Sick Building Syndrome v/s Green Lungs

What is Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)?

Sick building syndrome is a common worldwide health concern, where people in a building suffer from symptoms of illness or become infected with chronic disease from the building in which they work or reside, but no specific illness or cause can be identified.

History
1. Late 1970s- vague symptoms were reported by people in newly constructed homes, nurseries and offices. It was known as “office illness” in media.

During the first energy crisis in the 1970s, builders and building owners took action to reduce energy consumption in office buildings by increasing insulation, weather stripping doors, building wraps and using insulated double- and triple-pane windows.

In many cases, buildings were renovated to setup windows that couldn’t open, to minimize the escape of heated or cooled air.

2. 1980- NIOSH got 150 internal environmental quality complaints.

3. 1986- WHO coined the term “Sick Building Syndrome” and it also came to notice that 10-30% of newly built buildings in the West had indoor air quality issues.

4. 1989- The Swedish allergy study indicated sick building as a cause of the allergy epidemic.

5. 1990s-
• considerable research was carried out on Sick building syndrome.
• various studies were performed on individual buildings.
• the chemical contents of the material of the building was considered.
• a distrust of the Sick building syndrome concept was raised.
• 52% of complaints concerned sick-making work environments in USA.

6. 1999- a thesis at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm 1999 questioned the methodology of previous research.

7. 2005- a Danish study presented the imperfections experimentally which showed that sick building syndrome is neither a coherent syndrome nor a disease which can be diagnosed individually, rather it is a collection of semi related diseases.

8. 2006- the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare advised in the medical journal Läkartidningen that “sick building syndrome” should not be used as a clinical diagnosis.

How many buildings have this problem?

Animated Sick Building
WHO claims, 30% of the buildings suffer from sick building syndrome. We spend 90% of our time indoors due to the busy schedule and don’t have the time to relish nature.

           

What Causes Sick building syndrome?

1. Indoor contamination (heaters, smoking, etc.)
2. Outdoor contamination
3. Poor ventilation
4. Electromagnetic radiations
5. Biological contamination (pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, spores, molds and protozoans)
6. Common products such as
• paint
• insulation
• rigid foam
• particle board
• plywood
• duct liners
• exhaust fumes, various chemical contaminants from indoor or outdoor sources, and biological contaminants can be trapped inside by the HVAC AC system.

Signs and symptoms
The WHO has sorted the reported symptoms into various categories, including:
• mucous membrane irritation (eye, nose, and throat irritation),
• neurotoxic effects (headaches, fatigue, and irritability),
• asthma and asthma-like symptoms (chest tightness and wheezing)

People affected with Sick building syndrome coming out of the sick building with thermometer• skin dryness and irritation, gastrointestinal complaints and more. 
• Non-specific hypersensitivity reactions, voice hoarseness, flu-like symptoms
• personality changes, reduction in work efficiency and increase in absenteeism.

A very large 2017 Swedish study corresponded several inflammatory diseases of the respiration tract with an objective proof of damp-caused damage in homes.

Diagnosis
There is no specified medical test to diagnose sick building syndrome. The below given characteristics can help identifying the cause :
1. Symptoms disappear once the affected person leaves the building or home.
2. Other co-workers have similar issues or complaints.

Animated building with a stethoscope

For your convenience write down when and where the symptoms start, as well as when they go away. Also, be very much specific about your symptoms. Your doctor will try identifying conditions that could mimic sick building symptoms. Record them in your diary.

How to resist the effect of illness?

Coming down to health, there are many natural ways of improving it i.e. engaging in physical activities, eating healthy, thinking positive, opting good habits and spending time with mother nature.

General health is a pivotal pillar for quality of life. How would it feel to be able to live in a place that provides,
• 48% increased focus on your work
• 26% increase in your study performance
• 6.4% improvement in the quality of sleep

Most of us do not know the characteristics of Truly Healthy Spaces. These are:
• To think
• To judge
• To memorize
• To understand

 Most of these strategies can be accomplished by gardening or greenery, but now days we have zero or very little space due to urbanization, open spaces are captured by high rise apartments. So, now we are left with vertical spaces like walls or roofs.

