You can’t go far on the Internet these days without coming across the word ‘sustainability’, or ‘sustainable’. Sustainability has become a cultural norm and goal, aiming to maximise the production standards of all products in line with minimal resource use, energy efficiency, reuse, and recycling.
We have integrated sustainable practices into the way we make our shower pods here at Advanced Showers, for instance, taking care to minimise our carbon output at each stage of production, assembly, and supply. The same also applies, of course, to the housing sector. Property developers and architects now have high expectations placed on them for how sustainable their housing stock is supposed to be.
Markers Of Sustainable Housing Include:
- Water-saving and conservation features
- Energy efficient and highly insulated housing to reduce heat loss
- Modular construction techniques, recyclable materials, and optimised designs to minimise waste
- Passive heating and natural ventilation
- Energy efficient windows, high-performance insulation, and appliances with low energy consumption
- Renewable power sources, such as solar, wind, and heat pumps
How Sustainable Can And Should A Home Be?
These are all positive and admirable initiatives. However, do sustainable building and design practices always go hand-in-hand with healthy homes? One of the drawbacks of a highly energy-tight property is, unfortunately, poor ventilation. It’s difficult to have a well-ventilated and energy efficient home.
I remember some years back having an issue with black mould in one of the upstairs rooms of the house I was living in. When I called someone for advice, their suggestion was to install two air bricks in the room to improve airflow. We did, and it did, but from that day forward it was always one of the coldest rooms in the house, and the first one for the radiator to switch on when the thermostat dropped.
The Link Between Sustainability, Inadequate Ventilation, And Damp And Mould
Architects of new build houses are under extreme pressure not to sacrifice any energy efficiency, so inevitably, something has to give.
This can be disastrous in smaller properties, where a confined and poorly ventilated bath or shower room allows moisture to accumulate in the home. Before long, this becomes a potent breeding ground for mould, especially if combined with leakage around the bath tub or shower tray.
When assessing the value of a design or construction feature, the questions people often ask are ‘does it save water?’, or ‘how sustainable is it?’ It becomes almost like the ‘are they local?’ question in the League of Gentlemen, fixating on a single issue while missing the point of real importance behind the enquiry.
Maybe a better question to ask could be ‘is this design feature more hygienic?’, or ‘does it make the home healthier?’
None of this suggests that sustainability isn’t important, just that there are limits to how sustainable a home could and should be without it having a detrimental impact on other areas, such as health. A completely sustainable or energy neutral property would be close to a hermetically sealed bubble, and unfit for human habitation.
Often when we think about sustainability, we like to expand the definition to include not just carbon output and energy expenditure, but also the human side of the equation – health, quality of life, and enjoyment. One of our mission statements as a company is, therefore, to create shower products that minimise the risk of bathroom leaks. The goal behind this is to help improve indoor air quality in the homes in which they are installed, reduce the problem of damp, and lower the risk of black mould buildup and the associated health problems.
Find Out More
Our range of shower pods is suitable for residential and commercial properties of all sizes and layouts, with a solution available to meet all budgets. So, whether you are a facilities manager, architect, homeowner, or private landlord, please get in touch with Advanced Showers today to find out more about the sustainability and health benefits of our shower pods.
