Sustainable Urban Rooftops with UrbanStrong

Green Roofs for green buildings

Welcome to episode 041 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and interiors. This week I'm back in Brooklyn, New York talking to the Principal of UrbanStrong Alan Burchell.

Alan trained as a mechanical engineer, with a background in HVAC and plumbing systems then slowly migrated across into renewable energy and eventually to vegetative rooftops so he has a very technical, hands-on take on the practicalities of urban greenery solutions.

Green Rooftop for wellbeing

We discuss trends in rooftop gardens in New York in the wake of Covid lockdowns, the wellbeing benefits of connecting with nature on a rooftop, as well as the economic and environmental benefits of a green roof from a range of different stakeholder perspectives - occupants, developers and city government.

We look at green roofs and stormwater management, new legislation pushing for green and solar rooftops on new build projects in NY, the opportunities in rooftop food production and green roofs in the context of the healthy buildings concept.

Vegetative Roof Benefits

Arguably my main takeaway from this convo is the interconnectedness of benefits once one brings nature back into the city via the rooftops, they deliver multiple functions at once, even if the building owner is not actually interested in half of them! It’s a valuable insight and Alan has a positive message to spread, so enjoy the episode and hit subscribe to receive next week’s download too.

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Conversation highlights

It doesn’t feel right that with we have so little opportunity to connect with nature here given the huge percentage of our lives we spend in dense urban centers.

Green roofs clean and cool the air, sequester carbon and provide rooftop habitats for birds, bees, bats, butterflies, and much more. 

Farm-to-table is great but roof-to-table is even better

Green roofs perform multiple functions with societal, environmental, building operations, and mental health benefits, all simultaneously. 

Building owners should be thinking of their rooftops as buckets instead of lids, because there's money falling out of the sky.

Solar panels lose operating efficiency when the ambient air around them gets too hot but Plants cool the air around them through through evapotranspiration so when you install solar panels directly on top of green roofing, the plants cool the air underneath the solar panels and help them to produce more electricity

GUEST / ALAN BURCHELL / PRINCIPAL, URBANSTRONG

• https://urbanstrong.com/

• LinkedIn

• Insta

• Facebook

• Book reference: Nature's Best Hope

• Brooklyn Grange Farm

HOST / MATT MORLEY / WELLBEING CHAMPION

• https://biofit.io/

• https://www.mattmorley.net/

FULL TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS COURTESY OF OTTER.AI (excuse typos)

MM

Alan tell us about your background in sustainability and how you came to be the principal at UrbanStrong

AB

Sure thing. First of all, Matt, thanks for having me. It's a real honor to be on the show. So formally, I trained in undergrad as a mechanical engineer, and a lot of mechanical engineers who don't know what they want to do coming out of school University wind up getting sucked into working for consulting firms, specifically engineering consulting firms.

So I worked at a mechanical electrical consulting firm who did all kinds of work for different building types. And I specifically was designing HVAC systems, plumbing and piping and fire suppression systems for banks, condos, restaurants, you name it, that was a little bit dry. I was a little bit young, that was kind of living for the weekends. And I realized I needed a change. And I didn't know this term at the time. But what I was looking for was a career path with a vein of some sort of social responsibility going through it. 

So I went back to school, I did a business degree and found the world of renewable energies. And within the world of renewable energies, wind energy was most appealing to me. It had the dynamic nature of wind turbines that appealed to the mechanical engineer in me, but then the renewable green energy component that appealed to the the outdoorsman and the environmentalist

 I worked in that industry for a Spanish wind turbine manufacturer at their North American corporate headquarters just outside of Philadelphia. 

Eventually, then, I wanted to get further entrenched in the world of sustainability. I started studying up on the space and I found the world of green vegetated rooftops and that really checked a lot of boxes for me because I'm a big city as much as I love the outdoors. I really like big cities, I've had the blessed opportunity to live in several around the world. Toronto, Barcelona, London, Shanghai, Philadelphia, now New York, and it never sat well with me the idea that in order to connect with nature, someone had to get out of the city, like go up to a cabin or cottage lake house go to the beach. 

It doesn’t feel right that with we have so little opportunity to connect with nature here given the huge percentage of our lives we spend in dense urban centers. 

 I had a side interest in architecture, interior design, and every cubicle or office I've ever had has always been chock full of plants.

I realized that green roof systems are multifaceted in their benefits, and that they offer to building owners, people battling climate change, municipalities looking to mitigate issues that plague modern day dense urban centers… they checked all these boxes. 

So I went into the world of green rooftops, I first naively thought, Great, I'll start my own Green Roof Company. And then I realized very quickly that there are already several people doing this design build firms in New York City doing exactly this. So I couldn't really go from never having heard of green roofs to being competitive in the New York City Market in a short span of time.

Instead, I decided to insert myself in the market in with the only tools that I had with me, other than enthusiasm for green roofs, and that was engineering system sales. And so from my previous career, I started basically offering third party, freelance business development or a really dirty word for it would be brokerage of green roof sale. 

I would go out and beat the streets and look for clients and building owners, sell them on the idea of green roofs, and then connect them with green roof design, build firms, collect a bit of a commission, and then move on from there. 

That evolved very quickly into offering the same for rooftop solar, living walled gardens. And then over the years, it's grown and grown in line with the sustainable buildings concept!

I offer them a range of sustainable green roof and green building consulting services from design, build or long term maintenance for green roofs, living walls, rooftop solar, advanced stormwater systems for rooftops, and all of the above.

MM  

In the end you are offering a kind of vertically integrated service / product offer which makes complete sense because once someone jumps into bed with you, it's natural that they should want a complete service from one trusted sustainable green roofs supplier. 

You mentioned New York, we can hear background noise from New York, which sounds brilliant, but like tell me what's happening at the moment there. What's the scene looking like? How have you seen a change over the last few years? And where do you see it going? Like what's what's happening there specifically in your location, your city, your hometown?

AB

Look, COVID cannot be ignored. It probably finds its way into every episode of your podcast in one way or another right?

How I've seen it specifically impact our industry, our multifamily residential, Co Op, condo buildings and whatnot. Those folks who perhaps had declined to move forward with a rooftop amenity space or green rooftop amenity space in the past, found themselves calling us back up during COVID saying, ‘Okay, we get it now, we really see the value in having a private rooftop garden space exclusive for residents in the building where they can access without having to go out into public.’

And we used to sell it as ‘Hey, wouldn't it be nice to take a mug of tea up to your own green roof rather than having to go out to a city park and people really understood that during COVID. 

So, demand for outdoor terrace spaces and for green space has really increased from that perspective. Similarly with everyone quarantining and working from home more so than ever, people are critically evaluating their indoor surroundings and asking whether how this space contributes or maybe negatively affects their mental health. 

And so people are now starting to click into realizing that plants are a great prescription for the quarantined and so people were looking for ways to bring greenery into their home, whether that's on a terrace in the form of a little green roof on the rooftop, a lush green roof or indoors as living walls. 

Because you can only fit so many potted plants on your windowsill or on your bookshelf and then you run out of space and if you want to go heavy with the greenery you've only got so much floor space but a lot of people have excess wall space so you could build a living garden wall really lush out green out your indoor space but not consumed that valuable footprint real estate.

MM  

That talks to the ‘mental wellbeing’ and healthy buildings side, the human aspect to it, I think we can all connect with that at a very primal level but there are economic and environmental benefits, too. How do you see those two factors playing into a decision making process around installing one of these green roofs in a sustainable building, whether or not they are pursuing a green building certification? 

AB 

Sure, it really depends on which stakeholder we're talking about Because the New York City government are motivated for people to build green roofs for a host of reasons. Private property owners and building owners are motivated to build green roofs for a very different set of reasons. 

The thing I like before we get into those reasons about that situation, though, is with green roofs, regardless of which set of benefits you're most interested in, and what's motivating you to buy the green roof, you get the other benefits as part of the package. 

It's like if you and I buy the same swiss army knife, you may be buying it for the Phillips screwdriver and maybe I want it for the tweezers and the scissors. But we get each other's tools when we because we're buying the same swiss army knife. 

most green roofs being built in New York City, if we're being perfectly honest, are by wealthy people who are building these lush green oases, you know, terraces or rooftops because they want a calm, green natural space on top of the city where they can drink rose wine spritzes with their friends and relax. 

As the environmentalist I like green roofs because they're managing stormwater, sequestering carbon, providing habitat and food for migratory and local species and whatnot. 

But whether the clients care about that stuff or are aware of that stuff or not. Either way they are providing the city or the general public all of those benefits when they build their swanky rooftop garden oasis, as far as direct benefits, and this is how I've definitely seen things change in New York dramatically. 

speaking from the city perspective, many of the older, larger North American cities are battling a stormwater management crisis. And that's because our sewer systems were designed 150 years ago, when there was only a fraction of the pavement space and everything was, you know, the island of Manhattan was mostly farmer's fields above the absolute downtown. 

So rain didn't really go into the sewer, it all landed on the open green space. And 150 years ago, there was only a fraction of the toilets now, you know, population a 9 million that's a lot more toilets in the world 150 years ago, so there's nowhere for the rainwater to go except hitting pavement going into storm drains or hitting rooftops and going down the scuppers into the sewer drain. And there's way more wastewater being generated, and then going being sent through indoor plumbing directly down into the sewer. 

We in in several North American larger cities on the east coast, the older ones at least like Toronto, New York, DC, Philly Chicago, we have what's called a combined sewer system. That basically means there's it's a single pipe system, so rainwater and toilet water all goes down into the same pipe on a dry day where you can still manage to process all of it at the wastewater treatment facility. 

But in New York City, for example, it only takes 1/20 of an inch of rain that's about between one and two millimeters of rain is all that's required to max out the city's wastewater pipe going down to the wastewater treatment facility. And so the excess rather than having it pushed back up and through people's toilets, and flood their homes, or push back up through the roof through the storm drains in the streets and flood the streets, the excess is just allowed to flow over through what are called combined sewer overflow points. And there's 460 of these combined sewer overflow points lining the New York City Harbor. And people put really, really gnarly stuff down the toilet, way worse for our health than feces and urine. 

We're talking like, you know, illicit drugs, expired birth control medication, cancer medication, broken glass batteries, I mean, people are animals, and they put awful stuff down the toilet in the privacy of their own home. And all of that is flushing out into our local waterways here in New York and the local waterways of all the other cities I just mentioned to you, whenever there's more than two millimeters of rain in the city or you know, 1/20 of an inch. 

So, that is a major problem that cities are being fined at the federal level to clean jp. And so now the options are, you know, tear up the sewer system and put a new one in which is preposterous that could never possibly happen to New York, or you know, put down more parkland. But you know, every inch of New York City's developed you can't tear up a city block and put a new park but nothing says these Park parks have to be at grade level and nothing says these parks have to be continuous they can be distributed parks cut up into tiny places and put up on top of the rooftops where the rainwater lands. And so basically green roofs, these many little rooftop parks act as sponges, they absorb the rainwater right where it lands on the roof. 

Half the water never makes it off the roof because it's just used for photosynthesis and Evapo transpired by the plants up into the atmosphere. And the rest of the water takes its time to percolate through the system. 

Green roofs clean and cool the air, sequester carbon and provide rooftop habitats for birds, bees, bats, butterflies, and much more. 

So there's a whole host of environmental reasons why cities like green roofs, they also like rooftop solar here in New York City for reasons that should be obvious by now. 

So a big change that I've seen recently was as part of New York City's Green New Deal or the climate mobilization act, I and a few other people testified at City Hall back in January 2019. In support of a few key pieces of legislation, they were all unanimously passed, but a big one that's going to have a major impact on the skyline of New York City, specifically, its rooftops is something called local law 9294. And this basically mandates that all new construction and certain retrofit projects must install either a green roof or a rooftop solar, there are certain exclusions if it's too sloped, or if you don't have the structural capacity or if it's too shady, or whatnot. But nonetheless, this is going to have a massive impact in in driving change to the greening of New York City's rooftop. 

So this is a big change, it only really came into effect about a year ago. And so this is for all new building permits. And as buildings start to go up, you're going to see the number of green roofs and solar installations in New York City, honestly skyrocket. So that's an exciting, exciting change here.

MM  

That's the city in a way laying out his vision for the future in terms of how roofs need to play a functional role in protecting the city itself and the urban landscape from from climate change from the negative impact that we're bringing, just by building cities of this.

AB

Absolutely. I mean rooftops are the front line, whether you're talking about the photons from sunlight or the raindrops from clouds, one of the first things they're both hitting is the rooftops in the city. So that's a frontline defense to capture these photons and use them to generate electricity. 

I may also add that as you capture these photons on solar panels, that means they're not hitting the roof membrane and not heating up the membrane and not sending all that latent heat baking down And driving up air conditioning bills in the summertime. 

Green roofs do the same thing. The leaves of plants are actually the plant solar panels because that's their food energy, if you will, from the photons and use it to photosynthesize, and grow plant more plant matter. But again, they're intercepting those photons or preventing them from hitting the roof membrane - plants can act as the first line of defense yet in New York City, less than 0.01% of rooftops are greened in any way and it's a very much out of sight is out of mind situation.

New York City is like a lot of other really expensive urban centers around the globe. It's absolutely obsessed with real estate, the cost of real estate, the cost per square foot to buy or own or rent or whatnot. And yet no one does anything with the rooftops they max out every square centimeter of their apartment yet building rooftops are completely undeveloped - I find that odd but that's changing as the city realizes it's a massive wasted opportunity to solve many problems that plague urban centers around the world.

MM  

I sometimes see a rooftop used for an element of food production, whether that food is then consumed by those living in the building or whether it's distributed or handed out to those in need in the local area, whatever it may be.

Do you see that as an exception rather than The rule when it comes to how to utilize a rooftop, or are there real benefits in terms of making a more resilient city so that there's more local kilometer zero production happening on site around NYC around Manhattan?

AB

It's a bit of everything - all of the reasons that I've mentioned above that why city municipalities, city governments like green roofs, it doesn't matter whether the plants, at the very top layer of the green roof are ornamental amenity space plants that are there just for aesthetics, or if they're there as food crops, they're still performing all of the critical functions and offering the same benefits as every type of green roof does in terms of stormwater management, sequestering carbon, insulating buildings, providing habitat for species and whatnot.

I think urban food production on rooftops is a massive opportunity for cities around the world - we encourage all of our green roof clients to dedicate at least some portion of their green roof to a little urban agriculture culture plot 

As I'm looking out the window right now, my neighbors are Brooklyn Grange - one of the largest rooftop farms in the world, here in New York. So that's a fully commercial operating farm on top of a commercial building. But there's plenty of green roofs in a city where maybe it's an amenity space on a multi a private, you know, residential building, and maybe the residents will ask us to dedicate, you know, a few square meters off to one corner, for like a little tomato plant growing a little plot there or something like that. 

Yeah, there's plenty of opportunities to create sustainable green local jobs, and then produce food that's either used if it's in a commercial entity, like for the the building tenants themselves, or can be sold or distributed or donated to the local community. And it definitely speaks to improving the resiliency of the city.

Most cities are importing their food from other cities or other countries. And the more that you can grow locally, the less reliant you are on other cities for your food production. So you're certainly becoming more self sufficient in that regard even before considering the transmission emissions, I mean, if we're trucking, you know, fresh fruit in from California, it's got to come all the way across, it's not quite as fresh by the time it gets here, it's also expensive to truck it in, and there's certain carbon emissions related to all that transportation to ship it over. So all of that is eliminated, when you can be growing right off the roof.

farm to table is great but roof to table is even better

Matt Morley  

So the key point I'm picking up there is that it's not one or the other, the way these natural roofs work is that they can do multiple things at the same time. So you're not neglecting for example, improved biodiversity by adding an agricultural component to your green roof. In fact, it's multiple layers of benefits rather than one to the exclusion of anything else.

AB

green roofs perform multiple functions with societal, environmental, building operations, and mental health benefits, all simultaneously. 

And, and passively, you know, whether we like it to or not, again, the people who are if a wealthy couple just wants to build a fancy rooftop garden amenity space just for their own family, let's say those plants are still sequestering carbon cleaning and cooling the air you know, thermally insulating the space which reduce improves their energy efficiency and probably reduces their reliance on fossil fuel power plants. 

And again, maybe they don't care about all of that maybe they're not aware of it, maybe they don't care for a lot of our clients, we will if in in lieu of any input from them around plant species selection, we are going to lean heavily towards favoring native and adaptive plant species so as to you know, improve conditions for local and migratory species

If anyone wants to deeper dive on this topic, there's a book called nature's best hope. And it's by Douglas Tallamy, he speaks extensively on the topic of the urgent need for people when they're doing landscaping, in their homes, around their buildings, whether it's on the rooftop or at grade, using native plants that are native to the area or adaptive rather than bringing in these plants that are not native to the region and maybe are going to require quite a lot of resources in order to keep them alive and whatever your respective microclimate is. 

And then also they could be potentially, you know, we, the concrete jungles are creating these like these, these these blot out of blue down at a loss for words here, these these scorched earth kind of patches all around the globe where nature can't really thrive, or birds, who maybe after, you know, hundreds of generations are of programming are used to flying that migratory path when they're used to touching down there to rest, or seek food or, or, or or procreate, they can't do that now, because it's all some urban sprawl is created a concrete spread. 

And so anything that we can do to recreate what they're used to having there as far as greenery that houses the bugs that they want to eat, or provides habitat for them to build nests, or rest, anything we can do to help with that will reduce the impact that our urban centers and urban sprawl are having on the local ecology.

Matt Morley  

So when you zero in on solar panels, for example, where you're really integrating a technical component, perhaps more of an engineering angle, there, the benefits presumably reduce and focus more on the environmental impact the economic play rather than nature. So when you're proposing those, what are the conditions under which you would typically propose solar panels to be in the mix or to be the dominant force on any given rooftop?

AB

I'll give you the highlight reel, but it's actually such an involved answer sometimes. And it's, it really needs to be determined on a case by case basis that, you know, years ago, we actually, we realized we were giving away so much upfront free consulting for buildings, because they would call up and say, Hey, we've got a roof Should we go green roof for solar, we see that you offer both. And there would just be such an involved process to determine which is best for them and their goals and their budget - we now offer it as a branched off consulting service, in advance of either building them a green roof or a solar, you know, we're sort of It's a discovery process, if you will, or a service. 

On a really high level, there's a few things you know, we can either go process of elimination, like a lot of time, people will call up saying they want a green roof and I started asking them questions, and one decision or another or one element or another could kill the green roof project and green roofs, they get killed, they die on the vine all the time. And then that leaves them with what they feel is a useless rooftop.

 I say, well hang on, there's always solar, you know, when it comes to solar money is falling out of the sky and solar panels are buckets. So your your roof is far from useless, it can be a great source of passive income for your building, especially now that it turns out that you can't build the green roof that you wanted for whatever reason. 

So for example, solar panels are quite are quite lightweight, they're really only about five pounds per square foot. I'll let you translate that into kilos and put that on the show notes compared to say solar sorry, compared to say green roofs, which at their lightest are going to be say 15 pounds per square foot and but they get heavy very quickly. 

As a little rule of thumb green roofs tend to weigh six and a half pounds per inch of depth per square foot. And a minimum at the minimum, you're the average green roof is three to four inches. So we're talking at least 18 to 25 pounds per square foot compared to solar that's five or six. 

Now that to be clear, that's when the green roof is fully saturated or holding the most amount of stormwater that it's it's designed to from an engineering perspective. But that's not including. If it's meant to be a public amenity space and or just amended in official amenity space listed on the building certificate of occupancy basically, are you officially decreeing to the city that this is an amenity area for the building? 

Because the moment you do that, in New York City, for example, you have to show that you have structural capacity at 100 pounds per square foot if people are going to be walking around up there. 

So if you have a deck, and people are going to be congregating there with any regularity, and then you have greenery around it, and that's your green roof, you're going to need at least 100 pounds per square foot in the areas where the people congregate. And so a lot of buildings don't have that. 

And so that's an a lot of building owners will say, well hang on, if we can't use it as an amenity space, we don't we don't want it as a green roof. And then that that's that's frequently what kills a lot of greener projects in New York City. So then you're left with solar?

MM  

I'm sure it's a question you're asked often by clients, no doubt far earlier in the process than you might like. But inevitably, the economics of all this has to come into play at some point. There are some big numbers involved. I know. But why don't we just have a quick overview if we can have the financial side, and what we're looking at in terms of these green roofs, and how perhaps different sizes, if it's shapes or densities or planting strategies can all affect exactly how much the overall budget equates to.

AB

So that really ranges. I mean, it just depends on so many different factors. It's hard to speak absolutely about this, because it changes even within New York City, the exact same green roof technology, because beneath the plants was a wide array of technologies, the exact same green roof technology, in the exact same neighborhood of New York City on two very different buildings could cost $17 A square foot or it could cost $60 per square foot.

I'd say the two big the two biggest factors are economies of scale is massive for green roofs, because what a lot of construction projects make mobilization is a big one. 

So to make an extreme example, if you're mobilizing a crew, maybe you're getting a crane permit, you put design hours and just to make an extreme absurd example, if you're doing all of that for one square meter or a one square foot green roof now just to make an example, right, the all those costs per square meter per square foot would be outrageous. 

But if the exact same designer, same crane permit, same crew mobilization same design, ours is allocated over 500 square meters or 100 square meters or 500 square feet 1000 square feet, you can obviously see that that cost per square foot is going to drop like a stone. 

Similarly with solar panels, oh that so but sticking with green roofs, the other thing that can really drive it would be access. So I mentioned there a second cranes, I mean, if we can crane the material up that's one efficient way to get a lot of material up to the roof very quickly. 

However, depending on what part of New York City that you're in, that crane can cost anywhere from $5,000 a day to $40,000 a day. Depending on the permitting do you have to block off the road you have to build these protective sidewalk sheds so that people can still walk along the sidewalk underneath. So the crane costs cranes can either save you a lot of money with efficiency or kill the project with additional costs. 

But at the other extreme, you know, sometimes for like a brownstone, like the classic brownstone roof. Sometimes the only way to get material there is for the installers to carry it on their back up a ladder through a hatch in the ceiling. And that's obviously that's not as efficient as a crane. 

A good in between would be they have these things called blower trucks. And so basically a big almost like a dump truck but full of growing media or let's call it soil for now for the green roof that pulls up out front of the building. And there's a giant hose that can go up like six storeys tall, and it blows the dirt like a reverse vacuum from the truck up six storeys, and they just spray it like a garden hose, but it's dirt. 

So that's a great way to convey materials up. And yeah, I'm kind of going all over the place here. But access and economy of scale as far as the square area of the project can greatly affect the cost per square foot of a green roof. 

I'd say similarly, there's there's different types of green roofs, right? I mean, we have there's very gorgeous like alarmingly beautiful English Garden meadow looking things that you may see if a five star hotel is building a rooftop amenity space, they're going to want the highest end landscaping green roof up there possible and they're going to want it to look that nice and green and well kept for as many months of the year before the winter kicks in. 

Contrast that so that's going to be very expensive on a per square foot basis. You know, you'd have like top of the top of the line automated irrigation to act as an insurance policy. In case there's not enough precipitation, you're going to want to have nice lighting and benches, paver stones, walkways a wide range of herbaceous and woody species and you know blue different you know, you're going to want to sink a lot of time and energy and money into the design of that, you know, you're going to want a Professionally licensed landscape architect attacking that problem to really make sure that it's looking absolutely banging for as many months of the year. 

Contrast that with, say, a sprawling, single storey warehouse in an industrial park, who may be they never plan on going up there, they never plan on seeing it, they only want it because it's going to protect the roof membrane from UV degradation. 

So they don't need to replace the roof membrane every 20 years. Instead, they replace it every 50 or 60 years. And all that green matter up there, as I mentioned earlier, is going to intercept the sun's energy, the photons and soak up that otherwise, he energy that's going to hit the roof membrane and beatdown for a lot of these single storey warehouses, their air conditioning bills are absolutely astronomical in the summertime. 

And it's just to keep the plants sorry, the warehouse warehouse plants are operating at a comfortable condition either for the goods that are being stored inside, or for the workers that are in there. And if you just have a black tar bitumen roof, and the sun is baking down on that, and you're a single storey building, your AC bills can be astronomical, but a thin, basic crummy looking, you know, low hanging fruit bargain basement, green roof, that's only one or two inches deep. 

And you have systems which are sort of in the cactus family, they're like drought tolerant, they're not the best looking, but they're the workhorse plant species and green roofs, if you just build the most basic green roof possible, and you could do that for you know, depending on the size of the roof, maybe, you know, 15 or $18 per square foot, that's before any tax breaks that are available, you could slash your air conditioning bills in that building by anywhere from 60 to 80%. 

So that just from the air conditioning bills alone, you pay off that green roof in no time. And, and then again, you could just frankly, let it go to help you don't care what it looks like, you know, because it's not an amenity space, you don't really need to spend a lot of money upfront on expensive looking plant species. And you don't need to spend a lot of time maintaining it, you can just kind of let nature take it over and let it turn into a real nature roof so to speak.

MM  

Okay, so then the flip side of that, surely is is the benefits and the return on the investment or just the outgoings at the front end. But what the owner developer landlord is getting back over the medium to long term.

AB

Yeah, from an accounting perspective, building owners see the rooftop as a cost center. No one thinks about their building rooftop making money from they just think, Oh, God, this damn thing is going to leak again. And the only think about is how much money they're going to need to reinvest to put another layer of patchwork and new waterproofing on top. And they don't realize and instead of being a source of headache and stress and a cost center, it can be a revenue generator and a source of joy. 

You can catch money falling out of the sky, whether that's photons from sunlight or stormwater if you're in DC, it can be your piggy bank on top of your roof. 

Building owners should be thinking of their rooftops as buckets instead of lids, because there's money falling out of the sky.

Matt Morley  

I love that! You mentioned stormwater there. 

I wanted to pick up on that topic because it's a big one in terms of sustainability and environmental impact. And there's clearly a lot of potential there. 

So how do you typically talk about the stormwater angle on a green roof when you are discussing options with a client? And what are the overall benefits and opportunities there from your perspective?

AB

Okay, so they have a program in Washington DC, where they're basically stormwater. It's such a major issue in Washington DC, that they're basically those buildings who manage more than what building code requires them to in terms of the amount of rainwater that they can hold on the rooftop are awarded credits. 

And those buildings who cannot manage enough rainwater on their property on their rooftop are fined exorbitant amounts of money. And then they basically then need to buy their way out of these fines by buying the credits from those people who have them for doing a better than basic building code level of managing stormwater. 

And there's a there's a stormwater credit trading program in Washington DC around this topic. And I expect this as because the cities are falling like dominoes here in North America who aren't mandating green roofs for any number of the reasons I mentioned earlier. 

And as you're going to see that stormwater becomes a bigger and bigger problem and as fresh quality water and cleaner waterways are becoming more prioritized, you're going to see stormwater credit trading programs like that implemented, and I and so what's happening is people are then realizing that they're, they are then motivated, especially at the beginning of design to turn their buildings into bathtubs that can hold as much water up on On the rooftop as possible, because the more that they can go about building code, that's just free money for that they basically get awarded these credits, which have real value. 

And so green roofs can do that we have these called Blue roofs and blue green roof, you could basically have a system that looks like a milk crate, these plastic cells that can be, you know, anywhere from 10 to 60 centimeters deep, filling the rooftop and then on top of that, you put paver stones so that people can walk around and they just think it's a regular amenity space, but really below them could be half a meter of empty void space where rainwater is stored instead of cisterns in the parking lots are underneath the building. 

And they are awarded annually, not an insignificant sum of money for doing so. Then the other thing we didn't talk about was green roofs when integrated with solar panels. 

Solar panels lose operating efficiency when the ambient air around them gets too hot but Plants cool the air around them through through evapo transpiration So when you install solar panels directly on top of green roofing, the plants cool the air underneath the solar panels and help them to produce more electricity. 

So even if you can squeak out half a percent improvement in the efficiency of a solar power plant a CFO of that company loves it. But if you can actually tell him, Hey, I'm going to reduce your efficiency loss by six to 8%. I mean, that's in the summer months, that is a massive amount of money. And so plus you didn't get so basically you have you have all the benefits of the green roof on the system, you have all the benefits sorry, the greener system, you have all the benefits of the solar system, and you get more electricity from the solar. So solar integrated, green roofs are big. 

