Imagine being sick of the building you live or work in. Then you would want to have a big say in the improvement of your indoor climate. When you are the owner and user of the property or home, then you intervene immediately of course. Like I did recently when I found out I woke up still tired, because I was being electrified in my own bed. More about that in a earlier blog. Suppliers that exclusively focus on YOUR interests, are the most interesting to you. To them I explained this earlier in a blog on “Duurzaam Verlicht”.
But when you are a tenant, you are dependent on the owner. This makes matters both complicated and illogical, both for you as a user and for the owner of the property. I want you to master your own indoor climate even when you rent your home.
Let me explain how we can achieve that.
My partner and I have long been waking up sneezing and not well rested. Getting through the day became tough. Inside my network, I met a building biologist and asked him the following: Could our indoor climate be the cause of us waking up still tired and clogged up? The building biologist came, looked, measured and surprised us with the results. Our bed was under a constant electrical charge of 3 volts. Adding an extra 1.5 volts whenever our feet touched the radiator at the end of our bed. Literally shocking news. We were being electrified during the night. The electromagnetic field created by our home electrical installation charged our metal Auping bedsprings and radiator. Our bodies were used as voltage conductors to discharge the power. Trust me, this stops you from resting well!
Measuring radiation is not easy!
Looking for a solution, I ran into all sorts of questions that no one really knew the answers to. Of course I already knew that radiation can affect your health, but I thought to be safe in my own home. The installer did not know where the charge came from, and measured no strange anomalies. The utility company recently replaced the copper gas lines in our street with plastic pipes and installed smart energy meters, but told the residents nothing about a possible risk of radiation. We arranged to have new earth switches installed and connected to a grounding pin put into the earth for proper grounding of our home.
Until recently our Amsterdam house from the twenties was grounded via the gas pipes, not OK according to the standards but quite common. No one thinks about or has the proper equipment for measuring radiation (except the building biologist). And there really are no proper standards, I discovered, at least not in the Netherlands. While radiation really has a significant impact on your health. What I also learned is that sensitivity to radiation is very personal. One person notices nothing and another gets really sick under the same circumstances. Like my partner and me. Fortunately as property owners and residents we are free to intervene in our own indoor climate. So we did. We now no longer get charged in bed and we sleep a lot better for it.
Who is responsible for your health?
What happens when you are the tenant and resident but not the owner? With us it was the electrical installation that created the problems. Under current laws and regulations, this installation is part of the building and hence the property and responsibility of the owner or landlord of the property. Can you make claims on your landlord about a responsibility for your health? There is no record anywhere that says he is responsible in this way and prove beforehand the connection to the consequences, so why would he make expenses? And for what exactly and to whom?
For researching radiation or other issues that might affect your health where the next occupant has no problems? And if the installation is properly installed by the electrician what more can we expect from an owner? He will certainly have met with all minimum legal requirements. We must broaden the question here: how logical is it that the indoor climate, determined in a major way by radiation, is automatically owned by the landlord / owner and that you, as a user, are not and can not be the owner? That is totally illogical! The landlord now saddles you with standards devised by him that do not take into account your personal needs and desires. Adjustments are rarely ever profitable for a landlord. And that’s his interest, an investment that generates money. While you want to live, work and enjoy leisure comfortably on your own terms. A world of difference and a huge source of conflict.
Standards? There are none!
Under current rules the indoor climate in principle is the responsibility of the landlord. Who must meet the minimum standards. But what are the standards for radiation….? There are none! At least not in the Netherlands. In Germany, there are indeed standards but they are not a legal requirement in the Netherlands. This applies to more items to do with our indoor climate. For example, Finland has had rules restricting volatile substances in building materials used in our interior for many years. But in the rest of Europe, this still leaves a lot to be desired.
New owner of the indoor climate
So it is time for a law on the indoor climate that establishes minimum values with additional ambitions to further improve the indoor climate. This law is also clear about who owns the fit-out and who therefore has to ensure that the indoor environment is healthy. According to current property laws that automatically is the owner who is registered at the Land Registry. What if I you are not the owner or landlord, but the user of the property? For you, I want to create the possibility for full authority of and responsibility for your indoor climate. How do we achieve that?
Separation of base building and fit-out
We have to agree on new responsibilities. Make the owner solely responsible for the base building. That is the foundation, the skeleton, the roof, the facade and a good connection to utilities. These parts withstand time and are therefore interesting investments. You as a user get the authority and responsibility for your own fit-out and with that for your indoor climate. So you can control your own health. And that is very pleasant when you discover you are being electrified in your own bed. You want to act on that right away.
Take the next step and share your experiences
Do you want to take a next step? Come to the FREE* Masterclass. We will work with practical tools to instantly implement the actions of my ebook in your organizational, fiscal or financial projects and organization.
Join the conversation
Do you know how to build that new way and what you need? What opportunities do you see in your work to change this? Share it in the comments below.
To your health and wellbeing,
Remko Zuidema
[remko_author]
This post is also available in: Nederlands
