As indoor air quality rises up the agenda for architects, Johnstone’s Trade discusses how smarter paint and coating specifications can contribute to healthier buildings long after completion.

The built environment is embracing a new vital sign for measuring the success of new and existing buildings: the health and wellbeing of the people in them. Understanding and momentum behind the environmental and carbon costs of buildings have sparked a more holistic approach to how architects ensure occupants feel good when they get there.

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is priority number one, and for good reason – the air people breathe in their homes, workplaces, and in public and commercial spaces has short- and long-term effects on their health. It’s also a factor that’s within the power of building design and construction to improve. Architects and designers need only look to the new wave of building certifications including Well and Fitwel that consider air quality long beyond completion for proof that this is the direction of travel.

This means looking at specifying decisions through a new lens – one that considers the real health impacts of IAQ and understands how their choices will make for a healthier built environment.

A real danger to health
Industry efforts to improve IAQ have been spurred in no small part by growing awareness and evidence of the harm that indoor air pollution is doing all over the world. People spend up to 90% of their time indoors, but the effects of poor-quality indoor air have been less well researched and understood than pollution outdoors. This is explained by the variability and complexity of indoor environments. The sources and concentration of pollutants change between and within buildings.

However, recent studies in the UK and beyond have made clear links between indoor air pollution and poor health outcomes, linking it to serious acute and long-term effects on occupants. In the short term, poor IAQ has been linked to respiratory infections, irritation of the airways, neurological symptoms, and even death. Long-term health outcomes can include asthma, allergic rhinitis, coughing, wheezing cognitive impairment, and cancer.

The solution to poor IAQ is of course much bigger and more complex than more considered specifying decisions during the construction process. But certain health effects like asthma, wheezing, and airway irritation have been linked to pollutants found in construction and interior decorating materials, such as formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The good news is that manufacturers are on the case, particularly when it comes to paint and coatings. VOC content now features prominently on product packaging, and innovative coatings are coming to the market that improve indoor air quality, not just minimise their own impact.

For example, Johnstone’s Trade, UltraLast Matt, is their longest-lasting interior wall paint, engineered for exceptional durability and performance. Ideal for high-traffic buildings, such as schools, hospitals and commercial offices, it significantly extends maintenance cycles, making it a standout choice for large-scale specification projects. Plus, it carries a Trade VOC rating, the lowest possible classification, meaning it contains only minimal volatile organic compounds, helping to improve indoor air quality and meet stringent environmental standards without compromising on quality.

A real danger to productivity
Mitigating serious dangers to health is rightly the priority when it comes to improving IAQ, but investing in incremental improvements for workplaces and commercial spaces will also pay dividends in the long run. Multiple studies have shown that employees and students in well-ventilated offices and schools with low levels of indoor pollutants and carbon dioxide perform and feel better, and are less likely to take time off.

Workplaces and schools with poor IAQ are likely to see higher levels of absenteeism due to the effects of pollution, and will lose output and people to Sick Building Syndrome (SBS), a term gaining increasing credibility as a moniker for the general sense of being unwell that stems from the effects of indoor air pollution. This is where the right specifying decisions, and products made to support IAQ, really earn their keep.

Even if people aren’t taking time off or getting sick, they may be feeling the effects of poor ventilation. Increased CO2 levels contribute to a feeling of lethargy or headaches in the afternoon. Fixing this is an opportunity for architects to add real value beyond completion on workplace projects, and be part of a new generation of high-class assets built with health and wellbeing at their centre.

A healthier future
The consensus on IAQ is stronger than ever, built on unity within the industry and a growing body of evidence from the scientific community. It’s time to capitalise on this momentum from all sides. Architects and manufacturers can work together on individual projects and specifying decisions, tapping into each other’s expertise to find the right product. By building this collaborative approach firmly into the specifying process, architects will be working towards a healthier built environment and making a real difference for occupants for years and decades to come.

Contact Details
For more information please visit the Johnstone’s Trade website.