A Breath of Fresh Air – The value of breezes
As humans, we have worked very hard to control our environment.
We control
the light,
the temperature, and
our exposure to the wind and rain.
Consequently, most of our indoor spaces tend to stick to a constant temperature with little to no breeze.
However, Coulthard argues that humans like fluctuations in our environment. The slight changes in air flow and temperature mimic the outdoors.
Think about how much we like warming our feet on front of a fire in winter, or the cool breeze on a hot day.
A study by the Berkley Lab found that ventilation improved work performance.[i] Another study found that performance improved by 1-3% when with small increases in ventilation.[ii] Students have also been found to show better performance at choice reaction, picture memory, word vigilance and word recognition when ventilation was increased.[iii]
Breezes are important to biophilic living. They
Bring fresh air inside,
Help cool us, and
Stimulate our sense of touch.
How do you feel when you can feel a breeze?
How can you include better ventilation in your house?
[i] https://iaqscience.lbl.gov/si/vent-office
[ii] Seppänen, O., Fisk, W. J., & Lei, Q. H. (2006). Ventilation and performance in office work. Indoor air, 16(1), 28–36. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0668.2005.00394.
[iii] Clements-Croome, D. J., Awbi, H. B., Bakó-Biró, Z., Kochhar, N., & Williams, M. (2008). Ventilation rates in schools. Building and Environment, 43(3), 362-367.