Breathing City: Future Urban Ventilation Network
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Civil Engineering
Abstract
Poor air quality is widely recognised to affect human health and wellbeing. Cumulative exposure to pollutants throughout the life course is a determinant for numerous long term health conditions including dementia, heart disease and diabetes, Short term high exposures are shown to exacerbate conditions such as asthma and COPD, increase risks of heart attacks and stroke and influence respiratory infections. The very young, very old and those with pre-existing conditions are most at risk and inequality further increases this; the poorest in society often live in the lowest quality housing in the most polluted areas. Human exposure to air pollutants occurs in both indoor and outdoor environments. Urban air pollution results from a combination of local outdoor sources (e.g. transport, combustion, industry) and regional and large scale atmospheric transport of pollutants. We spend up to 90% of our time indoors and indoor air quality is therefore a significant part of human exposure. Indoor air quality is influenced by the climate, weather and air quality in the external environment in addition to local indoor sources (e.g. microorganisms, chemicals cleaning and personal care, cooking, industry processes, emissions from building materials, heating and mechanical systems) and the building design and operation.
In all cases it is the airflows within and between indoor and outdoor locations that enables the transport of pollutants and ultimately determines human exposures. Understanding airflows is therefore at the heart developing effective mitigating actions, particularly in cases where there is limited ability to remove a pollutant source. Being able to predict the influence of airflows enables understanding of how pollutants are likely to move within and between buildings in a city, both under normal day-to-day conditions and in response to emergencies such as heatwaves or wildfires. With the right computational and measurement tools it is then possible to change the design or management of city neighbourhoods enabling better urban flows to reduce exposure to pollutants and also to innovate new ventilation solutions to control the indoor environment in buildings. While there are a number of approaches that already enable assessment of urban flows and indoor flows, these aspects are not currently considered together in an integrated way or focused on optimising environments for health.
The Future Urban Ventilation Network (FUVN) aims to address this by defining a new holistic methodology - the Breathing City. This will define a new integrated assessment approach that considers coupled indoor-outdoor flows together to minimise exposure for people within a neighbourhood who are most at risk from the effects of poor air quality. The network will bring together people from a range of disciplines and areas of application with a common interest in improving urban and indoor airflows to improve health. Through small scale research and workshop activities we will advance the understanding of the fluid dynamics that determines the physics of this indoor-outdoor exchange. The network will develop a research programme to address technical gaps in modelling and measuring pollutant transport and how we can use this to determine long and short term exposures to a range of pollutants. We will work collaboratively with industry, policy makers and the public to understand how this approach could change city planning, building design guidance and community actions to enable health based future urban ventilation design and to "design out" health risks for people who are most vulnerable.
In all cases it is the airflows within and between indoor and outdoor locations that enables the transport of pollutants and ultimately determines human exposures. Understanding airflows is therefore at the heart developing effective mitigating actions, particularly in cases where there is limited ability to remove a pollutant source. Being able to predict the influence of airflows enables understanding of how pollutants are likely to move within and between buildings in a city, both under normal day-to-day conditions and in response to emergencies such as heatwaves or wildfires. With the right computational and measurement tools it is then possible to change the design or management of city neighbourhoods enabling better urban flows to reduce exposure to pollutants and also to innovate new ventilation solutions to control the indoor environment in buildings. While there are a number of approaches that already enable assessment of urban flows and indoor flows, these aspects are not currently considered together in an integrated way or focused on optimising environments for health.
The Future Urban Ventilation Network (FUVN) aims to address this by defining a new holistic methodology - the Breathing City. This will define a new integrated assessment approach that considers coupled indoor-outdoor flows together to minimise exposure for people within a neighbourhood who are most at risk from the effects of poor air quality. The network will bring together people from a range of disciplines and areas of application with a common interest in improving urban and indoor airflows to improve health. Through small scale research and workshop activities we will advance the understanding of the fluid dynamics that determines the physics of this indoor-outdoor exchange. The network will develop a research programme to address technical gaps in modelling and measuring pollutant transport and how we can use this to determine long and short term exposures to a range of pollutants. We will work collaboratively with industry, policy makers and the public to understand how this approach could change city planning, building design guidance and community actions to enable health based future urban ventilation design and to "design out" health risks for people who are most vulnerable.
