Health & Happiness Petal

Creating environments that optimize physical and psychological health and well being
 

“The intent of the Health and Happiness Petal is to focus on the most important environmental conditions that must be present to create robust, healthy spaces, rather than to address all of the potential ways that an interior environment could be compromised.” International Living Future Institute

Imperatives include: Civilized Environment; Healthy Interior Environment; Biophilic Environment.

Design approach includes:

  • Connecting each regularly occupied space to fresh air and daylight by providing operable windows in classrooms, offices, and auditorium. Large folding glass doors in common space and maker space will be operable during times when humidity, temperature, and pollen count are ideal. Large windows and doors provide a close connection to eco-commons.
  • Studying daylighting to reduce glare, improve views, and idealize direct and ambient lighting in all spaces.
  • Providing a higher minimum amount of outside or fresh air to all occupants in the building which is much higher than a conventional building baseline, per ASHRAE 62.1. This is accomplished by using a DOAS (dedicated outdoor air system).
  • Designing for catering, bathrooms, and janitorial areas to have dedicated exhaust.
  • Encouraging the human connection to the natural environment by exposing the mass timber construction throughout the project and by providing visual and physical connections to the porch, eco-commons, and roof garden.
  • Designing vestibules at entrances to help contain particulates that could affect indoor air quality by providing walk-off mats to remove potentially harmful debris carried on the bottom of shoes. Air curtains at the building entry, which primarily serve to maintain conditioned air in the building, also prevent dust, debris, and pollutants from entering the building.