Everybody talks about energy-efficient building and remodeling. The environmental performance of building materials and components, however, is often forgotten, that is, the environmental impact across the life cycle from resource extraction to manufacture, use, reuse, recycling, and finally disposal. In addition to basic knowledge, this course module also provides an overview of the “thicket” of available certification marks, green labels, building performance certificates, databases, software, and others.
We have choices as to how to preserve wood: knowledge combined with nontoxic or low-toxic treatments, or aggressive toxic chemical treatments. Especially building biology professionals require sound knowledge in this subject area to be able to prevail against the lobby interests of profit-hungry pest controllers or commonly held misconceptions and half-truths. This also applies to the identification and treatment of house pests such as insects and rodents.
Building materials form the “third skin” of humans. It largely depends on the selection of building materials as to whether a building provides a comfortable indoor climate and whether it is healthy, energy-efficient, and ecological. This course provides an overview of all the properties of building materials that are important from a building biology perspective.
A lack of knowledge in the area of building science can result in major building damage.
Therefore, this course module also introduces basic building science concepts that all students should understand so that later in the field they will know in which situations it is important to consult an expert.
There is no need to memorize equations. The course module can serve as a reference as needed.