Planned Impact
The FUVN network is expected to benefit multiple people and organisations both during the funding and through subsequent research and networking activities. Network members and their organisations will be the initial beneficiaries with impacts on industry, public sector and academic research and policy makers through the network events and small scale research activities. These impacts are likely to range from knowledge exchange and improved understanding through to direct influences on strategy and innovation in organisations through the outcomes from workshops and small scale research activities. Beyond the duration of funding we expect that the network will act as an enabler for larger scale research and innovation projects linking members in academia with industry and public sector partners. The range of organisations who may benefit ranges from SMEs to large multinational companies and includes public health and NHS bodies, architecture, urban design and city planning, building design and construction, organisations developing sensors and smart technologies, the ventilation industry, organisations who maintain and manage buildings, and professional and policy facing bodies who are responsible for guidance, standards and regulation. Beneficiaries also include the researchers within the network, particularly early career researchers and PhD students.
The network is expected to influence aspects of air quality explored by other networks funded through the same grant call as well as projects across the UKRI Clean Air Programme. The FUVN network focuses on enabling approaches which could have substantial benefit to assessment of sensor data, chemistry, fate of specific pollutants, exposure and health risks, as well as to facilitate assessment of specific environments. Likewise the knowledge generated through these other networks and projects will benefit the FUVN Breathing City approach. By working closely with the other networks and Clean Air Champions we will identify opportunities for collaboration and co-benefits. The FUVN approach aligns to the Clean Air Framework development and could directly support the models that sit within this structure; our partnership with the Met Office will support this impact.
FUVN is expected to benefit the wider public and community groups. Community science activities will raise understanding of ventilation and air quality among those involved in the small-scale research programme, while dissemination of network outcomes in a format that is accessible to the public could have a national impact on awareness of effective ventilation for health.
The network is expected to influence aspects of air quality explored by other networks funded through the same grant call as well as projects across the UKRI Clean Air Programme. The FUVN network focuses on enabling approaches which could have substantial benefit to assessment of sensor data, chemistry, fate of specific pollutants, exposure and health risks, as well as to facilitate assessment of specific environments. Likewise the knowledge generated through these other networks and projects will benefit the FUVN Breathing City approach. By working closely with the other networks and Clean Air Champions we will identify opportunities for collaboration and co-benefits. The FUVN approach aligns to the Clean Air Framework development and could directly support the models that sit within this structure; our partnership with the Met Office will support this impact.
FUVN is expected to benefit the wider public and community groups. Community science activities will raise understanding of ventilation and air quality among those involved in the small-scale research programme, while dissemination of network outcomes in a format that is accessible to the public could have a national impact on awareness of effective ventilation for health.
Organisations
- University of Leeds (Lead Research Organisation)
- Health and Safety Executive (Collaboration)
- The Institution of Environmental Sciences (Project Partner)
- Apex Acoustics Ltd (Project Partner)
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (Project Partner)
- Cundall Johnston & Partners LLP (UK) (Project Partner)
- Leeds City Council (Project Partner)
- Met Office (Project Partner)
- DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION (Project Partner)
- RWDI Anemos Limited (Project Partner)
- WSP Civils (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Building Research Establishment (Project Partner)
- Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Project Partner)
- Breathing Buildings Limited (Project Partner)
- Foster and Partners (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Arup Group (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
Publications
Coburn M
(2023)
Impact of Local Terrain Features on Urban Airflow
in Boundary-Layer Meteorology
Lim H
(2023)
Turbulent dispersion of a passive scalar in a smooth-wall turbulent boundary layer
in Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Lim H
(2024)
Experimental investigation of scalar dispersion in indoor spaces
in Building and Environment
Pinho-Gomes AC
(2023)
Air pollution and climate change.
