Healthy Buildings

From the very beginning of the development of HVAC services, engaged engineers have been actively improving the techniques for enhanced indoor environmental quality (IEQ), and I also contributed my mite to this goal. However, many efforts failed to achieve more satisfied users through better HVAC systems.

In 1985, Peter Kröling published his study “Besundheitsund Befindensstörungen in klimatisierten Gebäuden” in which, for the first time, the Sick Building Syndrome was mentioned. This study provided the initial impulse for extensive research in this area, also resulting in the foundation of the International Society for Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ), and the organization of a series of triennial Healthy Buildings Conferences, the first of which occurred in Stockholm in 1988. From the outset, this issue has considerably influenced my work, and I wrote a popularized study “A Healthy Building” on behalf of our clients in 1990 and a technical syllabus for the course Climate Control for TVVL under the same title. After participating in six conferences, I instilled my “Ten Commandments for a Healthy Building

1 – Build with healthy materials
2 – Keep the building dry
3 – Keep the building clean
4 – Keep the interior cool and dry
5 – No smoking in buildings
6 – Ventilate – Ventilate – Ventilate
7 – Use the KISS principle!
8 – Give the user influence on the indoor climate
9 – Keep the air filters and air ducts dry
10 – Maintain – Maintain – Maintain

My further research and publications are all related to these Ten Commandments to which “Energy Efficiency” has been included but is always an obvious final link in the chain Safe – Healthy – Comfortable – Productive.