Category Archives: healthy-home

story about healthy home and green building

Straw and clay get along well

Architect Florian Hoppe presents the straw bale building

Architect Florian Hoppe presents the straw bale building

Architect Florian Hoppe knows his way around both building materials– He developed a relationship with clay at a very early age in his father’s company. He learned masonry and plastering by working on several construction sites in Thuringia/Germany. Through a cooperation of different companies it was even possible to use local clay. In the course of his architectural studies, Hoppe became enthusiastic about straw bale construction. One idea in particular from the settler days in America did not let him go: he wanted to realize the load-bearing straw bale without wooden stud construction in Germany as well. After careful preparation and with the support of his family, he was able to move into his spacious straw house ten years ago.
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Strong smell after sanding the floor

strong odor form cresols

Renovating a house from the 1960s

A young family in Thuringia (Germany), full of enthusiasm, renovated a house from the 1960s. They wanted to keep the floorboards on the first floor and started sanding off the top layer. But after a short time the Stickler family was very sober. During the work it started to stink terribly. Ms. Stickler also worried about her child’s health. A building biologist should investigate the process to find the reason for the unpleasant smell. The expert sampled the room air using the TENAX method (2 liters of air at a volume flow of 100 milliliters per minute). As a precaution, he took a material sample from the flooring.
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Too many pollutants in the carpets

Carpets may contain toxins

Carpets may contain toxins

People love their carpets – 1.8 million tonnes are sold in Europe year after year. This is also the second largest carpet market next to the USA. The market leader today is Tarkett in France, followed by the Balta Group from Belgium. The production of a carpet takes place in several production steps. Each of the work stages uses a wide range of chemicals. The toxins contained therein later exhale into the room air or they are inhaled by the inhabitants as dust particles. Toxic chemicals are also the main obstacle to environmentally sound disposal. That’s why 1.6 million tons land in the waste incineration plant every year.
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Avoid chronic insomnia

avoid chronic insomnia

Seepless at night

Sleep disorders are about twenty percent of the reason to ask a building biologist for advice. This resulted in a recent survey among colleagues of German Baubiologie Regional. Takes the insomnia for more than three months, experts speak of a chronic disorder. Sufferers should at least then seek medical advice. Accompanying the medical treatment the building biologist examines physical, chemical or microbial abnormalities at the sleeping place.
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Avoid magnetic fields near the head

Expert measures with magnetometer

Expert measures with magnetometer

For investigation of sleeping areas, the main concern of the region is below the bed. In a particular case the building biologist found the problem not only on the ground, but primarily at the head of the sleeping quarters. What happened? Manfred Eberlein was not sleep at night after moving into a new apartment in the city center. In the old apartment he slept like a log. A dowser had already changed the roost some eight weeks before. However, this action was not successful.
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Do research carefully before painting a room

wooden floor

do research carefully before painting the room

Vincent Kuchler (Stuttgart/Germany) phoned our advice center yesterday. His eyes were swollen and his nose ran constantly. His suspicions focused on the oily stain on the newly installed floor in the bedroom and children’s room. A doctor for diagnosis of his symptoms he had not yet visited. Vincent wondered, however, why the other family members showed no allergic reactions. How could a piece of advice for those concerned to look like?
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When moisture damage the base heating is an alternative to internal insulation

wall heating

wall heating

Mold assessors know the problem. When steam condensate is reflected on the cold areas of a room and leads to an increased surface moisture, the wall structure has to be carefully examined. A classic thermal bridge occurs when the surface temperature at certain points of the wall is several degrees Celsius lower than the room air temperature. The first proposal for a fix will be in an improvement of the thermal insulation. Who would conceive, to avoid thermal bridges by a base heater? Continue reading

Create a healthy indoor climate

healthy-indoor-climate

a hygrometer is an important equipment

“Another article about healthy indoor climate”, some readers will think. The author finds it necessary to shed light on this important aspect of building and living in detail as a good indoor climate is often reduced to only heating and ventilation. But it must be observed even more aspects. The building- biology takes nature as a model. The aim of planning must be to produce as much as possible natural conditions in the interior. Continue reading

Building-biology working group with new seal

workinggroup building-biology

use the new seal

As of now, members of the working group (AK) building biology experts can use a new seal on their website. Since 2008, the AK meets regularly in the Environmental Center Fulda for experience exchange. Through a confidential co-operation within the Corporate Directory of biology regional participants want to be successful together and overall provide a higher value for “building-biology”. The group operates in a structured manner. Still, plenty of scope for open discussion and brainstorming stay. The main points of the meeting, participants receive summarized in the report. Continue reading