Mandating indoor air quality for public buildings: If some countries lead by example, standards may increasingly become normalized

Lidia Morawska; Joseph Allen; William P. Bahnfleth; Belinda Bennett; Philomena M. Bluyssen; A.C. Boerstra; Giorgio Buonanno; Junji Cao; Stephanie Dancer; Andres Floto; F. Franchimon; Trish Greenhalgh; Charles Haworth; J. Hogeling; Christina Isaxon; Jose L. Jimenez; Amanda Kennedy; Prashant Kumar; Jarek Kurnitski; Yuguo Li; Marcel G.L.C. Loomans; Guy Marks; Linsey C. Marr; Livio Mazzarella; Arsen Melikov; Shelly Miller; Donald K. Milton; Jason Monty; Peter Nielsen; Catherine Noakes; Jordan Peccia; Kim Prather; Xavier Querol; Tunga Salthammer; Chandra Sekhar; O. Seppänen; Shin-ichi Tanabe; Julian W. Tang; Raymond Tellier; Kwok Wai Tham; Pawel Wargocki; Aneta Wierzbicka; Maosheng Yao

doi:10.1126/science.adl0677

Mandating indoor air quality for public buildings: If some countries lead by example, standards may increasingly become normalized

Lidia Morawska (Corresponding author), Joseph Allen, William P. Bahnfleth, Belinda Bennett, Philomena M. Bluyssen, A.C. Boerstra, Giorgio Buonanno, Junji Cao, Stephanie Dancer, Andres Floto, F. Franchimon, Trish Greenhalgh, Charles Haworth, J. Hogeling, Christina Isaxon, Jose L. Jimenez, Amanda Kennedy, Prashant Kumar, Jarek Kurnitski, Yuguo LiMarcel G.L.C. Loomans, Guy Marks, Linsey C. Marr, Livio Mazzarella, Arsen Melikov, Shelly Miller, Donald K. Milton, Jason Monty, Peter Nielsen, Catherine Noakes, Jordan Peccia, Kim Prather, Xavier Querol, Tunga Salthammer, Chandra Sekhar, O. Seppänen, Shin-ichi Tanabe, Julian W. Tang, Raymond Tellier, Kwok Wai Tham, Pawel Wargocki, Aneta Wierzbicka, Maosheng Yao

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Abstract

People living in urban and industrialized societies, which are expanding globally, spend more than 90% of their time in the indoor environment, breathing indoor air (IA). Despite decades of research and advocacy, most countries do not have legislated indoor air quality (IAQ) performance standards for public spaces that address concentration levels of IA pollutants. Few building codes address operation, maintenance, and retrofitting, and most do not focus on airborne disease transmission. But the COVID-19 pandemic has made all levels of society, from community members to decision-makers, realize the importance of IAQ for human health, well-being, productivity, and learning. We propose that IAQ standards be mandatory for public spaces. Although enforcement of IAQ performance standards in homes is not possible, homes must be designed and equipped so that they could meet the standards.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1418-1420
Number of pages	3
Journal	Science
Volume	383
Issue number	6690
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adl0677
Publication status	Published - 28 Mar 2024

Keywords

indoor air quality
building code
health
standard

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1126/science.adl0677

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Morawska, L., Allen, J., Bahnfleth, W. P., Bennett, B., Bluyssen, P. M., Boerstra, A. C., Buonanno, G., Cao, J., Dancer, S., Floto, A., Franchimon, F., Greenhalgh, T., Haworth, C., Hogeling, J., Isaxon, C., Jimenez, J. L., Kennedy, A., Kumar, P., Kurnitski, J., ... Yao, M. (2024). Mandating indoor air quality for public buildings: If some countries lead by example, standards may increasingly become normalized. Science, 383(6690), 1418-1420. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adl0677

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title = "Mandating indoor air quality for public buildings: If some countries lead by example, standards may increasingly become normalized",

abstract = "People living in urban and industrialized societies, which are expanding globally, spend more than 90% of their time in the indoor environment, breathing indoor air (IA). Despite decades of research and advocacy, most countries do not have legislated indoor air quality (IAQ) performance standards for public spaces that address concentration levels of IA pollutants. Few building codes address operation, maintenance, and retrofitting, and most do not focus on airborne disease transmission. But the COVID-19 pandemic has made all levels of society, from community members to decision-makers, realize the importance of IAQ for human health, well-being, productivity, and learning. We propose that IAQ standards be mandatory for public spaces. Although enforcement of IAQ performance standards in homes is not possible, homes must be designed and equipped so that they could meet the standards.",

keywords = "indoor air quality, building code, health, standard",

author = "Lidia Morawska and Joseph Allen and Bahnfleth, {William P.} and Belinda Bennett and Bluyssen, {Philomena M.} and A.C. Boerstra and Giorgio Buonanno and Junji Cao and Stephanie Dancer and Andres Floto and F. Franchimon and Trish Greenhalgh and Charles Haworth and J. Hogeling and Christina Isaxon and Jimenez, {Jose L.} and Amanda Kennedy and Prashant Kumar and Jarek Kurnitski and Yuguo Li and Loomans, {Marcel G.L.C.} and Guy Marks and Marr, {Linsey C.} and Livio Mazzarella and Arsen Melikov and Shelly Miller and Milton, {Donald K.} and Jason Monty and Peter Nielsen and Catherine Noakes and Jordan Peccia and Kim Prather and Xavier Querol and Tunga Salthammer and Chandra Sekhar and O. Sepp{\"a}nen and Shin-ichi Tanabe and Tang, {Julian W.} and Raymond Tellier and Tham, {Kwok Wai} and Pawel Wargocki and Aneta Wierzbicka and Maosheng Yao",