in The Lancet. Planetary health
Title | Festival of the Mind |
Description | Breathing City's Dr Abigail Hathway from the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering at the University of Sheffield has worked with artist Sian Williams to create a short video about ventilation for Sheffield's Festival of the Mind. Festival of the Mind takes place across Sheffield from 15 - 25 September 2022 and sees the brightest minds from the University of Sheffield collaborate with the city's cultural and creative industries, to help bring their research to life in exciting, entertaining and innovative ways. Free exhibitions, films, performances, workshops and talks across 3 venues exploring University of Sheffield research that is helping tackle some of the biggest issues impacting society and the planet. |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Impact | Continue collaboration between FUVN and sian that will lead to future exhibitions |
URL | https://breathingcity.org/festival-of-the-mind/ |
Description | We have contributed to policy, practice and public awareness and knowledge of ventilation and solutions to mitigating poor indoor air quality through a number of routes. We were instrumental in establishing World Ventilation Day, a new annual day on 8th November that promotes the importance of ventilation for healthy and sustainable buildings. This had an international reach with very significant social media coverage, a number of events and engagement from professional bodies around the world and UK government departments. We have authored a substantial chapter within the Chief Medical Officers Annual report on Air Quality in 2022 which sets out solutions for tackling poor indoor air and provides a significant resource for policy makers. We have also played a key role throughout the pandemic and beyond in providing effective advice on mitigating the transmission of COVID-19 and through engagement with the Royal Academy of Engineering have prepared key policy facing reports to support action in government departments around improving infection resilience in buildings. |
First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
Description | CMO report |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
URL | https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-2022-air-pollution |
Description | Infection Resilient Environments Pt 2 |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
URL | https://nepc.raeng.org.uk/infection-resilient-environments |
Description | Infection resilient environments |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
URL | https://raeng.org.uk/news/time-for-a-major-upgrade-of-buildings-to-create-healthier-indoor-environme... |
Description | RAEng Infection Resilient Environments Pt 1 |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
Impact | Report had a rapid impact on COVID-19 response including improved guidance from HSE and BEIS for organisations, establishment of ventilation advisory groups and the commissioning of a follow on piece of work to assess research capability, social benefit, best practice. |
URL | https://www.raeng.org.uk/policy/policy-projects-and-issues/infection-resilient-environments |
Description | Scottish Parliament Evidence |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
URL | https://www.scottishparliament.tv/meeting/covid-19-recovery-committee-november-4-2021 |
Description | WHO Europe High level group |
Geographic Reach | Europe |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Description | Let's clear the air: Evaluating a behavioural intervention to reduce COVID transmission through effective ventilation in hospitality venues |
Amount | £33,078 (GBP) |
Organisation | Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2022 |
End | 03/2022 |
Description | National Core Study: Covid Transmission, Theme 2, WP 2.3 - Environmental monitoring. |
Amount | £464,600 (GBP) |
Organisation | Health and Safety Executive (HSE) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2020 |
End | 12/2023 |
Description | National Core Study: Covid Transmission. Ventilation for Hospitality |
Amount | £171,867 (GBP) |
Organisation | Health and Safety Executive (HSE) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2021 |
End | 03/2022 |
Description | Ventilation for Hospitality |
Amount | £171,867 (GBP) |
Organisation | Sheffield City Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2022 |
End | 03/2023 |
Description | FUVN-PROTECT |
Organisation | Health and Safety Executive (HSE) |
Department | HSE Science Division (HSE-SD) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Members of FUVN have collaborated with the PROTECT National Core Study on COVID-19 Transmission and the Environment. To date FUVN have organised an event for Environmental Health Officers that drew on outcomes from PROTECT funded work, and have shared outcomes on measuring ventilation and a ventilation survey with PROTECT. |
Collaborator Contribution | PROTECT have funded research to measure ventilation in a number of settings including hospitality settings which led to the EHO event. PROTECT funded a complementary ventilation survey to that carried out by FUVN. |
Impact | EHO ventilation event. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | 2022 - Chair, Scottish Government Adaptations Advisory Committee |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | 2022 - Chair, Scottish Government Adaptations Advisory Committee |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