Sustainable healthy homes and offices

Within the last 20 years there has been renewed interest in the role of designed landscapes as a healing tool to enhance the wellbeing.

Sustainable design seeks to Reduce negative influence on environment, health and comfort of building occupants, thereby improving building performance. The basic objectives of sustainability are to cut down consumption of non-renewable resources, minimize waste and create healthy, productive environment.

How?
Sustainable design principles include the ability to:
• Optimize site potential
• Minimize non-renewable energy consumption
• Use environmentally preferable products
• Protect and conserve water
• Enhance indoor environmental quality
• Optimize operational and maintenance practices

Vertical Gardening for Healthy Living (The Green Lung’s Magic)
Vertical gardening (also known as the Living wall or the Green lung) is a technique used to grow plants on a vertically suspended panel. These unique structures can either be free standing or attached to a wall.

Vertical panel with plantsThese living green vertical structures can be as small as picture frame or as massive as thousands of square feet.
The trend of indoor gardening is increasing tremendously as people are taking interest in beautifying their homes and workplace with different kind of plants, veggies and herbs on a vertical panel.

How can green lungs help?

1. Respiratory Health
Animated lungsThe plants in a living wall filter particulate matter from the air and convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. A green lung extracts 2.3 kg carbon dioxide per annum from the air and produces 1.7 kg of oxygen. With these green lungs you contribute to air purification.
If you opt for an electric air purifier, you never know to how much extent the air is getting purified. Plus there will be an energy cost and it may also emit some radiations. Whereas, plants do not affect or emit anything, says Ar. Hardika who leads Hardika Architects firm in the city of Karnal.

2. Thermal Health
Thermometer50% sunlight is absorbed by the plants while 30% is reflected. Thus, it leads to a cooler and more pleasant environment in summers and a warmer indoor climate during winters.

3. Safety

Plants naturally contain a lot of moisture. With a green lung you create a natural fire resistant layer on a building or a house. Thus, it acts as a natural safety blanket.

4. Reduces ambient noise
No noise signA green lung acts as a sound barrier to the building. It absorbs 41% more sound than a traditional facade and this means that the indoor environment is much quieter. Also, the indoor voices are less likely to reach outside.

5. Extends facade life span
A green lung offers protection from external influences such as the sun, rain, wind and temperature fluctuations and thus, extends the life span of a building by reducing the contraction and relaxation of the concrete material.

6. Adds value to the building
The natural and sustainable appearance combined with a reduction in energy cost, means an increase in the value of your property and it also serves as a landmark.

7. Heightens the feeling of well being
Living and working in a green environment has a positive effect on one’s well health. Gardening offers you relaxation and reduces stress, says Ar. Hardika.

8. Green helps you focus
A healthier environment, cleaner air, and a better state of mind. The knock-on effect of this greener living space is the plants’ ability to improve concentration and focus, particularly important if your home is also your workplace.

9. Reduction in energy cost and utilization
Green lungs help to reduce the energy costs incurred to adequately ventilate and control building temperature. Reduction in the use of energy will not only cut down on heavy electricity bills but will also help conserving energy for the upcoming generations.

Plants in a green lung can remove upto 87% of toxins in air within a period of 24 hours.
Plants are effective in cutting down the amount of VOCs and enhance indoor environment. These VOCs include formaldehyde, benzene, xylene and trichloroethylene.

Green lungs or greenery contribute to improve the mental performance by 26% and quality of sleep by 6.4%.
Not only health benefits, green walls also provide a connection with nature that is missing from our work environment. It is really crucial to maintain this connection in order to stay healthy and active. The desire or the urge to connect with nature is known as biophilia.

How many plants you need to clean the air?
The NASA studies on indoor pollution done in 1989, recommended that 15 to 18 plants in 6 to 8 inch diameter containers each, help to clean the air in an average 1,800 square foot house, which is roughly one plant per 100 square feet of floor space.

Does it really matter?

