Over the past decade, the construction sector has focused primarily on energy efficiency.<\/p>\n
A, A+, A++ classes, heat loss, airtightness, energy consumption, renewable energy sources\u2014all of these have become almost self-evident criteria for a good building.<\/p>\n
However, as buildings become more airtight and energy-efficient, another question becomes increasingly important:<\/p>\n
what air do people breathe inside them?<\/strong><\/p>\n The building of the future will be evaluated not only by how much energy it consumes.<\/p>\n Equally important will be whether it can maintain a healthy indoor environment.<\/p>\n Air quality, CO\u2082 concentration, volatile organic compounds, humidity, filtration quality, ventilation, and continuous monitoring may become criteria as important as energy class is today.<\/p>\n Modern humans spend the majority of their time in enclosed spaces.<\/p>\n At home, in offices, schools, hotels, cars, shopping centers.<\/p>\n Therefore, indoor air quality is not merely a technical building characteristic.<\/p>\n It is a direct part of the human daily environment.<\/p>\n The problem is that air quality often remains invisible.<\/p>\n We sense temperature immediately.<\/p>\n We see light.<\/p>\n We hear noise.<\/p>\n However, deteriorating air quality can go almost unnoticed for a long time.<\/p>\n Therefore, buildings of the future will need not only to ventilate spaces but also to understand what is happening inside them.<\/p>\n Carbon dioxide in indoor spaces typically rises due to human respiration.<\/p>\n The more people in a space and the poorer its ventilation, the faster CO\u2082 concentration increases.<\/p>\n Therefore, CO\u2082 is one of the simplest indicators for understanding whether a space has sufficient fresh air.<\/p>\n CO\u2082 itself at typical concentrations is not the sole criterion for indoor air quality.<\/p>\n However, it very effectively shows how efficiently ventilation is working.<\/p>\n In homes of the future, CO\u2082 sensors will likely become as common as temperature sensors are today.<\/p>\n The system will be able to automatically see:<\/p>\n This allows reconciling two objectives that previously often conflicted:<\/p>\n energy savings and healthy indoor air.<\/strong><\/p>\n An even more complex problem is volatile organic compounds, often called VOC.<\/p>\n They can be released from:<\/p>\n Some VOC concentrations are low and short-term, but certain compounds can have a negative impact on human well-being or health.<\/p>\n This changes the approach to building materials.<\/p>\n In the building of the future, it will no longer be enough to ask:<\/p>\n “Is this material strong and durable?”<\/strong><\/p>\n Increasingly, we will need to ask:<\/p>\n “What does this material release into the air that people will breathe daily?”<\/strong><\/p>\n This means that low-emission materials, natural finishing systems, and transparent chemical substance declarations will become an increasingly important part of the construction market.<\/p>\n Humidity is one of the most important, yet often undervalued, indoor microclimate parameters.<\/p>\n Air that is too dry can cause:<\/p>\n Excessive humidity can create conditions for:<\/p>\n Therefore, buildings of the future will need not only to measure humidity but also to actively manage it.<\/p>\n This can be achieved through:<\/p>\n The building will gradually become not only an airtight structure but also an active microclimate system.<\/p>\n Traditional ventilation often operates quite simply.<\/p>\n The system is set to a certain airflow and operates on a schedule or in constant mode.<\/p>\n However, actual human needs are constantly changing.<\/p>\n One hour there may be one person in a room.<\/p>\n The next\u2014five.<\/p>\n At night, some spaces have more people, others none.<\/p>\n Therefore, ventilation of the future will increasingly be controlled based on actual demand.<\/p>\n The system will be able to use information from:<\/p>\n Then ventilation will no longer operate in one mode for the entire building.<\/p>\n It will be able to control each space individually.<\/p>\n Filters have long been valued primarily as a means to protect the ventilation system and reduce dust levels.<\/p>\n However, with increasing urban air pollution, the importance of filtration is growing.<\/p>\n Modern systems can help reduce:<\/p>\n In the future, filtration systems may become adaptive.<\/p>\n For example, if outdoor air quality deteriorates, the building could automatically change the ventilation mode or enhance filtration.