I have long wondered what exactly is meant by "ecological building," "healthy building," or building biology. Sometimes I read statements saying that new houses contain numerous harmful substances and that one should pay more attention to building biology.
I have looked into this and researched, but I haven't found a clear difference between "normal construction" and construction that is considered safe from a building biology perspective. My first suspects, plastics like multilayer composite pipes or insulation materials, apparently seem to be completely fine.
Some people bring up the topic of electromagnetic pollution. Okay. This leads to the entire house being turned into a kind of electromagnetically shielded cage. Of course, it makes sense not to run cables across the bedroom or under the bed.
Now, for the first time, I noticed a point that is truly considered concerning. Apparently, standard expanding foam used in construction is far from healthy. However, there is also the opinion that all harmful substances have dissipated 48 hours after application.
It is then recommended to fill the gaps around interior doors, the front door, and window edges with materials like wood fiber, mineral wool, stone wool, or jute instead of using expanding foam. Is there any truth to that? Where else is expanding foam still used?
Do you know of any other areas that are not just subjectively but clearly part of building biology?
I have looked into this and researched, but I haven't found a clear difference between "normal construction" and construction that is considered safe from a building biology perspective. My first suspects, plastics like multilayer composite pipes or insulation materials, apparently seem to be completely fine.
Some people bring up the topic of electromagnetic pollution. Okay. This leads to the entire house being turned into a kind of electromagnetically shielded cage. Of course, it makes sense not to run cables across the bedroom or under the bed.
Now, for the first time, I noticed a point that is truly considered concerning. Apparently, standard expanding foam used in construction is far from healthy. However, there is also the opinion that all harmful substances have dissipated 48 hours after application.
It is then recommended to fill the gaps around interior doors, the front door, and window edges with materials like wood fiber, mineral wool, stone wool, or jute instead of using expanding foam. Is there any truth to that? Where else is expanding foam still used?
Do you know of any other areas that are not just subjectively but clearly part of building biology?
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Username_wahl11 Oct 2016 22:04Some things also drift into esotericism; for example, one home builder offers "vital... bricks" made from healing clay and Grander water. Another provides electromagnetic pollution protection and land analysis based on disturbance fields/waves/radiation. There is no medical basis for this, but it sells well.
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Bauexperte11 Oct 2016 22:55Tego12 schrieb:
Then you should first consistently avoid all plastic packaging for food. This is probably much more problematic, since it goes directly into the body ... no yogurt in plastic cups (plasticizers and such...), no coated Tetra Paks, no plastic bottles, no plastic drinking cups, no plastic toys for children (even if sometimes considered harmless, they could one day be classified as dangerous, just like the concerns with EPS...), no shoes with plastic parts, no clothing containing synthetic fibers, and so on. 😉 This is not a problem at all; it just requires a change of mindset, which I have practiced for years. This way of shopping only seems more expensive at first glance.
Unfortunately, I also fail with plastic in children’s toys – Lego and especially Playmobil are indispensable in my granddaughter’s playroom. Recently, even those terribly ugly Barbies 😕 I hope that plastic toys will someday delight another child and not simply be thrown away, which unfortunately is quite common these days.
I would always be cautious about certificates like "ecologically safe" or "recommended from a building biology perspective." In my view, @Bieber0815 narrowed it down to the essentials with point 3. I consider point 2 unrealistic because the average user simply lacks the knowledge to evaluate individual products based on their production processes and to verify certificates. I’ve been around too long to just take things on faith 😀
Regards, Bauexperte
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Bieber081512 Oct 2016 08:09Bauexperte schrieb:
This is not problematic at all; it simply requires a change in mindset—I have been doing it this way for years. For example, take yogurt: it often comes in glass jars, but the lids are coated with plastic on the inside. Or is there other yogurt available? Or is this an exception, or do you simply not buy yogurt? (This is not criticism or an attack, just curiosity and a subtle reminder that avoiding plastics is not that simple.)Bauexperte schrieb:
Unfortunately, I also fail when it comes to plastics in children’s toys—Lego and especially Playmobil are indispensable in my granddaughter’s playroom. At least I consider Lego completely harmless; it has been around for generations and lasts just as long ;-).Bieber0815 schrieb:
As an example, yogurt often comes in glass jars, but the lid is coated with plastic on the inside. Or is there other yogurt available? Or is that an exception, or do you simply not buy yogurt? (This is not a criticism or attack, just curiosity and a subtle reminder that avoiding plastics is not that simple.) Canned foods containing aluminum—which under certain conditions (if condition A and condition B are met, etc.—but it is possible) can be significantly more problematic than plastic.
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Bauexperte12 Oct 2016 11:30Hello,
By now, many manufacturers use so-called "Blueseal" lids. They should actually be recognizable by the blue inner rim, but only in theory. For example, with Landliebe®, the lid is simply white. I hold onto the hope that this will improve with European standardization because in France, bisphenol A has been banned in the production of food containers since 2015. I use Tupper® containers when buying sliced meat and fresh meat, and they now only use these chemicals in products that are not heated. So progress is being made.
It’s also not that I’m an eco-freak; it all started because I was simply fed up with the mountains of waste generated during shopping and wanted to avoid it as much as possible. You might imagine that during the first few months, I got some strange looks when I disposed of packaging inside the store or handed my Tupper® containers over the counter at the deli 😀 Today, it’s common practice, and food retailers provide sorting systems at the exit.
Best regards, Bauexperte
Bieber0815 schrieb:Of course I buy yogurt, and it took me a while to realize that yogurt in glass jars is only part of the solution, and the "devil," or plasticizers, are hidden in the lid.
Just as an example, yogurt is available in glass jars, but the lid is coated with plastic on the inside. Or is there other yogurt? Or is that an exception, or do you simply not buy yogurt?
By now, many manufacturers use so-called "Blueseal" lids. They should actually be recognizable by the blue inner rim, but only in theory. For example, with Landliebe®, the lid is simply white. I hold onto the hope that this will improve with European standardization because in France, bisphenol A has been banned in the production of food containers since 2015. I use Tupper® containers when buying sliced meat and fresh meat, and they now only use these chemicals in products that are not heated. So progress is being made.
Bieber0815 schrieb:I don’t take it that way; no worries!
(This is not criticism or an attack, just curiosity or a subtle hint that avoiding plastics is not that simple.)
It’s also not that I’m an eco-freak; it all started because I was simply fed up with the mountains of waste generated during shopping and wanted to avoid it as much as possible. You might imagine that during the first few months, I got some strange looks when I disposed of packaging inside the store or handed my Tupper® containers over the counter at the deli 😀 Today, it’s common practice, and food retailers provide sorting systems at the exit.
Bieber0815 schrieb:That’s reassuring to me, and honestly? Playing with Lego is just fun 😉
At least I consider Lego completely safe, it has been around for generations and lasts just as long ;-).
Best regards, Bauexperte
Above all, the new Lego Duplo blocks still fit with the older pieces.
What is considered healthy is a complicated matter.
Wooden toys are sometimes subject to higher levels of contaminants than plastic toys.
Children’s tableware made from bio-plastics performs very poorly in tests,
and my little one puts everything she comes across into her mouth.
I don’t even want to think about what might be coming off those items.
Living completely biologically, ecologically, and sustainably is probably not possible.
Everyone has to find their own compromise.
It definitely helps: one person tries to reduce waste, the next focuses on animal-friendly farming, and another aims for the smallest possible CO² (carbon dioxide) footprint.
What is considered healthy is a complicated matter.
Wooden toys are sometimes subject to higher levels of contaminants than plastic toys.
Children’s tableware made from bio-plastics performs very poorly in tests,
and my little one puts everything she comes across into her mouth.
I don’t even want to think about what might be coming off those items.
Living completely biologically, ecologically, and sustainably is probably not possible.
Everyone has to find their own compromise.
It definitely helps: one person tries to reduce waste, the next focuses on animal-friendly farming, and another aims for the smallest possible CO² (carbon dioxide) footprint.
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