Have you ever stepped inside a house and felt a tightness in your chest or a foggy head? Maybe you shrugged it off as allergies or a bad day. But sometimes, it’s actually the home itself affecting how you feel.
Since the COVID pandemic, many people have become more aware of what goes into their bodies, from the food they eat to the air they breathe. Yet, few realise just how much your home environment impacts your overall wellbeing.
At the heart of a healthy home are simple things like fresh air, natural light, and materials that don’t harm your health. If you’re building or renovating, now is the perfect time to plan for a home that supports your health before the walls go up.
In this blog, we’ll explore the Five Pillars of a Healthy Home. This framework is inspired by Zara D’Cotta, founder of The Healthy Home, based on her own experience recovering from environmental illness and aligns with her training in Building Biology, which guides healthier choices in materials, design, and construction.
Building Biology is the study of how the built environment impacts human health. It covers things like indoor air quality, moisture, light, electromagnetic fields, water quality, and the materials used during construction. These ideas are shaping the way more professionals are approaching healthy home design and construction.
The Five Pillars of The Healthy Home
A healthy home isn’t about expensive tech or going fully off-grid.
It’s about creating a space that feels fresh, calm and comfortable, and supports your family’s health every single day.
You sleep in your home for about 8 hours a night. That’s a third of your life.
So it’s worth thinking about what you’re breathing, drinking, and surrounded by even if you’ve never thought of your home that way before.
So, what makes a home healthy?
Pillar 1. Clean Air
This is the biggest game-changer.
If a home traps moisture, has poor ventilation, or uses toxic materials, you’ll feel it, even if you can’t see it.
Headaches, blocked sinuses, poor sleep… these are all signs something’s not quite right.
Clean air starts with managing moisture well, to prevent mould, and allowing the house to “breathe”. That means a smart building design, proper ventilation, and building materials that don’t off-gas harmful chemicals and are vapour permeable. This means they let water vapour pass through them and not let moisture build up and get trapped inside your walls. This is the key element of moisture management and mould prevention.
Think of nature as the gold standard. It breathes, drains, and supports your body. That’s what your home should aim to copy.
Pillar 2. Clean Water
Most people drink straight from the tap, and while it’s safe, it can still carry chlorine, heavy metals and sediments.
You don’t need anything fancy; even a basic whole-house filter can make a big difference.
It’s one of the easiest changes to make, and your body (and taste buds) will thank you for it.
Pillar 3. Natural Light
How do you feel in a dark room? Now compare that to sitting in warm, natural sunlight.
Light affects your mood, clarity and even how well you sleep.
But windows and skylights need to be designed early because once the framing is up, your options are limited.
If you want a light-filled home, speak up early in the design process.
Pillar 4. Low EMF (Electromagnetic Frequencies)
This one can feel a bit “tinfoil hat” for some people, but there’s growing evidence that low-level EMFs can affect sleep quality and mental clarity.
A healthy home isn’t about cutting Wi-Fi entirely. It’s about smart choices like:
• Avoid putting your bed against the wall behind the meter box
• Turning Wi-Fi off at night or hardwiring all your internet points
• Using shielded cabling as it supports clarity, better sleep, and long-term wellbeing for anyone wanting to reduce electropollution in their home.
These simple steps can reduce your EMF exposure and support better rest and focus.
Pillar 5. Low-Tox Materials
Many paints, floorboards, glues, and other building materials can off-gas harmful chemicals (called VOCs) for months after installation.
The good news is you can still achieve the look you want while choosing healthier options. Low-tox or semi-VOC paints come in your favourite colours, healthier flooring looks just as beautiful, and formaldehyde-free building materials are widely available. It’s not about going extreme; it’s about being thoughtful about what you bring into your home.
The Most Overlooked Step Happens Before Design
Most people think about health and comfort after the plans are drawn, when they’re picking their tapware or flooring.
But by then… a lot of the important stuff is locked in.
The truth is, the biggest impact on your home’s health happens early on. Sometimes even before you buy your block.
A good builder will ask questions like: Do you have allergies? How well do you sleep? Do you ever feel stuffy or uncomfortable in your current home? These aren’t just polite questions; they’re a window into how your new home should be built, from the inside out.
When you answer honestly, the builder can shape the design around what your body actually needs, whether it is a better airflow, healthier material choices, or insulation where it counts.