And then if you want to combine all of them that below that you could have the 40-60cm of rainwater retention and the blue roof hidden beneath immediately beneath that green solar green roof area. So there's so much going on and rooftops and so much is going to happen in the next five years that people are going to realize rooftops are a vastly underutilized resource to either make bank or or solve climate change issues or improve mental health. You know, you name it.

What is active travel as a healthy building strategy?

Image courtesy of Active Score case study / Castlemead

Healthy buildings and active travel

The active travel concept is now well established within the healthy buildings movement. Essentially it’s about supporting micro-mobility, and the facilities that such forms of transport to and from a building require from a landlord or developer.

Micro-mobility includes jogging, cycling (be it on a standard, folding, or baby carrier bike) and e-scooters.

Supporting this active travel concept as a sustainability minded real estate developer equates to increasing the quality and range of on-site facilities available for active commuters as a way to encourage them away from private vehicle use or public transport.

All of this feeds neatly into additional green building and healthy building certifications but may require additional expertise beyond that offered by an architectural studio in order to truly future-proof a building in anticipation of further growth in active commuting - that is where ActiveScore and their community of ActiveScore Accredited Professionals can help.

See our 9-point guide to healthy buildings here.

how does active travel relate to real estate ‘esg’?

Environmental, Social & Governance strategies for a real estate asset are now a fundamental part of any forward thinking developer’s plans. By promoting active travel to/from a building, there are tangible reductions in CO2 emissions as less people rely on their own vehicles or public transport to travel to and from work.

By taking action to deliberately foster a community of active commuters, opportunities are created for social bonding and interaction, especially important in an era when working from home has become a viable alternative option to office life.

The health and wellbeing benefits, both physical and mental, are obvious - getting to work on foot, by bike or even on an e-scooter is simply a more positive experience in many ways than taking a busy tube or bus, even sitting in rush hour traffic.

Finally, the Governance piece involves a landlord / building management team taking responsibility for communicating the services and facilities they have available to all occupants, both new and existing, by leveraging a smart building app for example.

What is Active Score for Active Travel?

Based on the principle that a building’s health and wellbeing facilities are a strong driver of desirability for a potential tenant, and their workforce, the Active Score Certification offers a set of standards that help landlords, leasing agents and indeed prospective tenants know what a specific building offers by way of active travel facilities.

The certification is broken down by 70% infrastructure, 20% occupier engagement services and 10% future proofing. Benchmarks are taken against the WELL Building Standard, BREEAM and a local borough’s planning guidance.

In the first instance, a lack of basic facilities such as showers, parking and lockers can prevent cyclists, runners or those with an e-scooter from making their own way to work, thereby placing extra pressure on the roads, specifically in the form of public transport and car usage.

The impact of Covid has in fact meant a boom in the use of such micro-mobility options, so this is a particularly interesting time for commercial real estate developers to be dialling up on their active travel facilities in an office or mixed-use building, for example.

Occupier engagement services meanwhile can include bike repair on-site, cycle training, creating a cycling club and so on.

What is Active Travel Score?

Active Travel Score was set up by James Nash in the UK, we interviewed him for our Green & Healthy Places podcast here. He’s a serial entrepreneur in the cycling sector and the man driving the company today. A number of different ‘scores’ are on offer, from the basic 'Certified to Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum 100.

In 2021 they certified 85 buildings in eight countries. Amongst them was 100 Bishopsgate, a 181m high building in central London developed by Brookfield Properties. It received a perfect Platinum 100 score thanks to its dedicated Active Commuter Park (ACP) and extensive occupant facilities making it arguably THE reference point for healthy buildings and active travel in the UK today.

Adopting ActiveScore equates to engaging with them in one of three ways. Firstly, a basic level building certification for a minimum period of two years. This includes recommendations on how to improve the assets’ overall active travel friendliness, including infrastructure and soft measures, to ultimately make it a more healthy building

A second option includes all of the above with the addition of a consultation with an ActiveScore surveyor - including advice on the building’s existing plans and product specification.

Finally, the team can take a more proactive, design-lead approach by providing detailed drawings of active travel facilities, active travel product specification and advice on look and feel of the active travel area. In other words, they do the leg work for you, whilst also ensuring the building is maximized for wellbeing credits in WELL, BREEAM, etc. in the relevant active travel credit categories.

What is an ActiveScore Accredited Professional?

We recently completed the process of becoming an ActiveScore Accredited Professional and found it to build very much on such green building and healthy building certification standards as WELL and FITWEL, as well as LEED and BREEAM, so having prior knowledge of some or all of these is a considerable advantage. You will hit the ground running in other words, rather than coming at this subject completely fresh.

As an ActiveScore AP one is responsible for marking a project for its active mobility credentials, topics include the number and variety of bike and e-scooter parking spaces, security measures in place to protect them, the extent of the shower facilities and related services, community building efforts around active commuting amongst building occupants, the look and feel of such parking areas as well as their location, ease of access, and so on.

Indoor Air Quality with Kaiterra CEO Liam

Talking Healthy Buildings and Indoor Air Quality with Liam Bates, CEO of Kaiterra

Welcome to episode 40 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality. I’m your host, Matt Morley, Founder of Biofilico healthy buildings / wellbeing interiors.

This week I’m in Beijing with Liam Bates, CEO of Kaiterra, a company creating indoor air quality monitors combined with a software component that evaluates that data to drive improvements in indoor environmental quality and ultimately reduce energy expenditure.

We discuss outdoor air quality’s impact on the air we breathe indoors, what uncomfortably high CO2 levels in enclosed meeting rooms mean for our mental performance, the importance of continuous 24/7 365 data monitoring of indoor air, how efforts to create more sustainable buildings in the past may have inadvertently created less healthy buildings, the levers available to us to improve poor quality indoor air and how buildings, landlords and employers need to up their game like never before to encourage workers back into the office.

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GUEST / LIAM BATES / CEO OF KAITERRA

• www.kaiterra.com/

• Kaiterra Air Academy (blog)

• www.linkedin.com/company/kaiterra/

HOST / MATT MORLEY / WELLBEING CHAMPION

• LinkedIn

• www.mattmorley.net/

• https://biofit.io/

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Conversation Highlights

• Most of the buildings in which we spend our time weren't created with the health and wellbeing of the occupants in mind.

• As we moved towards putting an emphasis on a building’s energy efficiency, it often came at a cost to the ventilation, and as a result the quality of air inside a building.

• Thanks to IOT products and the cloud we now have the potential to monitor indoor air throughout an entire building 24/7 and 365.

• Making the buildings in which you live and work slightly more energy efficient is going to bring far larger returns in terms of impact on the planet than driving an electric car, or becoming vegan.

• It's not like you can see air - without a sensor, you really have no idea what's going on. But once you can see it, suddenly there are changes available that have a rapid impact on both occupant wellbeing and the building’s sustainability.

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FULL TRANSCRIPT COURTESY OF OTTER.AI (EXCUSE TYPOS)

Liam Bates

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So, in a nutshell, what we do at Kaiterra is create solutions to help people, companies and buildings understand, measure and ultimately improve their indoor environment, while also reducing their carbon footprint. So low carbon healthy buildings.

As human beings, we spend around 90% of our time indoors. And the reality is that most of the buildings in which we spend our time weren't created with the health and wellbeing of the occupants in mind.

Sometimes it's an afterthought. But in the vast majority of cases, it's not even a thought at all. It's never really been a consideration. And given the massive impact that the environment has on how we feel and how productive and how happy we are. we think it's really important that there's

So more concretely, what we're doing is we're making hardware, physical products to measure environmental quality, specifically air quality. And then we have a layer of software on top that helps sift through that data, helps people understand it, visualize it, analyze it, and ultimately helping people to make more data driven decisions to improve their indoor environment.

Matt Morley

So if we start big picture, it's always worthwhile on these discussions to establish upfront what the negatives are, what the risks are. If we look at what the health risks risks are of poor quality indoor air, I think there's a general acceptance of outdoor air pollution. But when we look at indoor air in cities, what's going on there?

Liam Bates

You brought up a really interesting point there which is outdoor air quality, we often think that there's air pollution only outside, maybe in Beijing or in New Delhi but of course it's an issue almost everywhere in the world, the vast majority of the planet does have issues with outdoor air quality as well.

Indoor air quality is driven by what's going on outdoors. Some of the obvious examples are- if there's a wildfire burning, as we've seen happen more and more on the West Coast, or the US bushfires across Australia.

You see the same thing in Singapore. So if the outdoor air is polluted, the air indoors is usually not very much better. So that's one factor. The other is essentially poor air quality that is created from within the building. And there are a few different parameters here.

Some that most people might be familiar with would be CO2 levels. We've all we've all been in that meeting room where there's too many people, not enough ventilation and you start to feel claustrophobic, hot, even, sleepy, you think somebody needs to open a window… that’s due to an increased level of carbon dioxide in the room.

But there's also other important parameters to indoor air quality - Volatile Organic Compounds, VOCs, these are chemicals that are given off by furniture in the room, paint on the walls, sometimes even the people in the rooms as well.

Particulate Matter (PM) is the third main parameter that is of concern for indoor air quality - that can come from the outdoors, smog, it can also come from indoors. And let's say the poor ventilation between the kitchen and the office, or even someone vacuuming the carpets in the morning, and kicking up dust into the air. Anyone with asthma will know exactly what I'm talking about.

There's a lot of research that shows both short term health impacts and productivity impacts as well as long term health impacts of indoor air quality.

Matt Morley

A lot of the guidance and advocacy for a greater integration of indoor air quality monitors in new buildings, and in refurbishments, particularly in big cities like London, here in Barcelona, is being led by the healthy building, the sustainable green building movement. How does that connect with your work? Specifically the certification systems for healthy buildings for example.

Liam Bates

There's definitely a massive trend in in that around healthy buildings in general, and around the importance of monitoring, and specifically continuous monitoring within those. So I think maybe a few a few steps back into history.

There's been a focus on sustainability for longer than there has been healthy buildings. And we've known that energy efficiency is important.

Unfortunately, often the indoor environment came at the cost, I'd say a degradation of the indoor environmental quality.

So an interesting example that I sort of always like to use, which is a little bit extreme, is that if you wanted to make the perfect sustainable building, what you would do is you probably build a concrete block with no windows, no doors, thick concrete, and no ventilation system, and you’d leave the lights turned off all the time. And then your building wouldn't be using any energy.

And it would be incredibly sustainable. But it'd be terrible for anybody that was inside that building. And that's obviously an extreme example. But historically, as we moved towards putting an emphasis on a building’s energy efficiency, it often came at a cost to the ventilation, and the quality of air inside the building.

What’s driven a lot of the new certifications would be the WELL building standard, as well as RESET.

WELL has a strong focus on healthy buildings in general, with a focus on air but also water, nutrition and light while RESET is more closely focused on on air quality specifically. And what's interesting with both of these, is that they've really been leading the charge when it comes to continuous monitoring.

That is making a shift from historically how we took measurements in buildings, which is having someone come around maybe once a year, with a large laboratory grade instrument, putting it in a room, taking a reading, sometimes even writing it down on a notebook, and then coming back one year later to see if things were better or worse. And so it's really just a one point in time measurement.

Whereas what we're seeing now, which is really enabled by the shift in IOT products, connected products, more integrations with building management systems, but also with the cloud, is that now we the potential to monitor indoor air throughout an entire building 24/7 and 365.

These building certifications are now allowing, more points or more paths to certification through the utilization of this data. And I think that's a great thing. Because it's really providing a true picture of what's going on inside the building, as opposed to what was it like this one day when someone happened to come in, which is kind of like rolling the dice.

If, if it happened to be polluted outside, it would look like your building was performing badly. If somebody happened to just clean the carpets that morning, and there were chemicals in the building, it might look like your air quality is terrible, or vice versa. And that's really not how we should be making decisions for where we spend 90% of our time as human beings, especially in the 21st century, with all the access to data that we have, uh, you know, I really believe that we should be making data driven decisions.

Matt Morley

It's a fundamental shift in how we think about monitoring our air, I think it's important that we give that historical perspective. If you do that at the beginning of a flush out, or post construction, you typically leave it there for any any number of weeks, depending on how it was built, right?

And you might take a recording at the beginning of that flush out another one at the end of the flush out and then and then that was it. But really, then you've no idea you are flying blind for every consecutive day after that until the next air quality monitor reading, right.

I think this is it's really empowering system to be able to say that the building management, and therefore, you know, if the transparency and the communication around it can be as simple as a digital screen at the entrance and reception lobby, right, just saying, look, here's what's happening today, here's where we're at in terms of where the outdoor air quality vs your indoor air quality.

What are the levers available to improve indoor air quality?

Liam Bates

It’s a complicated answer, we have a lot of work to do, because air quality, when you think about it holistically is not as simple as, let's say temperature.

If you're in a room, and you feel cold, you know that there's one simple solution, which is to increase the temperature. And when you increase it to a certain amount you will feel comfortable, at least from the thermal comfort perspective. And you can also you know exactly what the building needs to make it happen.

And you can also work out what the energy consumption is, it's a relatively simple equation to translate how somebody is feeling into what should be done, what the impact is of making those decisions.

Overall air quality is a lot more complicated. At the most basic level, how much outdoor air are we bringing into the building. If you have high levels of carbon dioxide, that means that you need to bring in more outdoor air - adjusting the ventilation rate is a way that you can impact that.

Natural ventilation vs outdoor air pollution

Of course, you can also do that by opening the windows. These things come at a cost potentially however, because what happens if I open the windows and there is for example, ozone, present outside is, you know, relatively common in many parts of the world, or what if there's particulate matter because next to a highway.

So, this is where it gets a little bit more complicated and where a lot of our our development and engineering work goes as a company is, is understanding the relationship between these different parameters and how they interact so that ultimately, an intelligent decision can be made.

filtration rates of indoor air

Then you have of course, the filtration rate in an HVAC filter. So what is the grade of the filter in the air handling unit. Again, that comes at a cost, the higher the grade of the filter, the more particles that will filter out, the cleaner your air will be but there will also be less air coming to the building.

Green and healthy building priorities

And so it's all a balancing equation between these different parameters, and also bouncing between sustainability, or carbon footprint, and the health and wellbeing of the occupants.

chemicals used in Cleaning & building operations

Changing the hours in which cleaning takes place, this is one of the highest potential highest ROI things that you can do. A lot of companies had cleaning schedules that were in the morning, and especially with everything COVID related, those cleanings became very thorough, deep cleaning even, which is of course, a great thing, except that a lot of the chemicals that are used in the cleaning process are not necessarily very good for the people that breathe them in.

The reality is that we are quite often using these toxic cleaning materials on on tables or floors and then they're off-gassing chemicals into our air, so we're breathing those toxic gases in throughout the rest of the day.

So without having continuous monitoring, where you can see this 24 hour trend, you wouldn't necessarily see that you have by cleaning at 6am in the morning created an enormous spike in chemicals at 8am when everyone comes into the office.

A very simple change, clean at 6pm instead of 6am. It's outside of working hours, but that spike happens when there's nobody in the building. And then it drops throughout the rest of the night. And as long as you turn on, maybe there's still some residual chemicals in the air at, let's say 6am.

But as long as the ventilation system comes on at 7am, one hour before anybody enters the building, they're walking into a clean, healthy environment rather than one that is potentially quite contaminated.

Matt Morley

Therefore we have what happens before the occupants enter the building. So that might be construction and interior fit out phase. And then what's going on during the operation and building management phase. So you sort of think of it in two major blocks.

You've mentioned the low carbon footprint and energy efficiency piece. I just wanted to dig into that a little bit if we could just to establish the connection between your indoor air quality monitors and energy efficiency - how do you join the dots between those two?

Energy efficiency and indoor air quality monitoring

Liam Bates

So maybe some background data, first of all on the just the impact on the planet of buildings, our mission is very human driven, but it's also very much driven by wanting to have a positive impact on the planet. And so some of the you know, some some of the facts here that really shocked me when I first learned were, number one, just the impact that the the impact the planet that buildings have on our planet.

The operation of buildings, so building operations account for approximately 28% of all co2 emissions, which is an enormous number.

It's just running buildings is a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. And that number is not really going down because we're building more and more buildings. We build a brand new New York City in terms of buildings every single month.

So over the next 30 years, we are going to be adding a huge number of buildings to this planet, and all those buildings have operations going on. So there's, there's this this huge impact on the planet. And when it comes to building operations, the single largest contributor to energy consumption.

We spend so much of the world's energy, just moving air around a building and heating it up and cooling it down. So enter in any, any optimizations that we can have on that front will have a huge impact on the planet.

But the reality is that making the buildings in which you live and work slightly more energy efficient is going to bring far larger returns in terms of impact on the planet than driving an electric car, or or becoming vegan.

In the same way that when people are in a space, we want to make sure that the air is optimized, and their health is prioritized. And so that can mean things like having low levels of pollutants, when people are not in a space, we don't need to spend that, that same amount of energy, ventilating or filtering that space.

The question is, how can we utilize this data to make more intelligent decisions run and essentially optimize how we run the space to save on energy. And so the simple way to look at it is, if if somebody is in a space and the air quality is poor, then we should be taking actions to improve that air quality. And quite often that, that that's by increasing ventilation rates, for example.

Well, just like we would do that if if the air quality in a space is already optimal, or if there is nobody in the space, then we don't need to continue filtering more air and bringing in more fresh air from the outside. So it's really just about understanding what is at the most basic level, essentially demand control ventilation. That's sort of the most basic example here, which is that if a space is already great, let's not waste energy, trying to make it even better.

So an example would be if you're recently on the West Coast of the US, for example, we've seen a lot of examples around where there were there's pollution coming in from the outdoors from wildfires. And it's actually quite a complex process to work out what is the the best thing to do from a building perspective, when that's going on? Should you bring in more air from the outside and try to filter it should you re circulate more air internally, should you have some combination of the two of these.

If you simply have a very basic kind of control algorithm going on, you might be essentially noticing that the air is bad and just pumping more and more and more air from outdoors inside to try to clean it. But at the end of the day, just bring in more smoke. So it's really about having optimizing the logic in the system to not trying to clean when that doesn't essentially not try to ventilate more when it doesn't make sense.

That wasn't a great example, let me share another another one from a concrete example from a project that I was just looking at a couple of days ago, where the the ventilator ventilation system was essentially being turned on and run at levels that were unnecessary about 27% of the time. And this was often tied to parts of the building not being occupied, or people and not having a clear idea in real time of which parts of the building were actually being utilized in which way but by looking at the changes in indoor pollution, and that could be a combination of co2 and VOCs, you actually start to identify this part of the building, that building is being used more than other parts.

The second floor right now, even though it was planned to be used has three people in it and it's being ventilated for 100 people. And so it's just about shifting, where some of that that load is going maybe from one air handling unit to another and the result is that you get better overall air quality and lower overall energy consumption.

I think that does clarify and particularly within the context have the sort of extreme example that you gave of this sort of perfect closed building with with no ventilation at all. And in many ways, sometimes I think some of these other buildings that are just not smart in any way, are effectively managed in that same way. And there's just no visibility, there's no transparency around what's going on inside that space.

And it's, in a sense about taking responsibility from the building management side, right to say, Well, look, there are things we can do to make this a healthier space for the occupants. But there's also things we can do to reduce the, the carbon footprint of just keeping this building alive and keeping it going as an occupied space. And, you know, stepping up and getting a handle on what's going on in terms of indoor air quality is is both good for the people and for the planet. I think that's, that's the message that I'm that I'm getting and that we want to try and communicate out there.

Indoor Air Quality monitor installation

Matt Morley

So if we kind of go a level deeper, and we actually think about this whole process of how Kaiterra get involved, how they monitors are planned installed, and where the value is delivered over the sort of short to medium term, it took us through like how typically, who's bringing you in? Like, who's your contact person within the building project or real estate management team? And what are the steps that you then go through in terms of installing your, your hardware and software?

Liam Bates

This actually ties quite nicely to your question, but also the last point that you were making.

A really interesting example. So okay, so I guess, to answer that question directly, we work with a few different groups, typically, this initiatives around the indoor environment, could be coming from sort of a sustainable sustainability perspective.

So often, that would be we'd be working with the, let's say, the director of sustainability. It could be coming from facilities management, who are receiving a lot of complaints. People are complaining, either people are either complaining because they they, they just feel bad in the space.

Or it's simply that they they're concerned. And there's no transparency. And that's that's definitely a major issue this year, especially as with all the news that's that's been around around the transmission of viruses. What is my facility doing to prevent this? And what is the quality of air because there is a well known correlation between these two things.

And the third direction that we often get brought in is is from a call it sort of an employee experience, perspective. And so that might be driven by HR head of people. It depends on the firm, but really trying to say what can we do to make sure that our occupants are happy and healthy and productive, and they feel great coming to work. And I think this is really being this is becoming more and more important in the future, because a lot of companies still want to have their people come into the office, at least a few days a week.

Indoor air quality post Covid

But it's not, it's you know, it's not like things were before and things have changed, the world has changed. And if you're, you know, if you're asking me to come to the office, or you want me to actually come to the office, because I want to it hopefully, you know, it needs to be a pretty good office, it needs to be better than my home, right? I have to want to go into the office and of course, have human interactions, but also be in a physically comfortable, mentally stimulating environments that maybe I don't get in my living room.

And so that's also a big piece of what what is driving sort of initial reach out with us. And often we come in sort of interact with these, these different groups together. A really funny example was a project in, in the US in the Bay Area that we were working on recently. And we were analyzing some of the data and working with the customer and looking at it and saying, Well, you know, we can see that your, you have excellent air quality when when the space is occupied, and the air quality isn't great overnight. But that's fine, because there's nobody there.

They said they're saving energy and the air is great when people need to be there. However, on the weekends, from the data, it looks like the HVAC system is still running. And you have great air quality throughout the weekend when there's nobody there. And this is a really interesting sort of discussion that takes place between facility management and the sustainability people and the employee experience people were nobody had realized that they had set this facility management had set a timer to try and optimize for occupant experience and energy efficiency to turn on the ventilation system at specific hours.

The building was most occupied. But no one had bothered to turn it off on Saturday and Sunday. So this building was running, you know, full power for two days a week when there was nobody there. And that is just such low hanging fruit.

That, you know, just kind of observing this conversation is really interesting, because you've got the sustainability person that's going wait, we're doing what, why there was a, I don't know, just set up this way.

Our solutions were were installed in the project, we work with multiple different stakeholders. And within a very short period of time, I've been able to find some some really obvious problems that you wouldn't otherwise see.

Obviously air is invisible. It's not like you can't see it without a sensor, you really have no idea what's going on. But once you see it, suddenly your eyes are opened, and there are changes that you can make that have very rapid impact on again, both people and sustainability.

Matt Morley

I think it's a crucial point to get across - buildings are not necessarily healthy places to be, especially if the installation, the furniture, the paint, etc, haven't been chosen for low toxins or toxic qualities, etc. So I think that's one thing.

The other thing is that the game has changed Post COVID. The world is not going back to how it was. Employees are just asking a lot more questions. HR teams are rightly asking more from the buildings they inhabit.

You reference the connection between the transmission of airborne diseases, ie COVID, amongst others, and indoor air quality. So let's try and quell any doubts, how do you stand on that position says there's a lot of confusion out there around this. What do we need to know about airborne diseases in indoor air quality?

Airborne diseases and indoor air quality

Liam Bates

I mean, there's a reason that we put, you know, you put a mask over over your mouth, because there are particles that are coming out when you breathe, and they spread throughout a building.

If you have, if you have an HVAC system that is recirculating air, that's obviously not great. So it's really important to take the right strategies, when it comes to how you handle air quality and how you handle your air because viruses are in the air, they latch on to particles, if if there are physical things floating around in your air, which there always are.

Air is not just molecules of oxygen and nitrogen floating around. It's also all these particles, and a lot of things stick to those particles.

So in summary, I think there's absolutely no doubt that air quality and the air is tied to the transmission of viruses. There's plenty of evidence that shows this, both when you look at the particles in the air, but also the importance of having the correct levels of humidity, relative humidity, and so on. All of these things have an impact. And there's, there's there's really no doubt anymore at this point.

Matt Morley

I really encourage everyone to get a handle on this. Because if we're out there in the world of interiors and real estate, you kind of need to be up to date with what's happening.

Healthy Materials Advocate - Parsons School of Design

We recently completed the Parsons School of Design certificate in Healthier Materials & Sustainable Building. So how is the Parsons Healthy Materials Lab ‘making buildings better’?

What is a healthy building material?

The basic premise behind the Healthy Materials Lab is that building materials can negatively impact occupant health by a number of routes, primarily:

• ‘volatilization’ of chemicals in those building materials (a.k.a off-gassing of Volatile Organic Compounds) most commonly in wet-applied materials and composite wood products

• chemical degradation of materials due to exposure to water or sunlight, thereby releasing chemicals from the material into the indoor air'

• abrasion can do much the same thing as materials are scuffed or rubbed while in use, releasing chemicals into the air

• oxidation of materials such as burning or rusting, a process that can release harmful substances into the indoor environment

• leaching, as materials dissolve into liquid such as water, for example as occurs in lead pipes

• climate change has a negative impact on outdoor air quality, that in turn finds its way into our buildings, especially when inadequate ventilation system filters are in use

These chemicals can then get into the body via a number of routes, such as:

• inhalation

• ingestion

• hand-to-mouth ingestion (having touched a dirty surface)

• absorption through the skin or hair follicles

• breastfeeding

• placental transfer meaning babies can be exposed to chemicals even before they are born

In terms of the impacts on our health, there are are number of main risks to be aware of, including:

• asthmagens - asthma

• carcinogens - cancer

• endocrine disruptors - infertility

• preterm birth via exposure to VOCs, formaldehyde, benzene and particulate matter (PM)

• autism via exposure to environmental factors such as air pollutants and mercury

• obesity via exposure to PFC (perfluorinated chemicals), flame retardants and phtalates

To counter balance what can seem a disturbingly long list of health risks, as wellness interior designers and healthy building consultants we can and indeed should demand ever greater transparency from material manufacturers.

If we don’t know what’s inside a product, or even worse, if a manufacturer doesn’t know everything that’s in their own product, based on the Precautionary Principle it has to be classified as a risk for the health of the interiors or entire building in question.

In practical terms, this means giving health a seat at the design table, right up there alongside form and function.

We are, in short, talking about a fundamental shift towards healthy design strategies, whilst maintaining the aesthetics, quality and durability of traditional design.

It is not one or the other, but rather an expanded interpretation of what good design means. Human and planetary health need to be part of that process.

What work is the Healthy Materials Lab doing?

Fundamentally the lab is there is ‘make buildings better’ as their tagline states succinctly. Their aim is to raise awareness about toxic chemicals in building products while providing a range of resources for designers and architects, like us, to educate themselves on how to create healthier indoor environments, be they offices, homes, gyms, education or healthcare facilities.

These include both online and in-person classes at Parsons on healthy materials for buildings and interiors, educational events, content creation and dissemination of digital information via their media communications channels, such as the Tools & Guides to ‘help designers architects, homeowners and developers make more informed choices about building materials and health’.

https://healthymaterialslab.org/tool-guides

The Lab also has a particular angle on affordable housing as many of the worst examples of sick buildings are found in poorer neighborhoods, the team therefore looks to empower communities living in poverty to remove toxic substances from their built environments.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR ANYONE WITH A PROFESSIONAL INTEREST IN THIS URGENT TOPIC

Healthy Materials Course / Program Description:

Developed by education experts at Parsons’ Healthy Materials Lab, this online certificate program has been created to provide designers, architects, developers, contractors, management companies and facilities personnel with material health information, consolidated in one educational offering that will build their capacity to positively transform their practices with human health at the forefront of their decisions.

It is composed of four self-paced online courses, which lead to a certificate in Healthier Materials and Sustainable Building.

The first and second courses provide an introduction to key topics in the field of materials and health for those with general or more specialized interests.

The third and fourth courses are geared towards professionals in the built environment, and those concerned with making a positive impact in product specification, installation, and maintenance.

The goal of the program is to empower practitioners to make change with the knowledge that healthier buildings lead to healthier lives.

The program is intended to both complement existing Parsons degree programs and serve as continuing education for professionals.

Living Walls in biophilic design with UrbanStrong NYC

A conversation with Lily Turner of UrbanStrong NYC for my Green & Healthy Places podcast episode 039 on sustainability and wellbeing in real estate and interiors.

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Conversation highlights

Living walls offer a myriad of environmental, psychological, physiological and economic benefits

Plants have the ability to purify the air, they should be thought of as natural air purifiers.