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doi = "10.1126/science.adl0677",

language = "English",

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Morawska, L, Allen, J, Bahnfleth, WP, Bennett, B, Bluyssen, PM, Boerstra, AC, Buonanno, G, Cao, J, Dancer, S, Floto, A, Franchimon, F, Greenhalgh, T, Haworth, C, Hogeling, J, Isaxon, C, Jimenez, JL, Kennedy, A, Kumar, P, Kurnitski, J, Li, Y, Loomans, MGLC, Marks, G, Marr, LC, Mazzarella, L, Melikov, A, Miller, S, Milton, DK, Monty, J, Nielsen, P, Noakes, C, Peccia, J, Prather, K, Querol, X, Salthammer, T, Sekhar, C, Seppänen, O, Tanabe, S, Tang, JW, Tellier, R, Tham, KW, Wargocki, P, Wierzbicka, A & Yao, M 2024, 'Mandating indoor air quality for public buildings: If some countries lead by example, standards may increasingly become normalized', Science, vol. 383, no. 6690, pp. 1418-1420. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adl0677

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mandating indoor air quality for public buildings

T2 - If some countries lead by example, standards may increasingly become normalized

AU - Morawska, Lidia

AU - Allen, Joseph

AU - Bahnfleth, William P.

AU - Bennett, Belinda

AU - Bluyssen, Philomena M.

AU - Boerstra, A.C.

AU - Buonanno, Giorgio

AU - Cao, Junji

AU - Dancer, Stephanie

AU - Floto, Andres

AU - Franchimon, F.

AU - Greenhalgh, Trish

AU - Haworth, Charles

AU - Hogeling, J.

AU - Isaxon, Christina

AU - Jimenez, Jose L.

AU - Kennedy, Amanda

AU - Kumar, Prashant

AU - Kurnitski, Jarek

AU - Li, Yuguo

AU - Loomans, Marcel G.L.C.

AU - Marks, Guy

AU - Marr, Linsey C.

AU - Mazzarella, Livio

AU - Melikov, Arsen

AU - Miller, Shelly

AU - Milton, Donald K.

AU - Monty, Jason

AU - Nielsen, Peter

AU - Noakes, Catherine

AU - Peccia, Jordan

AU - Prather, Kim

AU - Querol, Xavier

AU - Salthammer, Tunga

AU - Sekhar, Chandra

AU - Seppänen, O.

AU - Tanabe, Shin-ichi

AU - Tang, Julian W.

AU - Tellier, Raymond

AU - Tham, Kwok Wai

AU - Wargocki, Pawel

AU - Wierzbicka, Aneta

AU - Yao, Maosheng

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N2 - People living in urban and industrialized societies, which are expanding globally, spend more than 90% of their time in the indoor environment, breathing indoor air (IA). Despite decades of research and advocacy, most countries do not have legislated indoor air quality (IAQ) performance standards for public spaces that address concentration levels of IA pollutants. Few building codes address operation, maintenance, and retrofitting, and most do not focus on airborne disease transmission. But the COVID-19 pandemic has made all levels of society, from community members to decision-makers, realize the importance of IAQ for human health, well-being, productivity, and learning. We propose that IAQ standards be mandatory for public spaces. Although enforcement of IAQ performance standards in homes is not possible, homes must be designed and equipped so that they could meet the standards.

AB - People living in urban and industrialized societies, which are expanding globally, spend more than 90% of their time in the indoor environment, breathing indoor air (IA). Despite decades of research and advocacy, most countries do not have legislated indoor air quality (IAQ) performance standards for public spaces that address concentration levels of IA pollutants. Few building codes address operation, maintenance, and retrofitting, and most do not focus on airborne disease transmission. But the COVID-19 pandemic has made all levels of society, from community members to decision-makers, realize the importance of IAQ for human health, well-being, productivity, and learning. We propose that IAQ standards be mandatory for public spaces. Although enforcement of IAQ performance standards in homes is not possible, homes must be designed and equipped so that they could meet the standards.

KW - indoor air quality

KW - building code

KW - health

KW - standard

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U2 - 10.1126/science.adl0677

DO - 10.1126/science.adl0677

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C2 - 38547291

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 383

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EP - 1420

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6690

ER -

Mandating indoor air quality for public buildings: If some countries lead by example, standards may increasingly become normalized

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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