<\/p>\n If outdoor air is good, the system could operate more efficiently and economically.<\/p>\n The biggest change will likely not be the sensor itself, but the data the building begins to collect.<\/p>\n In the home of the future, the following could be continuously monitored:<\/p>\n This data could be analyzed automatically.<\/p>\n People would not need to monitor charts themselves.<\/p>\n The building could simply operate to maintain optimal conditions.<\/p>\n This is an important distinction.<\/p>\n A smart building is not one with many screens.<\/p>\n A smart building is one that makes better decisions on its own.<\/strong><\/p>\n Previously, energy savings often meant:<\/p>\n However, excessive airtightness without proper ventilation can degrade indoor air quality.<\/p>\n Therefore, the task of buildings of the future will be to find balance.<\/p>\n Not to seal the building to the maximum.<\/p>\n And not to ventilate it to the maximum.<\/p>\n But to ventilate exactly as much as is needed at that moment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This is one area where automation and artificial intelligence can have very significant practical value.<\/p>\n Today, when buying or renting a building, we see its energy class.<\/p>\n However, we usually do not know:<\/p>\n In the future, this may change.<\/p>\n It is quite possible that buildings will have not only energy efficiency but also indoor environmental quality indicators<\/strong>.<\/p>\n For a buyer, it may be important not only:<\/p>\n A++<\/strong><\/p>\n but also:<\/p>\n what air will I breathe here?<\/strong><\/p>\n This may become a new component of real estate value.<\/p>\n It is important not to forget that a healthy building is not merely a collection of sensors and automation.<\/p>\n It is shaped by the entire architecture.<\/p>\n What matters is:<\/p>\n Technology can help.<\/p>\n However, it cannot compensate for poor architecture.<\/p>\n Therefore, the healthy building of the future will likely not be the most technically complex.<\/p>\n It will be the one in which architecture, materials, and technology work together<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Over recent decades, the construction sector has learned to build buildings that consume very little energy.<\/p>\n The next stage may be buildings that better “serve people.”<\/p>\n Such buildings will not only save energy.<\/p>\n They will help:<\/p>\n This is already a broader understanding of construction quality.<\/p>\n And perhaps in a dozen years, the question:<\/p>\n “What is this building’s energy class?”<\/strong><\/p>\n will be just one of several.<\/p>\n Alongside it will appear another:<\/p>\n “What is this building’s indoor environmental quality?”<\/strong><\/p>\n When that happens, the healthy building will no longer be a niche architectural direction.<\/p>\n It will become the new standard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We analyze how indoor air quality measurement and management are becoming equivalent to energy efficiency indicators, and why this matters to modern architects and builders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[68,67,69],"class_list":["post-326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-environment","tag-air-filtration-technologies","tag-smart-air-quality-sensors","tag-ventilation-systems"],"yoast_head":"\nWe Spend Most of Our Lives Indoors<\/h2>\n
CO\u2082 \u2013 One of the Simplest Signals That a Space Lacks Air<\/h2>\n
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VOC \u2013 Invisible Pollutants from the Buildings Themselves<\/h2>\n
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Humidity \u2013 Too Little and Too Much Are Both Problems<\/h2>\n
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Ventilation Will Become Much Smarter<\/h2>\n
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Filtration \u2013 Not Just for Dust<\/h2>\n
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Sensors Will Change Our Relationship with Buildings<\/h2>\n
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Healthy Environment and Energy Efficiency Should Not Conflict<\/h2>\n
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Will We Have an “Air Class” in the Future?<\/h2>\n
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A Healthy Building Is Not Just Technology<\/h2>\n
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From Energy Efficiency to Human Efficiency<\/h2>\n
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