FEATURE Building Blocks
Stacey Temprell, Residential Sector Director at Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland, explains why a holistic approach to building in the healthcare sector can improve the wellbeing of patients as well as bettering the working environment for staff.
In recent years, energy efficiency and carbon reduction has been at the forefront of building, yet this focus on energy costs and carbon reduction can mean developers risk forgetting that it is the occupant’s ‘living experience’ that matters, and that more elements contribute to comfort than thermal efficiency.
Care homes and hospitals house some of society’s most vulnerable people, so it is important that buildings are capable of delivering a comfortable environment in which to stay and, for staff, a suitable space in which to carry out daily tasks as effectively as possible.
“Developers risk forgetting that it is the occupant’s ‘living experience’ that matters, and that more elements contribute to comfort than thermal efficiency.”
Taking a holistic approach to the importance of comfort, health and wellbeing in buildings is the way forward. By carefully considering all the different areas of comfort that a building can – and indeed should – provide, we are able to improve people’s wellbeing within buildings.
This is why Saint-Gobain has created the Multi-Comfort concept, which defines five primary comforts: thermal comfort, visual comfort, audio comfort, indoor air comfort and economic comfort, with set standards in each to ensure user comfort is delivered.
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Recent research shows that around 90% of hospital wards and care buildings are of a type that is prone to overheating and the ability to control temperatures is often limited. This is not only uncomfortable for patients, but also for the staff who are active all day long.
At a basic level, thermal comfort is what we experience when the body is functioning well, with a core temperature of around 37°C and a skin temperature of 32-33°C. Everyone has slightly different criteria for comfort, so it is important that a building can also adapt according to individual needs.
In order to achieve this, good insulation is crucial to maintaining consistent levels of thermal comfort, but ventilation is just as important, so that when any excess warm air leaves the building, it doesn’t disrupt the consistent temperature. For example, glass in windows can either let sun radiation enter the building or block it depending on the season, and can also conserve or evacuate heat according to the kind of coating or film on the glass. Thermal comfort and indoor air quality are closely linked, and it is important that one does not compromise the other.
Poor indoor air quality can have a negative impact on older people and those suffering with illness, yet the basic requirements of a ventilation system sound simple: high air-change efficiency and clean air supplied to the right places. Natural ventilation removes the need for a mechanical plant and ducting, with initial cost savings, but depending on where the building is located, natural ventilation may not be the
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best option. If next to a busy road, as most healthcare buildings are, or within a built up area, mechanical ventilation can filter incoming and outgoing air, as well as helping to regulate indoor temperature.
Using a mechanical ventilation system can provide a plentiful supply of fresh
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