Plants also are wonderful noise pollution mitigators

We as living creatures share a deep affiliation with nature - this is called biophilia

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green & healthy places

Welcome to episode 039 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast in which we explore the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and interiors.

I’m your host Matt Morley, Founder of Biofilico healthy buildings and Biofit wellness concepts.

This week we’re in NYC talking to Lily Turner, Director of Operations at UrbanStrong, a company providing green building technology solutions for enhanced productivity and wellness benefits.

green roofs and solar coming soon

In particular we focus on living walls and living wall dividers in this episode. Lily references Alan Burchell a couple of times, UrbanStrong’s Principal, so we have Alan lined up for a subsequent episode already when we’ll discuss solar and green roofs in urban environments. Lily meanwhile is quite the green wall expert!

biophilic design living walls

The discussion covers the health and wellness benefits of living walls within the wider context of biophilic design principles, the practical constraints of installing a living wall or, at a smaller scale, a standalone living wall divider, moss walls as a hassle-free alternative in low or no light scenarios, the air purifying, noise reducing and mood enhancing benefits of these installations, as well as the interplay between green and healthy building certifications, city wide legislation and the type fo interior greenery solutions offered by UrbanStrong.

If like me you normally listen to your podcasts sped up to 1.5 normal speed you may want to bring this one back down, we’re in Brooklyn here people, so expect a short, punchy convo with just a touch of the borough’s background noise for authenticity.

If you enjoy this episode, please hit subscribe, new episodes are released every week. Lily’s contact details are in the show notes, check out urbanstrong.com now let’s get into it.

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Matt Morley

Why don't we start with you describing the showroom that you're currently sitting in?

Lily Turner

Yeah, sure. It's amazing. I come every day and walk into a jungle, which I'm very thankful for. But our studio / showroom is located in the iconic Brooklyn Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York.

Urbanstrong is technology agnostic, meaning we offer several different greenwall technologies depending on project goals, or design parameters, or of course budget. That being said, Our studio is full of different living law systems, small and large, everything ranging from $300, to what could easily be a $100, or $2000 $200,000 green wall system. And they all feature different irrigation designs too.

Matt Morley

That's a key thing, right? The idea of the different irrigation systems on it, there's a lot of different solutions out there. So we're mostly talking about vertical gardens today, and their various shapes and sizes, right. So before we jump off into any other directions, why don't we talk about those living walls and the systems that are out there, and which ones you work with ?

Lily Turner

Yeah, so like I said, we offer a range of different living wall technologies as part of our biophilic design offer, we have everything from the DIY, or I like to refer to as the ‘PIY’ - plant it yourself.

They're fairly intuitive designs and all encompassing. So really, all that's required for these little plant frames is that you mount them to the wall using nothing more than a couple drywall screws and anchors like you'd be mounting a shelf or a painting.

Then there's dedicated pockets for you to plant these four to six inch potted plants in and the irrigation design with those systems are capillary wicking action. So it's no different than a tiki torch concept. You know, there's a cloth or string draped in a little reservoir of water, and then it creeps up the cloth and the plants roots get the drink that way.

Matt Morley

In terms of constraints when installing a wall and then keeping it alive in the medium term. I know there are some horror stories out there about walls that die and then need to be replaced. In your experience, what are the hurdles that someone should be aware of before jumping in to a living wall purcase. So just being conscious of what precautions can be taken in advance so that everything runs smoothly.

Lily Turner

Sure, of course, with any living thing, and let's just focus on plants for today's call, water and light sources are required to keep plants not just surviving but thriving. So of course, a reliable and somewhat automated irrigation design is necessary for all living life.

If you don't have immediate access to plumbing, which oftentimes retrofits or light renovations don't, then a recirculating irrigation solution is required, which just calls for a submersible silent pump, no different than what you'd find in a fish tank.

In terms of lighting, every living wall manufacturer designer has their own minimum or their own standard for the amount of foot candles and exposure the wall receives. For us we’re a bit higher and a little more strict on that. But we require artificial lighting to be brought into the space if there's not enough natural lighting, exposed to the wall.

Matt Morley

Is it a particular type of artificial lighting or LED?

Lily Turner

So I do want to compliment the lighting industry, they've really come a long way. A lot of people still actually think when they hear grow lights, they think of those really disruptive red and purple shining lights. But now there's a ton of amazing LED lights, metal highlight lights on the market that can match the warm interior lighting of the other fixtures, anything from like 2700 to 4000 Kelvin.

Matt Morley

So is it the intensity or the color spectrum that's of most relevance for the for the plants?

Lily Turner

It's a bit of both, you know, plants read a certain color spectrum, the reds and the purples and that is needed for them to photosynthesis sorry photosynthesize, but also a certain footcandle level is required for them to be happy. And that's even true for our low light tropical plants.

Matt Morley

So there are large format installations but you also have the smaller solutions such as standalone panels now that have integrated lights and irrigation systems, right? They're kind of complete solutions that are mobile too, correct?

Lily Turner

Right. Absolutely. I think you're referring to our mobile living wall dividers and are a lot of fun and they're increasing in popularity as well. I suggest those to designers and architects on a weekly basis, they're great for the post pandemic return to the offices. They're definitely more living and thriving than those nasty Flexi glass or acrylic partitions that you might see in spaces.

But with our mobile living little dividers, you're absolutely right, we have a LED bar that kind of cantilevers from the top, and then a water reservoir, depending on the unit can hold anywhere from 100 to 150 gallons of water. So all that's needed is a standard 120 B outlet, which is usually found in an office space, versus some of our customisable, larger living law systems that we spec, you know, we need a proper water source and cold water zones running through, we also need drainage, and then again, we need to bring in the artificial lighting. So that can get a little costly.

Matt Morley

Then effectively there's two paths. This one's where you just need a smaller scale intervention, and one where there's a bit more space available. If we take a step back then and look at the ‘why’ behind this, what sometimes ends up in conversations around Biophilia and ‘nature first’ arguments in which it's almost as if nature in itself is enough justification for doing these things as a quasi Romantic argument. What is the ROI on these living walls from your view? When you talk about biophilic design, we talk about the benefits, the wellbeing mental and physical benefits of being surrounded by or spending time close to one of these green interventions within an interior space.

Lily Turner

Yeah, I'm glad you asked about that. You know, like you said, living walls are first appreciated, and for good reason for their aesthetics. They're considered obvious striking forms of natural art. But, like you said, living walls offer a myriad of different benefits from environmental, psychological, physiological and economic benefits.

Healthy indoor air

So first, I mean, just touching on environmental benefits. Plants have the ability to purify the air, they should be thought of as natural air purifiers. And oftentimes, you know, indoor pollution levels caused by things like cleaning products, or building materials, carpets, paints, mold, can be even worse than those outdoor pollution levels.

So in most living wall systems, the plant root zone absorbs Volatile Organic Compounds such as benzene, formaldehyde, acetone, ammonia, to name a few. And it works like this, the air is actively drawn through the plants and the growing medium, and then the cleaned air is redistributed throughout the building.

And then also for environmental benefits, we like to touch on reduction in urban heat island effect, which in dense urban areas, and concrete jungles like New York City, you know, the use of plants, parks, living walls, and green roofs really work to reduce the heat by cooling the ambient temperature around.

Plants also are wonderful noise pollution mitigators. So plants can absorb about up to 40% more sound than traditional facades can.

And then, of course, increase in biodiversity with exterior living walls. This has been depleting again in dense urban areas as we continue to develop with hard materials, like concrete and glass. So living walls just provide those alternative ecological habitats for migratory species.

Biophilic design

And then for more psychological and physiological benefits, you know, people just feel more relaxed in natural settings. This is a premise to biophilic design, or just biohilia, in general.

So we as living creatures share a deep affiliation with nature, and life is attracted to other forms of life. So in this innate affinity for life, this provides opportunities for building owners and designers and architects to really foster environments which elicit positive responses from their tenants or their shoppers, workers, patients of whoever's interacting in that space.

Matt Morley

There is this balance between the yin and the yang, between the tangible, practical side around, you know, noise absorbing benefits for example, and air purifying, then the slightly harder to pin down and quantify benefits around the Biophilia hypothesis, right?

There's just this there's just this connection in all of us and within our psyche, and we just same reason why it feels good to have a quiet moment in a garden or a forest just to listen to the birds sing, you know, just occasionally to do that and be a natural animal. versus being this urban version of ourselves. And I think, you know, with enough of space with enough space given over to these green walls, you can really start to get into that. And I think that's the magic here.

Lily Turner

Absolutely. You know, we as humans are just so deeply connected and interwoven with nature and the natural world. And realizing that I mean, it is starting to become measurable, some of it can be considered or perceived as a bit of a reach. But there is substantial evidence, white papers and journals produced around productivity costs and creativity costs associated with a worker, employee retention rates is big. And then also, the ability to reduce recovery times, which I know hospitals appreciate. Not to be crass, but sometimes it's almost treated like restaurants, they want you to heal as quickly as possible turn over the bed. And when you add all that up on an annual budget that can save them hundreds of 1000s of dollars.

Matt Morley

Yet the hospital recovery rates, one is interesting, it does come up quite a lot. I mean, I think when one digs into the, you know, the original Roger Ulrich study, which I think was like mid 80s. You know, once that's asked questions of why nothing more has been done since then, in terms of creating some some solid data because we all go back to that same study that was done quite a while ago.

But then you see what's happening in places like Singapore and Hong Kong, where they're starting now to integrate no serious levels of biophilia into their latest hospitals. And and that's for me a real sign that there's there's a commitment on that level, and that there's a sense of, of tangible benefits, tangible health benefits around those recovery times an offer sort of the mental, the mental health piece, you mentioned, the air purifying benefits.

Do you need to choose therefore specific air purifying species within the plant walls? In order to do that?

Lily Turner

Sure, that's a great question. And that goes back to our initial assessment with a client and architect and just really trying to identify the goals of the product, or the project and sorry, so if the client is really set on air purification, then we will incorporate species such as Chinese evergreen, peace lily, Snake plants, ZZ plants, some species are known more for their indoor purification than others. And that's simply due to the kind of electro magnetic charge in the air with the dust particles and the plant leaves.

So they're actually sucking the dust and harmful particulate matter out of the air, if not to their roots. But you can also see it on their leaves, too. So what might look like water spots, if you look closely, it's actually just just built up. And those leaves also as a part of, sorry, that leaf cleaning is also a part of our maintenance that we do. So the plants can again, properly photosynthesize sides, and we're not kind of filtering their life that they received and also use.

Matt Morley

So what you reference there is the idea of having to ask very common theme, but the idea of needing to, on a case by case project by project basis, establish priorities around planetary and people health and well being. And it's I think it's it's one of the toughest parts of doing what we do, which is that sometimes it's just not possible to do everything and to sort of hit the high note, both in terms of environmental sustainability and human health and wellbeing and sometimes somewhere along the line, there's a call to be made, for example - we really need to focus on indoor air quality in this office environment.

You also have preserved moss walls, which in some ways, I think create a similar visual effect, perhaps not quite the same, and yet still very much part of this sort of what how can we bring a biophilic component and to pretty much cover an entire wall or as a panel. So how do you see those and how do you typically communicate around them versus having a real living walk because the moss is effectively preserved? Right?

Preserved moss walls

Lily Turner

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, I can't speak for other companies, but our preserved moss is harvested according to ecological practices.

So the moss is preserved using a food grade safe glycerin and then natural dyes are pumped back into a different species to really give that vibrancy, but it very much, I mean, you can almost think of it as taxidermy, right? I mean, very much of the texture is still there and The color and, and it does also still have that Woody smell, especially initially when we install a larger scale moss wall. But moss walls are great. And for the longest time, you know, I always kept them in my back pocket, I just had such a love and admiration for living walls. And that's how I got my start. But I really did a ton of moss walls just due to last year, you know, new construction was was halted all over the world. So we really had to come up with a retrofit solution.

For the people that still work continuing to design their interior homes or, or spaces are preserved. Moss doesn't need any water or light to thrive, which is really great. I won't say it's zero maintenance, because I have installed mass walls in lobbies before and just when you're handling especially in New York City, when hundreds of people are going through that lobby, there is a bit of foot traffic. And sometimes the moss walls can take a beating if people want to tug and pull on things, you know, even as adults were so curious beings, but I really do think, yeah, there's a time and place for every system. And if I was, you know, consulting with a client, and they said, Hey, we can't give you any water light, then I would absolutely and I do absolutely recommend our preserved Moss, because it's a great way of incorporating still a natural element into our built environment, which is ultimately the goal.

Matt Morley

I've used them in the past on gym design projects where, you know, there's a brief around biophilic design or biophilic interiors. But as is often the case with a gym, or some kind of a wellness space or physical activity space, you know, it's a lower ground, but there's no natural light, or it's sort of an internal room, where again, there's just no access to daylight. And and so they're pretty much have to flip into muscle or moss panel territory. And yeah, I think just reading between the lines, I think it's worth clarifying that there are products out there that are not of the same eco friendly standard as yours. So there are versions that are not using natural dyes, etc. So I think that's what I picked up from doing my research on particular ones that you stock. And it kind of highlighted that in my mind that, you know, there is some variety out there in terms of quality and eco friendliness, so good only for finding the right one. So to say.

Lily Turner

Yeah, absolutely, we definitely heavily that every technology that comes in, we do offer quite a range of technologies. But again, they've all been carefully considered and, you know, tried and tested before we bring them into a public or a client space.

Matt Morley

So I know it's not your areas of expertise. But I know you do also do the green roofs and the solar panels within the urban strong offering. So just as a very sort of quick overview. How do they integrate into the you typically selling? Or going in on a project with multiple strands? So sort of multiple product? offerings? Or is it and the synergies between them almost?

Green roofs

Lily Turner

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um, so Urbanstrong, does specialize in design, installation and ongoing maintenance for living walls and Green roofs. But we also, there's another side to our business, which Alan we'll get more into, but the financing and the technology consulting side, so we have a lot of condo or Co-Op board members come to us.

New York just incorporated a few local laws mandating that folks outfit their roofs with either solar or green roof. So a lot of people are calling us and saying, Okay, I want a green roof, oh, no, I want solar? How do I decide between what's the ROI associated. So we'll walk them through a very careful assessment, we'll ask some really high level questions mainly around the structural integrity of the roof. Just because there is a weight load associated with our different greener systems, you know, you're dealing with growing medium soil and all of that.

And also, just, again, their goals if they want, you know, if they have enough capital upfront, and they wanted to invest, then we think solar is a better option. Because right now the payback period is great. It's not just net metering. We, I'm sorry, New York just offered up this community solar program, that you can actually sell your energy back energy that you collect far beyond what the building is using. And it's a nice little passive revenue stream for, for the building owners.

Matt Morley

So there's either at that slightly more strategic level, there's, there's either something happening at a municipal or a city or state level whereby there's new registered legislation coming through and that, in a sense is designed to push the industry forward. And collectively, within the real estate interiors industry, for it to encourage more integration of natural components, I think in in a sense is doing the same type of work, but in coming at it from a different angle as the building certifications that are out there. Things like USGBC’s LEED and WELL and FITWEL that in their own way, do a similar job which is nudging us all forward particularly in real estate to work. greener and healthier solutions. So how do your particular products fit in with all that?

Green building and healthy building certifications

Lily Turner

Absolutely. And LEED and WELL are great, they're both amazing standards and organizations. And they have largely been responsible for, like you said incentivizing building owners and architects to start incorporating natural elements into their designs.

When we're discussing exterior living, long installations for LEED, several points are possible. And that's just due to reduced heat island effect, potential for water efficiency, meaning that you could harvest stormwater and work it into the irrigation design of the living wall, through collection.

And then other points, of course, are gained through optimizing energy efficiency performance, that's through thermal insulation or systems. Innovation and operation is another category and then occupant comfort. And that's all within the under the LEED umbrella. And then for the WELL building standard living walls helps satisfy three out of the set seven core concepts of that standard. So it's air mind and comfort, comfort is mostly associated with the plant's ability to mitigate noise pollution, and reduce sound in an area.

Matt Morley

So lead slightly more towards a fundamentally based around sort of planet, an environment and well coming at it from a more more human aspect, just to close them in terms of what you you have lined up and where where the business is going. And where you see yourself developing and future into the product and services like what's coming next. What's what's in the pipeline for lift, Robin strong.

Lily Turner

I mean, if you asked me last year, the answer would be completely different. I applaud urban strong, we've always remained really flexible. And our willingness to pivot I think has really helped us through especially COVID. Last year, we released an online store with a shippable, plant DIY friendly systems I was explaining earlier. And that really got us through and also connected us with consumer base.

One thing I really don't love about the living off system is that fill, there's a minimum square footage assigned to it just due to the economies of scale, and therefore there's a minimum budget that you need to have, which is can be upwards of $25,000.

So it's really excluding to the small, medium sized budgets. So we're really excited about that revenue stream that's tailored and focus more on the consumer. And then also, and this is more Alan's area of expertise or principle, but our ability to just really consult and help building owners, or property developers and condo and Co Op board members that have a budget and don't really have access to education sources and don't know really, how did they spend their money, and you know, how it fits in with our goals. So we're really excited about not just the roofing but the living wall aspect as well.

Matt Morley

Very cool. Well, we're going to line up a separate conversation with Elon to go into some of those other juicy subjects. So thanks for your time. If people want to reach out and contact you, obviously, as a website in terms of social media or other channels, what do you what are you mostly focused on?

Lily Turner

Yes, our website is great. I think on every page, we have a call to action, contact us or let's chat button. We like to consider ourselves really accessible. And we just love having these conversations. And then also our Instagram handles urban strong NYC, we post not only our projects, but our partners projects, and then just really notable products in the industry we like to put a spotlight on and just keep up to date with what the new technologies are and what you can do with these living long, greener systems. And then, of course, my personal email also should be on the website. But maybe we can post that too, in case anyone has any questions or follow up. comments on this.

Matt Morley

Awesome, Lily, thanks so much for your time today

Lily Turner

Yeah, I appreciate it, Matt. Take care. Happy Holidays, till next time!

Circular Interior Design: Soma Studio Milano — Wellness Design Consultants

Talking Circular Design with Soma Studio Milano - advisors, trend forecasters and content producers focused on the circular economy

a conversation on circular design for the Green & Healthy Places podcast

“sustainability alone is no longer enough - besides not doing harm to the planet, we also need to do good. We can’t only sustain the current system, we need to regenerate”

— ana luiza magalhaes

Matt Morley

This week we’re in Milan, Italy, talking to Ana Luiza Magalhaes the Brazilian co-founder ofoma Studio](LINK 1), a company engaged in the circular design sector as b2b advisors, trend forecasters, content producers and all round expert guides for those seeking to improve their knowledge of this relatively new industry that we call the circular economy. Soma Studio Milano works with interior designers to implement circular design principles, emphasizing the importance of incorporating sustainable practices into interior design to foster a more sustainable future.

We talk about the key principles of this new interior design concept, the product categories in real estate and interiors that are excelling in circular design terms, take-back programs for used furniture, surfaces made of bio materials, waste as a design flaw, the importance of collaboration between brands, how nature offers guidance for circular designers, the endless potential of mycelium to replace plastic in future, the Eco wellbeing interior trend in homes as well as the role of biophilic design within circular economy.

Ana Luiza Magalhaes

So Soma is a Milan based studio working to help professionals and companies to take action and shift from a linear to circular economy. And to do so we strive to raise awareness, provide relevant information to strategies within the circular economy and circular design. It is important to incorporate sustainable materials into interior design projects to minimize environmental impact and contribute to a more resource-efficient future. And then in terms of services, always under this umbrella of circular economy in design, we offer strategic consultancy for product development, which includes transfer testing, transporting and material research.

We also create content such as ebooks, reports, webinars to help organizations raise awareness around the superior economy and superior products and services. And we also create short courses, lectures or workshops in collaborations with companies and educational institutions.

Matt Morley

So in a way, you’re providing a series of consultancy services that are intended to push the industry forward by making it easier to integrate and understand circular design circular economy principles, would that be a fair description?

Ana Luiza Magalhaes

Yes, this would be a very good description because we try to raise awareness, educate, educate people and professionals and make it easier for them to apply the similar principles within their organizations and work in projects.

what are the circular design principles?

Matt Morley

And how do you define circular design and would you consider it in some ways to be different to let’s say, sustainable design or environmentally friendly design.

Ana Luiza Magalhaes

So, I think when we talk about circular design, we need to think about the three main principles of the circular economy which are designing waste out of products, systems, keeping materials and products in use in regenerating natural systems.

So, when we talk about structural design, we are dealing with a whole system from production to disposal and therefore with production in consumer waste. Circular design aims to minimize environmental impact through sustainable practices, focusing on restoring natural systems. When it comes to sustainable design or eco-friendly design, which are definitely important concepts, we are talking more about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the future of the planet in the next generations.

So we are talking more about minimizing our impact. However, we believe that with climate change sustainability alone****is no longer enough - besides not doing harm to the planet, we also need to do good. We can’t only sustain the current system we need to regenerate. And I guess this is the biggest difference between circular and sustainable design. Circular is more about the system as I mentioned in regeneration.

Matt Morley

Effectively you’re encouraging businesses to take full responsibility for the products that they create. Rather than produce something, sell it to a client and perhaps offer some customer service during the in-use phase but the relationship effectively ending there, taking no responsibility for what happens at the end of use phase, the circular approach includes what happens and how you reintegrate something back into the system.

the role of waste in circular design

So companies, they need to be held accountable for the construction waste they produce, they need to allow consumers to return materials and products, which is not really the case. For example, when we think about computers, phones, so they need to think about the whole system, you know, doesn’t matter if they do something with a sustainable material. But in the end, the consumer doesn’t know what to do with that when they don’t more than that product.

Circular design in real estate and interiors

We see that furniture design is taking important steps towards circularity with different approaches. So for example, we see some brands launching take-back programs to allow their clients to return their used furniture, IKEA is doing that in the US. So their clients for example, can return IKEA furniture get a discount on new purchases, while the brand turns those used materials into new resources.

Using furniture made from recycled materials is also crucial in circular interior design. This not only helps in reducing waste but also promotes sustainability by repurposing and repainting these materials.

Another approach that some brands are using is modular design, which allows for repair remanufacture and recycling. For instance, we see that with sofas in his leaping systems.

A very good example that we spotted at the London design festival in 2019 is from a Scottish design company that’s a modular sofa that you can repair so you can extend the lifecycle of this piece.

And also recently at the Milan Design Week, we saw the customm modular sofa by matches with the same idea of modular design.

Another interesting take on circular furniture is the emergence of companies renting office furniture instead of selling. So furniture becomes a service with companies have the possibility to rent and then return them after some time. And then these pieces can be used by other companies, or can be remanufactured or recycled into new materials. So this is very relevant nowadays for the circular economy because we are talking about services in ownership.

And we also see some remarkable innovations with come when it comes to surface design. We have now stunning tiles made of plastic waste coming from our oceans or from textile waste from the fashion industry.

We also see surfaces using biomaterials, like mycelium and innovative technologies to recycle vinyl floors. So yeah, we see a lot of steps forwards into secularity, we think different products.

Matt Morley

If we look at it from the other side, then where do you identify the problem areas? So what are the sectors or the products within interior design as an industry where you’re seeing the most work still to be done?

Waste is a resource in design

There is much more to do to transition to a circular economy. But in our opinion, what is really missing overall is more collaboration between different players. Because when we talk about the circular future, this future is only possible when we consider the whole system from production to disposal, including the challengesand demands related to the extraction and consumption of raw materials in a linear model. So brands must collaborate with each other, with designers, with consumers.

So for instance, one company’s waste can be another company’s resource. And as we were mentioning earlier, a company must be held accountable for their waste, what is really not happening with computers, phones and smart appliances for homes. So I think we need to work further to collaborate because collaboration is key for this circular economy. And it’s not so easy to do that between brains or brains and consumers and designers.

Matt Morley

So it’s an optimistic message and that you can see the solution. And we have a way through and a circular approach is really the way to resolve the issue of creating all this waste. But do you think perceptions of waste are changing now even that word, waste?

Closed loop cycles in design

Yes, definitely. So with the rise of the circular economy in interior design, we are turning our attention to nature and in nature, there aren’t linked fields. So nature basically doesn’t generate waste - it turns everything into resources.

Optimizing production processes to make them more energy-efficient and generate less waste is crucial in this context.

So materials flow in circles - one species wast is another species food, so more and more designers and architects are seeing waste as a design flaw.

So this is changing their approach to waste from organic waste to industrial waste. Everything now can be repurposed. All this waste is becoming a valuable resource. And this is happening not only with plastic, but with all kinds of industrial waste.

Matt Morley

Do you see a strong potential for biomaterials as an alternative? So just moving away completely from plastics or even recycled plastics and finding more bio based materials as an alternative route forward?

Recycled plastics and bio-based materials

I think sustainable materials have a lot of potential, of course, it’s something that we still need to explore more and manage to produce in large scale, because with some materials there are not enough support to make them more scalable. But I think that’s the future because again, it’s looking at nature to find solutions for our problems. And I believe this is the best way to to deal with climate change and all the environment crisis and waste.

And one of the materials the bio materials that is really a great material and it has been explored a lot lately is mycelium, which forms the root system of fungi. It’s really amazing because it’s fire retardant, has excellent insulation and acoustic properties, can sequester carbon, and it’s biodegradable and non toxic.

So we see mycelium used in lamp shades, acoustic wall panels, furniture packaging, often replacing plastic. Yeah, so I think there is a lot of potential for biomaterials.

Wellbeing interior design trend

In the past years, we have seen wellbeing becoming one of our highest values, even in Major Design festivals like Milan Design Week, London design festival, Dutch Design Week that designers and architects are starting to pay much more attention on how spaces can affect our creativity, efficiency, and overall wellbeing.

Embracing circular design principles in architecture, interior design, and construction is crucial for fostering a more sustainable future.

We see a lot of professionals and brands exploring neuro-aesthetics, biophilic design and how to create spaces for cocooning. So within this context, we see for example, soft and tactile materials becoming important in helping to integrate technology in our homes and also workspaces in a more natural and human way. And the pandemic has greatly accelerate this trend.

Now we have a new sort of wellbeing that we call eco wellbeing, which is about living a more sustainable and circular lifestyle. It’s about welcoming the imperfect and impermanent state of things inspired by the Japanese Wabi Sabi’s really strong now as well. And finally, it’s about feeling physically safe, while we face pandemics.

So we need to work we need to entertain ourselves, you know, we need to do everything at home and yet feel safe in your shirt. So wellbeing is very strong that homes also workspaces, hotels and public shared spaces. The idea is really to provide people with places to feel safe and reassured to cope with their very fast speed digital lives in all the multiple crises we are living through, like climate change, the health crisis, recession, and so on. So people really need spaces to feel reassured, to recharge in. So that’s why I think wellbeing is something that will only evolve and improve.

Matt Morley

You mentioned biophilic design, as well. I’ve noticed obviously a huge increase in interest in in the topic over the last 18 months really in the COVID era. But it was already happening before then - do you think that’s something that will completely change the way we think of buildings and interiors in years to come or is just another trend?

Biophilic design in buildings and interiors

No, I don’t think biophilic design is just a trend that will fade away, we see biophilic design As part of our journey to reconnect with nature and restore our broken ties with it, we believe that biophilic design can help us realize that we are part of nature that we have this innate connection and affinity towards the natural world. And above all, that we are responsible, we have responsibilities towards it.

The Circular Building by Arup in London is an excellent prototype using circular design principles, constructed with sustainably sourced materials and designed for easy disassembly, promoting resource efficiency and minimizing waste.

So and in fact, scientists have proved that nature does have a positive impact on us, both psychological and physiological. So we believe architects and designers will continue to improve their take on biophilic design, providing us with new shapes, forms, materials, and technologies that bring nature closer to us.

So I think this will only evolve, not fade away. And recently, we saw again at the Milan Design Week, very interesting options for outdoor kitchens and outdoor furniture, especially the ones designed for public urban spaces.

So we also see not only interior spaces, but cities trying to promote more their public spaces, like parks where people can interact and be in contact with nature. So we really believe believe there is no turn turning back when it comes to biophilic design.

Matt Morley

I wonder how you see that connecting with and integrating an element of technology? I think there is perhaps a misunderstanding of biophilic design that it’s trying to return us to some state of primordial nature and therefore, technology is not a part of that vision. What potential do you see for wellbeing design and biophilic design to integrate elements of tech?

