7 Key Foundations for Designing a Healthy Home

Did you know that you spend 90% of your life inside buildings?

Yet, the wellness industry barely talks about the health impacts of our everyday surroundings. Our home is our third skin. The three layers that sit between us and the world – Skin. Clothing. Environment, and are the three we have the most control over.

Most of us spend enormous energy on what we put on and in our bodies. Clean food, organic skincare, intentional clothing. But the environment we live inside, the one we inhabit for over 90% of our lives, is often the last thing we address. 

Your home is not just a backdrop to your life. It is an active participant in your health. The air you breathe, the type of light your body receives, the materials touching your skin every day, the sound waves you absorb, the temperature, the invisible frequencies around you, and the very ground your home sits on. All of it matters. All of it is shaping you, quietly, continuously. 

What if we designed buildings around your biology instead of against it and every decision was based on science and research rather than aesthetics. If you have ever walked into a space and felt something shift, your mood, your energy, your ability to focus, you already understand what we are tapping into here. 

Thanks to an evolving evidence base, we understand more about the relationship between our physical environments and human health than ever before. At Ecotecture, our team is staying on top of the research behind how biological science-based design can improve your health and well-being. 

(Submitted by Dora Anderson)

Here are 7 key foundations that you can explore to achieve your optimal healthy home.

1. Site

• Where you build shapes everything that follows. Before buying or building, check prevailing winds, shadows, sun orientation, wildfire interface, underwater springs and flood plane overlays, easements on title, review slopes, test soil composition, proximity to busy roads, industrial sites, high-voltage powerlines. These can’t be changed later and all have measurable impacts on the health of your family and your build.

2. Light

• Source full spectrum LED circadian-friendly lighting. Mimic natural sunlight to support circadian rhythm, ease eye strain, achieve better sleep, increase energy and focus.
• Block summer sun and invite winter sun with extended roof overhangs, transoms and light shelves. Consider how light comes into the home and explore sun and shadows when orientating your home on the lot.
• In the bedroom, install black-out blinds and switch to warm-white bulbs (2700K or lower), avoid overhead lighting after 8pm and put indirect dimmable lighting into effect 2 hrs before sleep to support deeper sleep and natural melatonin production.

3. Sound

• Acoustic comfort isn’t a luxury, it’s physiological. Chronic background noise above 32dBA or excessive reverberations from too many hard surfaces in a space elevates cortisol.
• Design louder living and media spaces far from sleeping or wellness spaces, in smaller footprints use closets between bedrooms as sound buffers, consider balance of hard and absorptive finishes in each space, consider floor to floor noise and address outside road traffic noise.

4. Air

• Your indoor air is 2-5x more polluted than outside and conventional building materials continuously off-gas VOC’s, formaldehyde and particulates.
• Design for proper cross ventilation. 
• Install air purifying systems to maintain less than 650ppm, filter out pollution, dust, cooking fumes, off-gassing toxins that improve respiratory health.
• Install ERV / HRV systems for added fresh air.

5. Materials

• Every finish and fabric matters. To avoid toxic chemical exposures present in many of our typical finishes look for third-party certifications: GreenGuard Gold, OEKO-TEX, Red List Free, Declare labels, GOTS-certified bedding, zero VOC paints and formaldehyde free adhesives.

6. EMF – Electromagnetic Fields

• EMF exposure can be reduced by 75% by doubling your distance from a source. Move routers and boosters out of all sleeping & living areas.
• Install whole home kill switch in the bedroom to eliminate nighttime EMF exposure near your body.
• Use Ethernet cabling where you can for zero wireless radiation.
• Locate electrical panels far from living and sleeping spaces.
• Install EMF static shield protection filters and anti-EMF phone chargers to reduce exposure.

7. Wellness Oasis

• Making regular healthy choices happens naturally when they are convenient – make your home your sanctuary, recovery spa and reconnect.
• Allow access to sun-soaked spaces – morning sun resets our circadian rhythm & alignment which affects your metabolism, immune system, hormonal balance, blood pressure and sleep.
• Sauna use is incredible for our cardio and cognitive health. Sauna use 2-7x/week mimics exercise by increasing heart rate and blood flow.
• Create spaces that evoke calm and tranquility.
• Choose tones and textures that mimic nature to help regulate your nervous system.
• Research from UC Berkley noted experiences of awe can reduce markers associated with stress and disease while increasing feelings of connection, perspective and wellbeing. Exposure to natural grandeur such as mountains, lakes, forests, and ocean views, have been linked to lower cortisol, reduced heart rate and improved recovery. Consider home orientation, sightlines, areas of calm, and connections to nature.

How Can You Protect Your Family?

Simply choose one small achievable thing on the check list above. Ie. Moving routers out of bedrooms takes five minutes to do but will have instant impact. That’s how you get started.

Then hire the professionals. At ECOTECTURE we have reformulated traditional building design standards in place of healthy, sustainable alternatives, because we choose to put People-Place-Planet at the forefront of all projects because it is the right thing to do. 

We use this knowledge to design spaces that enhance health and well-being. Let’s connect and book a FREE consultation with our team or follow us on Instagram to learn more healthy home essentials.