Collaborative Research: Workshop on "Health in Buildings for Today and Tomorrow"

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

1745941 (Phelan)/1746081 (Hu). This workshop will address the science and engineering research questions motivated by designing and operating buildings for both energy efficiency as well as for the health of the occupants. A diversity of researchers from both the buildings and the public health R&D communities will be brought together to determine optimal approaches for integrating health and energy efficiency to promote the development of new human-centered design paradigms and building technologies. Other participating federal agencies include the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the US Department of Energy (DOE). The industry partners include the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The workshop will leverage a two-year DOE project that created a vision for buildings in 100 years, and the ongoing "Health in Buildings Roundtable" organized by NIH and CDC. The workshop will be hosted by NIH at the Natcher Conference Center in Bethesda, MD, in July, 2018. The U.S. population spends perhaps 87% of their time inside buildings, and consequently it is reasonable to assume that building environments have a correspondingly large impact on occupant health. At the same time, the construction and operation of buildings has a large environmental impact: globally, buildings are responsible for approximately one third of primary energy consumption, and one third of greenhouse gas emissions. In the USA, building energy costs in 2016 were ~$408B annually, while annual healthcare costs were ~$3.2T in 2015. Additionally, potential worker productivity gains from improved indoor environments have been estimated at up to ~$230B (in 2016 dollars). Clearly, improving building sustainability while at the same time improving health outcomes would have significant economic impacts. Furthermore, by bringing together researchers from the typically separate fields of sustainable buildings and public health, the organizers are targeting to influence the education of future researchers by broadening their perspectives to consider these diverse but interrelated fields.