Updated on 29 December 2023
What is ‘Building Biology’: A quick history of bau biologie
What is bau-biologie, or “building biology”?
What is “sick building syndrome”? How sick homes cause sick people
What is the unique perspective of building biology?
Homes are our "third skin"
Building Biology in Asia
Shelter is a primal need for humans. Throughout millennia, we have spent much energy to build homes that keep us safe from the elements, and that help families and communities thrive.
In this sense, the biology — or the science of life — of building really began from the beginning of time. people built their own shelter in the forms of structures and homes, they adapted their methods based on what made their communities thrive. Thinking of biology (life) made sense because successful shelter enabled life to continue.
What is bau-biologie, or “building biology”?
Bau-Biologie is the holistic interaction between man-made structures and the health of all life and all living environments. Bau-Biologie advocates buildings that add to the occupant's health of spirit, mind, and body and have a low impact on the environment.
Literally translated from the German as "building biology”, these two terms are used interchangeably.
Bio: life, living organism
Biology: derived from the greek words /bios/ meaning /life/ and /logos/ meaning /study/; defined as the science of life and living organisms
Building: a structure with walls and a roof
Shelter (or home, house): a place giving protection from bad conditions; a shielded place.
To understand why good homes are so important, imagine the opposite. Building bad shelters could mean lost food, productivity, illnesses, vulnerability to external conditions whether it is a lion or bad weather, or even the loss of the habitat they depend on.
How did “building biology” begin?
After World War II, Germany, along with many European nations, was left in ruins. In the subsequent years as it sought to rapidly rebuild its economy and infrastructure, cities and towns grew rapidly. They used new industrial methods to build homes and offices.
People began to observe strange ‘new’ illnesses after the World War. One of them, Dr. Hubert Palm, noticed a pattern between the ailments that his patients were coming in with and their living in housing built post WWII using the new “chemically enhanced” technologies.
He found factors such as chemical, organic compounds, electromagnetic fields, moulds, and allergens that cause biological stresses to the body that lead to chronic disease and ill heath that is often difficult to diagnose. He realised that these homes could be “toxic”.
While the term “Bau-Biologie and Ecology” is relatively new, the science is not. Many pioneers in Europe, United States, and throughout the world who have studied and written about various aspects of building technology and effects on human health. A few of these forerunners, human ecologist Theron G. Randolph, M.D., Wilhem Reich, architect Richard Crowther, and writer Ken Kern (author of The Owner-Built Home).
Sick homes cause sick people
Dr. Hubert Palm observed that many times he could find a a direct connection between the “poisonous houses” that his patients lived in and the diseases they were coming to his clinic with.
He collected many case studies and showed them to architects and building designers, but received ridicule in return. His supporters led to him to writing Das gesunde Haus (The Healthy House, 1968) and to form the basis of modern building biology.
In Biologisches Bauen (Biological Building), published in 1955, provided the foundation for his subsequent chief work, Biologische Bauordnungslehre (Biological Building Regulation Theory), in which he made a distinction between the “life affirming” and “life negating” effect of the home environment on people.
In the foreword to the third edition of Das gesunde Haus – unser naher Umweltschutz (The Healthy Home) Palm wrote:
“No one should be allowed to build a sick house. That is contrary to human rights and the law! That is against the natural order of life!”
The movement towards ecological building is inconceivable without his preliminary work, in which he described the house as the “third skin of human beings”.
The emergence of sick building syndrome
Indoor environments the way we know it today is a result of modern times. Buildings meet needs such as function, comfort, and design, but rarely consider how they fit with the natural environment.
In 1970, oil embargo led building designers to make buildings more airtight, with less outdoor air ventilation, in order to improve energy efficiency. The ventilation was reduced to 5 cfm/person—later found to be inadequate to maintain the health and comfort of building occupants.
The standards (in the US) are 20 cfm/person in office spaces and 60 cfm/person in smoking lounges.
