Empowering people
“Empower people with knowledge of healthy buildings through education and communication throughout a building’s whole life cycle”
Improving and sharing knowledge and skills
To create and maintain healthy buildings, people need know-how and skills. This dimension recognises that building users – including residents, staff, and professionals – play a crucial role in enhancing both their health and well-being and the sustainability of their buildings.
Clear and effective communication is key to healthier buildings. For example, many technologies used in homes and workplaces require knowledge that is often not passed on to users when it is installed in their homes or workplaces. Instead of trying to make products and technologies last longer, a focus on repair and maintenance only comes into play when things break down.
Another aspect of this dimension is the lack of know-how and skills related to building sustainability and circular economy principles. For example, a large-scale survey carried out in the UK found that standard maintenance contractors for social housing do not know how to carry out retrofit works. Other studies found that there was a lack of knowledge and a lack of skilled labour regarding zero-carbon housing.
To help stakeholders see what is required to meet the requirements of this dimension, it uses four indicators.
Key elements to empowering people with knowledge of healthy buildings
Skills and knowledge
To improve knowledge, learning and skills around healthy building practices, health components should be integrated into existing education programs. Read more about the three sub-indicators
Effective communication among stakeholders
Occupant behaviour and control
Information access and sharing
Policy recommendations
The recent Healthy Buildings Barometer has developed policy recommendations that can support these indicators and encourage the empowerment of people and their communities.
This includes:
- Establishing a coherent and well-functioning policy framework for buildings
- Strengthening legislation to provide access to high-quality, healthy, affordable and environmentally sustainable buildings
- Increasing focus on Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) with clear definitions and policy enforcement
- Establishing a holistic framework for the automation of building components, services and control
- Building capacity of professionals and policymakers on healthy building needs and requirements
- Establishing participatory design through local and national planning departments
- Increased training for professionals and policymakers on how to integrate indicators
