Buildings that protect health New knowledge portal PlanGesund.info

This autumn, many people in Germany are again suffering from respiratory diseases. Especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, measures are needed to effectively limit the spread of pathogens in buildings. The focus is on schools, doctors’ surgeries, retirement homes and nursing homes. A research consortium from Technische Universität Braunschweig, Technische Universität Berlin and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin is addressing this issue in a current project. The scientists are investigating which construction measures can reduce the risk of infection in buildings. They have developed a free knowledge portal, PlanGesund.info, which will be available from 4 December 2024 and which the scientists will be presenting in Berlin on that day.

People spend up to 90 percent of their lives indoors. Therefore, these spaces should be designed to promote well-being and protect health. The principles of structural health protection can help to create an environment that is healthy in everyday life and enable buildings to function in the long term, even during periods of increased infection.

Among other things, this can reduce the risk of indoor infections and the number of sick days, while improving climate and heat protection. Structural health protection is part of a holistic strategy to create resilient, infection-preventing and more energy-efficient buildings. “Building for the future means building for health,” says project manager Lukas Adrian Jurk of the Institute for Building Design, Industrial and Healthcare Construction at TU Braunschweig. The institute is leading the research consortium, which includes the Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Hermann Rietschel Institute at TU Berlin and the Institute for Building Materials, Solid Construction and Fire Protection at TU Braunschweig.

Guidelines with recommended actions

Experts from a range of disciplines including architecture, design, ventilation, hygiene and materials science have looked at how to reduce the risk of infection in buildings. Among other things, they have focused on equipping a building with ventilation technology that ensures basic hygiene, planning adaptable floor plans and selecting suitable materials for hygiene-critical surfaces. The aim of the research network is to motivate all parties involved in construction to actively implement health protection measures.

With the digital knowledge platform PlanGesund.info, the research consortium offers architects, planners, builders and those responsible in health authorities practical solutions and guidelines with recommendations for action to anchor structural health protection as an integral part of the planning of new and existing buildings.

Making health-protective construction practical

“A prerequisite for practicality is to explain the essential basics of the determining risk factors of structural health protection, so that targeted measures can be taken by the construction industry,” says project manager Lukas Adrian Jurk. At PlanGesund.info, users will find easy-to-understand articles on medical and technical basics, as well as specific decision-making aids for structural health protection.

Decision support and best practice examples

“Many recommendations are already state of the art, but have yet to be widely implemented,” says Professor Martin Kriegel of the Hermann Rietschel Institute at TU Berlin. A filterable catalogue with more than 90 infrastructure-specific structural, technical and procedural recommendations for infection prevention and a list of materials makes it easier to put structural health protection into practice. An interactive tool supports the planning of new ventilation concepts or the improvement of existing ones. Best practice examples of existing buildings can also be viewed. The information is relevant for both new and existing buildings.

Expanding the platform

Initially, information will be available for kindergartens, schools, doctors’ surgeries, nursing homes and retirement homes. In the future, the platform will be expanded to include other important infrastructure facilities, such as hospitals.

In addition, new research findings from projects by researchers not previously involved will be incorporated on an ongoing basis. This includes findings on thermal insulation and material emissions. To this end, joint research projects will be carried out and an exchange format will be established to improve the transfer of knowledge and needs between research, practice and policy.

The knowledge portal will be launched on 4 December 2024 at www.plangesund.info.

Project data

PlanGesund.info is funded by the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBSR) with approximately 420,000 euros from June 2022 to December 2024. The Robert Koch Institute is an associated partner in an advisory capacity.

Media event

The scientists would like to present the new knowledge platform PlanGesund.info on 4 December 2024 at the Charité Mitte Campus in Berlin. In a panel discussion, they will discuss the relevance and opportunities of structural health protection and will be available to answer your questions.

4 December, 3 to 5 p.m.
Charité Campus Mitte, Virchowweg 6, 10117 Berlin
Building CCO, Auditorium on the ground floor

Programme

3 p.m. Welcome

Helga Kühnhenrich, Head of Department ‘Research and Innovation in the Construction Industry’, Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR)

Lukas Adrian Jurk, Project Manager of the research team

3:20 p.m. Presentation of the knowledge portal PlanGesund.info

Lukas Adrian Jurk

3:50 p.m. Panel discussion with

• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Sunder, TU Braunschweig
• Prof. Dr. med. Christine Geffers, Charité
• Prof. Dr. Martin Kriegel, TU Berlin
• Zhuo Chen, TU Braunschweig
• Lukas Adrian Jurk, TU Braunschweig