Health Drivers
Water & Air Quality
Carbon Monoxide
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas produced by incomplete combustion of carbon-based fuels.
Ozone
Ozone (O3) in indoor environments comes from two sources: outdoor tropospheric ozone that infiltrates through the building envelope, and indoor-generated ozone from some air purifiers, photocopiers, laser printers, and electrical equipment.
Particulate Matter
Particulate matter is airborne particles of various sizes, categorized by aerodynamic diameter: PM10 (coarse particles, below 10 micrometers), PM2.5 (fine particles, below 2.5 micrometers), and ultrafine particles (below 0.1 micrometers).
Volatile Organic Compounds
Volatile organic compounds are carbon-based chemical compounds that evaporate at room temperature, entering indoor air from building materials, furnishings, personal care products, cleaning products, and stored chemicals.
Habitat & Bioclimatic Design
Fall Hazards
Fall hazards are environmental conditions that increase fall risk for occupants with reduced balance, coordination, mobility, or sensory processing.
Insufficient Exercise Infrastructure
Insufficient exercise infrastructure describes the body's response to an environment that does not enable the movement its condition requires for management.
Non-Adaptive Built Environment
A non-adaptive built environment is one that demands more physical, sensory, or cognitive capacity than the body has, particularly when that capacity is variable or declining.
Thermal Stress
Thermal stress describes the body's response to temperature deviation from its thermoneutral zone in either direction.
Occupant Health & Exposure
Bisphenols & Phthalates
Bisphenols (BPA, BPS) and phthalates are plasticizing compounds used in PVC products, epoxy linings, plastic containers, vinyl flooring, synthetic fragrances, and personal care products.
Flame Retardants
Flame retardants are synthetic compounds added to materials to meet flammability standards.
Heavy Metals
Heavy metals are bioaccumulative toxic metals including lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic that enter the indoor environment primarily through water supply, aging plumbing infrastructure, contaminated soil, and certain building materials (lead paint in pre-1978 homes, lead-containing glazes in imported ceramics).
Persistent Organic Pollutants
Persistent organic pollutants are synthetic compounds that resist environmental degradation, bioaccumulate in living tissue, and biomagnify through food chains.
Pesticides
Pesticides are synthetic compounds applied for pest control, including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and rodenticides.
Light, Sound & Sensory Design
Acoustic Overload
Acoustic overload is sustained or peak acoustic input exceeding the occupant's integrative capacity.
Circadian Disruption
Circadian disruption describes the body's response to environmental cues that misalign biological circadian rhythms with the 24-hour light-dark cycle.
Flicker
Flicker is the rapid, repeated variation in light intensity, typically too fast for conscious perception but detected and processed by the visual cortex and autonomic nervous system.
Glare
Glare is excessive luminance contrast in the visual field, produced by bright light sources or reflections within or adjacent to the field of view.
Insufficient Daylight
Insufficient daylight describes the body's response to inadequate exposure to natural daytime light, encompassing three distinct physiological needs: UV-B radiation for vitamin D synthesis, full-spectrum visible light for circadian entrainment, and bright light exposure for mood regulation and alertness.
Light Intensity / Photophobia
Light intensity as a Factor describes the body's response to overall brightness exceeding its current tolerance threshold.
EMF & Electrical Hygiene
Dirty Electricity
Dirty electricity refers to high-frequency voltage transients and harmonics on building wiring, typically in the 4-100 kHz range.
Geomagnetic Disturbance
Geomagnetic Disturbance is the time-varying alteration of the earth's surface magnetic field, driven principally by solar wind, coronal mass ejections, and geomagnetic storms interacting with the magnetosphere.
Magnetic Fields
Extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields are produced by current flowing through wiring, appliances, and transformers.
RF Radiation
Radiofrequency radiation encompasses electromagnetic fields in the 3 kHz to 300 GHz range, produced by wireless communication devices (phones, Wi-Fi routers, Bluetooth), cell towers, smart meters, and some medical devices.
Mold, Moisture & Microbes
Biofilms & Bioaerosols
Biofilms are complex microbial matrices, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa embedded in an extracellular polysaccharide gel, that form on wet or humid surfaces in buildings.
Molds & Mycotoxins
Molds are fungal organisms that colonize building materials in the presence of sustained moisture.