Functional and Comfortable

Health is one of the defining guidelines of social development: demographic change, inclusion and the burdens of the world of work are taken into account in the socio-cultural objectives of sustainable building. From the user's point of view, these aspects are often in the foreground. They determine health, comfort and functionality.

Buildings should meet the requirements of users as thoroughly as possible - this also applies to innovative, energy- and resource-efficient construction methods.

For the planned use, the building should offer as optimal an environment as possible - this includes considerations on development, space and area use, but also on accessibility or design. To ensure that buildings can be used adequately and for a long time, the well-being of the users is particularly important. Aspects such as thermal comfort, sound insulation and room acoustics, or natural lighting contribute to this. These can be investigated and optimised through calculations in the planning phase. The use of low-emission building materials is important for good air quality in buildings. Areas for exchange and recreation should also be planned.

A high level of living comfort as well as satisfaction and performance at the workplace include appropriate qualities in the following areas. Sustainable building is not only about these areas being considered intuitively - they must be verifiable, measurable and proven. Here are some key points for the implementation:

• Thermal Comfort
  • Comfortable room temperatures and surface temperatures in summer and winter
  • No draught due to mechanical ventilation
  • No too dry or too humid air
• Indoor Air Quality
  • Avoidance or minimisation of pollutants
  • Good ventilation due to sufficient air exchange and influence of the users
• Visual Comfort
  • Good daylight supply and light distribution
  • Visual contact with outdoors
  • No-glare natural and artificial light
• Acoustic Comfort and Sound Insulation
  • Good speech intelligibility in areas of use with communication
  • Effective shielding against ambient noise inside rooms
  • Good sound insulation against noise from inside and outside
• Functionality for Users and Visitors
  • Influencing and controlling building functions
  • Places to stay and sense of security in and around the building outside the work rooms
  • Barrier freedom
  • Accessibility of an object and good mobility infrastructure (bicycles, charging stations, etc.)
  • Flexibility of rooms for different uses
  • Inclusion in decision-making procedures

At the centre of a functional and comfortable building design are:

• Clarification of qualitative requirements
  • Coordination of all socio-cultural criteria with the user
  • Coordination of the quality objectives with the technical planning concepts
• Integral planning and decision-making processes
  • Consideration of interactions between the aims and objectives / aspects
  • Dealing with conflicting goals, e.g. between design, functionality and technology
• Competitive procedures, variant investigations and prognoses of the expected qualities in the early project phases
  • Taking comfort properties into account and making them measurable and verifiable through calculations