Wellness tech in eco wellbeing interiors

Well, I think technology is really key for our eco wellbeing and in many ways for biophilic design as well. We see new technologies, for example, that allows for sofa fabrics to purify the indoor air, improving its quality and also improving our wellbeing our health.

There is a need for new business models that support circularity in the industry to fully leverage these technological advancements.

There are also technologies that make surfaces much easier to clean, which have become top priority to reduce the spread of germs indoor and make us feel safer. So again, we will impact our wellbeing.

We also see multi purpose and easily assembled furniture that accommodates different needs either at work or at home and make our routines more flexible, lighting technology that is evolving to set different moods in the same space, smart gardens becoming very popular in allowing us to grow our our own vegetables and spices, regardless of our home natural lighting conditions, we also see that technology can improve the planet’s wellbeing because it helps us manage our waste either at home or at work spaces. Technology can turn surplus into new resources, decreasing pollution and so on. So technology is definitely key to to help us with our wellbeing and to improve the ways we work with biophilic design I believe.

Matt Morley

You do talks, workshops, trend memberships, how can the industry typically engage with you?

Yes, so we have different approaches. So for example, we can work with manufacturers, product manufacturers, to help them identify future trends or also doing material research. We recently did that we for example an American tire company. We also provide circular consultancy, to help organizations on how to implement circular design principles within their products. Source services. We also work a lot with education.

So you know, because for us, the first step towards this transition to the circular economy is really to educate yourself. So we provide content that’s relevant within the circular economy and circular design, to companies or educational organizations, and so on.

We also collaborate with media outlets. And we have this product, as you mentioned, our train membership and some ebooks and webinars that we do in partnership with an Italian blogger and architect Italian bark.

And we provide people with the latest news innovations and trends in interior design, which always includes regular news and innovations. So we can we have many different services, but always within this, bro. Bigger topic, the supply point, I mean, supply design

Matt Morley

That makes complete sense. You know, I think there’s there’s so much movement happening in this industry that not everyone can stay up to date. And there’s a lot of confusion. I think still there’s a lot of these the terms and a lot of we don’t necessarily know how, how to go about making things better. What you do is effectively like you’re an educator, you’re there to help fill in the gaps and, and boost understanding increased understanding of why this matters.

Ana Luiza

Yes, we also like to build bridges between two companies in order to manage their waste. For example, we also do reports on events, you know, if a company wants to see what’s happening in a particular design fair festival, and they cannot go or even if they go but they want our insights. We also do that. We consider ourselves researchers and educators and content creators, a bit of everything really.

healthy buildings vs sick building syndrome

What are the cognitive health benefits of green healthy buildings?

Source: THE COGFX STUDY https://thecogfxstudy.com/study-1/

What is Sick Building Syndrome?

Unexplained feelings of fatigue, irritated eyes, runny nose, sore throat or headaches when spending long days in an office or home can be signs of an unhealthy indoor environment.

Although the immediate symptoms may be deemed ‘light’, the long-term effects can include respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. 

This is the story of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) and how its counterpart, healthy buildings, are fighting back in the post-Covid era.

Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)

Leaving aside any external factors such as lack of sleep, any existing ailments, poor nutrition, low level dehydration, or simply a hangover (!), indoor environmental quality (IEQ) has a tangible impact on our energy levels, cognitive function, and overall wellbeing yet, pre-Covid at least, was largely overlooked outside of certain progressive workplaces.

For more on this, see the Harvard Cognitive FX study on IEQ in green buildings, where IEQ is defined as being made up of - reduced levels of Volatile Organic Compounds, access to daylighting and views, smart lighting systems, and thermal comfort.

IEQ is suddenly top of the agenda in the form of enhanced indoor ventilation, air purification strategies, healthy interior materials and enhanced cleaning protocols. 

Its sub-group, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), is focused specifically on measuring indoor air to monitor occupant exposure to Carbon Monoxide (CO), Carbon iodide (CO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Ozone (O3) and Fine Particulate Matter (dust).

Healthy materials
The main source of circulating interior toxins come from what we can loosely call ‘unhealthy’ materials, i.e. those that off-gas chemical toxins into the air during their lifecycle, which to be clear, can mean during the production phase, the in-use phase and the end-of-life phase!

That new paint or furniture smell isn’t a good sign in other words, especially as the after-effects can linger for months if not years due to steady erosion (friction and wear) during the use phase, photo degradation from sunlight and volatilization (natural degradation off-gassing). 

VOCs chemical off-gasses

These chemicals can then be inhaled, absorbed via the skin or ingested by building occupants. Much of this can go unnoticed of course… until it doesn’t. The eventual health impact depends on the dose, frequency and duration of the exposure to such chemicals as well as each occupant’s personal genetic make-up and health condition.

Health risks in building interiors

Chemicals brought into interiors can be asthmagens, carcinogens and hormonal disruptors, so the risk is not to be taken lightly. And that’s before considering issues such as mold, flame retardants (found in old furniture) and pesticides, as well as outdated building materials such as asbestos or lead paint, even certain type of nail polish and perfumes will negatively impact indoor air quality.

This should not be the case in a brand new skyscraper but remains all too common in the affordable housing sector for example - think of how peeling paint and poor maintenance in an old building originally constructed using low grade materials could compound over time to create a severe case of Sick Building Syndrome for occupants

Common toxins to avoid in building materials and products

Unhealthy materials and toxic chemicals can be found in many different interior sources. Most commonly in insulation materials, paints and coatings, adhesives, furniture and fabrics, flooring and ceiling panels. 

Although there are many different toxins that reside in building materials, some of the most common include VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), SVOCs (Semi-volatile Organic Compounds), Lead and HFRs (Halogenated flame retardants). 

Healthy building glossary

VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) and SVOCs (Semi-volatile Organic Compounds) become gaseous at room temperature, can be ingested or inhaled, and pose health risks even with minimal amounts of chemicals.

Lead is most commonly found in paints and can impair cognitive function—a trait that is especially dangerous for young children. 

HFRs are commonly ingested through dust particles, inhaled or skin contact and can be found in furnishings and electrical devices. 

Healthy Building Materials: Life Cycle Assessment for Wellness Design Consultants

Balancing environmental, well-being, human health, and ethical considerations in selecting building materials is a complex process - here's how a Life Cycle Assessment can help.

Image credit: Parson New School - Healthy Materials Lab

Impacts of the Built Environment

Buildings contribute to around 40% of the world’s energy use, a large accelerator of global warming. Climate change causes countless problems for both humans and the environment including increased disease spread, extreme weather events, water scarcity, deteriorated air pollution, and much more.

Building material choices and developments are key factors in reducing the built environment’s atmospheric emissions and improving indoor air quality. Those who inhabit the buildings are affected by construction and design choices, as well as those who live near or work in material extraction and manufacturing facilities, as they are closer to contaminated regions. Harmful substances in building materials can pose significant health risks, including respiratory issues and other serious health problems. Certain materials containing toxic chemicals can exacerbate these health risks, such as asthma, respiratory problems, hormone disruption, and carcinogenic effects. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from building materials can significantly impact poor indoor air quality, making it crucial to minimize their presence by choosing healthier alternatives. Harmful substances in indoor environments, such as PVC pipes and vinyl flooring, can further degrade air quality.

To mitigate these issues, the concept of healthy buildings is essential. Using natural and non-toxic materials in construction can create safer and more comfortable living environments. Additionally, incorporating natural light into building designs can significantly enhance health and well-being, improving productivity and reducing utility costs.

Often, those who are the most impacted by climate change and construction-related emissions have the fewest resources. Therefore, the negative impacts caused by building construction and material choices become not only an environmental issue, but also a human health and equity issue. It is important to consider health, comfort, and well-being throughout all phases of a construction project to ensure safer living conditions. Toxic chemicals materials can significantly degrade indoor air quality and harm human health.

What is a Life Cycle Assessment?

Life Cycle Assessments are useful exercises to determine the environmental impacts of a building, material, or product over its entire life cycle. The goal is to reduce the carbon footprint and costs of a material throughout its life to help make smart building decisions for a more sustainable future.

Often, the use phase is the only consideration when making building decisions. However, all phases including raw material extraction, manufacturing, construction, use, end of life (disposal, recycling, etc.), and transportation between each phase need to be included for a true picture.

Life Cycle Assessments contain two prongs: Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), which considers the environmental impacts throughout the life of a material, and Life Cycle Costing (LCC), which considers purchasing and operating costs and savings over the life of a material.

Applications of Life Cycle Assessment

When considering the potential applications of conducting a Life Cycle Assessment, you must first determine what you want to measure and what to include in your system boundary.

There are different boundaries or limits that can be placed on any life cycle assessment, which may be determined based on the information, time, or resources available for a material or interested party.

Cradle to Cradle: end of life disposal is circular / involves recycling to avoid producing more waste

Cradle to Grave: manufacturer of the material is responsible for managing the waste they produce

Cradle to Gate: from resource extraction to factory gate (before delivery to customer)

Once the stages to include have been determined, the next step is to create a process flow diagram of the material in question, illustrating what happens over the material’s life cycle and which processes lie within the system boundary.

It is important to pay attention to what is included in the system boundary when comparing products or materials to understand the assessments.

After clarifying the steps required to produce the material in question, these phases can then be quantified into emission outputs and costs of interest from the data collected. These quantifications can then be used by a design team to make educated decisions between different materials or products.

The Goal - towards closed loop circular building materials

Nature is filled with ‘closed-loop cycles’, meaning resources are consumed, reused, and in a sense ‘recycled’ over and over again in a harmonious process that does not produce waste. There is no “disposal” stage in a natural life cycle in other words.

Man-made products on the other hand break this loop, often creating open or linear systems in which new resources are constantly added in, and then removed from the system as waste at the end of life. This process is fundamentally damaging to the environment especially when scaled up to accommodate for the global population today.

The goal therefore is to eliminate waste via strategies such as recycled content, down-cycling, or the use of organic and natural materials.

How Can This Concept be Applied to Materials?

Ideally all construction materials wouldclosed systems’, where at the end of life, they are reused, salvaged, and repurposed to serve another need. This reduces waste and the need for further extraction from the earth’s limited resources. Building elements like window frames, pipes, and roofing membranes play a crucial role in the overall health of a building.

When considering which materials to utilize, look for materials with Product Declarations, which contain information about the impacts of a material and can decisions. The LEED standard, for example, has several credits related to the use of product declarations, encouraging the implementation and use of available information.

Health Product Declarations (HPDs) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) both contain important disclosure information, with HPDs focusing on ingredient impacts on human and ecological health, while EPDs focus on providing information on a products environmental impact.

See more on this subject in the ESG / Sustainability section of this site.

Resources

BREEAM LCA

• BREEAM’s [](LINK 7) of LCA importance

• Application of LCA in the standard

• Application of LCC in the standard

• Responsible sourcing of materials

LEED v4

• Mentions importance of impacts throughout life cycle

Building Transparency

• Find/Compare Materials, Plan/Compare Buildings, Declare Products, Carbon Calculator

Materials Palette

• Find information on highlow impact materials (in terms of carbon) over life cycle/resources

EPD Library

• Database of some materials/products/furniture you can search (EPD)

HPD Library

• Database of materials/products/furniture you can search (HPD)

company culture and the healthy workplace

How to create a corporate culture geared for a healthy workplace or healthy coworking office

Creating a healthy workplace or healthy co-working community culture

It can be hard to draw general conclusions about the state of workplace culture at a country level or indeed industry because ultimately it comes down to brand culture above all else.

Each organization and its leaders have the power to create their own distinct way of working, perhaps rallying behind a visionary mission statement for example, or defining a set of values designed to guide staff towards some higher goal.

That said, there is a tangible sense that Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) principles are now taking hold like never before and, in some cases, are already well embedded in the workplace experience.

a return to the office post-Covid

Post-Covid we are seeing a range of different approaches to the return to the office, some hard-driving bosses insist on 100% staff presence, full time at their desks, while others have recognised that the hybrid model is here to stay.

Creative industries and start-ups, as well as other more youthful corporate cultures have been early adopters of new approaches to both working from home and flexible hours.

The role of ESG in worker wellbeing

Bigger picture, we’re seeing a real surge in interest in connecting the indoor office environments with Environmental, Social & Governance strategy. In other words, placing People and worker wellbeing closer to the centre of a company wide ESG plan.

So whereas before there was more pressure from below, there is now almost a perfect storm whereby investment groups, VCs and pension funds want to see a plan in place for a transition to a more ESG-aligned business, if it wasn’t there already. This is partly to future-proof their investments in business, partly in a response to the events of the past two years.

On the other sie, HR teams are rightly pushing for a healthier work environment, from indoor air quality, to lighting, nutrition, access to nature, acoustics plannings and so on.

If there is a silver lining to the massive shake-up the world of work has been through during Covid, it is the fertile soil it has left behind for playing catch-up in offices that were stuck in the 1980s without any worker wellness priorities in place.

Evaluating worker wellbeing in the workplace

In term of how we put numbers on that, it's typically a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, so we may combine indoor air quality monitors allowing for a deep dive analysis in real time of exactly what's going on around the workplace at any given time for example with a workplace satisfaction survey.

Biophilic design & healthy design in the office

The benefits of biophilic and healthy design in the workplace might include improving the purity of the indoor air with enhanced ventilation filters, air purifying plants and removing any chemical-laden materials, fabrics or furniture believed to be off-gassing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).

Even simple 2.5m-3m walk-off mats at a building entrance can help curtail the dust and dirt brought in from outside that is then potentially inhaled by workers later in the day.

Green cleaning & green procurement policies

This same biophilic concept can go all the way through to a workplace cleaning policy that uses eco-friendly liquids containing no harmful chemicals as a way to. create a healthy building.

From there we expand into a green procurement policy throughout the workplace, so that anything new coming into the office in future, be it cleaning products, whiteboards or new furniture, all aligns with this same principle of removing or reducing harmful VOCs.

If this isn’t done, there’s always a risk of taking one step forward and two steps back, almost without noticing.

For a look at a healthy furniture brand, see the Spanish brand ACTIU.

Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)

Commercial grade indoor air quality monitors located at least 1m away from windows or air intakes, wall-mounted at head height, are now a tangible reality for any workplace thanks to democratized technology in recent years. We work with RESET AIR as one of their Associated Professionals.

Acoustics in workplace wellness

A bad echo in an open plan space, overheard conversations, a noisy kitchen, a receptionist with an especially loud voice, there are any number of acoustic landmines waiting for us in the workplace, so how those interiors are designed and what acoustic, sound-absorbing materials they implement can make a considerable difference on worker productivity.

Get it wrong, and there will be a low-level anxiety present amongst those who prefer quiet, almost silent workplaces in order to do their best work.

Soft surfaces such as furniture fabrics, and upholstery, rugs, carpets, wall or ceiling panels, even dense collections or plants can all help act as sound barriers, reducing the amount of sound bouncing around in an office.

The discussion around open plan vs a return to more cubicles is inherently connected, once again, to company culture, what we can say with certainty is that in the knowledge worker economy there are clearly very different types of task happening at any given time and an office should ideally adapt around that scenario.

In other words, having task specific spaces for deep work, others for collaboration, and still others for taking a quiet moment to recharge the batteries alone or with a colleague is now the gold standard in office layouts and workplace design.

Active design in a healthy workplace culture

For anyone who has been hiding under a rock for the past decade, sitting at a desk all day long is simply not good for our mental or physical health, it leaves us with reduced mobility, back pain and an unhealthy aversion to moving around as much as possible whilst at work.

Active design can include creating those different task specific spaces around an office as a way to encourage workers to move from one to another as they change tasks.

A company culture that encourages that, is implicitly encouraging a little extra movement as well. Easy win.

A company culture that either implements standing meetings or makes it acceptable for staff to stand during a meeting is also doing its part in fighting back against sedentary workdays.

Going a step further, literally, would be to encourage walking meetings of 2-3 people as a way to take in some fresh air, find a different perspective on a problem or simply to find a more personal, one on one moment outside of the classic ‘face to face around a table’ meeting scenario.

That can happen from the C-suite down, in fact if it isn’t seen in company leadership, it is unlikely to stick, except for the more renegade thinkers. And thank goodness for them!

Standing desks in company culture

For anyone who's ever experienced back pain at work or on long flights, just being on your feet several hours each day, perhaps with a small mat under your feet too for comfort, makes a massive difference to. energy levels, and removes the back pain issue for those hours at least but it can also help avoid the mid-afternoon energy dip.

A sit-stand desk with a stool that can change height is going to allow for moments of deeper concentration as well as for example taking a phone call standing up or doing admin work standing. Once you are standing, it is so much easier to move around your workspace, almost without thinking.

Smart lighting in a healthy office

Strategically using blue-white light on our desks when energy levels are low and you need your A-game is now as easy as adjustable a dimmer on a smart light, such as those made by the Philips HUE, amongst others. As a general rule though, we want softer amber hues after ark in order not to. disrupt sleep patterns at night.

Being sensible about exposing oneself to natural light is a simple but effective way to maintain energy levels at work as well, just being near a window with a view can help give us a mini energy boost, rather like taking 20 minutes of sunshine outside, but on a smaller scale!

Air purifying plants and indoor air quality

The use of a variety of different air-purifying plants in a workplace, advanced HVAC carbon filters, on-desk mini air purifier units, operable windows, the options for enhance ventilation and improved indoor air quality are more now readily available than ever before. There are no excuses for poor quality air in an office anymore but if we don’t measure it, we can’t improve or troubleshoot!

Movement snacks at work

We all have an opportunity when we work from home to play a bit more with our day and how we divide our time so we can try to find space for just five minutes of movement as a way to prevent fatigue or simply to break away from an intense task.

Be it jumping on a trampoline, doing a little yoga, burpees or jumping jacks, it’s all beneficial and it helps to reset energy levels that may otherwise flag at certain times of day.

Equally, the company culture can help to inform staff about their options here, most may not think to do something as wacky as this but just shaking you arms and legs out for a couple of minutes (ideally in the fresh air or by a window) makes a difference, everyone should try it!

Think of it like a healthy and nutritious movement snack, you have it with you wherever you go and at any time of day - it’s an empowering thought

Further Reading:

• Benefits of healthy coworking offices

Benefits of active design in the workplace

Designing for incidental movement in the workplace or healthy coworking office

Instead of talking about workplace exercise it can often make more sense to think about how to foster and promote a culture of incidental movement during the work day - this is a combination of personal willpower and workplace design in the context of a healthy building strategy.

We were born to move, when you look back in nature in evolutionary time, we didn't deliberately exercise as such but we were active for at least a few hours every day, it was simply part of our survival strategy in a harsh environment.

We were moving around, gathering, occasionally hunting, and keeping busy when food was short, weather was bad or other animals made trouble for us.

Walking meetings / standing meetings

How does all that connect with workplace wellness and a healthy office culture? Steve Jobs was a big proponent of one-on-one walking meetings, he figured out that a short walk in the fresh air can be, in some cases as good as a caffeine hit.

Short, focused team meetings can also be taken standing, either in a meeting room or around a table. They can also help avoid those seemingly inevitable energy slumps, helping ensure your concentration levels don't wane mid-afternoon for example.

So, how do you make that happen. Well, you can, you can either try and instigate it yourself or perhaps it's leadership, the boss or manager leading by example. Again, each workplace needs to experiment here to find what works for them, the key is to be open to such workplace wellness concepts.

We've all felt that feeling of sluggishness at some point in the work day in an office environment and a long afternoon meeting in an enclosed room with poor ventilation is not going to help at all, there's really no need to suffer through that anymore!

We know too much about how to create a healthy positive meeting room designed for productivity for that to be happening.

Active design stairwells in workplace design

Moving through the office building, stairwells are often this forgotten corner typically just left white with no real design interventions or points of interest, it’s as if the office architects or designers just ran out of steam or considered the stairs to be back of hours, rather than a space to embrace into the workplace design.

Imagine what happens if you were to spend just a little time designing those stairwells with workplace wellness in mind, what would happen, even with a minimal budget?

Perhaps you've got music playing, there may be living plants or other forms of biophilic design such as moss walls and nature-inspired artworks, or large vinyl graphics, something cool is going on with the lighting so that it feels inviting rather than a harsh blue-white LED from morning until night.

All of that would be what's called active design in the workplace - you'd be implementing design strategies that are there to promote workplace activity just by making it a more visually pleasant space to use, to move through from time to time during the work day rather than this perennially forgotten and under-utilized ‘Plan B’ option for navigating the building.

active design signage prompts

Never under estimate the power of signage at the point of decision, office workers about to press the button on the elevator for the 10th time that morning can be easily reminded that “hey, we've got these really cool things called stairs just over there, why not walk up to the third floor instead?”.

If we each make it our personal mission to use the office stairs a bit more, it can cumulatively add up to a meaningful contribution to the so-called ‘10,000 steps a day’ (which just means - moving around plenty each day). So this is another example of incidental movement during your work day.

It can be as simple as not sending an email to someone five floors up but instead actually going up to see them, and then walking back down - over the course of a day, a month and a year, that can make a tangible difference. It is one strategy amongst many and not a complete fix but it’s completely free and within reach of everyone, so why not grab it with both hands?

Standing desks in the healthy workplace

Arguably the most prominent shift when it comes to creating a healthy workplace is what's happened recently around standing desks, immediately taking a large slice of those sedentary hours sitting hunched over a screen and injecting a degree of extra movement that is so critical to creating a culture of workplace wellbeing.

There's been a real change in perception of what is acceptable in terms of workplace furniture in recent years and implicitly what a standing desk can can do for us in that respect.

Endless sedentary days are linked to lower back issues, they generally do us no favors in terms of out energy levels and do more harm than good overall. It’s time to mix things up!

Standing for part of the work day stimulates your blood flow, helping to maintain energy levels.

You don't necessarily need to spend the entire day at your standing desk, it’s OK to lean on a stool as well to take the weight of your feet, we recommend using a standing mat (see accompanying image) so that there is something soft under the feet, that makes a big difference to comfort levels.

A great brand to look for here is Fully with their eco-friendly bamboo desk tops.

How to get started with a standing desk in your office

Like anything in life, this takes a little practice, so don’t start by trying to pull 8-hour work days without taking a seat, it’s just not going to work and you’ll crash or burn within a week.

Start with an hour, then two and before long you won’t notice the difference. Nobody says you can’t sit down for the afternoon after a busy morning either! Expect a transition period of around three months for this.

Creating the habit of exercise around a work day

The flip side to what we’ve been calling incidental movement in the workplace is deliberate exercise, a chosen period of activity that has been consciously added into the work day as an opportunity to vigorously move your body, to get your sweat on, or simply to do some stretching, mobility work and so on. It’s all good.

Key to making this habit stick is a systems approach rather than relying on willpower alone. No matter whether you're a beginner or an elite athlete there, it’s about removing obstacles to that exercise happening. Try scheduling a workout like a meeting in the calendar.

Prepare your workout gear the night before a morning session, perhaps engage with workplace colleagues who are going to train too so we can hold each other accountable.

Office gym design in workplace wellness

For home workouts, or office gym workouts, all you really need is a basic set of gym equipment with an exercise mat, a few weights, a kettlebell, medicine ball or sandbag - the rest is psychological, if it’s an underground bunker with no natural light, no fresh air, no sense of visual interest, no coach or workout partner around… that workout is simply not going to happen, let’s face it!

That’s why outdoor workouts are a safer bet, weather permitting, or making the effort to get to an actual gym - which then becomes a ‘place of practice’, somewhere to really get the job done, rather than a space that has been partially converted into a pale imitation of a true gym. This may mean more time from your day but the value it adds may well make it worthwhile.

Our psyches are sharper than we think, they are not easily fooled. So, understanding yourself, your own personal motivation and the recognizing the limits of your willpower are all essential steps in creating a healthy work day.

Returning Nature To The City with Barri Studio

A conversation with Jordi Barri of Barri Studio in Barcelona for the Green & Healthy Places podcast episode 038 on sustainability and wellbeing in real estate and interiors.

Conversation highlights:

Everything is interconnected. So at the end, the relationships between plants, insects, and even humans, are crucial for our work, especially in an urban surrounding.

We created a garden of pollinators that allows insects to gather and colonize.

When we see butterflies in the neighborhood it means that we are recovering, and those vegetation communities are working well. It's like a biodiversity parameter for a healthy environment.

In response to climate change, landscape architects have to design with nature, not against it.

We did a study of the bird species of the area and their migration behavior then designed a rooftop with plant communities suitable for those nesting birds.

Nature is complex, vivid, random, diverse...

With our designs we want to bring back wild, uncontrolled nature into our cities - it’s much better for the soul.

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Matt Morley

Jordi - Great to have you on the podcast. You grew up surrounded by plants, it's obviously in your DNA, your family had a plant nursery in Catalonia. I wondered how you think now about that experience, how it's influenced you, and the knowledge that was handed down to you from the previous generation generation?

Jordi Barri

Well, yeah, I grew up in a plant nursery, it was from my grandfather, and my father and now is run also by my brother. The botanical names, usually that's something very funny, even with my friends, because they were are always joking about how I know all the right plant names, it is just like a lexicon that has always been there for me.

I remember when I was a kid, my father, not forced me but let’s say ‘obliged me’ in the summer to work with him, since I was about 10, so every summer for one month, we had to be in the nursery working! At the end, it has been very much influential in in me, even, I remember those winters where we went to the nursery, with the Christmas trees, and we had to deliver them around the neighborhood. All of that helped me now to understand much more about how those plants evolved, how they behave, and so on.

Matt Morley

It's interesting, hearing your response, it occurs to me that there's a tangible difference between having parents with their own business versus someone who may be running a company, but it's not their company. For the kids, it’s a completely different result in may ways.

So clearly, that knowledge of landscaping and biophilia (connection to nature) is built into your heritage but how have you built upon it to create your own particular style today?

There is a lot of thinking behind the plant strategies that you put forward. In addition to aesthetics, there's this functional side, clear ecologically inspired concepts and strategies in fact. Can you talk to us a bit about that, about how you try to promote biodiversity, for example, via specific combinations of plants to almost giving your projects a higher purpose beyond just sort of decorative landscaping?

Jordi Barri

Yeah, well, at the end, we are very much interested in our landscape designs not being static , we like to go deep in understanding the relationships between those plans and within the plant community we design to see how they can all work together.

So in order to solve problems for example, when you have trees that are attacked by aphids, we can create a plant community that captures the attention of ladybugs that also serve to attack those aphids.

It's a kind of symbiosis that we’re trying to achieve here, in order to bring something more than aesthetics, for example, to understand how certain plants can help sequester carbon, capturing CO2. It's trying to work a beyond the aesthetics, and going more into an ecological approach based around functionality.

Biophilia

When we bring that into the city, we don’t just bring natural beauty but additional ecological benefits too. Everything is interconnected. So at the end, the relationships between plants, insects, and even humans, are crucial for our work, especially in an urban surrounding.

Matt Morley

Rewilding

Sounds quite similar to some of the rewilding projects that are going on in the UK, for example, where people, landowners often are looking to reintroduce certain species that have become extinct, as a way to promote greater diversity in the animal world around them and find that balance that perhaps has been lost due to the impact of industrialization and basically humans on the planet.

Landscapes in placemaking

So let's dig into one of your projects as an example, because I think designing a garden or creating private spaces is one thing, and we can cover that later. But I’m really interested in the role that landscape designers can play in, let's call it like placemaking. Public squares, places that make up the urban fabric of a city, that in a sense, you're designing and creating these green spaces, right, so you're bringing some greenery back into urban lives that way.

I was looking at the town square project you did in in Santa Eulalia. I think you're starting that one next year. Can you describe the different components that go into that type of project?

Jordi Barri

Designing urban green spaces

Well, yeah, well, it's a kind of a probably Plaza divided in different areas. And also, what is characteristic about these are its organic forms that it's more rounded. What we also wanted to recreate was much more about the sensation of the memory that the people of the town have when they go to the river, and how we can try to bring that sensation into that urban Plaza.

So, at the end, it was like, divided in like if we call like three different areas, that one is called like a dense wood. So where we plant a dense wood that recreates a little bit the the woods and the trees that we have in those areas surrounding that town.

Playgrounds for kids

Then there is a flexible, performative surface, where those different activities can happen. And also, there is a kids area - almost a must when you do a public park or plaza, because at the on the end, they are the main users and so we have to bring in the functionality of the playgrounds, but also a more didactic angle for them, so that they start to understand how to deal with with nature they're so we usually those games that we plan the plan for them are in that case, are made from robinia wood instead of plastic.