Description | ASBP keynote Feb 2021 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Keynote presentation on ventilation and healthy buildings at the Association for Sustainable Building Products Annual Healthy Buildings Conference. Presentation raised awareness of the importance of considering health as well as sustainability in building ventilation. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Cabinet Office - Ventilation Technical Advisory Panel |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The Cabinet Office is convening a Ventilation Technical Advisory Panel to assist HMG / departments in developing appropriate sector plans on ventilation issues, following a recommendation made by Sir Patrick Vallance. The key aim is to enhance understanding of and expertise in implementing ventilation as part of an infection-resistant environment. This group provides expert advice to Government Departments on issues and policies related to ventilation and health |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
Description | EHO engagement |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Supporting Ventilation Improvements in Small Businesses: a workshop for Environmental Health Officers. This workshop will include speakers from a range of UK research projects into COVID transmission reduction, with a particular focus on ventilation. Alongside the talks will be a series of discussions to inform the development of ventilation guidance for small businesses. Current research at the University of Sheffield has demonstrated that many small hospitality venues do not find current guidance useful for them. We are working with these venues to understand what they need, but would benefit from input from those on the ground who have experience of 100's of venues. This will enable guidance developed through our research to be appropriate pitched for small businesses, and for Environmental Health Officers to use to support them. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/supporting-ventilation-improvements-in-small-businesses-tickets-41653... |
Description | Event: Career Paths in Air Quality |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | This is an event for early career researchers and professionals who work in air quality to share their projects, discover opportunities to collaborate, and find out more about career paths in air quality. The half day event will open with a talk from Prof. Cath Noakes who will be highlighting some of the big-picture indoor/outdoor air quality challenges over the next 20 years. This will be followed by presentations from early career researchers/professionals in academia, the public sector, and industry, showcasing their work on both indoor and outdoor air quality. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://breathingcity.org/event-career-paths-in-air-quality/ |
Description | FUVN-TAPAS IAQ Obs in Paris |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | In April, members of the TAPAS network, the FUVN network, the CSTB and the OQAI met to discuss national indoor air quality strategies in France and the UK. The meeting of these four initiatives, together with invited experts from academia, industry and government science organisations, happened over two days in Paris and involved a series of presentations and workshops. A key focus of the meeting was on "observing indoor air" - how we can develop coordinated approaches to capturing data on indoor air quality at scale and over long periods of time and how this can be used to understand health effects and support policy and practice. The knowledge sharing and informative discussions will shape both the French and UK networks' future indoor air quality studies and campaigns. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://breathingcity.org/a-meeting-of-air-quality-minds/ |
Description | Futurebuild 2022 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Noakes was a member of a panel discussion on Infection Resilient Environments at the Futurebuild 2022 exhibition. Session promoted discussion with several representatives of companies and professional bodies. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | HEMAC-FUVN Ventilation Policy Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Policy workshop undertaken at Westminster with industry representatives and participation from BEIS and BRAC - workshop focused on expert advice to current Building Regulations consultation |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Healthy Building Competition |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | Two of the grand challenges faced by architects and engineers this decade is in designing buildings and technology solutions that create healthy indoor environments and meet net zero targets. This competition invites applicants to propose an innovative building design or technology solution that addresses these two challenges together. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://breathingcity.org/2022-11-22-the-future-urban-ventilation-network-healthy-building-competiti... |
Description | Inaugural World Ventilation Day |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | We are launching World Ventilation Day #WorldVentil8Day. The intention is to use the day to put a spotlight on ventilation, highlighting why ventilation is so important, how it can be done well and to champion the organisations and people who work together to deliver good ventilation for health and sustainability. www.WorldVentil8Day.com Our first World Ventilation Day theme is all about Celebrating Ventilation #CelebrateVentilate. We want to shout about everything that is good about ventilation, how we can help people to ventilate and clean the air in buildings better, and to recognise the people who work to improve health and wellbeing of people around the globe through better ventilation. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.worldventil8day.com/ |
