The links between buildings and health have long been known. The potential for the built environment to support health and wellbeing was, for example, tackled in the 19th century by various government initiatives or enlightened benefactors, and also explored by early 1900s pioneers, including Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and Ebenezer Howard. Indeed, the combination of regulation and policies to tackle unsanitary conditions in buildings, along with advances in medicine, has helped address some of the health issues associated with sub-standard buildings. However, many countries now face new public health challenges including those arising from ageing populations and chronic diseases, some of which can be exacerbated by environmental factors – thus a renewed interest in housing and health.¹ At the same time, environmental issues, such as air pollution and climatic changes, also pose a new health threat. This can be at least in part mitigated by buildings, although the opposite can be true. Indeed, climate change mitigation strategies such as energy efficiency can have unintended consequences such as the potential to deteriorate indoor air quality, if not properly implemented.² Regulation, building products, design solutions and academic evidence are now focusing on tackling these new public health and environmental challenges.

中文翻译：

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指标和数据是否是交付“健康建筑”的答案？

建筑物与健康之间的联系早已为人所知。例如，在19世纪，各种政府举措或开明的恩人解决了建筑环境支持健康和福祉的潜力，并在1900年代早期的先驱者（包括勒·柯布西耶，弗兰克·劳埃德·赖特和埃比尼泽·霍华德）中进行了探索。确实，解决建筑物不卫生状况的法规和政策的结合以及医学的进步，已经帮助解决了与不合格建筑物相关的一些健康问题。但是，许多国家现在面临着新的公共卫生挑战，包括人口老龄化和慢性疾病带来的挑战，其中一些挑战可能会因环境因素而加剧，因此人们对住房和健康重新产生了兴趣。^1个同时，诸如空气污染和气候变化等环境问题也构成了新的健康威胁。建筑物至少可以部分缓解这种情况，尽管情况相反。的确，如果未正确实施，诸如能源效率之类的气候变化缓解策略可能会产生意想不到的后果，例如可能使室内空气质量恶化。²法规，建筑产品，设计解决方案和学术证据现在集中于应对这些新的公共卫生和环境挑战。