Matt Morley

Nature in urban design projects

Then you have other projects, such as the one in in Blanes also starting in 2022. What sort of techniques or strategies can you use to create a small hub, like a nature-oriented meeting place for the local community? How does that how does landscaping connect with that bigger strategic concept of creating a meeting place for locals and promoting a sense of community for the people who live in that area?

Jordi Barri

Well, it's true that in that case, in that park, there was a strong Neighborhood Association, and it was already like a kind of a meeting point for them, but it was totally disrupted and not very pleasant. So, our strategy there, obviously, because we are focused on ecological aspects was to create a topographical movement. And with that, a little slope, we collect all that rain water, towards what we call a bio swale.

And that bio swale acts like a spine, at the end becomes like the place where you can walk, and the different zones of that parks are attached to that spine.

Biodiversity

So in another aspect, in terms of our ecological approach - we created a garden of pollinators that allows insects to gather and colonize.

We have all seen in the pandemic how parks have become like a very important place, even for healing minds and for the healthy health of the people. So I think that by combining these two aspects, like the beauty and the ecological as we always try to do, people will will be pleased to gather there and enjoy the park.

Matt Morley

Biophilic design

I think that's where what you do starts to overlap with what I do in terms of creating green indoor spaces, but really a lot of the same design concepts - giving people access to nature, even in an indoor environment, if there's no Barri Studio designed park around the corner for example!

Bringing nature back - “butterflies in the neighborhood”

You've written about the concept of butterflies in the neighborhood, what are signs of progress in terms of nature slowly being invited back in to cohabit with us in city centers? How is your concept of butterflies in the neighborhood? How does it relate to that?

Jordi Barri

Well, when we see butterflies in the neighborhood it means that we are recovering, and those vegetation communities are working well. It's like a biodiversity parameter for a healthy environment.

Obviously, at the end is like trying to recover on those lost areas that we have in the city, that can be like a place where this nature is brought back. So and that can happen very much into the roofs here in Barcelona, there are many projects now that that are concerned with the green roofs, but not just as, as it was before, maybe there was just like a green roof in order to, to claim it or an insulation aspect, but much more like to bring nature back.

So if we bring all those insects back, all those plants back, at the end it’s like trying to have a better balance between human beings and nature, animals, and insects.

Everything is related. When you have in the city street plantings that are planted with one species, that doesn't bring diversity. So at the end, if you plant a diversity of species, then it brings other communities there. And that brings lag, so at the end, we have to force or we have to lay the substract in order that that these magic of those communities happens there. And I think that is all what we are trying to do here in the studio.

When we say butterflies into the neighborhood, that’s what we would like to see when we open the doors of our houses - butterflies and birds.

Matt Morley

I know you're interested in what's been done in Asia as well, in that sense. So if we take a step back and look at the regions, and how different regions deal with this in a different way, obviously we're talking from effectively a Mediterranean location, a Mediterranean climate, but in terms of Asia, Singapore, obviously being sort of the leading example, but I'm sure there are many others… Are there lessons that can be learned from what's been done in Asia? Or are there no universal principles? Is it very specific to each region according to whether it's tropical or or dry, hot or cold?

Singapore - a biophilic case study

Jordi Barri

Yeah, well, obviously every region has their own their own problems and their own different strategies , instead of using the way to plan the cities, in a more engineering way, that it was okay, everything should be channelized, you know, like concrete channels in order to avoid the water flood from one place. So, landscape architects can bring another vision. And that is why it's so important in terms of a major role in transforming the cities, because the way to approach to those problems are totally different than the engineers. And now we see, for example, and not in Asia, but in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles River, there was totally channelized. with concrete.

Now, there are many projects that are dealing or how to get rid of that concrete, and how to bring the stream of the river back. So at the end is like an obvious concept is like, in that case, in Asia, what they're doing is like they are planning huge parks, that they become Sponge Parks, when they have floods, they can retain they can hold these water, and then they can bring it back to the to the river in a control way.

In terms of the Mediterranean climate is probably totally different. Because at the end of what we bought, it works the same boat in a different rain parameter. So here, what we want is to hold that water as much as we can, because we have a lack of water. So we have to retain that water somehow. And then to apply to try to irrigate with the water that we collect in order to not to abuse and not to, let's say like the aquifer that we have tried to not to stress it. So it's better if we can use the water that we collect from the rainfall. In response to climate change, landscape architects have to design with nature, not against it.

Matt Morley

Sustainable design principles

It's almost as if you're having that relationship with nature. The last thing you'd want to do is to harm it, or in fact, what you want to do is great work. And great work requires now that you also protect and do whatever you can to, to help and reduce the damage that's being inflicted on nature.

And again, similar principles behind biophilic design. It's not just about creating green spaces, it's no good if it's green and looks natural, but it's having a negative impact on the environment. That just makes no sense. It's not a coherent approach. And I can really see that in the way you talk about designing spaces or outdoor green spaces that are respectful of nature, that bring nature in and that do whatever they can to help it, to stop the negative impact that humans are having.

Nature in residential architecture

You have an interesting perspective because you work across industries, in a sense both from architecture , right the way through to outdoor landscaping projects and your project in Mallorca in particular, which is a residential project. It seems to be a really interesting example of how you can use buildings And in this case, architectural design, to attract nature back into the city. So rather than it being an outdoor green space, you're effectively designing a residential building. What techniques have you used to connect the future residents of that building with the nature around them?

Jordi Barri

Well, we wanted to do research of how a building can be much more than just a building, from an ecological perspective, so we did a study of the bird species of the area and their migration behavior then designed a rooftop with plant communities suitable for those nesting birds. An external staircase can then become a lookout for those birds nesting on the rooftop.

Imagine if rooftops could become stepping stones around the city for birds to make their nests in - that was our goal. Kids living in the building can watch and learn how the birds nest so it takes on a learning function as well over time. Nature is complex, vivid, random, diverse...

Those perfect French gardens were so manicured and controlled. That was a way to show man’s dominance over nature. With our designs we want to bring back wild, uncontrolled nature into our cities - it’s much better for the soul.

https://barristudio.com/

institute of Building biology and sustainability

An interview with Johannes Schmidt, course manager of the Building Biology Course (https://buildingbiology-course.org) at the Institute of Building Biology + Sustainability IBN, Germany.

Highlights:

• the roots of healthy buildings and building biology are here in Germany

• If you study medicine, you learn about illnesses but not about sickness caused by spending time in a building

• In any house, the most important place from our perspective is the bedroom

• We have drastically changed the way we live over the last few generations. Just 100 years ago, we spent much more time outdoors.

• we don't want to say we have to go back to the Stone Ages. I'm using a computer, I use electricity, in the institute we simply use it in a more efficient, less harmful way.

• I use my body as a tool for movement in a natural environment, every day ideally.

---

Institute of Building Biology & Sustainability

What is the background to the Institute of Building Biology and Sustainability (IBN) in Rosenheim, Germany?

The history of the institute is that it actually was founded by a professor, Dr. Anton Schneider. And that was done in the year in 1976-77. This is when he started with his Institute, he was a professor at a technical university, here in Rosenheim in Germany. And he was doing research on different kinds of wood technologies, and also wood treatments, preservatives, etc. And by starting this, he also he found out about the impact of chemical treatments on the health of human beings.

Non-toxic, sustainable buildings

He was wondering whether there are not other technologies, or maybe even other craftsmen ships that have been done in the past when people were building houses. And by doing the research on that, he found out that there are many ways how you can build houses in a way where you have less exposure to toxic materials. And this is by simply using more natural materials.

He also made the connection of the impact of using all the or many industrial building products that they used in those days. And that many new building materials have been invented and used in the building trade. And there he started to find another way of building that is more environmental friendly, that is more sustainable. And this that has less impact on the health of the people who live in the houses.

Professor Schneider retired early, he had some health problems, then he founded in 1983. This institute as a private company, so to speak. And as the institute, it was no longer a part of the university. And from there on, he continued his work.

When we think about the green building movement in the US, it it feels like, in a sense, what was happening with with building biology in Germany was almost predating that, it was happening before, have you from a historical perspective. Do you see what happened in Germany as leading the industry globally?

The birth of healthy buildings as a concept

I think the roots of healthy buildings and building biology are here in Germany. I think it was in 1967-68-69 that he was working together with some other scientists who were doing research on that, and out of this meeting, then Professor Schneider started with his Institute at the University.

A healthy building headquarters

I was particularly interested to see the building of the Institute in Germany. So can you describe the headquarters, the building itself, and then also the types of services that the Institute offers, because it's more than just education, although obviously, we're partly talking about the course today, but the Institute offers other things as well.

Yep. When Professor Schneider retired in 1983, he already lived in the smaller village, close here to Rosenheim. And there he had a second building there. And this was the original, or the other first building of the private IBM of the private institute. In 2014, when Fred Schneider who actually is an architect, we build a new building biology building, which is now the headquarter of the IBM of our Institute.

With this new building, we realized the building biology principles, and we used the building biology recommended building materials. And this is where we also now have a good example, how you can build an office building in a building biology wait.

And so if anybody who is listening here is in Germany, and if you want to see our institute of the building, you can certainly come and visit us and have a look and have a look at what what building biology in reality is not just on paper, but in reality, in a way. But there are also many other building biology buildings that have been built over the last decades.

Building biology for offices and educational facilities

Our building here, I think, is also a good example for office buildings. And what we are doing here at the Institute, so the main purpose of the institute is to educate people who are mainly in the building trade, about how to build in an environmentally friendly way, how to use natural materials, how to build in a way that our modern tools and equipment that we have is not harmful, and that we reduce unnecessary toxins or that we also reduce or eliminate it, electromagnetic radiation or electrodes, or electrical magnetic fields, in order to have less electrode smoke, so to speak.

Also if we use new building materials that be checked this new building materials out whether they might contain any kind of problematic toxins or something like that. So if you ask about the typical work at our institute here, the main thing is to give additional information to give additional knowledge to architects to craftsmans, to carpenters, to painters to maintenance, and everybody in the building trade.

But as building biology is also a connection with the aspect of health in the house, the building. We also do have students who for instance, come as doctors you know, or who are in the health sector, because we think there is a big gap or lack of knowledge between those two.

If you study medicine, you learn about illnesses but not about sickness that can be caused by spending time in a building. I mean, many people know the term of sick building syndrome. But they actually do not know what that is. And this is something where we also trying to educate the public about this connection. And so another thing that we have, but this is unfortunately, only in German, we do have now an online magazine.

there is then a next step in the education program, that on top of a basic building biology course, which also is available in English, we do have an additional education, for testing. So this mainly refers to all the buildings that already exist, that you have to find out. If you are hired as a building biology testing specialist, what kind of problems are in the house. And this is another education program.

On top of the basic problem program, where we teach people how to test was testing instruments, the electro magnetic fields, the electrostatics, magnetic static fields, radioactivity, radon sound. Now in since a couple of years, also about how to test light fixtures we have now more and more LED light fixtures in our houses, how do you check those out?

Toxic chemicals in buildings

Another aspect is or a big topic are all the chemicals that we have in our houses, for instance, like formaldehyde, for instance or VOCs volatile organic compounds, how to test those, but also how to test, for instance, pesticides, that have been treated wood as woodstain, where you have a lot of toxic components that you can still find in existing houses in another topic is all these problems that are related to too much moisture in a building, when you get fungus growth and mold. And there also is a connection with increases what we can absorb heat in Germany that you do have, due to climate change a change in the climate, we have more humid summers. And when you have more humidity in the air, you get more humidity into the houses, which then can increase the growth of mold and fungus.

So it also is a not just a small way of checking out the houses. It's also some kind of like a holistic approach, you know that we check out what kind of possible risks can you find within the houses. But so far, unfortunately, we do not offer this courses, this additional testing education in English, maybe in a couple of years. We don't know it depends on the amount of students that begets who take the English course.

And within the course there's also some basic theoretical knowledge about the testings, how to do that. And we do have, this is something that everybody goes into, you can check this out, we have a standard of testing methods. So if you're interested in then you can read that.

And there you can also read about our evaluation guidelines, you know, where we have a guideline, how to judge the measurement that we do when we test houses in if you look on our numbers on our readings that we should suggest what is dangerous and what isn't, that you will find out that this differs a lot from official limits for instance, that are published by the government because our reference is the human being and the health of the human being. And this is also a I would say a unique or a different approach.

Healthy interiors & ecological footprints

And what else are we doing here we also we are looking on furniture from instance and interior design, because with furnitures, you can have the same kind of problem, they are made out of a lot of new material. And so they also can cause health problems.

And we are also looking at the energy efficiency of buildings. And there we look, also in a holistic approach on the complete ecological footprint of a building. And this also refers to the time when you start building a house, you know, because it makes a big difference, whether you use building materials that come out of your region, or whether you import building materials from foreign countries that have been shipped over the oceans, in containers.

So this also has an effect on the ecology and on the ecological footprint of the house, this is something that we're looking at. But also when you maintain a house when you live in the house, how do you and where do you get the energy in order to live within the house?

Yeah, I think it also is looking at a house from a holistic point of view that we try to combine these different views, you know, so how healthy is the building, in the building actually shall be a place where we can relax, where we can recover. And in any house, the most important place for us is the bed, the sleeping area.

If you look at the sleeping time, if you let's say sleep eight hours a night, we spent 1/3 of our life by sleeping. And this is a very essential time, because in the in the in the time when we are sleeping, our body is recovering itself, if it repairs itself, it detoxifies itself. And in this time period, our body should not be interrupted or disturbed by in this case, specially in by electromagnetic fields, you know, because many of the functions of our body also work with electricity within our body, you know, and artificial electricity can disturb this. And this is something that also many people simply don't know, they are not aware of that. And this is where we also try to inform the public about this very important issue.

If you speak to doctors, or if you speak to doctors who are environmental doctors or naturopaths, you know, they will also confirm that they have many illnesses, new illnesses. In they are also to a certain degree, they know where they might come from, but many of these doctors do not know what is the cause. And this is something that we also try to teach the public that we have to look on other aspects of here, we have to take into account other things in these days where more and more people realize that for instance, food organic food is better, and maybe eating less meat etc. and organic food is good drinking enough and good water. And but we do not look enough on the aspects of our buildings.

We have drastically changed the way we live over the last few generations. Just 100 years ago, we spent much more time outdoors. And now we spend about in our civilized world, about 80 to 90%. Indoors. And from this perspective, we want to build, create and improve houses in a way that for us, the human beings, our living environment, our buildings are as natural as possible in order to keep us in good health.

Buildings in harmony with nature

So in a way, you're challenging the assumption that everything that is new, is necessarily better or healthier. You're saying actually, so in some cases, in many cases, the new building materials and the new furniture materials that we're using are not necessarily healthier for the people for us or for our planet. And in fact, maybe some of the answers were already in place. We just have to go back and look for them.

Yes, I would agree to that. I mean, we don't want to say we have to go back to the Stone Ages. I'm using a computer, I use electricity, in the institute we simply use it in a more efficient, less harmful way. So we simply reduce it. And even me living here, or working here in a building biology office, and also having a building biology home, I'm also spent a lot of time outdoors, you know, in the nature, you know, going through the woods for exercise outdoors. I use my body as a tool that has to be used for movement, in a natural environment, every day ideally.

These days, we are sitting for eight hours or more hours a day, just in the chair and looking straight with almost no movement into a computer screen, you know, this is also very unnatural. Our eyes, for instance, they were also used to look in the distance close, in the front of your feet, you know, to the left to the right, you know, there was a lot of different movements, and we have reduced this in a way that it also can be harmful over the years for our eyes, you know, besides all the possible toxic influence from poor air quality, or electromagnetic fields, etc.

you know, we also be should make more use of our physical body, how it was intended by nature, and our body was not intended to spend 80 90%, in buildings, where you are exposed to all kinds of new chemicals that never existed 100 years ago on this planet, and to expose your body to electromagnetic radiation of all different kinds of frequencies and intensities, this is something that we are not used to.

Designing a healthy bedroom

So this idea of having a healthy bedroom, where as you say we spend a third of our life. Beyond having a natural natural fabric, mattress and pillows and bed sheets, for example, you're also thinking about the potential damage of EMF that's happening in the room?

Well, I mean, one of the first steps actually is to get information about this and so that you know what, what what happens if you use electricity, you know, and this was actually something that we are teaching in our course, you know, for instance, we also we do have electricians, you know, and an electrician, if you if you hire an electrician, to do some changes at your house wiring system, he will do everything that goes in according with the building codes, and he will make sure that you have that your light fixtures are working, that you can use your Wi Fi and that all these kind of things are working.

But these electricians they do not know how to reduce this kind of exposure. And there's for instance what most people have in their bedrooms they have electricity and they have their light fixtures beside their bed and they do not know when they turn off the light that there is still the electric current on on the wireless system, which makes up with always have an electrical fields, and this electrical field can connect to everything where electricity can flow. And electricity also can connect, for instance, to water. And our physical body contains about approximately 70% of water.

So our physical body can connect to this electrical fields, and then we have an artificial flow of artificial electrical fields that actually have nothing to do in our physical bodies that they simply shouldn't be there this artificial electricity is, you know, and also what is that, for instance, our physical body is using also electricity with a constant variation of the frequency.

You know, for instance, right now, if a testing laboratory would test the frequency of your brain, right now, they would probably find a frequency range of some around 15 to 35, up to 40 cycles, you know, and the cyclists that you have on your electricity in Germany is 50 cycles in the United States is 60 cycles.

And if you if you have a constant connection to this artificial 60 cycle, electricity was in your body, this is a constant disturbing to your body to do and to do all the electrical flow that is natural, you know, and you have there from your brain, for instance, you have electrical flows to your muscularity. In the daytime, when you are moving yourself, you also you have a constant connection to all your organs within your body. And if there's always a constant, artificial fields, this simply makes it very hard and stressful to keep up with the natural organization and and stimulation of your complete physical body.

And from this point of view, what we are saying, how can we change that. So what we do, when a testing specialist for instance, comes to house, he measures the amount of fields that you have within your bed, you can measure this, and with a testing tool, or with different testing tools, and then you know, what's, what's the actual situation, and then you judge this actual situation, according to our standard of testing methods will fit with this guidelines, you know, and the next step would be to turn off the circuit of the bedroom.

And usually, then if you then continue to test American neck next testing, you in most cases, you would find that the readings have dropped significantly. The next step is if you still have some Phillips there, that you for instance, turn off the bathroom, that is beside your sleeping room, or the kitchen, you know if the bedroom is in the first in the second floor, you turn off the circuit for the kitchen that is below the bedroom, or from the living room, you know, and then you check out which kind of circuits have an influence on the bedroom. And then when you find out, let's say you have the bedroom, the bathroom and the living room.

And for instance, the guest room, then the building biology testing specialists will recommend to build in so called Automated circuit breakers that turn off the electricity if you don't need it in the nighttime. You know, that means when you turn off your light fixture, when you lay in your bed, you turn it off, then this automated circuit breaker will realize or recognize that you don't need the electricity and it will turn and it will shut off the regular 120 50 cycle electricity in Germany and I think in the States is 110 voltage 60 cycle, we'll turn it off.

And we'll only now have a DC voltage with 12 Watts to your light fixture and this 12 volts DC is not a problem for the body and doesn't harm us, you know. And when it's dark in the night and you have to go to the bathroom in the night you need to light you just turn on your light fixture and then The automatic circuit breaker will notice this by this 12 volt system. And we'll switch to your 110 and 60 cycles, and it takes half of a second, and your light goes on. So this is a very simple technical solution, where you can eliminate those electrical fields in your bed while you are sleeping. And you don't have to, you don't have to worry about any kind of influences from the electricity. Well, this is a very simple way. And this may cost you a couple 100 bucks to get this installed. And this is a very simple solution.

And our recommendations, for instance, if you build a new house, you have another you have another choice, you can use so called shielded wires, and those shielded wires, they it's something like an aluminum mesh around the the three cables within the wire, and you have to connect this to the ground, and they eliminate radiation of the electrical fields, when we don't have to turn off the circuits. You simply use those shielded wires system and the plucks, and you have eliminated those electrical fields. And then you can plug in this is now also available shielded light fixtures, and you have eliminated the electrical fields within your house.

So this is no Hocus Pocus, this is not something very tricky, this is something very easy. But the problem is most people do not know that they could do this and most electricians don't know about this possibilities. Now, this is what we are trying to teach. And in order to do that, you also have to do it in the proper way, you have to testing more properly. And this is what we teach in our course.

human-centric design concept

Doing my research into Building biology, I came across this term that you use quite a lot called “human based design”. Now that appeals to me immediately when I read it, but perhaps you could just talk to us and describe a little bit that concept and what his main characteristics are?

Well, I think as the term actually says human based, that the focus is on our humans, and this also includes that we as human beings, that we feel better if you for instance, look on harmonic relations have the dimensions of room, you know, and that you also look on natural materials, and this is something different.

If you only ever design that is only based on the most economical point of view, you know, how can you save? Or how can you get the best, the best revenue or the best outcome on your investment, so to speak, you know, that you just look on a building from a money point of view, you know, that you try to use and use cheap building materials, you know, and it also makes a difference.

For instance, if you then touch these kinds of surfaces, you know, it makes a difference. For instance, if you have a wooden desk, you know, where you are working, or whether it's just an artificial born or whatever it is out of plastic and an artificial surface, for instance, you know, so it's goes by the look. And it also goes for instance, for instance, right now for look out of my window, you know, I have a big window so that I can also see the outdoors, you know, this is something that's important for us that you are not in an environment where you but you can see to the outdoors, you know, this is also some because there you can see if you're lucky if you're not live in the big cities, that you can also maybe look and see a tree or something like that, you know, this is that you also include the the the needs, also from from what we are what our physical body has been used over the last I don't know many centuries, you know, and millenniums you know, and all also that you can smell for instance, natural materials, you know?

And and, yeah, how can you say that, and also one thing and know whether you be linear the expression of the Golden cut, you know, that is an expression where architects use this in order that you have a certain kind of the lengths to the width to the heights of room, for instance, you know that this is in a harmonic relationship, where you simply feel better, you know, and if you have something that has been built according to this harmonic dimensions, when people enter rooms like that, and if you ask them, How do you feel in this room here?

Labor, so, oh, well, it feels good, it feels nice, you know, and this is something that people say, when they come through our building, or to our Institute building, you know, then they say, Oh, wow, this here, it smells good, and it feels good. And so, on the opposite, if you go into a modern building that only has been built with economical rules, then you might also feel well, you know, it doesn't feel really good. Or the smell oh, well, no, it smells a little bit strange, or it smells chemical or something like that, you know? So, this is what I would say that this has something to do with the human based design.

Building Biology post-Covid

How has building biology responded to what we've gone through with the the COVID crisis? Like what's the reaction been from within the building biology world?

Well, on the one hand, it's actually nothing new for us, because what we are saying is that we should, yeah, ventilate our houses better. And that we that in order to have a more a better air quality and natural air quality, and now it's this is thanks to COVID to Corona, that people are now ventilating their offices and also their houses much much better, you know, and one additional aspect is that you also reduce the amount of possible viruses that might be in the air, but in order to carbon dioxide for instance, or if you have building materials or furnitures that are built with chipboards, where you have formaldehyde is a problem.

Or if you have artificial building materials that off guess VOCs you also get a reduction of these kinds of toxic air pollutants. And so from this perspective, it's a positive effect of the Coronavirus you know, that people are now realizing how important ventilation is the other thing is that we are saying that building biology is also one aspect that improves your health status.

And if you live in a building biology built house, you can also expect that you will have a better immune system that is more stable and then also can that you then also have a natural way how your physical body can treat with this virus if you should be exposed to it. And so, we also we did get some questions from our viewers how shall we deal with the mask for instance, you know, and this also is a topic where we say that has to be looked at and some of the aspects are good, but there are still many many questions and to the way how we are dealing with this COVID crisis here.

And we say eat proper organic foods, drink a lot of water, spend much time outdoors, inhale proper air in nature in the woods go through the woods, you know, that also cleans a lot of our toxic dust and etc. So that your support your physical body and also spent a lot of time outdoors in the sun. You know we do need direct sunlight you know we do don't need more artificial light in only wear the mask when it's really necessary.

And for instant, but this is my personal opinion, if I see people walking outdoors, who the woods and wearing a mask, it doesn't make sense to me, it's from my point of view, I think it's actually an increased health risk, you know, because when we human beings, when we exhale, our physical body tries to get rid of stuff, of particles, also of particles of viruses of bacterias of carbon dioxide, you know, and if you're wearing a mask, you are inhaling at least a certain percentage things that our body wants to get rid of.

So I would say only wear a mask when it's really necessary. And also change those masks in the regular basis, you know, if people are having masks in their pockets, and then using the same kind of mask for a week or longer, I mean, this is also not very good idea. Because you also might get within the mask, some kind of fungus grows or whatever, you know.

So yeah, it's, it's certainly is an additional topic. And for our institute yet also meant some disturbances here and made more workload for us because we had to shift our hands on seminars, and giving those seminars online, in many of our speakers of the spoon biologists that we have as speakers, they weren't used to that, you know, so we were kind of thrown in the cold water, having here zoom conferences and zoom seminars.

And, for me, I also have to admit that it's much more exhausting. If you speak for six hours, just always introduce green dots of your computer where the camera is, you know, and you don't see the interaction, you know, with the people know, if you're in a room, or you have a seminar, where you can see the people may you can

Building Biology online course

So in terms of the structure of the course and the duration, it looks like it's about a year to complete, so quite a serious undertaking more than just a quick certificate that that we might do in a month. This is this is a year of still part time work?

Yeah, the English version is 100% online , so that everybody on this planet, no matter where he is in New Zealand, or Australia, or the United States, that he can take the course in English. And people have to study at home. And we do recommend that you, for instance, open one chapter of the course and that you then study offline, you know, and that you also use a cord connection to your computer and not just using Wi Fi, you know, when you are learning our course that teaches you not to use Wi Fi.

So, but yes, it would be better, you know, if you have the students right in front of you, but it also wouldn't be very ecologically that people students would have to fly to Germany or that we would fly to different countries on this planet, you know, in order to teach us so It's, it's a compromise, you know, I mean, we are not that happy.

But on the other hand, if more and more people on this planet are using in their individual countries, the building biology principles, you know, the better it is for this planet, you know, even if there is a lack of communication or back and forth, you know, and, but we are still in touch with the students and from time to time.

Also, I do have individual zoom meetings with the students who take the course. And sometimes we get visits, you know, if the course come to Germany, they visit us here. And there is a growing community of building biologists all over the planet, which is nice, but it's still a small percentage of people in the building trade, you know it, but I think we urgently need more more people who are working in a building biology way, also due to climate change, you know, we are also in touch, for instance, here in Germany with the, from the Friday for future movement with the architects for future with a lot of young architects, you know, who want to do something.

And when they started, they also thought how can we develop a architecture that is good for the climate? And we simply could say, well, we have these these concepts already since 30, or 40. Deck years, you know, and so you don't have to invent, invent the real new, and just get the knowledge for Building biology.

And if you build the building biology principle, it's the best way how to build buildings, in order to do something for the environment, and also for the climate for the climate change, you know, and, but there we need much more. I mean, I mean, we need building biologists on this planet, like the amount of doctors or architects, they all should know this, if this knowledge, you know, this would help our, our planet Earth a lot, you know,

Mental wellbeing in university environments

Natasha, your role as director of the Center for Higher Education, Research and Evaluation, what does that evolve?

Dr Lackovic

The Center for Higher Education Research and Evaluation is situated within the Department of Education Research, and Lancaster University for educational research at Lancaster University. And it is one of the oldest centers in the world conducting higher education research.

We are committed to enhancing and transforming the higher education sector and its role in society economy and culture. The center has two directors. So I'm one of the directors and center directors provide academic leadership of the center.

So this means things such as organizing centers, meetings, seminars or webinars, workshops, other things of strategic importance to the center, such as responding to student and staff needs, developing reviews, local international collaborations, and centrism. zimage and its key activities. The center is also associated with our research programs in higher education.

Okay, if we go a layer deeper into this topic of wellbeing and specifically student wellbeing at universities today -from from your position, what do you see as being the key issues that are affecting student wellbeing at university?

Dr Lackovic

Tough question. I think that one of the key issues is is an increase in the demand for student well being services which can outweigh the capacity of the services and wellbeing services are constantly under pressure and work at full capacity. And another thing is that there is a need for a whole university approach to mental health so that it becomes a strategic priority at universities.

