CIBSE
has updated its Technical Memorandum 40: Health and wellbeing in building
services.
This
new version reflects significant changes in the environmental conditions we are
exposed to and advances in our knowledge of how these environments affect our
health, comfort and cognitive performance.
CIBSE
TM40 addresses key environmental parameters that impact wellbeing in the
design, construction and operation of buildings, specifically: thermal
conditions, humidity, air, light, acoustics, electromagnetic fields and water.
This
revision updates the original version of TM40, published in 2006. A significant
change in the document is the focus on performance outcomes. The revised
document summarises existing health-based guidance and regulations and proposes
recommended levels for each key environmental parameter. These may then be used
as targets in new buildings, fit-outs and refurbishments, or as benchmarks in
existing buildings to define priorities and improvement programmes.
This
technical memorandum suggests that a useful approach to designing for health
and wellbeing is to develop a design strategy for the people in a space and not
for the space itself - which may result in a scheme meeting the desired
environmental conditions only in the occupied space (rather than in the whole
volume).
Looking
ahead, CIBSE TM40 acknowledges that health and wellbeing is an evolving subject
and that there is still much debate, research and development in numerous
areas. To ensure professionals are aware of the current limits of knowledge,
the document has collated these as emerging themes in each chapter of the TM.
