What is wellness design and how does it differ from sustainable/green design?
Everyone wants to be well and it’s been a prominent topic not just over the last few years, but also in general. Wellness = health and with that said let’s talk about wellness design.
Similar to sustainability, wellness design focuses on a few key elements to help promote health. The WELL AP certification - which is a wellness based design certification for interior design and architecture sections these elements into originally 6 but broken down into 10 categories which are;
Air
water
Nourishment
light
movement
Thermal comfort
sound
materials
mind
community
For the sake of this blog post we’ll not focus on community as that’s just what can you do to help you’re community and advocation etc. In the terms of residences though the other 9 items ARE important for wellness design.
Air - is important as if constitutes air quality in an interior and how it can be better. This is important for MANY reasons, with overall health, those who have breathing issues, making sure people don’t spread an illness, or with allergies. It talks about things like pollution and indoor contaminants like animal dander, dust, other debris, and then to chemicals like VOCs (volatile organic compounds) found in paint, new materials in a home like carpet, or a new desk (most new items) etc. Which create off gassing in a home. These can be mitigated, or even lessened depending on how the item is constructed, and how old the item is.
Water - is the quality of water that you’re drinking, and making sure that it is safe to drink and that there aren’t a high concentration of ANY chemical compound like fluoride, or arsenic etc. Maybe looking into a filtration system to block out some if not almost all of these things that are proponents to ill health could be beneficial.
Nourishment - how to help people make healthy choices in terms of food. So having an area that houses fresh fruit that’s on a counter or somewhere at eye level so you’d go for that instead of junk.
Light - Light is very important everywhere, but it’s about how natural light helps our mental health, and with indoor lighting how the color temperature and amount of light in a room can affect your mood. Have you ever turned on a light and it just feel sad? Try different light temperatures, or even adding light for visibility can help
Movement - like nourishment, how can an interior help people want to get up and move, or go outside and be more active to combat a sedentary lifestyle.
Thermal comfort - Like much of this other information there’s a LOT on this topic, but basically how to make sure a room is “just right” for you and or making sure that it’s at a good temperature depending on the function. I.E. having a cooler room is good for sleep.
Sound - Acoustics!!! Very important and as someone who sings (and has performed since I was young - I am very interested in acoustics). But how loud or soft a room is. Is there a lot of echo in a space? Can you hear people around you or is there music or a TV on in a part of the house that’s making it hard to hear the person next to you? What about outside noise coming inside? Even the air conditioning if it’s too loud or creates too much background noise can be harmful.
Materials - Flooring, what’s on the walls, counters/counter tops, furniture etc.
Mind - mental health and how the other items in this list contribute to your mental health. Finding ways to promote good mental health and keeping it going strong!
Many of these items go hand-in-hand with sustainability, but how they would differ is above, and mentioned in my sustainability post. These are all things to think about when designing, and there are many tests done on these from sources like ASTM and others as to create standards. Many of these standards are for commercial, but residential can also use them, and there are even some specific to residential.
Beyond that just recognizing what you do on the daily and how you interact with your space. If you’re sick a lot and you’re not sure where it’s coming from try tweaking small things after talking to your doctor. Maybe you’re allergic to something in your mattress or something in the air like pollen or mold. Mold is a BIG health hazard and as someone who lives in FL I have experienced it first hand and it can take years to get out of your system.
Not to scare anyone, but I hope this was helpful in anyway to try and get you to think about ways to make your home healthier so you can be healthier in return! But PLEASE don’t break the bank doing it! Health is important, but like with mental health, financial health can be beneficial for mental health too (at least for me personally :D)
Please let me know below or through email if you have any comments, questions or concerns! I will do my best to answer!! Thank you so much!