This document discusses unhealthy indoor environments in Europe and the concept of a "comfort economy". It notes that Europeans spend 90% of their time indoors and unhealthy indoor environments can cause health issues. It then introduces the Comfort Economy Wheel, which provides a visualization of real-time indoor comfort data based on factors like temperature, humidity, CO2, and more. Sensors can monitor these factors and flag when action is needed to improve indoor air quality, productivity, and health. The goal is to optimize indoor environments and quantify the economic benefits of healthier, more comfortable buildings.

1. SenseMaking
The Comfort Economy Wheel

2. Unhealthy buildings
in Europe

3. Research shows that Europeans spend on
average 90% of their time indoors. We eat, live,
work and sleep indoor, and most of us do this
without thinking about how our indoor
environment might be affecting our wellbeing. An
unhealthy indoor climate can be the cause of
fatigue, headaches and allergies, and in the worst
cases it can lead to severe long-term illnesses
such as cancer and respiratory diseases.
Understanding and controlling our indoor air
quality can help reduce the risk of these health
conditions.
90%
of our time is spent
indoor

4. LANDSCAPE OF EUROPEAN HOMES
100 mio
single-family homes in Europe
60%of Europeans live in
single-family homes
84%of single-family homes
are privately owned
36%of Europe’s total CO2
emissions are emitted
by homes and buildings

5. UNHEALTHY BUILDINGS AND THEIR COSTS TO SOCIETY
€40 bn
Indirect annual cost of asthma and
chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, e.g. loss of work
productivity
€42 bn
Direct annual cost of treating
asthma and chronic disease, e.g.
medicine and care
€82 bn
Total annual cost for European
societies attributable to asthma and
chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease
+ =

6. The economic
benefits of healthy
buildings

7. Human resource cost outweighs all other costs in
modern organisations.
Even 1 % of productivity savings would yield over €3.660 per employee per year to justify
improved investment in the quality of their workplace.
Carnegie Mellon BIDS system
2
6
92
ENERGY COST M A I N TA I N E N C E EMPLOYEES
COST DISTIBUTION
Analysing the typical distribution of costs from a building owner or tenant employing knowledge
workers will look something like this: 2% of costs are allocated for energy, 6% for maintenance, and
up to 92% for employees (salaries, etc.)

8. Carnegie Mellon BIDS system
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF HEALTHY & COMFORTABLE BUILDINGS: LOST PRODUCTIVITY
12,5%
Buildings can improve
performance by as much as
12.5%
17%
Buildings can reduce
performance by as
much as 17%
30%
That is a 30% swing in
worker performance
between the best and worst
buildings
Potential impact of buildings on
overall employee productivity:

9. THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF HEALTHY & COMFORTABLE BUILDINGS : DAYLIGHT
Maximize the use of daylight without
glare and provide daylight-responsive
lighting controls to ensure:
22-60%
Overall energy saving
35-65%
lighting energy savings
180%
minimum ROI
0,45-40%
productivity gains
Carnegie Mellon BIDS system

10. Replacing or supplementing mechanical
ventilation with natural ventilation or mixed-
mode conditioning to achieve:
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF HEALTHY & COMFORTABLE BUILDINGS : AIR QUALITY & VENTILATION
47-79%
HVAC energy savings
0,8-1,3%
health cost savings
120%
average ROI
3-18%
productivity gains
Carnegie Mellon BIDS system

11. From the Active
House Radar to
comfort economy

12. THE FOUNDATION IN ACTIVE HOUSE PRINCIPLES
The Active House Radar is a useful tool to
represent a holistic picture of a building based
on parameters that are a fusion of comfort,
energy impact and environmental load.
VELUX Group, Leapcraft and GXN Architects
worked on building a live version of the Active
House Radar for the Green Solutions House in
Bornholm in summer 2017.
You can read more about the project at
>> http://velux.com/gsh
We borrow the basic principles from the active
house approach to find ways to create key
indicators for a comfort economy.

13. Data from sensor based monitoring can be
used to analyse the long term and live effects
on indoor climate. Temperature, Humidity and
CO2 are relatively inexpensive to measure in
high frequency and in multiple locations.
In 2017 a project was carried out by Leapcraft
in collaboration with the Green Solution
House in Bornholm, Velux and GXN where the
indoor air quality has been continuously
measured and displayed live on
http://gsh.leapcraft.dk/.
Detailed findings of the project can be found
in Leapcraft’s report “Quantifying an Active
House”.
QUANTIFYING THE COMFORT LEVELS IN A BUILDING : SENSOR BASED MONITORING

14. QUANTIFYING THE COMFORT LEVELS IN A BUILDING : RESULTS
Overall, results tell us that the Green Solution
House building is performing reasonably well
with regards to the parameters measured
during the pilot period. Performance of the
building fit high standard compared to
building regulations.
In the examples on the right, we can see the
overall thermal comfort levels are quite well
managed across a few months indicating a
good basis for a comfort economy score.
Humidity levels are indicating a dry system
with high fluctuations. Generally, it can be
agreed that the building requires
humidification to bring it up to the category 1
building values. In most cases, the CO2 levels
are applicable to category 1 buildings. In some
cases the CO2 levels increase rapidly to above
800 PPM level relative to outdoor CO2
concentration, which in most cases can be
linked to high occupancy levels..

