Harvard Guidelines & Foundations For Health Buildings

Explore foundational guidelines on developing buildings to meet global health standards, developed by Harvard Health.

Executive Summary:

Within the four walls, buildings influence the air we breathe, the water we drink, the light we see (or don’t), and many other factors that determine INDOOR HEALTH.

As the global population continues to rise with more and more of us in urban centers, the demand for new buildings and cities increases accordingly, straining our natural systems and RESOURCE HEALTH as we strive to build for today without stealing from tomorrow.

And buildings are engines of economic growth and innovation, providing an opportunity for work and advancing ECONOMIC HEALTH.

Last, buildings are a major consumer of energy globally, a production system that currently relies on fossil fuels. These fuel sources threaten our ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH by polluting our air, water, and food systems, and are the cause of global climate change, perhaps the largest public health threat we face today.