Yes it does. In case of workplace, healthy employees mean more of efficiency and productivity in work. Healthier working environment can cut back on employee’s health expenditures. Whereas, at home you can up class the health of your family and as well as cut down on health expenditures and food cost by growing your own garden. Greenery will help children focus on studies and will make them more active, productive, and creative.

The man built environment is the major cause of green house gas emissions. The quality of air is changing day by day and so is the health of the population. Greenery is the only solution to this problem. Plants can transform our lives in an unexpected way. There is a need of looking at things from green and positive angles.

What we can do?

We can start from our own place, like our homes, then offices and then community. Improved environment quality can help create jobs and productive employees. The community health is also improved gradually.

We all need to join hands for a green initiative to secure the coming generation’s future as well as improve our health.
Good health is what remains forever.

To conclude, Green lungs i.e. mother nature wins over Sick building syndrome.                                                         

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Why Vertical Garden? (Need of Hour)

  1. Where can Vertical Garden be grown?
  2. Why to install a vertical garden
  3. Food Security
  4. Physiological Benefits
  5. Environment Benefits
  6. Economic Benefits

Is your love for gardening fading away due to limited space in your high rise apartment or your home? Do not worry!! Vertical gardening is the solution for your problem. Vertical gardening is a virtuous recourse for people who want save space; these are easy to maintain as they are easy to reach without bending; a large diversity of plants can be maintained within it.

Where can these be grown? 

Car parking, inside office buildings, along lane ways or rooftops.

why to install a vertical garden

No doubt, these gardens have an aesthetic merit but most supremely they do good to the environment as well. Here are some of the benefits;

FOOD Security


• Due to the corona virus crisis, the fear of food shortage is now residing in everyone’s mind. We are dependent on farmers for the same but we can grow most of our food in our homes as a safety measure. Vertical gardens produce healthy and clean harvest.
• Small fruits, vegetables and herbs can be grown very easily without the use of pesticides.
• It is a safe way of gardening as it minimizes the risk of pest attack.
• Food grown vertically is much prettier than the crops grown on ground. The fruits grow straight when trellised, since gravity pulls them down. Plus, there won’t be an ugly yellow spot on heavier vegetables and you get gorgeous vegetables.

Environmental Benefits


• Vertical gardening helps to reduce the carbon dioxide footprint of a building by filtering pollutants and carbon dioxide out of the air which also benefits those living nearby due to improved air quality.
• Exterior wall vertical gardens also help to reduce heat absorption, which can result in significant energy savings in areas where people rely on air–conditioning during the warmer parts of the year.
• These gardens can significantly help to reduce Urban Heat Island Effect and smog.
• The waste produced in our house can be reused for the same, such as- plastic bottles, old shoe organizers, baskets, broken ladder, etc.
• Indoor plants improve inner air quality by removing VOCs (Volatile organic compounds) and other harmful toxins.
• It acts as natural sound proofing barrier as the vegetated surface blocks high frequency sounds.
• Create a microclimate– you can insulate your home from heat, air pollution or noise by designing a living natural shield. This also helps to regulate temperature.

Physiological Benefits


Professor Virginia Lohr of Washington State University found in a study, that plants reduce the physical signs of stress. Dr. Lohr discovered that people working in an environment with plants present were 12% more productive and less stressed than those who worked in an environment without plants.

There are numerous other studies that highlight the positive impact of green spaces upon human well being. Honeyman 1987 found that buildings that feature and promote access to vegetation have a greater positive human health impact than those without. Green buildings have even been shown to increase post-operative recovery rates in medical facilities .

Economic Benefits


• Increase foot traffic in retail spaces as green walls create spaces that people want to spend time in.
• Provide thermal insulation.
As green walls provide insulation to buildings there is less demand upon power, saving cash as well as reducing the amount of polluting by-products that are released into the atmosphere.
• Vertical gardens both insulate and cool buildings, providing a kind of safety blanket that protects the building from the elements, saving money on repairs in the long run.
• Vertical gardens require the expertise of professionals from a variety of disciplines including landscape architects, architects, irrigation consultants and more helps create local jobs.

