positive personal action, like saving energy, and the health and environmental impacts of the homes energy-efficient renovation, willnot only unlock that we live, work, learn and play in. We also outline unexpected health and financial benefits in your suggestions for green home improvements, from home, but will also help address what the World how your home is designed to the materials you use Health Organisation calls the biggest global health to furnish it, that help improve your health and your threat of the 21st century4 – climate change. environment, and could even benefit your pocket. Better Places for People Project Sponsors Air quality improvements for a green and healthy home Simple, low-cost strategies can offer you, Air quality your family and the planet huge benefits. Use green energy to improve outdoor air Ventilate your home to clear away pollution by installing solar panels on your the hidden indoor toxins. Increase roof or switching to a renewable electricity air flow and freshness simply by More than half of the air you'll breathe in your lifetime supplier. opening windows or, if outdoor 6 air is polluted, use efficient is inhaled inside your home . However, for 92% of us, 60 x Add outdoor air-purifying 7 mechanical ventilation or the air outside our homes is not safe to breathe . This vegetation to your home, hybrid strategies, powered like a green roof or wall, by renewable polluted outdoor air harms our health and our planet, Around 12,000 litres of that also offers weather energy sources. and infiltrates into our homes. Air pollution can also be air5 is inhaled and exhaled protection. daily – the volume of caused by pollutants within the home. about 60 bathtubs. Did you know? 52% of poor indoor air quality $ can be attributed to inadequate ventilation19. Natural Health impacts $ Environmental impacts ventilation has been seen to reduce lung-related illnesses Many pollutants generated in our homes also damage There are three ways that air pollution can be harmful by up to 20%20, so open to human health in and around our homes and our natural environment. Short Lived Climate Pollutants those windows! communities. (such$ as methane, or black carbon/soot) are dangerous air pollutants that come from fossil fuel combustion, Outdoor air pollution experienced vehicles and agriculture. Such pollutants are powerful when we’re outside is responsible Icon climatetbc forcers in warming our planet. $ Choose non-toxic Icon for an estimated 1/3 of lung disease tbc deaths, 1/4 deaths from respiratory Approximately 45% of global warming (low-VOC) paints infection and 1/6 deaths from heart can be attributed to Short-Lived Climate and furnishings disease and stroke8. Pollutants13. to reduce indoor pollutants. VOCs Outdoor air pollution experienced when can build up to Dramatically reducing Short-Lived Climate 1,000 times outdoor we’re inside. This polluted air infiltrates Pollutants in the years ahead would slow levels within homes, O into our homes, so a significant portion global warming by as much as 0.5 C by and can cause Sick of our exposure to these outdoor air 205013. Building Syndrome, pollutants occurs when we’re indoors9. cancer, and damage to our liver, kidney, nervous system Indoor air pollution produced inside Use clean energy sources and mental performance12. can be just as harmful as outdoor $ Economic impacts for heating and cooking. pollutants10. These include pollution In developing nations, 2 million people die each year from the pollution created from cooking and heating with An estimated 5.5 million lives were lost in 2013 to traditional biomass coal stoves, as well created from cooking and heating with diseases associated with outdoor and household 11 as toxic chemicals, such as Volatile traditional biomass and coal stoves , which is Don’t let your home become a sick building air pollution. These deaths cost the global economy estimated to be the main energy source for 1/3 Organic Compounds (VOCs), emitted Sick Building Syndrome is characterised by a about US$225 billion in lost workforce productivity of global population by 203021. number of symptoms, from mild headache, fatigue from cleaning products, furnishings, and and over US$5 trillion in welfare losses15. China has paints in your home. and dry eyes, to more severe allergies and asthma lost substantial chunks of national GDP due to lower Did you know? Babies and young children are at highest attacks, that occur when you are in a building 16 productivity from pollution – 6.5% in 2016 . The annual risk of health hazards from indoor chemicals22. Crawling with poor air quality. It has been associated with cost of asthma and pulmonary disease is E82 billion babies and young children, due to exposure to carpets poor ventilation and build-up of pollutants like across Europe17 and CAN$8 billion in Canada18, and flooring materials, can be at risk of damage equivalent VOCs, mould and bacteria and carbon monoxide14. which we know is being worsened by air pollution. to the child smoking three cigarettes per day. Icon tbc Thermal and acoustic improvements for a green and healthy home There are lots of affordable things you can do to make your home Thermal and acoustic comfort more comfortable, healthier, and better for the environment. Increase ventilation and air flow for natural Sometimes technology is needed to provide comfortable conditions, An uncomfortable home that is too hot, too cold or excessively noisy can summer cooling. Passive ventilation, ideally like cooling in hot climates. Minimize your energy need and utility with two open areas across a space, can yield bills with a well insulated building, and power conditioning devices 39 cause severe health issues for its occupants. It can also waste energy and up to 25-50% in energy savings from reduced by renewable energy . Solar panels are known to provide a good money. In this section we will look at thermal comfort and acoustics, and air conditioning use20. Ceiling fans can payback on investment across the world, with experts citing between also provide a low energy alternative to 1-4 years to reimburse investment in solar panels for a typical US showcase a range of positive $measures to optimise them for your health, air conditioning. home, while providing 30 years of clean energy. your pocket and the environment. Block unwanted sunlight with external or internal blinds and shades. High quality solar control glazing can prevent Health impacts Environmental impacts incoming heat from sunlight, and awnings and roller shutters have been shown to In most EU countries, only 10% of buildings can Energy efficient homes with good thermal comfort reduce the effect of overheating report good levels of energy performance23. Poor from high quality building fabric enjoy lower heating by 73% and 90% respectively37. insulation and construction of buildings is often the and$ cooling requirements, reducing a home’s cause of$ this low energy efficiency, and can$ severely climate-changing carbon emissions. compromise the occupant’s comfort and health. Air conditioning uses around 6% of all $ 30 65% of Europeans who live in major urban electricity in the USA , and many older areas are$ exposed to dangerously high systems still use highly polluting CFC levels of noise pollution24, which lead to and HFCs refrigerants, which are a health issues like stress, high blood huge contributor to climate change. pressure, hypertension and strokes25. Chronic exposure to noise can also Insulation retrofits across 46 million US adversely affect children’s cognitive homes are predicted to result in 100,000 development26. fewer tons of nitrous oxide emitted, corresponding to 6,500 fewer asthma Respiratory illnesses, asthma, and poor attacks, 240 fewer deaths and $5.9 billion Paint your roof white. A bright white mental health have been associated with per year in financial savings31. $ roof can reflect around 85% sunlight, living in damp, cold housing, which is a whereas a standard grey roof will only breeding ground for mould. Up to one-third Improve building fabric and air reflect around 20%36. A white roof of Canadian buildings show signs of Economic impacts tightness. Insulating walls, preventing helps prevent your home from dampness or mould27, and today 2.2 $ leakage and investing in good quality overheating in hot, sunny weather. million Europeans have asthma, partly Plant trees, shrubs and windows are strategies that have been a green roof to cool your shown to directly improve health. A as a result of their living conditions28. Energy efficient properties can help save on energy home without relying on 15% reduction in days off school has bills. An Australian study on home energy efficiency Comfort tip power-thirsty and expensive been measured among children in Insulation should work three ways Our changing climate is expected to retrofits suggests average energy bill savings of air conditioning.
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