And this This is part of of the most recent strategic framework called step change mentally healthy universities published by Universities UK and CO developed with student minds University mental health charter. So the strategy means seeing mental health as a multifaceted phenomenon you know, that needs to be tackled across four domains, which are learned work support and and live.

So no learn, it actually tackles the curriculum and how students learning relates to their mental health and work is linked to staff well being support, what kind of support is needed to, you know, prevent particular conditions in, in especially prevent suicide and live is linked to living conditions and student accommodation, for example.

So this approach aims to develop structural, practical and environmental conditions for healthy universities, which means healthy learning, working support, living spaces and lifestyle, I suppose.

Is this a recent problem, or it's always been there, and is perhaps just more awareness of the issues in terms of student mental wellbeing today than they were 20 years ago, or 40 years ago for the previous generation?

Dr Lackovic

Well, I personally think that it has always been there, but probably there is, as you say, there is a greater awareness these days, and I don't know, perhaps, there are other other I'd say structural influences, you know, contemporary pressures, that students are facing.

Students are also now under the pressure to repay the student debt. And its difficulty, you know, this this generation of students like the new generations of students, they are in a not, they're not in the same position, for example, to find jobs or get on the property ladder, for example, as it used to be. You're saying you're referring to 20 years ago, so.

So I think these these new pressures, I'd say, and now we have the COVID. Is it is it COVID, post COVID situation, but another things that are, I think, increasingly weighing students? I think it's it has been intensified probably, of last, I don't know, maybe 1015 to 20 years.

I think there's a lot of similarities between the massive increase in dialogue and debate around mental health in the workplace, that has emerged over the last 18 months in response to to COVID, and what you describe in universities.

Bigger organizations are, there are some who are not doing as much as perhaps they could, but there's certainly some organizations and businesses that are really making massive changes to how they operate and how they address and respond to and in some senses, prevent mental health issues getting out of hand. But have you seen the same experience in the world of education and particularly UK universities?

Dr Lackovic

Well, I think the COVID crisis affected students, but also staff wellbeing in in profound ways. A switch to online learning, you know, that meant that students had to organize, but also stuff and their lives, I mean, our lives and Hall University engagement, then experience around working and studying from home, you know, or being students being isolated in student accommodation.

Think about students from in the UK from faraway places, such as China, a lot of students had to actually stay and isolate themselves on campus, for example. So there are studies that show how the COVID crisis affected students in in negative ways, and I can provide the link to these studies, if you wish. But in that, in our project, we did a survey of more than 120 students, and found that COVID-19 Really, I 10, certified, the importance of healthy and supportive environments.

You know, and the, this, this the importance of space, where you live, learn and work, but also the, I'd say the, you know, the blurring of the boundaries between work, life and learning was difficult. And, and if we talk about students, but I'm sure the same can accounts for for staff, the proximity to nature, as well as bringing, you know, the nature indoors, you know, through plants are even engaging with pets, animals that provided a source of comfort, the source of wellbeing / positive emotions. Yes. So so it was a struggle for I think, a lot of people. Yeah, so so that.

So you have the two big categories there, right? You have the student accommodation, which is typically perhaps the first year of the university experience after which many students, as I remember, then find their own accommodation independently. Right. So let's call it that first year in equivalent of halls, but and then the environments themselves on campus. So if we look at the accommodation, there seems to be quite a bit of movement in the student accommodation market, particularly private real estate developers doing things aimed specifically at students that look really quite revolutionary. How do you see what's happening specifically in terms of accommodation?

Dr Lackovic

Well, that is a good question. And although I'm not an expert in that, and I don't have an in depth, insight or understanding of, you know, the accommodation services and provisions, I am aware that there is some good work and and interest and student well being in in the organization such as United students and because, you know, they cover the entire kind of, I'd say, accommodation space or landscape in the UK kind of different regions and and I know that they have very vigorous interest and supporting student mental health and improving the conditions that kind of living conditions for students. For example, I just just wanted to deal with through something that I am aware of,

Are you seeing developments on campus itself in terms of creating environments with more biophilic design or nature around and perhaps taking your pets into the library with you is a bit too much for obvious reasons. But, you know, are you seeing changes? And did you see that there's perhaps more effort being made in terms of creating study environments that are productive and promote creativity and productivity? Or do you think there's still a long way to go in terms of universities in general, catching up with perhaps what we're seeing already and in the world of office design?

Dr Lackovic

That's another interesting question, Matt. So, I mean, I can, I can first we'll say a few, you know, reflections in relation to what I am aware, when it comes to Lancaster University. I started working at Lancaster University in 2014.

So it has been seven years and I have kind of witnessed, you know, the transformation of Lancaster University campus into a nicer I would say, more green and well being continues conducive environment, if that's the right expression, so many, many things that are environmentally friendly, and also, you know, that take care of, of sustainability and, you know, the university's outlook towards sustainability, we're also adopted, so you know, things like trees, you know, new trees planted.

The the university itself is on a very, very green field, situated among the beautiful rolling, Green Hill green rolling hills in Lancashire, and that is a very, I'd say, nice environment. So it's worth mentioning that there is a big difference between campus based university spaces, you know, such as Lancaster, especially, you know, the the campuses that are situated in the nature, it is literally, that that's what the case with Lancaster University campuses and, and the campuses that are, I don't know, like city based campuses, if that makes sense.

You know, these are very, very different types of university buildings, and they, they would, I think, look very differently. So, that's what I can say that I have seen a lot of changes, for example, you know, the refurbishment of the library to make it a kind of nicer environment for students more I guess, pleasant, when it comes to both, you know, learning but also socializing as well.

And but, but still, I guess, there is there is much work to be done on really enhancing, you know, the well being unsustainability, potential and, and need that that can that can actually improve staff and students well being and mental health.

Matt Morley

So you mentioned that, again, their staff and student mental mental well being, and clearly there's perhaps the temptation just to think of students, but in fact, the ecosystem of, of mental well being on campus or at a university is made up of both those who work there, the staff and the students. So do you look at both sides? So there really there are sort of perhaps different issues affecting students versus us as the staff, but you do tend to sort of consider both, is there a big division between them in terms of how the research is treated looking at the two different groups?

Unknown Speaker

Well, it's true that research can separate you know, these these two groups, but I personally think that we're both you know, in the same boat, okay. So, staff wellbeing is part and parcel of healthy universities, right. So due to the high workload then and pressures associated with working at universities, staff also need support when it comes to healthy working environment.

And you know, when it comes not to the healthy working environment, but also tackling student mental health, you know, how we support our students and how we support ourselves and also how we can strike the right balance, you know, the right lifework balance so stuff mental health is central to the domain of work I referred to earlier, if you remember when when I talked about that strategic framework, step change mental health in universities and the whole university approach.

And so you mentioned the the research project that you've recently completed with 120 students, I think you mentioned was that was that the research project that gave birth to the latest online book that you've published things in the mind?

Dr Lackovic

Yes, that's right. And for that project, we co developed a graphic novel, together with students about about their experience of mental health, in relation to everyday materiality. And when I say everyday materiality, I'm talking about spaces, places, environments, and everyday personal objects and items.

But we didn't only develop the graphic novel, we also did the students survey in order to understand better how students felt and how they experience their environments and the objects that surround them. And on daily Bailey basis.

Certainly, from what I've seen of having read through, I think it was a sort of a pre release copy that you kindly shared with me. But you know, I was it was fascinating to see some of these themes around what I would call, say, like Biophilia. So connection to nature, and how you'd picked up in the novel, without it being about interior design or architecture. And yet there was, you know, it was a recurring theme of the connection between student mental, like, so the internal well being, yeah, and the external spaces in which they're spending their time. Can you talk to us on that theme, because it came up again and again. And it was, it was great for me to see it being positioned in a completely different way to a very new audience, because it's such a, it's a topic that's so relevant, and you you got there completely organically just through responses from the students, it seems.

Dr Lackovic

Yes, it was really interesting and exciting and transformative for all of us to go through that project. It was transformative for me. And I also learned a lot from our students, co creators. And in the role of spaces, places and everyday objects that students encounter in one word materiality is really a new field in mental health and student mental health research in particular, and if you prefer also educational psychology, so but it is related to an established field of material culture and different approaches that address materiality in human and university experiences, you know, such as certainly materiality studies, for example.

I mean, I won't get into any any detail of these approaches, I'm just trying to say that what is new and our study is actually exploring every day environment and objects in the context of mental health and well being and especially student mental health research.

And so, you know, there are studies actually that showed the role, the positive role of indoor places and all this is particularly designed, you mentioned biophilia, so biophilic design of indoor places and you know, how they can have positive effects on on well being. And if there if there are if the conditions, the environmental conditions are not that great, and then there is of course, negative impact on wellbeing and mental health.

So there are lots of things there, you know, atmosphere, the feel of the place. And and it's it's such an interesting area, there were so many things that students referred to ranging, you know, from mugs, you know, to staircases, environments, such as the gym, or the library, you know, the canal that is not far from Lancaster University, because that's the, you know, where, where our students participants were situated, you know, around.

And so a really wide range of environments and objects that students actually related to deeply, and they saw their well being and lived, you know, authentic mental health experiences through those environments and objects. And for them, that was something new, that they actually, you know, before they did, that they hadn't done before.

And that was really transformative for them, when we when we asked them, you know, how they felt about it. So I think it's a really exciting field, and it opens up a lot of potential for different avenues, you know, to explore in the future, including, of course, the role of biophilia and biophilic design.

I think what's most encouraging about it for me is that, you know, for those of us working in, effectively, you know, the field of real estate interiors, you know, we can get a little bit myopic, we can sort of, you know, get lost in our own world and using our own terminology for things.

What I got from reading the, the graphic novel online was the, just how raw it was, and how the students were effectively communicating a very deep instinct, they didn't have the terminology that an interior designer or an architect might have, and they didn't need it, but they still understood something inside them was telling them, that the space around them, and their relationship to that space was was vital.

And if they got it wrong, if they weren't getting out to walk by the canal, or spend time with the dog playing in the park, or whatever it might be, it almost became, I think, and it was so well communicated in some of the visuals, it became the sort of Oh, messy room, underground, unpleasant gym, no time in nature, negative mental mood state, versus positive mental mood state for someone who had a tidy room and organized life and was able to spend some time in nature. And it was just so simple and natural that it clearly came to them. without there being any theory behind it.

Dr Lackovic

Yes, absolutely. You put it so well, Matt. So I think this is this is the power of visual storytelling as well. And and how we worked, you know, with the students, because we invited students to develop their own scenarios to share their own feelings about how their surrounding environment and everyday objects and personal items that you know, that they use, regularly how that relates to their mental health.

And, and because that was new to them, it also posed the kind of creative challenge. And I think just as you say, they they really did a wonderful job of almost intuitively presenting something that, you know, we can find evidence on what they actually expressed in research, but also that aligns with, you know, the principles of biophilia and biophilic design as well. And for me, that was another thing that, you know, fascinated me as the research and kind of project investigator. I think

In many ways where we're talking about or we can be can be in very different fields, education, higher education, research and evaluation, interior design, workplace well being but actually we're often talking about similar things, perhaps using different language, but ultimately getting to similar experiences and trying to find ways to improve on that. Those physical spaces because once you understand the impact and you see how you can make a difference or encourage people to to adapt their lifestyle a little bit. So what happens next for for your you've published the book, the graphic novel, online? Where do you go from here? What other projects? Do you have? Or do you intend to you're going to evolve what you've done and take it forward? Are you moving on to other projects?

Dr Lackovic

Oh, I would really love to develop this further. So you know, we recently launched the digital resource that embeds a graphic novel. And the novel lead was not referred to it as some kind of unnamed object is called things in the mind.

And so what would happen that the launch we had the conversation with, you know, different stakeholders, different people and professionals interested in student well being but also interested, and the role of the art and design in mental health and well being.

And I think that the next step for for the project is to, and for me, is to continue this work, because we have had a really positive feedback from students and from stakeholders, such as well being services and health services.

And at the moment, I have been developing an interactive, digital resource that embeds different kinds of interactions in order to engage readers, you know, with these different interactions on the selected page of the graphic novel, of course, it readers choose to interact with them. And they can just briefly, you know, sketch what these interactions are.

So there are questions to learn about different things. So like, multiple choice questions. And there are also questions to answer by the readers. So there are opening questions that readers can answer. And that helped will help us also collect further data, you know, deepen our understanding on, you know, students experiences further.

And third, they're also the so called information points that offer a diverse range of information and insight voicing for for readers, you know, who will be students who can be actually any person interested in well being and mental health and the role of everyday environments and objects in our lives. And this can be also embedded in in the word quinoa and diverse stakeholders practices. So I'm very hopeful and excited about what could happen next, Matt?

Active Travel in Healthy Buildings

An interview with James Nash, founder of Active Travel Score

https://activetravelscore.com/

What is active travel?

Active travel is any traditional or any non-motorized transport that isn’t cars, trains, public transport, or buses, for example, so any small, lightweight, possibly motorized way of getting around like an E-scooter, but also running, walking, or cycling to / from a building.

The journey started for me around about 15-16 years ago. When I was at university, I did a business management degree. And going into my final year, when I was into it, I went to Vienna of all places, and I was just struck by how popular cycling was there. And obviously, everyone thinks of Holland being bike friendly. But I was surprised. And it's the first time I'd seen a bicycle rental system on the street. So I just thought “bikes”, yeah, this is going to come to the UK at some point. And it just stuck in my mind.

Then as part of a final year project, I had to come up with a business idea. So myself and six others in our group, if you like at university, and our final year, had to do quite a business idea, and ours was coming up with a bicycle parking product, which we designed. The two of us left university and we decided to set up a business selling bicycle parking products. And we did that for the best part of 10 years. And that grew.

Most obviously, the kind of uptick we saw in cycling across the UK over the past. Sort of, we've seen it for about 15 years now. But then it got to the point about four or five years ago when we saw the opportunity for a certification within active travel. So we launched what was cycling school and is now active school.

My other business is Bike Dock Solutions as a product seller of bike racks and bicycle parking products. And we notice that day in day out, we were giving advice to architects on how to best layout cycle facilities are active travel facilities within commercial and residential buildings, off the large scale, sort of the skyscrapers you see all around London or any other major cities.

So we realized there was an opportunity and and a lack of knowledge of how to do this. So that was really the I suppose the brainwave or the lightbulb moment that there really needs to be an educational tool for the market, the real estate market, and so he started cycling school.

Designing active travel into a building

I think the government planning authorities have really got to grips with this over the past 15 years, in terms of putting the infrastructure into buildings. So storage for bikes, for example, or soon to be storage for E scooters. They genuinely have really started to be demanding for bike racks for new builds. And I'll say that really made developers get their head around it.

Over the past 10 years, planners have been asking for it and developers have been putting it in. There's now a real business case for putting in good active travel facilities in buildings - landlords see that they drive up rents and longer leases for their tenants or their residents. It's simply what people want from a building now.

City planning and active travel

So if it's a residential development, it varies up and down in the UK, and it varies across the world as it should do because cycling. And active travel cultures are different city to city, country to country. So it's important that there are different standards out there, because you don't want to be over subscribing, the number of bike parking spaces within a building, or under subscribing.

So it may be two, it needs to be out of a block of, say, 1000 apartments that get built. And the planning authority will say we will only grant you planning permission if you provide to bike parking spaces per apartment. And it isn't this thing, these aren't kind of like, oh, we'd like you to do this. But we'll give you planning anyway. You have to do it now.

So for example, 22 Bishopsgate, which is a commercial development in London, and it's the largest office building in Europe. It's actually got 1700 bike parking spaces within it. And that is because they had to do it for planning. Hmm. At the moment, are there too many spaces in there for the occupancy levels? There probably is, however, in five years time, or 10 years time, will there be, you know, under-utilization? Absolutely, based on the way active travel is go in, those spaces will get filled. So there needs to be an element of future-proofing to these new developments that are coming along.

Green building standards and active travel

Out of the two is it developers who listen more to green building standards or city planner? I'd say it's the planners. So the idea is have the full control because at the end of the day, if you don't meet their planning commands, requirements, right, that you build your building.

And so they're the most important than site and the fact that particularly in say London, they their demands are very LV demanding. And we are a lot of our clients often will get us involved because they want to send check some of the numbers because they put in an application for planning and then realize how many bike racks I have to provide.

And I think will easy is actually feasible. And so often we'll work with them to get their heads around it. And to explain that yeah, these are you can't think about these V spaces for now, you've got to think of the next 10 years. And then when they realize actually the long term value for putting in these spaces now. And they're a lot more comfortable with Yeah, going into it and stop stopping argument with the local authority or often the planners who asked him for these to go in now.

Healthy building standards

However, I'd say secondary to that. I suppose yourself, you know, how popular now these green certifications are and the health and wellbeing ones like well, lead Breann they're slowly but surely put in more importance on active travel. So they're really beginning to understand its importance in improving buildings overall, whether it's for the standard sustainability side of things or the health and wellbeing side of things.

Active travel facility design

It is important to bear in mind that what makes an active travel facility isn't just the infrastructure. So when I say infrastructure, I mean, the tangible things you can see, and you can touch. So they are extremely important. And so for our certification, they're worth 70%, of what we score. However, on top of that, and I'll go into more detail about what makes good infrastructure in a minute. But on top of that, what is very important is services.

So it's the softer measures within a building. So 20% of what we score, for example, is the active travel services. So is there a bicycle maintenance mechanic that can come to, to the to the building, once every quarter, or once every six months? Is there a laundry service provided for the tenants within a building or residence. So it's the softer measures as well. So that's something else we really want to say.

And the final 10% is future proofing. So what we want to see is that there's a plan in place that the building has to cope with the increase in active travel that we're going to see going forward is so important, especially now, with the post pandemic era where active travel has seen a real big uptick, it's probably sped things up by at least probably five years in a lot of areas, I'd say, in terms of the popularity. So it's not just infrastructure, it's the overall picture of the softer measures as well.

But in terms of blank canvas, infrastructure wise, that's what everyone thinks of when they want to see in is good access. So ideally, we don't want to be having people who are going by active travel, crossing with motor vehicles, we want to have it set completely separated, so their own insurance, so there's no risk of being hit by car, for example. We want security to be good.

So at least two layers of security because, unfortunately, a lot of the methods of active travel such as cycling or a scootering. They obviously bikes and scooters do get stolen very often. So security is extremely important. We like to see two layers of security. So it's a lot harder for someone just to get in, take a bike on a scooter and get out. Once you're inside the facility.

Designing active travel facilities

What we would love to see is a mixture of racking systems. So we'd like to see low level racking systems for and what this enables is for people who may not be able to lift the bike, or maybe have three wheeled bike two tracks, for example, to be able to park their bikes securely. And we like to see a scooter of X starting to appear. Especially as although there are illegal emojis now, building managers need to start thinking about them, because within the next year is pretty much guaranteed that personal e scooters are going to be legalized in the UK.

Active commuters

We also like to see if it's commercial office space, we want to see good high quality showers as well. And that's important so that people will encourage the cycle there's no barrier there to think I'm not going to ride my bike this morning. Because I can't shower when I get to work. We want to see good, good good shower facilities. Lockers are very important because lockers for that so that people can store their items or clothing.

So for example, some people may choose to run into work and then have a shower. So what you want we want to see is enough lockers so that cyclists who want to put their helmets and their bike lights or whatever it might be in a locker, obviously do have a locker but then we need an over provision so that foreigners can actually use have a locker as well.

We'd like to have a really nice look and feel where possible. So by this we want to see the spaces to be not just whitewash blank walls that traditionally is what you get, and are pretty uninspiring we want them to look more like front of house. So if you went into an apartment block or you went into a reception of a commercial building, we'd like to see the active travel spaces, looking more like that soak some color and make them inviting and some of our clients have even chosen to have music playing in their active travel facilities now, so it really is like Front of House As we think it should be. So in terms of infrastructure, that is what we'd like to say.

Active travel and active design

In years gone by it made sense to have spent all this money on reception areas and have all these amazing artworks and think God isn't this great.But then for years, people you could have the other it could be MD of Deutsche Bank who's in your building will actually cycle to work. And they're literally parking their bike in the bins near the bin storage under the under the building. And it doesn't really make any sense. Because if you're a landlord of that building, you want to keep them that bank they're in and you see you need your whole building to be a nice experience. However, there's I can guarantee 90% of buildings in London, probably very much still like that, it despite how much it's been made, and how things are changing. And so it's the whole whole, the whole building needs to be a good experience. And if there is, is less likely tenants or residents are going to leave, and you might be able to charge them more.

Healthy real estate and active travel

And so what's amazing is that a lot of that kind of traditional thinking is, well, an old building, there's not really any point making any effort it because, you know, all these new builds can come along and just put bite racking in and make them look great. But in reality, that's not the case, it's the investment really isn't anywhere near as much as what I think a lot of developers or a lot of existing landlords are building think is, especially when you consider the benefit of it in terms of long term to business case, in terms of how to keeping people tenants happy or attracting tenants because you know, there's there's, there's there's a lot of movement, as always, in real estate are people coming and going. And so it helps to kind of give yourself a bit very best chance if a building or company taking space knows their employees are going to have a great experience when they get into work, parking their bike, having a shower, going for one at lunchtime, whatever it may be.

the future of active travel facilities

If we went up to the pandemic and what I've seen in terms of the increase in active travel in the 12 or so years up until that point, and I'd say Most commercial buildings, certainly, and residential because of what was happening with planning anyway, would look completely different than the the facilities would be so much better. Just because of the way culture and people were naturally shifting across to active channel.

As I said, I think that pandemics may be going to actually take somewhere along this line, as five years out of that, in terms, it's going to make it happen so much quicker, because we're seeing now the the levels of people going into work by bike, even though people just started going back into London, for example, at Bristol, Manchester, and clients are getting inundated with cyclists in particular, people wanting to use the activetrail facilities.

So crystal ball wise, I'd say it's going to be completely different quantity wise how I don't know. But I wouldn't go far to say you've got a building like 22, Bishopsgate, being built in central London, and they're having to put 1700 spaces in their square footage is around about 1.3 million. I believe I might be wrong on that. But it's not far off. I would say that in five years time that there'll be asking for at least two and a half 1000 bike racks. I can't see how they won't be possibly 3000. So it kind of shows where we're going to go. Overall.

Well healthy building standard and active travel

With WELL, it's more of a focus on the cycling side of things, because that's what they tend to look at, at the moment, mainly at. And so I'm an advisor to them on the movement side of the certification. And so they're they certainly over the past five years, taken more, obviously, more than interested interest is the wrong word. But they realize it's more important than it was before. So that that's why they're there.

They're great in that they always any subjects, they've got so many advisors, and they always try and cherry pick people who are seen as an expert in an area and to work with them to help them develop their standard out. So that's what I've done over the past few years. But they're a really good example of a certification and they're all doing the same. Please be doing the same Breann or doing the same lead, which is obviously more popular in the states are doing exactly the same as well.

Active travel experts

Architects are extremely good at what they do. But there's no way they can have the knowledge that say we do an active child facilities because we spend day in day out doing it. So they just know why they can have the same knowledge. So what what kind of worked really well for us is ultimately we, when we started the certification, we realize that the certification was really going to work well because it enabled buildings to get educated guess and work out how good their facilities are, and now allows buildings to who've got good facilities to have a seal of approval and use it as a marketing tool.

But also the certification allows buildings that maybe aren't so good at the moment and aren't scoring particularly well to go on a journey with us over a period of however many years to overtime, improve their facilities and subsequently improve their score. However, we also realize that yes, there is a slight knowledge gap in terms of designing actual facilities.

So that's why we wanted to have a design service alongside that. So if we have a client that's working on a new development, or they want to undertake a refurbishment project, potentially for an existing building, we can work with them to help them and their design team to, to produce the very best facility possible with the space they have, the budget they have, etc, etc, and then certify afterwards as well.

So it's working extremely well. And I'd say, we tend to work most of our clients on the design side, we're working with clients, architects, rather than us doing the job of the architect, which yes, we can do. And we did do that for that building in Bristol. But most of the time, we work alongside a client's existing architect to ensure the very best outcome for the active travel facility.

Active Travel Score Certification fees

Yes, so the certification, we think it's pretty good value. I mean, we see a yearly fee of 1195 pounds for the certification, and we have a two year license period. So a client would have to sign up for a minimum of two years, so works out to be Yeah, just under two and a half 1000 pounds in total, as a commitment. And over that period, we'll work with them to try and improve their facility.

And after the two years, if they wish to renew it, and then that's what will happen, and hopefully, they'll score even better next time around. And it's, the idea is, it's almost like an insurance policy, I guess, for the client. So that while active travel is obviously taking off more so and increasing year on year, they don't get left behind.

So that's the certification. And in terms of the design advice, where we work with architect, we charge 3000 pounds, and that includes the design advice workshops with their architect, and a two year certification period as well.

Active Travel Accredited Professionals

We've literally launched our Accredited Professionals program in the past month, we'll call it a little bit of a soft launch. So far. Because we it's no isn't finished, we're actually not charging for it. Because we want to just make sure the offering is as good as it can be. And ultimately, we do see it being obviously useful for us in terms of being able to scale active score, internationally. But also, we think it will be an extremely useful tool for people who want to get more educated on the subject.

So architects who are going to be working on active trial facilities, project to project for example, I think this would be really, really useful for because we'll take them through the over you know, what makes a good facility and be able to keep them up to date with trends.

So for example, a bike rack a bike charging racks are coming in a scooter charging Max are coming in. They're just two new things that architects currently will know very little about, or where to get them for, so we can help them with that. So yeah, the AP program we do think although it's new, we do expect it to be very good for us.

https://activetravelscore.com/

Healthy sustainable furniture by Benchmark UK

Talking healthy materials, circular economy principles, biophilic design and Life Cycle Assessments with Benchmark Furniture, in Berkshire, UK.

Welcome to Episode 34 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast, in which we explore the themes of sustainability and wellbeing in real estate and hospitality. 

I'm your host, Matt Morley, founder of Biofilico healthy buildings and Biofit wellness concepts. 

This week I’m in Berkshire in the English countryside talking to Sean and Laerke Sutcliffe of Benchmark Furniture.

Set up by Sean with his business partner, the late Sir Terence Conran, in 1984, Benchmark may be an artisanal workshop of 70-plus people but they have also been trailblazers in pushing forward the theme of green and healthy furniture in recent decades.

They’ve worked with Foster + Partners, Westminster Abbey, Oxbridge Colleges, museums and countless public buildings around the world. In our conversation we cover:

• How they stance on sustainability has evolved over the past 40 years to incorporate health and wellbeing

• The history of VOCs and Formeldehyde in wood workshops

• The link between tropical timbers and deforestation

• Vertical integration as a way to control the provenance of their work

• How hiring apprentices locally ensures long-term staff retention

• Their brand extension into healthy upholstery using NaturalMat filler

• Life Cycle Assessments and the metrics of environmental impact that matter

• Their thoughts on ‘biophilic furniture’ and the medium of wood

If you like this type of content, please hit subscribe, you can find Benchmark at benchmarkfurniture.com and my contact details are in the show notes for feedback and comments.

• https://www.instagram.com/madebybenchmark/

• Made WELL Sustainability Report

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CONVERSATION

our workshop considers both People and Planet, our carbon footprint and the transparency of our materials

here we are on a redundant farm, employing more people than the farm ever did in agriculture in high quality artisanal jobs

We produced the first wooden furniture in the world that had fully verified lifecycle assessments

I hope a time will come when we will base taxation of products, not on an arbitrary figure of the of the pecuniary value but on their carbon cost

as human beings, our oldest and most trusted relationship with any material is with wood

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FULL TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS COURTESY OF OTTER.AI

Matt Morley

I would like to start with a question around your the positioning of the business itself. So you seem to have this wonderful combination of craftsmanship, sustainability, and responsible business practices. And it feels so now it seems so current, and yet, you've been around for a little while. So I wonder if you could place that in context? Did you set out with that initial vision, and the world has aligned or has it been more of an evolutionary process over the last 30 years or more.

Benchmark Furniture / Sean Sutcliffe

So we set out 39 years ago, when we started the workshop, with a highly unusual stance in the furniture making community I took a rather stubborn stance that I won't use any tropical timbers. And people were quite dismissive, and some people are quite offended. But I had been learning as a young man about deforestation, and particularly a prime forest. And so my stance then was - we like to use wood, but we won't use any tropical timbers. Because that way, we are not deforesting, and we're not using any endangered species. And that was our stance for many years.