Vertical Gardening Techniques

Watch more on vertical gardens

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Growing Thyme

My last blog discussed about the benefits of thyme. After reading them who would not think of growing it in their own garden and get benefitted from its medicinal properties. Thyme is a marvelous herb with pleasurable, pungent, clover flavor best grown in summers.

The very first thing to contemplate when purchasing Thyme is that there are two main types of it which are normally used: Ornamental and Culinary. The three most common types of culinary thyme are: Caraway, French and Lemon which add wonderful and satisfying taste (enough to excite your taste buds) to your summer soups, grilled meats and vegetables.
Culinary thyme is a hardy perennial that is evergreen. It is drought- tolerant and pollinator- friendly. You can get the best of its flavor in the summers.

Planting

Where: thyme loves to thrive in full sun and heat. If growing it indoors, plant it near a sunny window. For a head start, plant the cuttings of thyme indoor for 6 to 10 weeks as it’s a little hard to grow thyme from seeds because of slow and uneven germination. Make sure your soil is not too rich in organic matter and is slightly sandy.

When: plant the cuttings after the ground temperature reaches 21 degree Celsius. This is usually 2 to 3 weeks before the last spring.

Propagate by cuttings: it is the easiest way to plant your thyme. Clip a 4 inch cutting from the very tip of a stem, apply rooting hormone on the exposed portion of the stem and plant it in sterile sand. Roots will make an appearance within about 6 weeks. Transfer to a small pot and let the root ball formation take place. You can later transfer it to a large pot if needed else, directly to your garden.

Cultivating
Sun: planting should be done in well- drained soil with an optimal pH of 6.0 or 8.0. organic fertilizer can be added in the early spring.
Water: these require less watering but thorough watering only when the soil is dry.
Spacing: the young plants should be placed 12 to 24 inches apart, depending on the variety you are growing. Their maximum height is 6 to 12 inches.
Companion plantingit can be grown near tomatoes, strawberries cabbage. Also, it can be planted near rosemary as it requires similar weather and watering conditions as of Thyme.

Harvesting
In order to leisure its best flavor, harvest thyme just before it flowers as flowers indicate maturity. It tastes great both fresh and dried. Clip a 5 to 6 inches of growth with scissors, leaving the tough, woody parts. Avoid washing clean leaves as it may rip off some of the essential oils. Regular pruning not only encourages more growth, but also promotes a more rounded shape.

Trouble shooting thyme
Pests: Spiders, aphids, mealy bugs may attack thyme. You can easily knock them out with a strong stream of water or by spraying insecticides.

Diseases: thyme is vulnerable to root rot and fungal diseases. Steer clear of root rot by keeping plants out of wet areas and planting them too close to each other. Botrytis root can be treated with a fungicide.

Preserving and storing thyme
• Refrigeration: cover the fresh thyme in a damp paper towel over wrapped in plastic and refrigerate. Keep it for 1 or 2 weeks in the vegetable crisper.

• Drying: leaves can be dried by clipping the stems and hanging them upside down in a warm, airy place for 3 to 6 days.

• Freezing: put the clippings in sealable plastic bag.

• Storing: dried leaves can be easily stored in an airtight container.

Care:
Water deeply only when the soil is completely dry.
Pruning is necessary as it helps in continuous and healthy growth of the plant. It should be done back in the spring and summer. The more you trim, the more it grows attaining a good shape.
The best flavor you get is from the young plants, so divide the 3 to 4 year old plants.
Protect the plant from freezes with a mulch of chopped leaves, straws or evergreen branches.

Check back on next Thursday to find out its best ways of usage.

By:
Arshdeep Kaur Longia

Perfect and Innovative Vertical Gardens

What is vertical gardening?

vertical garden is a garden that grows upward (vertically) using a trellis or other support system, rather than on the ground (horizontally). Anything grown on a trellis or even a fence is technically part of a vertical garden. … More recently, vertical gardens can also be used to grow flowers and even vegetables

What plants can grow vertically?

Some that do well grown vertically include:

  • Cucumbers.
  • Beans.
  • Peas.
  • Zucchini.
  • Miniature pumpkins and gourds.
  • Small squash.
  • Indeterminate tomatoes.

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