Quality of housing in relation with human health. I: Building characteristics of the houses in the Marchesian region

In view of the fact that a considerable proportion of the population particularly at risk (the aged, children, the sick, etc.) spend many hours of the day indoors, the authors report the results of an investigation carried out on the building characteristics of 1833 houses sampled in four towns in the Marches region. The questionnaire of Fusillo et al. was used. The results show an excellent situation with regard both to the quality of outdoor air and acoustic pollution (only 27% of the sample complained of the vicinity of their house to zones of intense traffic). The low index of overcrowding (0.7 inhabitants per room) as well as the overall surface area of the houses (in 60% more than 100 m2), the large number of bathrooms (almost 50% of the houses with two, and another 15% with three or more), and the prevalence of detached houses are factors that show how the Marchean population pay particular attention to building criteria. However, even though from the structural standpoint the housing situation might seem a very good one, specific problems can be found, also common to other Italian regions, regarding building techniques and the materials adopted (e.g. the use of reinforced concrete, which together with the undoubted advantages it offers also has a number of disadvantages). The authors therefore stress the need for incentivating a bioecologically based building tradition, even if this is economically more costly, and give guidelines on how to conciliate the bioecological and economic aspects with regard to choice and use of materials. Finally, they express the hope that the "EC" symbol foreseen for building materials by Law No. 246 of 21 April 1993 will be adequately used in the ways laid down in appendix A to that law.