15. DAYLIGHT AS DRIVER FOR HEALTHY ENVIRONMENTS
The “Daylight and Well-being” booklet was
published as part of the Active House
Symposium held on September 2017 in
Green Solution House.
It explores how comfort in buildings can be
defined, integrated, monitored and improved
to the benefit of human well-being and
environmental sustainability.

16. DAYLIGHT AS DRIVER FOR HEALTHY ENVIRONMENTS
The two Active House radars visualise the
performance of the Green solution House,
before and after the renovation. The radar
clearly shows large improvements when
looking at sustainable performance.
Both Environmental and Energy criteria have
been significantly improved, but especially
Comfort shows an impressive Daylight level,
as well as ideal levels for Thermal
environment and Indoor air quality.

17. FROM THE ACTIVE HOUSE RADAR TO COMFORT ECONOMY

18. Adequate lighting and especially well-designed
daylight penetration provide an array of health
benefits to people in buildings. High levels of
daylight positively influence people’s mood and
well-being and helps to balance our 24-hour
circadian rhythm. If you get enough daylight, it
strengthens your ability to concentrate, you
sleep better, and you’re less likely to become
depressed.
Electric lighting during daytime should rarely be
necessary, which should make it possible to
reduce the overall energy consumption for
lighting.
KEY PARAMETERS QUANTIFIED IN THE COMFORT ECONOMY
Daylight
Exposure to high humidity levels is clinically
associated with respiratory disorders, allergies,
asthma and immunological reactions. Proper
ventilation controls humidity and prevents
condensation.
Well-designed, well-constructed, well-
maintained building envelopes are critical to the
prevention and control of excess moisture.
Suitable control of temperature and ventilation
should furthermore have a positive effect on a
buildings energy consumption.
Humidity
40%
Europeans are 40% more likely to have
asthma when they live in a damp or
mouldy home
X1.5
1.5 times as many Europeans report poor
health when living in a dark home

19. The temperature in a room has a big effect on
how we perceive the indoor air quality.
However, temperature control can be a
challenge in old and poorly constructed
buildings, which often is related to a high
degree of wasted energy.
Apart from having an impact on our health and
comfort, a poorly heated room can also affect
our productivity. Spending longer periods of
time in a over or under heated ambience can
compromise our cognitive performance.
KEY PARAMETERS QUANTIFIED IN THE COMFORT ECONOMY
Temperature
Elevated levels of carbon dioxide are often
found in rooms with high occupancy and
metabolic activity such as meeting rooms,
bedrooms, open office areas and children’s
rooms. At high levels, carbon dioxide can result
in drowsiness, headaches and fatigue.
Elevated levels of carbon dioxide indicate that
an insufficient amount of fresh air is being
introduced in the room. If a room is not properly
ventilated the carbon dioxide level will rise
together with the concentration of other
unhealthy contaminants.
CO2
50%
Europeans who live in cold homes are
50% more likely to suffer from nose and
throat infections
48%
48% of Europeans who never air out their
homes also do not feel energized

20. Cooking, burning of candles and fireplaces all
contribute to a rise in the amount of particles
suspended in the air. Small particles (less than
10 micrometers in diameter) can penetrate
into the respiratory system and the
bloodstream, posing a great risk to our health.
Scientific studies have linked particle pollution
exposure to e.g. nonfatal heart attacks,
aggravated asthma and increased respiratory
symptoms. People with heart or lung diseases
and children are the most likely to be affected
by particle pollution exposure.
KEY PARAMETERS QUANTIFIED IN THE COMFORT ECONOMY
Particles
Volatile organic compounds are found in many
of our household products e.g. paints, furniture,
aerosol sprays and clothing. The extent and
nature of the health effects caused by VOCs
depend a wide variety of factors including
toxicity, level of exposure and length of time
exposed.
Health effects include: eye, nose and throat
irritation, headaches, fatigue and damage to
liver, kidney and central nervous system.
VOCs

21. Noise, can lead to a lot of long term issues
varying from cardio-vascular diseases to other
psychological effects according to the WHO. In
addition, poor acoustics can actually impede
communication and clarity of speech. A good
indoor climate has good enough acoustics to
not only enhance communication but also
reduce noise where it shouldn’t be. Creating an
ideal working environment requires good
implementation of sound barriers and
absorbers, separating noisy activities and
growing plants to reduce the distractions
caused by noise
KEY PARAMETERS QUANTIFIED IN THE COMFORT ECONOMY
Noise
A flow of fresh air is important in order to
achieve a healthy and comfortable indoor
environment. However, it is crucial that air
velocities are closely monitored as draught can
have a negative effect on the perceived indoor
climate.
When people experience draught, it is caused
by unpleasant air movements with too low
temperature where local body cooling occurs. It
occurs as a result of ventilation, open or leaky
windows, and when, for example, cold windows
produce temperature differences in the room.
The experience of draught can over time result
in different muscular disorders.
Air flow

