As humans, we have worked very hard to control our environment. Consequently, most of our indoor spaces tend to stick to a constant temperature with little to no breeze. However research shows that increased ventilation can improve our performance. Breezes help bring fresh air inside, help cool us, and stimulate our sense of touch. How can you include better ventilation in your house.

While the research results are mixed, in enclosed environments, it is thought that plants can help us to naturally filter and clean chemical from the air. Here are a list of the top 10 air cleaning plants.

Air quality has a big impact on our health. Indoor health quality can be improved by removing sources of pollutants from indoors, mechanical ventilation, natural infiltration and cleaning our indoor air. Next week we will look how plants can help us to that.

Fire, stars and moonlight are all natural sources of light that affect us. They can make us feel safe, relaxed and comfortable. How can we include these in the designs of our houses?

This week we look at how Coulthard explains the effect of the colour of light. The nature of sunlight is affected by our location, the time of year, and the time of day. White light boosts alertness and mood during the day, blue light can make it difficult to sleep, while red light has no effect on our body clock so can be used at night.