Healthy buildings = healthy people

In the 20 years The Green Register has been operating, construction professionals have come to understand that buildings need to enhance our physical and mental health: healthy building is an essential aspect of sustainable design.

It is a wide-ranging subject, from healthy indoor air quality through to some less well-understood issues such as electromagnetic radiation exposure.

It is essential that the science behind these issues is understood and this series of four half day Building Biology seminars - the UK’s first ever - provides the scientific evidence for all key aspects of healthy buildings.

Delivered by certified Building Biologist and architect Tomas Gaertner, practitioners will gain a deep and thorough understanding of:

• Design process of healthy buildings
• Technical standards
• Good practice guidance
• Specific measurement methods for indoor air quality
• Measurement and evaluation of electromagnetic radiation exposure and assessment of possible health risks
• Case Studies illustrating best practice

Buildings today often contain inherent chemical, physiological and biological risks as a result of materials and processes employed by the construction industry in a drive to minimise costs and build times. Simultaneously the UK currently falls behind European and International standards of best practice concerning the use of many materials.

Building Biology is the holistic study of the interrelationships between humans and their man-made environment. It is the science of creating healthy, life enhancing buildings. The Institute of Building Biology and Sustainability was founded in Germany in 1983 and from this the Building Biology Standard (Standard der Baubiologischen Messtechnik / SBM) was developed. This standard (most recently SBM-2015) gives an overview of the physical, chemical and biological, risks encountered in different parts of a building.

Our course is presented by Tomas Gaertner, one of the experts in the field. Tomas is an architect, certified Building Biologist IBN and founding Director of the Building Biology Association, the UK Partner of the German Institute for Building Biology IBN. He is also a director of SE3Design a design led RIBA chartered practice specialising in human-centred, ecological and sustainable design.

The Building Biology movement is growing with over 6000 architects, doctors, surveyors and material suppliers trained internationally to create interiors which promote life within the built environment.

All Dates:

• 6 February 2020 am – Building Biology 1: So much more than just another Ecolabel
• 6 February 2020 pm – Building Biology 2: Compliant Material Specification
• 13 February 2020 am – Building Biology 3: Compliant Services Design 
• 13 February 2020 am – Building Biology 4: Testing Methods and the SBM2015

On average we spend about 90% of our time indoors and 30% of our time in bedrooms. With these exposure times even low concentrations of potentially harmful substances can affect our health in the long term and cause chronic diseases. More vulnerable inhabitants like children and elderly persons are particularly exposed to this risk.

Event One: Building Biology – so much more than just another Ecolabel

More than 150 different ‘eco labels’ are currently in use in the UK for marketing of all sorts of products and materials – from household goods to building products and entire buildings. It has become a game of ‘Top Trumps’. The more we tick as designers the more sustainable our buildings, when in fact most of these labels are only industry driven sales tools with little practical benefit for the project or end user.

The building biology standard (ie SBM 2015) has no intention to add to this. This standard is all about the environment we create within our completed buildings. Designed around the 25 building biology principles and based on scientifically proven testing methods, the standard defines measurable criteria that allow to test whether the environment within our buildings is healthy for the end users. This session will outline the 25 building biology principles, give an overview of design strategies to meet this challenging standard, how other UK performance-, eco- and health standards compare and which of them are useful when assessing materials and products.

About the trainer:

The sessions are based on the content of the Building Biology distance learning course and will be delivered by Tomas Gaertner.

Tomas is a certified Building Biologist IBN and founding Director of the Building Biology Association, the UK Partner of the German Institute for Building Biology IBN. He is also a director of SE3Design a design led RIBA chartered practice specialising in human-centred, ecological and sustainable design. In 2013 he set up the first accredited UK Building Biology Consultancy and over the last few years helped the IBN to bring their distance learning course on healthy building, which they have been running for more than 40 years, to the UK. Tomas leads on the delivery of the IBN Course’s UK seminar programme. He is a regular speaker at the UK Passivhaus conference and Ecobuild, a fully qualified ARB registered Architect, chartered RIBA member and certified Passivhaus Designer.

Costs:

TGR / ASBP members:  All four sessions: £225 / Per session £65

Non-Members:  All four sessions: £350 / Per session £99

What did delegates say about the course when it was first held in Brighton?

87% of delegates rated the course as "excellent" and the other 13% rated it as "very good"
"Excellent presenter - knowledgeable and engaging"
"The event was perfect - no further improvements in my opinion"
"It was very interesting and Tomas is a knowledgable presenter"
"Well delivered, relevant & good pace"

With thanks to hosts:  

With thanks to partners: