Building Biology Principles of Healthy Homes
Most people don’t realize how much their homes shape their health. The air we breathe, the materials surrounding us, the electricity flowing through our walls—all of it interacts with our biology in ways we may not fully understand. That’s where Building Biology comes in.
The Building Biology Institute has outlined 25 guiding principles to create homes and environments that support health, sustainability, and well-being. These aren’t just fancy design ideas—each principle is based on real science about how buildings impact human health.
Let’s break them down into key areas so you can start making your home a healthier place to live.
Site & Community Design: Building in Harmony with Nature
Your home isn’t just four walls—it’s part of a larger environment. This principle focuses on location, design, and how your home interacts with its surroundings.
✅ Verify that the site is free of naturally occurring and human-made health hazards.
✅ Place dwellings so occupants are undisturbed by sources of human-made air, soil, water, noise, and electro-pollution.
✅ Place dwellings in well-planned communities that provide ample access to fresh air, sunshine, and nature.
✅ Plan homes and developments considering the needs of the community, families, and individuals of all ages.
Electromagnetic Radiation Health
Your home should be a safe space from artificial electromagnetic stressors. Reducing exposure to EMFs and ensuring a balance of natural light and energy fields can promote overall health and well-being.
✅ Provide an abundance of well-balanced natural light and illumination while using color in accordance with nature.
✅ Minimize building material interference with vital cosmic and terrestrial radiation.
✅ Adopt appropriate strategies to minimize exposure to harmful electromagnetic radiation generated as a result of building electrification.
✅ Adopt appropriate avoidance and shielding strategies to minimize exposure to radiofrequency radiation generated by wireless devices within the building and from wireless sources outside the building.
✅ Avoid use of building materials that have elevated radioactivity levels.
Indoor Air and Water Quality
Air and water are essential to life—yet modern buildings often trap contaminants that degrade their quality. Ensuring proper ventilation, moisture control, and purification helps create a space where you can truly breathe easy.
✅ Assure low total moisture content and rapid desiccation of wet construction processes in new buildings.
✅ Provide for ample ventilation.
✅ Use only non-toxic building materials with neutral or pleasant natural scents, favoring natural and unadulterated materials.
✅ Use appropriate water and moisture exclusion techniques to prevent the interior growth of fungi, bacteria, and dust mites. Favor mass flow-through envelope enclosures with high hygroscopic buffering capacity.
✅ Assure the best possible water quality by applying purification technologies if required.
Occupant Wellbeing
Your home should feel comfortable, restful, and supportive of your health. Thoughtful design choices—like balanced humidity, thermal regulation, noise reduction, and ergonomic furniture—can enhance both mental and physical well-being.
✅ Allow natural self-regulation of indoor air humidity, sound attenuation, and healthy ion balance using hygroscopic (humidity-buffering) and sorbent materials and finishes.
✅ Design for a climatically appropriate balance between thermal insulation and thermal storage capacity.
✅ Plan for a climatically appropriate surface and air temperature to maintain comfort.
✅ Use passive solar heating strategies whenever possible.
✅ Provide adequate acoustical protection from harmful noise and vibration.
✅ Utilize physiological and ergonomic knowledge in interior and furniture design.
✅ Consider proportion, harmonic measure, order, and shape in design.
Environmental Protection, Social Responsibility, and Energy Efficiency
Sustainability and health go hand in hand. By choosing responsibly sourced materials, minimizing energy consumption, and designing for long-term efficiency, we can reduce our impact while creating homes that support life for generations to come.
✅ Materials and methods of construction should promote human health and well-being from the extraction of raw materials through to the end of the building’s life.
✅ Avoid using building materials that deplete irreplaceable natural resources or are harvested unsustainably.
✅ Minimize energy consumption throughout the life of the building by utilizing climate-based and energy-efficient design, energy- and water-saving technologies, and renewable energy.
✅ Consider the embodied energy and environmental life cycle costs when choosing all materials used in construction.