What's happened over the intervening nearly 40 years now is that the argument has moved. And so what is our stance is now not so much that we won't use tropical timbers, although we choose we prefer not to. But it now embraces so many other things that we've learned over the last 40 years.

We were the first workshop in the UK to go zero formaldehyde, the first workshop in the UK with FSC chain of custody (FSC) Certification - we've we've always tried to look ahead at the way that the sustainability arguments and the health and wellbeing arguments have gone.

People tend to think that the health and wellbeing argument is pretty new. But actually, 25 years ago formaldehyde became the hot topic. And what we're saying today will change tomorrow, because the situation on the ground will change, science will change, imperatives and priorities will change. Now everyone's very focused on carbon. But, some while ago, everyone was very focused on acid rain, say or eutrophication.

Laerke Sutcliffe

But I think it's also interesting to sort of look at it from both the planet and the people angle. And that has become quite important for us within the last six years to have a position where we both consider the carbon footprint and the transparency in the materials that we are using. So being that workshop, or that destination, where you as a customer can come and buy your product and combine the carbon footprint, and the non toxic material considerations together.

Matt Morley

You mentioned the word transparency there - clearly, a responsible business, in a way needs to take ownership for presumably a bit more than just that final piece of the puzzle, have you adopted this process of vertical integration? And what role has that played in helping you get to where you are today?

Benchmark Furniture

We've done it over a long period of time. But in truth, most of our vertical integration came about through a simple desire to have more control over the quality of our work, and the provenance of our work.

Nowadays, vertical integration also gives us more control over the wider aspects of employment practices, diversity practices, and so forth that play into the supply chain argument. So we happily, frequently get asked quite deep and complex questions about our supply chain, and the more that we can supply from under our own control the simpler that process is.

Of course, we've still got our materials supply chain. But in terms of subcontract supply chain we use very, very few subcontractors.

Matt Morley

You also mentioned the idea of employment practices. And it's something that really comes across in terms of your communication online, the idea of adopting responsible work practices that really seem to be a part of your DNA and as a business, was that an instinctual process?

Benchmark Furniture

Yeah, I think I wish I could say there was some greater and higher good about it, but actually, it was very simple. A realization some years into running the business and training people, that if you employ locally, your retention is much better.

So we started off employing graduates and students, or craftsmen from far afield, you know, other parts of the UK or overseas, and they’d come to do a few years, and then normally go back to their places of origin so we thought, well, this is mad, we started employing and training apprentices only from my local area.

It may sound a bit mean, but when when aspiring apprentices apply to training here, if they haven't got a pretty local postcode, they're not in the running. That a self interested thing about keep retaining staff. But of course, what it also plays into is our journey to work miles are very low.

We have very long employment profile here. And so we really do care very deeply, we've got second generation staff here, which is very gratifying. So it started out purely as a way of keeping staff. But it actually has evolved into a very good employment practice in terms of local employment and, and artisanship.

The countryside has lost most of its skilled jobs. And here we are on a redundant farm, employing more people than the farm ever did in agriculture in high quality artisanal jobs.

Matt Morley

There is then also that connection in terms of the materials as well, a key piece of a healthy interiors and healthy building strategy. So employing and working locally. And then as you mentioned, not using tropical woods. So could you talk to your vision of, of cradle to grave lifecycle in terms of the materials that you're using for your products, and perhaps place that in the context of the wider industry? Because it's not necessarily an industry that's known for getting everything right, in that sense, but you've really taken a stance on it.

Benchmark Furniture

Yes, and we, we have the great advantage that we our principle material is wood, I mean, 99% of everything we make originates as a tree. So we have a fantastic advantage in terms of sustainability, providing that we're making sure we're buying our wood entirely from sustainably forested sources. And that's an absolute must for us, you know, we will only do that.

The materials that do extend beyond wood into upholstery, for example, we've changed radically our approach to upholstery, because that's where there is use of petrochemical foams, which is almost ubiquitous in the in upholstery world. They're very nasty business.

We were really lucky that some 10 years ago, we started working with Imperial College London on lifecycle assessment. So we did this as some projects that we did with the Royal College and, and the American Hardwood Export Council, looking at measuring the the real proper metrics of cradle to grave lifecycle assessments. We produced the first wooden furniture in the world that had fully verified lifecycle assessments.

And we've continued to do that, it's an evolving science in it - It's an imperfect science still. But we now on all our core ranges do environmental product declarations, which include lifecycle assessments. And we're able to give not just the carbon content or the carbon store, of the pieces of furniture, but also all the other measures the other seven measures of environmental impact that are embodied within the work we do.

So it's a really fascinating things. And in order to be really transparent, and protect against a world that is flooded with greenwash, we really need metrics. And is only through lifecycle assessment and independent verification, that we can get reliable and proper metrics and people can, can see and trust the knowledge they've been given about the impact of what they're buying.

Laerke Sutcliffe

I think we also decided about I think it's five years ago, that we wanted to take it to the next level as Sean was saying, the fact that all products today are declaring themselves ‘sustainable’. So you know, where does that leave us, a firm who truly has been sustainable from the very beginning, before it was something cool?

Where if we wanted to keep leading the way in terms of taking it to the next levels, how did we best interact with the movement, so we decided to have third party verification to be able to put the hard facts on the table.

So in that process, we had to go back and analyze a little bit the materials that we were using, so glues, oil, and upholstery was our biggest challenge. And we then went into to a process of putting quite a bit of pressure on our supply chain, which I think is needed, you know, people, like ourselves and our friends in the industry required a lot of responsibility in terms of choosing the materials that we put out in the world.

So if we can put that pressure on the supply chain saying, guys, unless you can meet those criteria, so there was transparency. In our case, we wanted to have a declare label on the products, so unless the products that our supply chain provided could meet that the low VOC basically, they couldn't deal with it, we couldn't deal with them.

So we had to have some upfront meetings about either we work on this together, and we get to where we need to be at, or we have to go and look for other places to source our core materials. So I think that was a really interesting process.

And as Sean say, you know, we obviously come from a very good starting point because we work mainly in timber, but we still did have to do get our clues and our oils and, and PE and really in engage with the upholstery. And I don't know if it's worth it going into sort of like a deeper sort of description of how we did

Matt Morley

So the even the idea that your furniture could be unhealthy, that a flame retardant, a chemical process is going to off gas into your home or your office over the first six to 12 months, the idea that the adhesives might do the same and lower the quality of the indoor air in your space. And also you mentioned the filler but I saw that you'd found an ingenious solution by working with a UK company that I know from Devon who do the wonderful natural mattresses - so you went to a natural mattress company to find a solution to fix the issue around nasty foam filler as your upholstery?

Laerke Sutcliffe

That's right. And and I think as I said, you know, we started out by putting pressure on the existing supply chain and didn't actually get anywhere. For us, it was quite important to actually do the heavy work ourself, because you get into the grid of what it actually really takes to not just tick the box, but actually do the right things.

So we, in the research process, it became quite clear for us we had to be thinking, innovative, and as additive, and NaturalMat has been quite revolutionary in the way that they have providing their different materials to build up their mattresses. And so we reached out to them and said, You know, this is what we are trying to achieve. And actually, today, if we really want to do some massive changes, we believe we have to collaborate across industries. And be and think a little bit above, just sort of like the day to day, you know, and what we set out to do goal wise, our mission and so on.

We actually became really good friends with the guys running NaturalMat, and we had to persuade them that you know, guys, come on, let's work together. And let's try to, to do things in a way that is not necessarily the conventional way of doing things.

Benchmark Furniture

I do think that we're all going to make a lot more difference if we collaborate more. And if we, if we have as much openness and transparency about what we're doing. So we have a rule here, anybody can come and visit our workshops, you know, industry competent competitors, whatever, they can come and see what we do and how we do it. Because on our on our own, we're going to make very little change. But if we can help lead away and and larger and perhaps more influential businesses, financially influential businesses can can see that there's a way forward and follow suit, then, then we're going to be very happy to have shared that knowledge.

Laerke Sutcliffe

We do also on our website, we actually share our composition of how we managed to put together our post street at the end, because that was also quite a process of finding both comfort and, and sort of actually meeting the first fire retardant natural fire retardant within the build up of the structure. So we did put quite a lot of sort of testing and effort into getting there. And as shown saying, instead of sort of, you know, could putting a copyright and sort of being proud about it.

We actually say, guys, give us a call. This is how you do it, we show it on the website, and yeah, very open to share. And I think it's also important to mention that we you know, we have walked the walk and come a long way, we still have a lot to do, and we will keep walking. But we are never, never trying to look or come across as the expert in the industry, but more the sharing people that we hope you will follow. If that makes sense.

Matt Morley

Talk to us a bit about the OVO furniture collection because from outside it looks like it's encompassing a lot of your values and the principles behind the business in one - is it sort of the furthest you've gone so far in terms of delivering on that?

Benchmark Furniture

Yes, the OVO range was the first of our core ranges that we did for environmental product declarations on and it for me It embodies the very best of design and I think the design is the best of modern design. It's simple. It's tactile, it’s biophilic, you just feel good in its presence, you want to stroke it. It's non toxic. In its consistency in its materials, it has a measured embodied carbon declared on it. And in almost all cases, other than the leather upholstery pieces, it's, it gives us a sort of net carbon store or people even call it carbon negative, but we call it a net carbon store value.

I think it does embody the best of of what we do. But we've extended the environmental product declarations now to many more products. And we've had some external consultants write algorithms that enable us to do this in a simpler way, we still have to have the figures verified by third party peer reviewed, but it does enable it to be more streamlined. And it is a bit burdensome, and a lot of businesses just cannot see how they would ever do it. But the processes are becoming simpler.

Models are being built that will enable makers of anything really to do this, and it's just gonna be very valuable. I hope a time will come when we will base taxation of products, not on an arbitrary figure of the of the pecuniary value but on their carbon cost - being a much more real cost as we face You know, the climate situation we we face. So, I think that that it's really important the sharing of knowledge and the making it easier for businesses to to produce lifecycle assessments or environmental product declarations.

Matt Morley

There may not be government level legislation yet around targets for the carbon impact of furniture in a new workplace. Let's say if that workplace or the owner, the real estate developer signs up for a LEED certification process and indeed the well process there then, in a sense that provides that structure that then gives additional credits and effectively encourages the industry. And someone like myself was specifying which furniture should be put into these 12 floors of offices.

Were then out looking for brands, businesses, products, such as they have a collection that have that epd behind them, and they're then rewarded with credits on the on the overall project score. So I think there is a commercial angle to it, if anyone's still not convinced that it is the purely the right thing to do. When one is aligned with LEED or BREEM certification, one of these systems, there are literally points scored for purchasing products that have these EPDs. And that seems to be the best we have in terms of nudging the industry in the right direction.

You mentioned biophilic design, and it's typically referenced for entire spaces, and a lot of people think of effectively plants. But I'm big advocate for biophilic design being much more about things like texture, colours, patterns and natural fabrics.

Unusually though, you mentioned it in the context of your furniture. So from where you sit, how does this trend if we can call it that reflect a shift towards a more natural approach to interiors? How are your pieces talking that language of nature?

Benchmark Furniture

So our pieces of furniture do speak as a very natural piece because principally, they're made of wood and as human beings, our oldest and most trusted relationship with any material is with wood. It is the most in any survey done anywhere in the world at any time. Wood is the material that gets the greatest amount of trust and credibility from the buying public.

I just believe I know that we react very well. When we can see that something's made of wood and preferably have solid wood. The fact that we can touch it, the fact that we can feel the grain we can see the grain it just takes us into a natural world. There are all sorts of measures that that are starting to be done or on the the brains reaction in relation to to nature and there is some science We're starting to get some science that is actually able to pinpoint, specifically which parts of our brain react well.

But I'm also a great believer in instinct. And I regard instinct as being a little more than the sort of distillation of 1000s or hundreds of 1000s of years of experience in existence of the race. If our instinct is to accept and trust and feel good in the presence of material, then you're probably right. And we don't give enough credit to instinct we tend to look for, for sort of scientific explanations for everything, and yet we accept that instinct exists within the way a whale migrates or swallow returns to its nesting site, we accept that instinct exists, but in everything except human beings.

I think we should listen a little more to our instinct, and everybody feels better, closer to nature. And if that closer to nature means sitting at a wooden table and feeling a piece of wood, or sleeping in a wooden bed, or having a wooden floor, a wooden wall, then that's also beneficial.

Laerke Sutcliffe

I think, also more indirect, for instance, our new collection, our new fabric collection, has aspects of biophilic by the fact that it's created in in natural materials and without the need of any fire retardant treatment. So aspects like that, that, you know, if you keep if you're building up products are spaces with only materials this either, yeah, natural or not, in need of any toxicity for any treatment. That layers up, in my opinion, they biophilic design.

So I think but as you're saying that biophilic design is quite often misunderstood by you know, just at the very end of the project, you putting a few sort of plants, in plastic pots around the green wall, the green, green wall, you know, it sticks much deeper than that, then then then then in how you are creating a space in layers.

Matt Morley

I noticed one of your previous projects was the Maggie’s Center in Manchester, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Lily Jencks, the daughter of the late Maggie on one of my early projects and Lily, a landscape architect created a wonderful green gym space for us. And I when I saw that you'd also been involved on a Maggie center in Manchester, I just thought what a great one an obvious connection and so fitting.

So perhaps you could just describe a little bit the involvement there because again, I think there's a real connection with with biophilic design and creating a nurturing space and it's essentially a cancer care center. So a place where it's real mission, its purpose is to nourish and calm and relieve anxiety.

Benchmark Furniture

Yeah, I'm I'm a huge fan of the Maggie's charity and Charles Jencks his vision. After Maggie's work, it was Maggie's vision in her own lifetime, having suffered that, that sort of shock of being diagnosed with cancer, and you walk out of the oncology department in some big hospital, and where do you go? Where do you take that shock. And their vision was that you take it into a Maggie center, and that these centers should seek in every way to sort of calm and reassure and comfort you. And nature is in their view, and I would share it entirely the greatest comfort at that moment. And so all Maggie centers are built as much as possible in natural materials. They have gardens, they have a big kitchen table where you can give away which encourages a sense of community and sharing of your that moment and of of your diagnosis or treatment afterwards. And so we've actually been involved in a lot of Maggie's projects Manchester was was one of them, which was a foster and partners project. But we've done a lot of the Maggie centers and I think that sadly, I'm Charles Jencks has he's died there, but the the charity continues, and Garner's a lot of goodwill for very good work, but it is that central thing of putting nature at the heart of a building, whether it be through gardens, planting, natural materials, tactility shape form, and undoubtedly every Maggie's that I've ever been into Give a feeling of wellness sort of ironic when actually tend to be rather full of people who are unwell with cancer. But but the the physical environment is a very well environment.

Matt Morley

There's then also the topic of, of circularity and circular economy and durability and something that one can really sense with with your work is that no doubt due to impart to the vertical integration to the level of craftsmanship to the quality of the products and materials, something that's going to last.

And you've really committed to that with this idea of almost sort of a take back scheme at the end which connects with the idea of circular economy and I'm a big fan of this, I think pretty much everyone needs to get on board. But it seems to be a slow takeoff. How have you adopted that approach? And what have you learned so far from that?

Benchmark Furniture

So I think our stance on this started with with the concept of lifetime repair. What we make is inherently durable, because we operate with high levels of craftsmanship, and hopefully good design, where durability is built in and designed in. But the concept of lifetime repair. I think it was it was probably Patagonia and Yvon Chouinard, and in my awareness of the work that he'd done on it, I thought, well, that's all free.

So of course, we should offer lifetime repair, it's an easy thing to do. So that was the starting point. And then the circularity argument, as it's gained momentum over the last 10 years or so, really took us beyond that to what is a relatively new initiative for us of take back scheme, where anybody who owns our furniture, we do have geographic limitations, which are just for the purpose of the practicality of recovering and bringing it back.

But essentially, within this moment, we operate it within the UK, we can collect there for if it's no longer required, it is no longer relevant, useful. Or the or the circumstances of the owner have just changed. We can take it back, we can give it a value depending on the condition of it, which is then issued as a credit against more furniture that we can supply.

But then what we take back, we seek to either repair, refurbish, repurpose, reuse, or at worst recycle. And because it's all natural materials, they're recyclable. And so in order to, to offer that and do that, you have to think at the design stage and the making stage about well, how easy is it to repair, how easy to take it apart? when this comes back to us, you know, are we going to be able to take it apart until you start to think even when you're making it for the first time about how you're going to remake it or repurpose it or refurbish it.

There's nothing new I mean, you know, it's it's centuries old, the concept that that furniture should be able to reuse and repurpose it was you know, furniture used to be the one of the very high value items that any household owned. And so it had to be transportable, it had to be repairable and somehow we lost sight of that.

So we're only really seeking to reintroduce something that that has been around. But yes, it's it's an exciting, it's an exciting new avenue for us. And it also hopefully will bring a new audience to us because there will be this, this body of furniture that's available for for resale, refurbished furniture for resale. And that hopefully will bring us new customers as well. So we will I hope it's good business as well as good for the world.

Laerke Sutcliffe

But also as you say, it sort of starts already from the product development point of view. So we have a when we start new projects we just about to go into a new product development process this month. And when we start out a collaboration like that, we have a wheel that we sort of measuring all the or the starting process and all the way through really up against this wheel. And one of those is but if it's gonna last the life time, how do we then you know, how where do we start? So I think it's definitely starting from the very beginning that we are considering all of those different aspects which is ending up being there. They sort of finish it finished product,

Matt Morley

Effectively shouldering the responsibility for waste creation upfront in the production process in the design process because you know, you're taking ownership of that rather than designing and saying, Well, someone else can worry about what happens when it when it's finished when it when it's no longer needed.

Benchmark Furniture

Yes, but I'd also say we don't look upon it as perhaps waste creation, because what we take back is never waste. I mean, what we take back has opportunity, it has repurposing it, it has a resale, it has a lot of inherent embodied values still in it more than just the materials for recycling. So I'm the very, very last resort would be conversion into biomass fuel. But, but that would be the absolute last resort. So I really try to think that I would like to think that nothing we make ever ends up as waste, it just ends up as another kind of resource.

Matt Morley

Which is the takes us back to the wonderful circle rather than a linear, hopefully, hopefully, in some is admirable work. It's pretty great stuff. So you've obviously got retail collections, you also working with interior designers and architects, how are people connecting with you? Where are you present in the world?

Benchmark Furniture

People connect with us, I mean, I suppose our primary link is through the architectural community we've worked with, we're lucky enough to work with many of the world's biggest best and or most forward thinking architects. And so that is one of the major connections with the world.

We also deal with the furniture dealerships who have historically not been at the forefront of either either sustainable practice, you know, they'd be more interested in flogging a lot of furniture, then then what happens to it is lifestyle is the date its lifetime use. But actually that is changing. And pretty much all the dealerships are now having to engage in the argument.

And they have this whole, sustainable and circularity of health and wellbeing aspects now bigger, much higher in their customers buying profile. And so the dealerships are having to take that on board as well. That's another network that we that we operate through. And then I think just through the world of, of people who are interested in sustainability people like yourself, people like the planted, planted cities group that are looking at how we improve circularity, the way we view the products we consume.

Matt Morley

The good part there is that there's there's very little imagine sales process because the work speaks for itself. And there's a shared value system that one can just tap into and connect with because it's in one sense universal, although we wish it was slightly wider spread, of course, but for those of us who have bought into it and have adopted it as our worldview it's and we connect with see what you do, it's there is no conversion process required. It's just completely smooth. Well, that completely connects with how I see the world. And that's, I think, where the real value is.

Healthy Materials with Matter of Stuff

Materials for a healthy interior with Matter of Stuff in London, UK

Green & Healthy Places podcast episode 032

Wellbeing & sustainability in real estate & hospitality

Welcome to Episode 032 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast, in which we explore the worlds of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality. I'm your host, Matt Morley, wellbeing champion - Founder of BIOFILICO healthy buildings and BIOFIT wellness concepts.

This episode, I'm back in London, UK talking to the two Italian founders of Matter Of Stuff - a furniture procurement consultancy that offers bespoke manufacturing via a network of craftsmen as well as research and development of new materials and manufacturing processes.

sustainable interior materials

My conversation with Simona and Sofia focuses on the sustainable material side of their offer. It is worth noting that their range goes far beyond that inspired, at least in part by their links to artisans throughout their home country.

Here though, we're digging into the importance of choosing locally produced building materials, considering a materials entire lifecycle, and a circular economy approach to repurposing building waste.

In terms of specific materials, we cover things like sustainable ceramics, clay plaster, live mycelium, recycled glass, biodegradable cork walls, and an ingenious sea stone product made of discarded seashells from the seafood industry.

All of this is really just a reflection of the wealth of knowledge at the fingertips that these two young ladies have. And they're now setting their sights on construction materials in addition to interior surface materials, so expect to hear plenty more from them over the next year or so.

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, so I'm Simona. And we're both architects, we set up Matter Of Stuff seven years ago, wow. Time flies, but we came from an architectural background working in offices in London, I had a big studio for myself. And we find a gap in between the manufacturing industry and what is the the actual scenes of the architectural industry. So we are defining ourself as a consultancy for both materials and procurement of furniture manufacturing. We are actually trying to fill the gap in between architects, interior designers, and the manufacturing world.

Healthy interior materials for architects

So are you finding that generally, is it perhaps that architects are focusing on on the big picture, and they perhaps have their regular materials that they go to materials that it's easy for them to specify? And in a sense, you're, you're trying to propose new ideas?

Matter Of Stuff

“Busy architects may not have the luxury of time to research deeply new products and materials constantly. This topic has become very broad and their job has been pushed into larger more complex projects, so we help them navigate the world of materials and sustainability. ”

— Matter of Stuff

Craftmanship and sustainable materials in offices

So how do you see the hand crafted in relation to say industrial production? How do you see the relationship between the two because there's the sort of the imperfections on the one side, that kind of Wabi Sabi thing. Then in some contexts, and you mentioned offices - they are typically prefer almost an industrial approach to the furniture and the finishes. So how do you balance those two?

Matter Of Stuff

We wrote a manifesto about perfection, debunking the myth of imperfection, really, because we believe that in crafts as opposed to industrial production, imperfection is a symbol of craft ands add value, there are two way of manufacturing items one is producing at a large scale in a line.

What we value is the handcrafted. And so often, like small scale businesses, which are very dedicated to really high quality, however, there is a there is a little thing about the the mentality, the making by hand that goes and add a little detail, and every item makes every item you need. And that's what we value most.

Carbon footprint for furniture

How do you manage your own carbon footprint for the furniture projects that you're involved in?

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, so for basically for every piece of furniture that we sell, we deal with, there is a little code a little number that assigns a carbon footprint of every object and when we add up in a schedule all those numbers then we come up with a total quantity of carbon footprint emitted and then we try to offset it by partnering up with the Tree For Life - a charity set up in Scotland, the first place on earth to declare a climate emergency actually.

“I think of carbon offsets as the last resort for companies trying to make a difference; everybody should do it if possible but getting to the root of the problem requires researching materials that can transform the building and construction industry, such as recycled materials, mycelium and so on. ”

— matter of stuff

There are there are many ways potentially to influence the market to change and one is triggering thoughts and reflection and topics of furniture to interior design to the actual construction. Like we can do bricks in virgin material or we can break down an existing building and rebuild it from the materials that are actually used in the demolition process.

We also need to start thinking about localizing production. So bringing manufacturing closer to the construction site. What I mean by this is, for example, we work with recycled plastic - a super interesting concept and idea. However, if it is shipped from Italy, let's say to Los Angeles in California, then it doesn't really become sustainable.

A Life Cycle Analysis of Materials

So on one level, we have recycled materials but we also have to think about where that material is produced and the distance that it travels to get to the site.

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, and the final thing that you need to add to that is also the life cycle of our materials. So once you finish the project, you're not done at all, you have all these new life of materials that need to be repurposed from the building that you have completed. And as that is long life cycle.

So it is about adding a third element to sustainability thought, which is, how can I then reuse this material that I've used in my project in another project, and so on creating a circular process of reusing all your waste, because at the end of the day, we don't have only a problem of resources, we only have a problem as a massive amount of waste we are generating. So by kind of shifting the thoughts on these three topics, you can really make the massive differences.

healthy materials - ceramics

If we then go one level deeper and start looking at some of the materials… let’s start with ceramics, you've got some really interesting ceramic tiles, including some that have industrial waste made of iron and manganese and metal? How do you communicate those to a potential client in terms of why you would use certain types of ceramics over others?

Matter Of Stuff

Ceramic is a very exciting material. I think, because it's been used for centuries, we have so much knowledge gathered around it. And really, I think what we have tried to convey in our selection of ceramics is mainly How can we do it in a more sustainable way so that the impact of an oven at 1200 degrees doesn't become a problem in terms of carbon emissions.

We actually selected mainly companies and independents that are trying to use ceramic in an interesting way. So the first thing is, we don't have our range or set of ceramic tiles, we only make them bespoke to the needs of a client. But we are producing only on demand, which is a massive shift to how ceramic is conceived.

This means we don't create waste because we obviously don't produce more than what is demanded. We only turn on the oven when it's necessary, which is another point. And then I think there is a really interesting thing because ceramic is made out of iron sand sort of glazing that it's mostly having chemical reaction in the oven.

And by actually trying to recycle metal waste we are regenerating those materials that are polluting the environment into a product that can have beautiful color as a normal glazing by reusing something that would be otherwise poisoning landfills. We try to really guide our client and architect to understand what they're purchasing and only purchasing what is necessary.

Non-toxic materials for improved air quality

Okay, so the recycled content is the pigment in the glaze on top of the tile that contains these recycled components but you also mentioned there's some toxic elements potentially in other types of ceramic tiles? The ceramic tile unglazed is a healthy material but it is the glaze we have to careful of is that it?

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, so I mean, in general, when you create tiles, you are having a body of clay that needs to be skipped, let's call it and you put it into the oven, and you fire it, and this is unglazed. And then we use glass and metal particles and pigments to create the beautiful coloring of the surface of the time.

Obviously, there are chemicals in that process that are not natural, that could actually be poisoning. And obviously we try to avoid those and try to only use things that are, you know, potentially natural source of coloring. Obviously, by using some of these iron and manganese and other metals that were left in the, in the landfills, we are offsetting the pollution that they will generate and instead creating a beautiful coloured glaze.

the healing power of clay

Do you see that as almost part of one healthy material family then as you also supply clay plasters and paints, all offering a connection to one of our most ancient building materials.

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, clay and earth is one of the oldest material humans have used. I think the main difference with clay plaster and paints is that you're actually using the clay unfired so you're not turning on an oven, you are mixing it with different types of pigments or silica, and things that can create really beautiful coloring, and then you're just plastering walls with it.

What is also quite important is that clay has incredible properties is actually a healing material. We use it, you know, as a face mask, we use it as well to cure our aching joints when they are a bit stiff. So clay has this really strong natural power of healing. And by using it as a natural product on your walls, you're creating a surface that is hypoallergenic, but has also ability to regulate humidity inside a room, which is something that is very important for the health of of, you know, of as human in cylinder.

materials that are both green and healthy

You're describing these materials both in terms of people and planet, both the healthy and the environmentally friendly. So balancing the two in terms of the impact the material has on the planet, but also on the potentially positive impact that can have on on the health of the people spending time in that space. What about mycelium in that sense, it is a new material that's suddenly getting talked about so much. What is its potential?

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, I mean, it's biophilic Design, I mean, it comes, there's something interesting in designing with a living material, right? We can plan the outcome and we can kind of control it in a way that it comes to a desired form or shape or certain performances.

What's great about mycelium is that it's a fungus, and it grows by eating some kind of organic matter. And then what we can do, we can stop the growth of the material once it's rich, the shape and the performances that we want. And we can kind of see it in a way that it stops growing and it stops it starts actually performing.

But after its lifecycle as a building material, for example, if an office needs to be taken down in 10 years time, then the acoustic panel that is composed of mycelium can be taken out of the wall and thrown in compost and actually it biodegrade with nature.

I think that's something completely beautiful and and it's new Of course it's there's so much of this research that it's has been gone through I think as a consequence of the Greta Thunberg movement you know a couple of years ago people are getting a lot more like aware and I think governments are investing a lot more into funding and subsidizing also research and design and new manufacturing processes that are you know, innovative and have you know, something something new to give to to kind of the construction industry I think that's great and it's it's the only way forward in a way

opportunities for recycled glass in wellbeing interiors

You also have a range of glass products and recycled glass in particular such as recycled glass panels made in the UK 100%. So it's taking the sort of the local box if you had a local project in in London or the UK, right?