22. The Comfort
Economy Wheel

23. COMFORT ECONOMY WHEEL
This Comfort Economy Wheel
presents real-time data based
on the Active House Radar
scale ranging from 1-4. This
means that the model follows
the same principle, where the
larger the graph area - the
better the indoor comfort level.
Location of the building is
added to generate information
about summer/winter
conditions.
The same logic goes for total
area and building category, as
these have an effect on the
required standards to follow.
Location
Building
categoryTotal area
Center displays an
average level, which
is calculated based
on all measured
parameters and
displayed as a color
rather than a specific
value.
Real-time values are
displayed using the AHR
scale
Outer ring shows the four
principal categories
This visualisation displays mock data.

24. This Comfort Economy Wheel
presents real-time data based
on the Active House Radar
scale ranging from 1-4. This
means that the model follows
the same principle, where the
larger the graph area - the
better the indoor comfort level.
Location of the building is
added to generate information
about summer/winter
conditions.
The same logic goes for total
area and building category, as
these have an effect on the
required standards to follow.
COMFORT ECONOMY WHEEL
Location
Building
categoryTotal area
Center displays an
average level, which
is calculated based
on all measured
parameters and
displayed as a color
rather than a specific
value.
Real-time values are
displayed using the AHR
scale
Outer ring shows the four
principal categories
This visualisation displays mock data.

25. With help of time filtering it is
possible to display the real-
time data as a comparison to
weekly, monthly or yearly
averages.
This opens up for the
possibility to benchmark the
current comfort values to
historic levels.
Weekly averages are
shown as a subtle
underlying graph to
allow for comparison.
COMFORT ECONOMY WHEEL
Time filtering
This visualisation displays mock data.

26. An outer ring can be added to
display the development of
comfort economy over time.
In this example the graph
follows 12 months of the year.
Depending on needs it is also
possible to display the
changes in cost over a month
or a quarter.
This visualisation will give the
user the ability to see how
renovations and/or
interventions have affected
the energy demand of the
building.
Extra layer showing
how cost has evolved
over the past (e.g.)
year.
COMFORT ECONOMY WHEEL
This visualisation displays mock data.

27. Action plan

28. SENSOR BASED ACTION PLAN
Leapcraft is currently offering a “sensing as a
service kit” for measuring the comfort
economy of a building with minimal effort.
The basic kit consists of a 3 Ambinode sensor
units that can measure all the parameters of
the comfort wheel and parse the data
automatically via a cloud service. The
computations running in the cloud enables
instant view of the data via a web dashboard
or a smart phone app.
The solution is designed to be a plug’n’play
service with minimal setup complexity and
instant output.
More advanced reporting and tailor made
solutions are also available to address
bespoke needs or large projects.
Plug&Play devices
Web and mobile dashboards
Cloud

29. LEAPCRAFT MANIFESTO
Enable optimal temperature levels
adjusted according to seasons and
work loads
Make good use of natural light in
optimal combination with artificial
lighting to reduce energy footprint
and support natural biorhythms
Ensure good air quality with focus
on minimising PM and VOC
emissions to enable long term
health and improve productivity by
minimizing CO2 levels.
Pay due care to persistent noise
levels and enable adaptive
strategies on an ongoing basis
Enable transparency via timely and
simple data visualization
Engage people in active dialogue
about their indoor climate with
evidence
Design spaces with active
simulations and validate them with
continuous data
Support dynamic envelope that
allows buildings to evolve with
people and data.

30. CREDITS
The Comfort Economy Wheel has been elaborated as an investigation of the Active House Comfort
dimension, to reflect further aspects and indicators. The working group consists of: Leapcraft,
VELUX Group and the Active House Alliance.
The Comfort Economy Wheel has been developed in prolongation of the monitoring of Green
Solution House, a cooperation between 3XN/GXN, Leapcraft, GSH and the VELUX Group. The data
has been collected from a pilot project at the Green Solution House in collaboration with VELUX
Group and GXN.
Live Dashboard : http://gsh.leapcraft.dk
Whitepaper here –http:// labs.leapcraft.dk/gsh-report
Thank you for discussions and inspiration to the group behind the Indoor Climate Wheel
(Indeklimahjulet); The Indoor Climate Wheel was developed by the Consortium; Pluskontoret
Architects, Lendager Group, MOE engineers and Professor Torben Sigsgaard assigned by Realdania
By & Byg in the project Healthy Homes in Holstebro.

31. CONTACT
Vinay Venkatraman
CEO, Leapcraft
vv@leapcraft.dk
+45 2793 7963
www.leapcraft.dk