Putting the health in homes: Health Based Building
The goal of a healthy home is everywhere these days, and it’s both an essential and admirable one for the building industry. But what does it really mean?
Usually, boxes are considered ticked by stepping up energy efficiency through insulation, and reducing moisture in the home, often through heat exchange systems. At Health Based Building, Director Robin Curtis takes the concept exponentially further towards true sustainable development in home building.
Using the Foreverbreathe Specification, Health Based Building helps people to design healthier homes with the right products, achieving a new standard in high performance building.
“As well as combining high- performance vapour-permeable building materials which migrate moisture away from the indoor space with minimum energy use and loss, the specification goes further to ensure materials do not contain harmful chemicals or potential to release harmful chemicals,” says Robin.
“It’s the external objects within the space around us that shape our health – the walls, floors, doors, paint, soft furnishings, fittings and substructure. And most of the products and materials used to build new homes are chemically advanced, synthetic, processed or treated. This can have a direct impact on human health.
“For example, health organisations have identified many substances that can cause the onset of asthma and many of these are common ingredients of building products,” he says.
The Foreverbreathe Specification doesn’t have to cost more than a typical new home build. The team can help people assess what makes up their space, “we have done it all for them and have a multitude of great products on our website, whether you are building, renovating, or simply changing around a few things,” says Robin.
They even have a Foreverbreathe Specification demonstration home located at 1062 Colombo Street, Christchurch, so people can get a feel and access to data to confirm how it all works in real life.
Call them on 0800 611 711, or check out Foreverbreathe Specification at the website.