Waiting until selections to think about these things often means it’s too late to make real changes.
And it’s not only what’s inside that matters.
Choosing the right block plays a huge role. At ZJ Building, we’re starting to explore how things like drainage, EMFs, and site history can influence wellbeing, early conversations that can shape better outcomes. Was the land once farmland? A former waste site? These details influence not just your budget, but your long-term wellbeing.
These site and design considerations are informed by the 25 Principles of Building Biology, originally developed by the Institut für Baubiologie + Nachhaltigkeit (IBN), Germany.
The earlier you start this conversation, the better the outcome will be.
Why We Use ProClima Building Wraps
Now, let’s talk about something you don’t usually see but plays a big role in your home’s long-term health: the building wrap, the protective layer behind your walls.
Most builders already use a water-resistant barrier (WRB), but the standard has changed. At ZJ Building, we now use Solitex Extasana by Pro Clima, a high-performance German-made membrane. It keeps your home dry during construction while letting water vapour pass through, so your home can manage moisture naturally over its lifespan.
Here’s why we love it:
- It’s vapour-permeable, which means water vapour can escape through the walls but rain can’t get in.
- It protects the timber frame from moisture during and after the build
- It reduces the risk of mould by allowing trapped moisture to escape and,
- It supports the health of your home and yours too, while reducing our risk as the builder for any potential water leaks or issues.
Think of it like giving your home a high-quality jacket, one that keeps you dry but still lets your moisture escape.
Without it, even the best finishes on the inside won’t matter if mould is growing behind the walls.
Can You Build Healthy and Energy Efficient at the Same Time?
Yes, you can if you start with the right approach.
A healthy home often ends up being energy efficient because the same things that protect your health, such as moisture control, airtight construction, and good insulation, also reduce the need for heating and cooling.
But the reverse isn’t always true.
You can have an energy-efficient home that isn’t healthy if it’s sealed tight without proper ventilation. When stale air and moisture get trapped inside, mould will grow, and the air you breathe can make you sick!
Here’s the key difference between a healthy home and an energy-efficient home:
- Air quality is what matters for health, but it’s not part of energy efficiency.
An energy-efficient home is built to be very tightly sealed. This helps keep the temperature steady inside by stopping warm or cool air from escaping. But the downside is that fresh air can’t get in easily, and the indoor air can become stale. This means the home can’t “breathe,” which can cause problems like mould and poor air quality.
A healthy home understands this and focuses on the quality of the air you breathe, not just how tightly sealed the house is. To keep air fresh and healthy, it’s important to have a controlled ventilation system that brings in fresh air and removes stale air.
- Managing moisture (or vapour) is essential for a healthy home, but isn’t measurable in energy efficiency.
For an energy-efficient home, the focus is on sealing the house tightly to stop air leaks and keep energy use low. Moisture management isn’t usually part of how energy efficiency is measured.
In a healthy home, managing moisture is very important. Special vapour-permeable membranes are used. These membranes stop rain or water from getting inside the walls but let moisture from inside the home escape safely. This helps keep the structure dry, prevents mould, and keeps the home healthy without letting in uncontrolled air leaks.
Think of your home like your third skin.
If you wrapped yourself in Gladwrap and went for a run, you’d sweat, overheat, and feel awful.
Wear a high-performance jacket that’s both protective and breathable, and you'll stay dry and comfortable.
A healthy home works the same way.
It’s airtight, insulated, and protected from water, but moisture can escape safely, and fresh air comes in the right way. This makes the home stable, comfortable, and energy-efficient without sacrificing your health.
So while a healthy home and an energy-efficient home are different goals, they work best when they’re designed together. It’s not about doing more, it’s about doing it in the right order.
What Does This Mean for Your Build?
You don’t need to know every technical detail, and you don’t have to figure this all out yourself.
But you do need to bring it up early.
Let your builder know you care about natural light, clean air, and healthier materials. The sooner it’s discussed, the easier (and more cost-effective) it is to get right.
At ZJ Building, we’ve helped families across Adelaide reimagine their homes not just to look beautiful, but to feel better.
We focus on structure first, because that’s what supports everything else.
If you’re thinking about building or renovating, and want to explore how to make your future home, a healthy one…
Start the conversation with us today.
Book your consultation here we’re happy to guide you through what matters, at your pace.
Let’s build a home that feels as good as it looks.