In 1984, the WHO reported that certain symptoms occur with “increased frequency in buildings with indoor climate problems”. In 1986, they coined the term “sick building syndrome (SBS)” to describe clinically recognisable symptoms and ailments with multiple causal factors reported by occupants of a building.
SBS recognises the problem of chemical buildup in indoor air. These include:
building construction and its decorating materials:
adhesives
paints
materials such as vinyl floor tile, carpets, and drapes
activities in the building:
cleaning with solvents
applying waxes
cigarette smoking
air fresheners
photocopying, photographic processing
food services
odourants
pesticides
Bau-Biologie uses nature as a gold standard to assess health. Out in a pristine Nature, you would measure very little toxic mold, volatile organic chemicals, pesticides, ill-balanced humidity, any artificial electromagnetic fields, lead, radon, and asbestos, etc.... the practice of Bau-Biologie is to realign any gap in the home environment with the conditions found in natural environments as closely as possible.
Homes are our "third skin"
The roots of bau-biologie is linked to the emerging environmental awareness of the late 1960s. Through this perspective, the building envelope is viewed more broadly as a third skin—as a relationship with our natural environment and with nature herself.
The house is seen an organism interacting with the surrounding natural world and facilitating a balanced exchange of air and humidity. (Clothes are viewed as the second skin, and our own skin is our first.)
Such awareness of the impact of the built environment on health and/or ecology paved the way for building assessment and sustainability codes.
1960s: Hubert Palm, M.D. —often called the “father of Building Biology”, wood technologist Anton Schneider, Ph.D., and electrobiologist Alfred Hornig helped to establish the bau-biological movement in Germany.
1968 (?): Hubert Palm publishes das Gesunde Haus (The Healthy House).
1983: Prof. Anton Schneider developed the the principles of building biology to give specific guidance for planning a construction or remodelling to ensure an ecologically sound and healthy home or workplace. He established the Institut für Baubiologie + Oekologei (IBN) in neubeuern, Germany.
1980s: Architect Helmut Ziehe worked as a resident engineer in North Africa. In a city of 90,000 inhabitants, he noted that a majority of people had abandoned their government provided homes in favor of living in tents
1987: Helmut Ziehe translated Building Biology curriculum for North America. He founded the International Institute for Building Biology and Ecology in Florida, US. He recounts a memorable experience in his work as a resident architect and engineer in North Africa for a city of 90,000 inhabitants: a majority of the people had abandoned the government-built homes to live in tents.
25 Principles for Building Biology
The 25 Principles are guidelines for living biologically and ecologically. The aim is for regenerative and restorative buildings.
These principles consider this mediated relationship with Nature in terms of:
The building site
The building materials
The indoor climate
Environment, water, energy
Spatial design
Building Biologists are widely recognised in Europe. Why is Asia slow to recognise them?
The term Bau-Biologie originated in Germany, and thus has been more a part of European life and thinking for nearly 50 years. Building Biology is also popularised in English-speaking countries. The term is relatively new here in Asia.
However, its related terminology is used and reflect a growing concern around toxic environments – more people have heard of “sick building syndrome” than they have “a Building Biology issue.”
Asia also has rich cultural and historical traditions in body wellness and health. You can’t go too long or far without hearing about traditional medicines, healing practices, as well as rituals and routines for the home.
Another perspective is that we are often accustomed to our “daily grind” in cities, to “lean in”, and put aside symptoms in pursuit of the “hustle”. Building Biology plays a vital role in opening awareness into how our environment affects our health.
Recent years have seen a growing interest in the field. Fortunately, many doctors, complementary health practitioners, and body workers are understanding the importance of our role, and that we can assist them in providing improved outcomes for their patients.
Resources
Hubert Palm, das Gesunde Haus (The Healthy House), Tenth edition, Ordosan AG; Kösel, Kempten (1992), pp. 84-85. The first edition was published in 1968.
Sumedha M. Joshi, The sick building syndrome. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2796751/#CIT7