Buildings affect our Health

Asst. Lect. Alhan Faris Ibrahim
Interior Design Department
Cihan University – Erbil

Following health advice and cleanness issues can help to prevent the spread of diseases and infections. Surfaces cleaning is an important mechanism to reduce disease spreading. In addition to that. We need to use our buildings to fight infectious diseases; this includes coronavirus and influenza viruses, which kill between 300,000 and 500,000 people each year. Designers have to build a lot of outdoor air and control the direction of airflow. Suitable filters and frequent cleaning of surfaces is essential, and we must adjust internal humidity levels and avoid overcrowding.

The disease spreading can be reduced through a set of building designs recommendations that reduce the spread of pathogens like the new Coronavirus such as:

  • Proper ventilation: Introducing more outdoor air into buildings with heating and ventilation systems (or opening windows in buildings that do not do so) helps reduce airborne pollutants, reducing the possibility of infection. We've been doing the opposite: closing windows and closing air. The result is giving a boost to the transmission of diseases, including common lesions such as viruses or common influenza. Airflow control between rooms helps prevent cross-contamination. The simple rule is to move the air from clean places to dirty.

  • Filtration: If the air needs to be completely recycled, we can reduce pollution and contamination by improving the filtering level. Most buildings use low-grade filters that may capture less than 20 percent of the viral particles. Most hospitals use a filter that can achieve more than 80 percent of airborne viral particles. For buildings without mechanical ventilation systems, or if we want to compliment a building system in high-risk areas, portable air purifiers can also be useful in controlling concentrations of airborne particles. Mechanical ventilation systems can improve ventilation and filtration in most buildings. For homes and schools without centralized systems, windows openings playing a role in expelling the old indoor air.

  • Humidity: Viruses live better when moisture decreases - like what happens during winter, or in summer, in air-conditioned locations. Some heating and ventilation systems are equipped to keep humidity in the optimum range from 40 percent to 60 percent, but most are not. In this case, portable humidifiers can increase the moisture in the rooms, especially in the home.