For millions of years humans used to roam the open savannahs, prairies and open fields at first as hunter-gatherers and later as farmers enjoying clean and open air for the most part. However, in the last couple of centuries humankind quite rapidly moved from a society that spends the majority of its waking hours in the open to a society that spends most of the time indoors. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average American spends 93 percent of their life indoors.
The time spent indoors amounts to only one half of one day per week outdoors. It’s no wonder we generally feel happier when the sun is shining and we’re outside. In addition, since the Industrial Revolution the quality of the outdoor air has decreased exponentially.
Individually, we can’t do much about the quality of the air in our outdoor environment. We can, however, control the air indoors and ensure our homes and offices become a sanctuary of fresh air and wellbeing. Sadly though, in most cases the quality of air indoors is worse than outdoors.
Indoor air can be up to 5x more polluted (and sometimes more) than outside
US Environmental Protection Agency - Importance of Indoor Air Quality
The Velux Indoor Generation report found that 80 percent of Americans are unaware indoor air can be five times more polluted than outdoor air and don’t realize that all that extended time indoors has a detrimental effect on our health and wellbeing, similar to poor diet or lack of exercise. The eye opener is that poor air quality in our homes, our offices, and our schools directly impact costly health problems like asthma, respiratory disease, heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Spending most of your time indoors and a lack of sunlight leads to lower brain function, sleep quality, mood and productivity.
As a result, we need to shift the way we design our interior spaces and view them as a ‘Micro-Environment’ and control what we breathe to create an overall a healthier environment for occupants.