Matter Of Stuff

So recycled glass, it's an amazing opportunity for all of us because glass, again, is one of the oldest material humans work with. Most of our recycled glass are taking shape into a pixel that could be repeated, either creating chandeliers or creating new wall systems with other materials, as well as the recycled glass which becomes actually an incredible tool to control acoustic performances into a room.

So by changing completely the composition, this creates material that is almost like a pumice stone type of thing. So it's very light, very porous, and can actually trap Sound waves inside in a very special way. So we simply use glass as a new material. But in a way, we can recycle it infinitely because it's only about you know, melting again the glass and so to keep on adding on it.

Also what is quite interesting about being very local is that you use the glass, the type of glass you have very close to you. So you control the quality of the glass and the colors. And therefore you can start creating patterns and so the composition that you know, are controllable and predictable.

We have also created recycled glass reception desk, or even tables, which is quite it's quite interesting and exciting, but we mostly work with designers who are private client they want to are interested in the material and then we come up with a beautiful design for it.

Cork walls as a sustainable design feature

Okay, so we have a couple of alternative options for acoustic panels. With the mycelium and the recycled glass. The recycled glass can also be almost kind of like decorative panels, but in the mycelium, I noticed can also be a type of floor tile. Talking about the walls I noticed you've also recently started working with Portuguese cork wool supplier, corks that some of the finishes there and that the designs that they have are really amazing. It's not what you would expect from a piece of cork, right?

Matter Of Stuff

Well, I mean, I think the main purpose of design is to innovate and make a material look new and interesting. So what Gencork has developed with cork is I think the ultimate design plus onto a material that has been seen and kind of used a lot.

So it's quite interesting to work with a Portuguese company because with cork because they are the biggest, you know, biggest premier production of cork in all Europe. And the trees are protected so they can only aravis cork in specific way and they need to ask permission to the government to actually you know, pick up the bark and produce it.

So it's very controlled process. And this is because they don't want to arm ever the plant. Also, by using cork we are using something that is completely renewable because it's only the skin The auditory, and therefore it can be constantly growth.

So it's harvest every normally six years, leaving the tree the time to regenerate. Expanded cork is produced differently from normal cork, we use high steam, and these makes the cork pop like popcorn and expand. And he kind of binds the material together with the rising of the trees instead of using a lot of other products or glue or epoxy resins.

So this means again, our cork panels are 100%, biodegradable and organic and they could be re cycled in a new pond. And I feel cork is like us for insulation of solids and many other purposes, but has never been pushed into a beautiful material that can be actually a facade or an interior cladding.

So the main purpose of this panel is generating a new aesthetic, a new three dimensional surface. And almost they can be carved as as a piece of marble really. So not only becoming a wall, but they could potentially be used even to create bespoke furniture or, or reception desk or, you know, seamless moving from a floor to a wall to a ceiling panel, which is quite exciting. I think for designers out there.

sustainable materials made from seashell waste

And finally, then I wanted to ask you about the recycled system to read so that you have because it just seems to have this beautiful story about the tons and tons of discarded seashells is that from the from the from the from the seafood industry?

Matter Of Stuff

Yes, we basically it's a project developed by two designers studied in London, it's a very exciting project where they actually started looking at how the seafood industry is kind of, you know, dumping a lot of these really beautiful material, because it's actually calcium carbonate. And we normally feed these into our production by, you know, kind of like seeking it.

While we are done throwing it away and sort of creating a lot of waste. So by reusing it and creating a composite that is kind of natural, they are generating a new type of concrete, they were actually asking a point to try and make the structural to really replace concrete entirely.

And it's quite interesting how much attic theory is behind this product, because the designer actually don't want this because as soon as you start trying to give more performance in terms of strength, they will have to add heat to the to the production.

And these would take away these completely non toxic completely like low carbon emission material, which I find very interesting because in a way, all our work revolves around one single tote, which is how can we make these material cheap enough and sustainable enough to replace technical materials that we are using.

So if we are able to make mycelium are really strong compared competitor to polyrattan, for example, or to or to a really terrible acoustic panel made out of synthetic fibers, we are really shifting the industry and we are not anymore forcing people to say oh, I need to spend so much more money to use these really sustainable material that is then maybe not behaving as I want.

We the real change and real shift into the industry could happen only if we make this product really permeable and easy to use. So ultimately, I think all our work revolves around trying to keep fanatic around what what is material do and try and really to push them to behave in a way that can replace those terrible materials that we are working with now.

And I mean, one thing that I think it's important to ensure we have only talked about surface material, which are only probably 10 or 15% of what is used in the industry. But we are working a lot on the vaccines to try and also scout for those materials that could really replace the larger quantity.

So how can we do an MDF that is more sustainable? Or it's completely recyclable? Or how can we replace entirely bricks with a new concept that doesn't allow doesn't require so much firing? So I think it's an interesting open quest, you know, and we all need to sort of exchange information and and knowledge and so that's why I think it's lovely what you're doing with this podcast, like trying to engage people to discover each other and hopefully, you know, this can lead to, to more knowledge shared among people in industry.

Healthy materials advisory

Are you advising construction companies? Are you collaborating with architects? How perhaps the range of different clients if you could describe those and how you're delivering your services effectively?

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, so we, we work with both architects, interior designers, and of course, artists interior designer at the change maker, the are the main specifiers. And we've worked with contractors before, we've worked with directly with co-working spaces that have different locations in in London, supplying furniture.

And of course, there's a huge level of research that goes through and, for example, for furniture as well, like we've recently introduced a way to browse furniture on our website by sustainable properties, say let's furniture have, you know, certified wood or if they're made out of recycled material, if they are recyclable.

And that's, that's all research that we do. And it's kind of a service of the people that, you know, we work with, in a way. We believe in kind of free content, kind of sharing as much as possible.

Of course, London is quite a wild industry, but we're quite generous with our research. And, and yeah, so it's a we're open to new collaboration, we're open to private clients, as well as, you know, construction companies. And we welcome all kind of enquiries.

https://www.matterofstuff.com/

multi-sensory wellbeing interiors

How to use light, sound, scent and texture in multisensory Biophilic design for wellbeing benefits

What is wellbeing interior design? 

Wellbeing interiors are simply indoor spaces that have been maximized for human health and wellness. These may or may not include consideration for sustainability as the focus here is primarily on People rather than Planet. The role of human senses is crucial in this context, as a fundamentally multisensory approach to design can enhance the overall well-being of occupants by considering a broader spectrum of human perception, including light, air, sound, and materials selection. Multisensory design is essential in creating meaningful experiences that engage users’ senses, impacting mood, behavior, and well-being.

It’s a subtle distinction and by no means one that suggests mutually exclusive concepts, in fact we would argue that the best examples manage to marry both, bridging both worlds, respecting the environment whilst also promoting enhanced health for occupants of the space.

Wellbeing design considers light, air, sound and materials selection. This is often delivered by a Wellbeing Champion either independently or as a consultant on a wider project team.

What is biophilic design?

Biophilic design combines elements of nature, health and sustainability in interiors and architecture.

Far more than just landscaping, in its finest examples, it maintains a strong visual connection between indoor and outdoor worlds through the careful selection of colours, materials, patterns, shapes and, yes, both living plants and non-living representations of nature.

Our ‘tools’ in this sense include indoor planters and mini gardens, living walls, flooring, wall decor, acoustic panels, natural artworks, furniture fabrics, even eco cleaning policies, aromatherapy, soundscapes.

Natural light in healthy indoor environments

Lighting in a home office environment is important not just for ensuring a respectable image on a Zoom call but also for its role on our mental wellbeing. Natural light is crucial for maintaining consistent circadian rhythms, promoting physical and mental health, and contributing to a healthy multisensory workspace. Digital design plays a significant role in creating multisensory workspaces that incorporate non-visual sensory aspects, such as smell, taste, and touch, to enhance overall perception and experience. Considering a broader spectrum of sensory perceptions, it may not be the first thing we think of in relation to Biophilic design and healthy indoor environments but it is a valuable component in any wellbeing interiors project.

In a workplace wellness strategy, both for home and commercial spaces, daylight exposure is key for well-being.

First up, it’s always a good idea to get a few minutes of direct natural sunlight within the first 30 minutes or so of waking in order to help regulate your circadian rhythm - use a smart light system that recreates that same spectrum of colour for you indoors during the winter months, these lights can also be used to replicate sunlight as your alarm clock all year round, assuming dogs, cats and kids do not get there first!

Similarly, when working from home place your desk set-up near a window to give you as much natural daylight during your work day as possible. When you need supplemental lighting, again a smart light system will allow you to program the colour frequency from blue-white in the morning to amber in the evening, easing you into the day and winding you down steadily at night.

In the evenings one should avoid exposure to intense sources of blue-white light. Halogen ceiling lights will struggle to create the right atmosphere mornings and evenings above all, so you’ll want to switch to a combination of standing lamps and task lighting (e.g. desk lamp) to give more flexibility.

Get this wrong and it can severely affect quality of sleep - we may even be able to fall asleep as usual but there will be less REM sleep and therefore less mental recuperation taking place during the night. Those with sleep monitors on their wrists or fingers should be able to produce their own data to verify this for themselves.

Clearly all screens, be they from a TV, computer or smartphone are possible sources of this same sleep-disrupting light, so ensure there is a program such as f.lux on your computer or just the TV brightness later in the evening - better yet allow yourself a minimum of one hour of screen-free time before bed.

In a family or work scenario where compromises need to be made for whatever reason, individually electing to wear a pair of amber-lensed glasses in the evenings does the same job. Again, it’s worth testing this out and monitoring your sleep quality if it is of interest.

Acoustics in wellbeing interiors

A healthy building needs to address acoustics and other sensory features in order to create a healthy indoor environment that does not promote stress, while aiding in concentration and, in a residential context, ensures high quality sleep at night.

Incorporating sensory integration into the design process is crucial for creating a healthy indoor environment, as it considers the impact of various senses on inhabitants and promotes well-being through a multisensory approach.

Sound insulating materials are often integrated into or under flooring tiles, dry wall insulation, decorative wall panels, room dividers, planters, furniture and even wall paint.

Distracting noises in large, open-plan office spaces can have a direct impact on worker wellbeing and leave staff struggling to find a quiet corner in which to do deep work alone.

Equally, a small room with no soft furnishings in, such as a second bedroom converted into a home office, will require either carpet or a rug, furniture and fabrics - basically anything soft to help stop the sound reverberating around the room.

Once an acoustic plan has established an agreeable baseline of background noise, then we can apply acoustic Biophilic design by bringing in subtle nature sounds or other forms of white noise to mask noise from HVAC systems and elevator shafts. This may not be appropriate everywhere but can, for example, be applied in specific areas such as a reception or waiting area, or canteen.

Sounds of trickling water could be a fountain outside, allowing nature sounds from outside to come indoors, acoustic world music, ethnic, or traditional music from around the world especially drumming, those are all evolutionary aligned soundtracks that are likely to promote focus and drive without distracting.

Delos in the US, the company behind the WELL Certification for healthy buildings, amongst other things, recently launched a biophilic sounds and mindfulness app called MindBreaks that offers high-quality 3D audio to help you “Escape, Energize, Rest, Meditate, Focus and Inspire”.

Acoustic sound booths such as these ones we sourced for the HERO food group’s corporate offices in Switzerland can also be integrated into a Biophilia plan by selecting suitable colours for the acoustic fabrics inside, options for models with wood (or veneer) panelling, placing plants around the booths and generally ensuring they integrate smoothly into the overall workplace design.

Finally, music with lyrics can be distracting at least in a language that we understand and there is nothing worse in a workplace context than a playlist that prevents us from doing our best work each day but as a rule, acoustic, traditional and ethnic sounds are going to be especially good at filling the void in a workspace context without demanding too much of your mental focus and attention.

Whether that is a realistic game plan for 8-10 hours a day or not is up to you and your colleagues to decide, perhaps just as we move around a workplace for different tasks, having specific playlists (or indeed a ‘no music’ policy) that match those tasks, might be a sensible solution?

Scent in Biophilic design interiors

So, we mentioned the idea of forest bathing a corollary of Biophilic design in interiors. Forest phytoncides are a particular airborne substance given off by certain species of trees that has been shown in South East Korea to boost the human immune system too.

When combined with what we know about the mental health benefits of spending time in nature, it’s clear that aromatherapy has a role to play in a multi-sensory Biophilic design strategy. This strategy emphasizes the importance of sensory experience, incorporating all five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and even taste to create innovative and memorable environments. Adding layer upon layer of nature-inspired detail in a Biophilic interior concept can significantly enhance the sensory experience.

Invest in a high-quality pine or cypress oil for your home aromatherapy diffuser, perhaps combined with rosemary and peppermint to capture some of the same health benefits of spending time outside in a forest.

Think especially of how this could be done in a home office environment, for example, where a little Biophilic design can go a long way in creating a wellbeing interior geared for productivity and calm. The impact of sound in the workplace environment should also be considered, addressing both its positive and negative effects.

Equally, citrus oils such as bergamot and lemon are especially good for focus, followed by lavender later in the evening to help you wind down when the workday is done.

Texture in healthy interiors for sensory experience

Last but not least, let’s not forget the role of texture and sensory qualities in wellbeing interiors, as designing for all the senses with a carefully chosen natural fabric or finish with just the right amount of tactility can add an additional layer of nature-connectedness to a Biophilic design.

Man-made materials tend to be impossibly perfect compared to nature, so integrating natural materials such as wool, cork, wood and cotton in carefully selected places can invite a tactile interaction with the interiors. Plastic may be cheap and easy to clean but, at least from a Biophilic design perspective, it will never be able to compete with real wood or bamboo say.

We might imagine a decorative cork wall in an office reception for example such as those by Gencork or a textured jute rug by Nanimarquina in a home office inviting the user to spend time barefoot during the day.

Not all of the strategies need to be combined in every wellbeing interior but there is magic in integrating more than one of them as a way to add interest and intrigue…

how to create a healthy indoor environment — biofilico wellness interiors

Biophilic Design Display at Can Ikigai, Barcelona by Biofilico

Describe Your Work in the Healthy Buildings and Workplace Wellness Space

I take a nature-oriented approach to health and wellbeing, focusing on the real estate and hospitality sectors, including offices, residences, gyms, and hotels, to create healthy indoor environments.

Biofilico offers creative design, interior consulting, and building certification services. We design wellbeing interiors ourselves or collaborate with architects, engineers, and project management as external advisors with specific briefs.

In every project, our aim is to enhance an interior’s mental and physical health by ensuring good indoor environment quality. Energy efficiency measures are integrated into our designs to ensure good indoor air quality and occupant health. Offices, homes, and hotels are now key areas of focus. Additionally, I work at a strategic level, helping real estate developers align their property developments with ESG principles.

Biofit, on the other hand, focuses specifically on wellness concepts, gym design, and wellbeing programs for hotels and workplaces.

Both businesses are intricately related to the spaces we spend our time in, aiming to ensure buildings are aligned with our health and the planet's wellbeing.

What is a ‘Sick Building’ Compared to a Healthy Building?

A sick building can manifest in various ways, including headaches, concentration problems, low energy levels, reduced cognitive function, high numbers of staff sick days, and other health problems.

In contrast, a healthy building that integrates wellbeing interior design and follows a global standard, such as the WELL Certification, promotes occupant mental and physical health. This involves construction or refurbishment, interior fit-out, and facilities management policies once the building is in use.

These wellbeing design principles can be applied both in the workplace and at home, contributing to a healthier indoor environment.

What is Biophilic Design?

Biophilic design bridges sustainability and human wellbeing in real estate and interiors. It involves nature-inspired design that brings the outside world in, providing positive benefits for both people and the planet.

Green building strategies focus on a building’s environmental impact, while healthy building strategies prioritize the wellbeing of its occupants. Biophilic design is multisensory, combining aesthetics with touch, smell, and sound, often involving natural patterns, textures, circadian lighting, and many plants.

Biophilic design can vary from clean, precise lines to neutral, calming tones and organic materials, showing its versatility. This design approach can enhance the indoor environmental quality, reducing the negative effects of poor indoor air quality.

How Does Biophilic Design Connect with Healthy Buildings?

Biophilic design is a key element of healthy buildings, which has gained prominence due to the increased time we spend indoors. The wellbeing of the workforce and its relation to the physical work environment is now more relevant than ever. This connection helps reduce health risks and improve occupant comfort.

What are the Health Benefits of Biophilic Design?

Biophilic design can increase productivity and concentration levels in workspaces and speed up patient recovery times. It’s gaining interest in sectors like senior living, as it helps in reducing health conditions such as heart disease and lung cancer.

Certain countries have doctors prescribing time in nature for stressed professionals. Biophilic design aims to capture the calming, energizing effects of nature in an indoor environment, benefiting us even as urbanization cuts us off from natural spaces.

Studies show that biophilic elements in hotel lobbies and office reception areas extend lingering time, making people feel comfortable and at ease. This is particularly important in urban areas where fresh air supply and outdoor air pollution are major concerns.

What Research Studies Prove the Impact of Biophilic Design in the Workplace?

In 2017, Biofilico was commissioned by EcoWorld Ballymore to create a Vitamin Nature recharge room in London’s Canary Wharf. This greenhouse space, full of air-purifying plants, natural light, and circadian lighting, provided a digital detox zone for 108 local workers.

The study showed significant improvements: 74% felt an improvement in mood, 87% felt less stressed, 83% felt more productive, and 87% felt more creative. These findings highlight the importance of creating healthy indoor environments that support human health and productivity.

What is Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)?

Improving indoor air quality (IAQ) is crucial at home and work. Strategies include natural ventilation, air-purifying plants, and enhanced air conditioning filters like MERV13 for dust particles and carbon filters for VOCs. These strategies help mitigate the effects of indoor air pollution and airborne pollutants.

Commercial-grade air quality monitors provide detailed, real-time data, essential for any healthy building certification system like WELL.

How Does a Healthy Building Improve Air Quality?

Natural ventilation strategies require at least two windows open to create a passage of air from one part of the space to another. This gentle airflow connects you with the outside world in a multisensory way, preventing drowsiness and clearing out dust particles from the indoor air.

We can also work with plants to improve indoor air. A famous NASA study identified several plants that improve air quality, such as Spider plants, Chinese Evergreen, Boston ferns, Bamboo Palm, and ZZ plants. These plants remove CO2 by day and give off Oxygen at night, making them ideal for indoor use, including in bedrooms.

For workplace environments, facilities management or HR teams can request enhanced air conditioning filter systems. Carbon filters are good for VOCs, and MERV13 filters are effective for dust particles. This helps in maintaining a healthy indoor air quality and reducing airborne particles.

Monitoring air quality is essential when purifying the air in a healthy building. Commercial-grade air quality monitors are easy to install and are an essential piece of any healthy building certification system like WELL. These monitors provide real-time data that can be displayed to building occupants, enhancing transparency and awareness.

What are Healthy Materials in an Interior Affecting Indoor Air Quality?

Materials and finishes can release hazardous chemicals into the air. Preventing these chemicals is fundamental to ensuring a healthy indoor environment.

Choose natural materials like linen, cotton, jute, wood, wool, leather, bamboo, cork, clay, and bio-materials. Avoid plastics, synthetics, epoxies, and resins. Ensure material transparency by asking for ingredient lists and looking for third-party certifications like Cradle to Cradle.

By selecting healthy and non-toxic materials as part of an interior fit-out, we can limit the exposure occupants have to harmful chemicals, reducing health risks. Material transparency is key to ensuring a healthy indoor environment.

Q&A with a Biophilic Design Consultant: Healthy Building and Wellness Interiors — Biofilico

How did you enter the field of wellbeing interiors, healthy buildings and biophilic design?

Biofilico’s Founder, Matt Morley at the creative workspace ‘Montoya’ in Barcelona, Spain

Biofilico’s Founder, Matt Morley at the creative workspace ‘Montoya’ in Barcelona, Spain

I spent 10 years with a mixed-use real estate developer and operator in what eventually became a Creative Director role delivering new business concepts. I’d work with the construction and development teams, as well as finance, marketing and operations, taking a sports bar, coworking space, business club, beach club or concept store from idea to reality.

It was an amazing learning experience for what would come later - effectively doing a similar thing but a boutique consultancy business and focusing specifically on green and healthy spaces, incorporating biophilic design principles.

Where did your interest in health, fitness, and mental health come from?

So in parallel with that 10-year process I’ve just describe my 7-10 hours per week of training starting to take on ever more importance in my life, especially as I was doing so much of it outdoors, immersed in nature, with minimal equipment.

I was also experimenting with standing desks, going barefoot, a low-carb Paleo diet and bringing the outside world in to my office and home. I aimed to bring nature into my living and working spaces to enhance wellbeing and productivity. Incorporating these elements into my living and working spaces helped to reduce stress and improve overall wellbeing. In other words, my life became a testing ground for these new ideas around workplace wellbeing, ancestral health and wellbeing interiors.

Do you remember the exact moment you first discovered biophilic design?

It was a very organic, intuitive process for me. This is so important to reiterate as a biophilic design expert - I got there by myself, using my own instinct and listening to my body, testing things out on myself and eventually coming to the conclusion that most indoor spaces devoid of the natural world were simply not happy, uplifting places for me to be. I realized that integrating biophilic principles, such as the use of natural elements and patterns, was essential to creating environments that promote wellbeing and productivity.

At that point, I knew I had to quit my job and make my own rules from then on. I needed to go to an extreme to understand what was out there, what was possible and what my body could feel if I went all-in on this approach for a while. I don’t think my then-girlfriend knew what on earth was going on by that point!

In other words, biophilic design was not something I studied, it was as if it came from inside of me first and all I had to do was recognize what was happening.

Of course, it helped to be immersed in real estate and interiors for my work at the same time, that was the magic mix that made it possible to become a wellbeing champion and biophilic design consultant later on.

What experts influenced you on the path to becoming a biophilic design consultant for real estate and hospitality?

Over time I worked out that there was a whole school of thought largely led by the US around how to actually do what I was talking about in a clear, structured way. Terrapin’s 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design and Stephen Kellert’s The Practice of Biophilic Design were fundamental reference points. Their work highlights the proven benefits of biophilic design in promoting wellbeing, productivity, and creativity in living and working spaces.

How did you become a consultant in healthy interiors and biophilic design?

I set up my first company, Biofit, back in 2015 specializing in creating sustainable gyms and wellness concepts through biophilic interior design. Over time that evolved into a fitness advisory business working with hotel groups and corporates around Europe to create innovative wellness concepts, gym facilities and fitness programs. This work also emphasized the importance of the built environment in promoting overall wellbeing.

Originally I thought I was setting up my own natural fitness studio in London but several successful pivots led me to where I am today!

In 2018 I set-up my second business, Biofilico focusing on a wider market of wellbeing interiors and healthy building services. This is much more closely aligned with the work I was doing for the mixed-use developer / operator before becoming an entrepreneur.

What advice would you give to someone hoping to become a biophilic designer or wellbeing interiors expert?

My path is not the only path clearly, other people may be coming from an engineering background, architecture or sustainability but to do this you really need to have a solid understanding of real estate, construction and how buildings are made.

Otherwise you’re going to struggle to put yourself in the shoes of your clients, to understand what their objectives are and how best to help them get there.

If you intend to be an independent consultant in biophilic design, wellbeing interiors, or indeed healthy buildings, you’ll need some certifications to show for it to, so studying for at least one if not several certification systems is a really good place to start. Certifications like WELL, LEED, and Living Future are essential for demonstrating expertise in biophilic design. Interior designers play a crucial role in integrating biophilic design concepts into interior spaces, significantly impacting mental health.

Additionally, biophilic design consultants often work alongside architects, engineers, lighting designers, acoustics consultants, and client representatives, emphasizing the collaborative nature of these projects.

Biophilic design research study for The Wardian - an EcoWorld Ballymore residential development in London’s Canary Wharf

What prompted you to do your own research studies into biophilic design and natural elements in London?

We were commissioned by a real estate developer called EcoWorld Ballymore to take over a space of theirs by the river in Canary Wharf, London’s business district for a 4-week residency.

We created a mini biophilic workspace in small glass building, turning it into a creative meeting room right by the water full of air-purifying plants to improve indoor air quality. We also integrated natural elements such as natural light, plants, and water to enhance the connection between the built and natural environments, creating a healthier built environment. A team from the University of Essex then created a scientific research questionnaire for us as a ‘before and after’ questionnaire for office workers during their visit to our ‘recharge room’ full of Vitamin Nature. (see the full report here)

In total 108 people spent about an hour in that biophilic green space designed for mental wellbeing, and we saw very positive results for key indicators such as productivity, creativity, nature-connectedness, stress and anxiety levels, even concentration.

So, a ‘recharge room’ or office ‘quiet space’ can become especially interesting when we layer in biophilic design as a way to give purpose and meaning to for example an unused office.

Maybe there is room for a little yoga and stretching in there too, or maybe not but let’s be clear - mental health in the workplace has never been more important than it is today.

This type of nurturing space in an office environment may seem a mismatch but in fact it can be a tangible help for HR departments looking to recruit and retain top talent by ensuring they have a happy and healthy workforce.

Does Green Design in Video Games Have a Biophilic Effect?

Biophilic design has to do with the physical furnishing and arrangement of indoor spaces.

As we’ve noted in the past however, the biophilic design concept is ultimately about bringing the outdoors in to “re-establish our connection to nature” even when we’re stuck in enclosed environments.

It’s an idea that some think of as being “good for the soul,” as well as one that’s increasingly significant in its ability to help us recognize what we’re losing as climate change progresses.

When we think about this broader definition of biophilic design though, it’s interesting to consider how the concept might apply beyond the setup of physical spaces.

In this post we’re going to explore specifically whether or not biophilic concepts are beginning to play a role in video games. Because whether intentionally or not, the infusion of natural environments into popular games appears to be something of a growing trend.

Mainstream Video Games

For almost as long as mainstream video games have existed, there have been plenty that have made good use of outdoor settings. That much is a given.

With improvement in game design however, these settings have grown increasingly sophisticated and beautiful — to the point that some find them (even subconsciously) almost therapeutic.

Last year, Polygon published a terrific write-up on “games that feel like going outside,” highlighting examples like The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, Eastshade, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, and even Red Dead Redemption 2.

The outdoor environments in these games are lush, gorgeous, and frankly reminiscent of an older and less impacted world — or at the very least of remote environments most of us don’t interact with very often.

As exciting as the accompanying gameplay can be, these games are exciting just to live in.

Casino Games

Casino gaming through online platforms and mobile apps has grown more popular in the last decade, and it’s largely because the games are relying more on visual quality and a sense of setting.

This is particularly true in the arcade slots that have come to define the category in large part, and many of them have immersive, nature-based atmospheres that make them surprisingly soothing.

It’s a difficult category of games to explore in some respects simply because there are so many developers and platforms to sift through.

For a sense of some of the natural atmospheres we’re referring to though, the broad selection of slots on Gala Spins provides a number of relevant examples in one place. In various ways, slot reels like Arthur And The Round Table, Buffalo Blitz, Animals Of The Amazon, Clover Rollover, and more all transport players to natural settings.

The effect, even in something as simple as an arcade slot game, can be somewhat mesmerizing.

Virtual Reality

It goes without saying that virtual reality is now presenting some of the most immersive video games of any kind. And inevitably, some of those games do a nice job of placing players in natural settings. It’s likely we haven’t seen the best of the concept in this category just yet, because VR gaming is still coming into its own a little bit.

But already, games like Catch And Release, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, and Nature Treks VR are quite effective at placing players in the natural world.

Climate-Conscious Games

This is not its own category akin to mainstream gaming, casino gaming, or VR. However, climate-conscious games do represent a sort of emerging genre.

These are games that are actually designed to make people more conscious of the natural world, and more inclined to take action to protect it. And already, there are some impressive examples.

The Verge lists Beyond Blue (an ocean exploration game), Endling (a game depicting the effects of climate negligence), and Bee Simulator (just what it sounds like) all as games representing this emerging space.

All do a wonderful job of immersing players in nature, as well as conveying the value of that nature.

Conclusion

Ultimately, to call these game worlds examples of biophilic design may be stretching things a little bit. But the effect of delving into these games can be similar. One can feel rejuvenated, and can in a sense re-establish a connection with nature.