In the past, construction involved getting the right site, construction materials, and a sufficient budget. Nowadays, however, these are not the only elements to consider to get the ideal commercial building. Health has become the buzzword everywhere, and architects are looking for ways to make sure your building will not affect the health of its occupants. There are various elements in your building, which will determine the health and comfort level of your building’s occupants.
Some of the factors your overall commercial design should focus on are the lighting, heat, visual comfort, ergonomics, and noise levels. These elements have been proven to be among the leading contributors to poor health and might also significantly slow down the activity levels of a building’s occupants. Since the inception of healthy buildings, there have been several trends towards the actualization of healthy buildings. The following are the current ones:
Active Construction and Design
This trend involves the use of your interior design to boost the health of your building’s users. The provision of green spaces, glass atriums, and stairs which are conveniently located and fitness areas are some of the elements of ongoing construction and design. These are designed to boost the health of a building’s users through the increase of their physical activity and decreasing their dependence on automated systems of movement like elevators. In this trend, for instance, the parking lot might be located at a distance from your main building so that people have to walk to get to their cars.
Healthy Construction Materials
There have been innovations in building materials which are inexpensive yet efficient. Healthy buildings nowadays, however, lean towards the use of natural, non-toxic, and recyclable materials. One of the most popular is a building material which combines expanded polystyrene foam with cement to generate a strong material for the construction of exterior walls. Suitable construction materials are also designed to resist mold and pest infestation.
‘’Smart’’ Building Systems
Most of the elements which set a smart building apart will require some form of control to monitor their energy usage and set them. In the past, manual controls were the choice method for setting appliances for indoor comfort. Nowadays, healthy buildings include ‘’smart’’ systems. The energy system supplying these appliances is monitored and automatically reset to get the required thermal, ventilation, safety, lighting, and security levels. This reduces not only your energy costs but also your labor expenses.
Reduced Construction Components
A high number of structural components of a building generally translates to more areas where infections may happen. Architects nowadays are looking for ways to limit the parts of their building to minimize the chances of health issues. For instance, some are going for simple walls as opposed to intricate ones with several components.
The above trends might increase your construction costs by a small margin. Though most people would opt out of healthy buildings because of this, it is not a wise choice. It will only be a loss for you to cut back on your construction expenses now and have a low occupancy rate in the future because your building is unhealthy.
