Standard of Building Biology Testing Methods SBM-2024

Section B covers formaldehyde and other toxic gases, solvents and other volatile organic compounds, particles and fibres, and indoor climate including carbon dioxide, humidity and air exchange rate, each with numeric anomaly bands. Section C covers moulds and their spores and metabolites, yeasts, bacteria and dust mites. The formaldehyde band is quoted here. The document contains no criterion on filter grade or on fresh air supply rate: it measures the resulting air rather than specifying the system that delivers it, and combustion appears as a source of measured gases rather than as an appliance restriction.

Formaldehyde in microgram per cubic meter µg/m³ < 20 20 - 50 50 - 100 > 100

Water testing is named as part of the Standard, in the closing paragraph quoted here, but no guideline values, contaminant panel or laboratory accreditation are published for it, and the Evaluation Guidelines contain no water standard point. The document contains no criterion on water source or treatment train, no filtration specification at building or room level, and no criterion on pool or spa water chemistry.

As part of the Building Biology Standard, additional measurements, analyses, inspections, consultations and assessments are carried out: e.g. tap and drinking water tests for pollutants, microbial contamination and others

Standard Point A9 Light requires measurement of light spectrum and spectral distribution, light flicker, illumination level, colour rendering index, colour temperature, associated electromagnetic fields and ultrasound. The Evaluation Guidelines entry quoted here sets darkness in sleeping areas, evening spectral quality, colour rendering and flicker, and the Testing Conditions add illumination of about 100 to 100,000 lux by day, 10 to 100 lux in the evening and under 1 lux at night, with colour temperature of about 4000 to 6000 K by day and 1500 to 3000 K in the evening, and flicker banded from under 2 percent as no anomaly. This is the only standard in the matrix that sets colour temperature by time of day and requires darkness in sleeping areas. The document contains no criterion on daylight access or glazing and none on exterior light pollution.

With regard to artificial lighting, sleeping areas should be as dark as possible (ideally 0 lx). Especially 2-3 hours prior to sleep, the light quality should be as similar to natural daylight in the evening as possible.

This is the only standard in the matrix whose published criteria address radiofrequency and electromagnetic exposure at all, and it addresses the pathway comprehensively. Standard Points A1 to A5 cover low frequency AC electric fields (with body voltage), low frequency AC magnetic fields, radio frequency radiation (quoted here), static electric fields and static magnetic fields, each with numeric anomaly bands for sleeping areas. The radio frequency entry names GSM, UMTS, LTE, 5G, TETRA, WLAN, DECT and Bluetooth as sources and requires identification of dominant frequencies and signal characteristics. The Testing Conditions specify the instrumentation and the measurement procedure. The document does not address wired versus wireless topology or whether wireless can be switched off on request as a policy question, because it measures the resulting field rather than prescribing the installation.

Power density in microwatt per square meter µW/m² < 0.1 0.1 - 10 10 - 1000 > 1000. Values apply to single RF sources, e.g. GSM/2G, UMTS/3G, LTE/4G, 5G, TETRA, Radio, TV, WLAN, DECT, Bluetooth..., and refer to peak measurements.

Standard Point B3 sets numeric anomaly bands for semivolatile organic compounds measured in air, dust, wood and material, including a dedicated band for material with skin contact and separate bands for chlorinated and halogen free fire retardants and for plasticizers, as quoted here. B2 bands total volatile organic compounds in indoor air, B1 formaldehyde, and B4 covers heavy metals. The document measures what materials emit and what settles in dust rather than specifying products, so it contains no criterion on mattress construction as such, no linen fibre or textile certification requirement, and no cleaning product list.

Pesticides Air ng/m³ ... Material with skin contact mg/kg ... Fire Retardants Chlorinated Dust mg/kg, Halogen-free Dust mg/kg, Plasticizers Dust mg/kg

The SBM-2024 Standard, Evaluation Guidelines, Testing Conditions and Guiding Principles contain no criterion addressing food sourcing verification, supplier transparency, on site growing, cookware, cooking oil policy, water used in the kitchen or for ice, or allergen, additive and seed oil discipline. Food storage and kitchen appliances appear only as named sources of yeasts and bacteria under Standard Points C2 and C3.

The SBM-2024 Standard, Evaluation Guidelines, Testing Conditions and Guiding Principles contain no criterion addressing direct nature access from rooms, views, outlook or prospect, spatial volume or ceiling height, natural material and pattern contact as a design strategy, or publication of design intent. The Guiding Principles state that "In indoor spaces, conditions should resemble those of the surrounding, largely unpolluted natural environment", but that is a statement about exposure levels rather than about nature contact. Building biology's 25 Principles, published separately by IBN, are a different document and were not read for this record.

Standard Point A8 requires measurement of noise, audible sound, infrasound and ultrasound in decibels together with oscillations and vibrations, and the Evaluation Guidelines set banded dB(A), dB(C) and dB(Z) sound levels as quoted here, applied to equivalent continuous levels. The same entry requires that in the low frequency range below about 150 Hz there should be no predominant individual frequencies or frequency bands on a continuous basis. That makes this the only standard in the matrix that addresses infrasound and low frequency content directly. The document contains no criterion on acoustic separation between adjoining rooms and no criterion on scent or fragrance load, though identification of odors is required under Standard Point B6 Indoor Climate.

Sound level dB(A) < 25, 25 - 35, 35 - 45, > 45. dB(C) < 32, 32 - 42, 42 - 52, > 52. dB(Z) < 35, 35 - 45, 45 - 55, > 55. Values apply to equivalent continuous sound levels (Leq).