Description | Interview for BBC news and other media |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sfk6 19/2/21 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Invited Expert member, BSi Development Group, BS 40102-1, Health and wellbeing, thermal comfort, indoor air quality and overheating in buildings - Part 1: Health and wellbeing in buildings |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Invited Expert member, BSi Development Group, BS 40102-1, Health and wellbeing, thermal comfort, indoor air quality and overheating in buildings - Part 1: Health and wellbeing in buildings |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
Description | Invited Expert member, BSi Development Group, BS 40102-1, Health and wellbeing, thermal comfort, indoor air quality and overheating in buildings - Part 1: Health and wellbeing in buildings |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | The proposed standard is intended to be referred to, either normatively or informatively, by future editions of the two overarching retrofit standards PAS 2035 and PAS 2038. It is proposed to develop a standard in two parts. Part 1 Health and Wellbeing in Buildings This part will give recommendations for the measuring, monitoring and reporting of the well-being and IEQ performance of an occupied building and the associated building services. It will provide an evaluation and rating system, the aim of which is to enhance indoor environmental quality (IEQ), to create healthier buildings and improve the well-being of building occupants; including but not limited to staff, visitors, tenants and customers. The IEQ performance score generated as an outcome of this evaluation will provide organizations with a benchmark score which can be used to identify areas of below par performance and enable improvements to be made accordingly. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
URL | https://standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com/projects/9021-05970#/section |
Description | MAGIC Partners Meeting |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Invited presentation to MAGIC Partners Meeting |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Member of World Health Organisation High-Level Expert Group on COVID-19 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | High-Level Expert Group on COVID-19 in the WHO European Region. The group has recently recommended to the Regional Director for WHO Europe to promote ventilation in close areas, and he decided to rank this proposal among the top 5 priorities for European governments in their willingness to move towards stabilization of the pandemic. The group requested some expert advice on this recommendation to make it the most pragmatic and operational. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022,2023 |
Description | Participation in UK Government Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, Environment and Modelling sub group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Providing expert advice to SAGE-EMG |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022,2023 |
Description | Scottish Government Short Life Working Group on Ventilation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of good ventilation as a COVID mitigation baseline measure and the increasing importance of ventilation as we step away from other mitigations. Improved ventilation reduces the risk of transmission of Covid (and other viruses) within business and public sector premises and supports sustained opening, and therefore contributes to wider Covid recovery. However, we need a better understanding of the state of ventilation across a range of buildings and what remedial actions may be necessary where improvements are required. The purpose of the short life working group is to provide advice and make recommendations to the Scottish Government on actions to improve ventilation and therefore support the creation of infection resilient environments. Due to the broad range of issues to be considered and time pressures, it may be necessary to have specialist sub groups of the SLWG or to invite experts to provide advice and support on specific issues. In delivering its purpose the group will take into consideration emerging evidence from SAGE, SAGE EMG and other relevant groups. A separate group, within SG Health, has been established which is focussing on ventilation in health-care settings and will report to the SG in the autumn. Findings and learning from this group will also be taken into consideration when considering non-health care settings. The outputs from the SLWG will be used to inform and support delivery of critical policy work across the Scottish Government to optimise the improvement of ventilation in non-healthcare settings. The group is expected to oversee a 6-12 month programme of work addressing short to medium term priorities, developing long term ambitions, supporting private and public sector actions and policy development. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
Description | Understanding IAQ for healthy buildings in a net zero world |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | On 28th September 2022, Breathing City (FUVN), TAPAS and ICP-ERG jointly hosted an in-person event in White City Campus, Imperial College London, which engaged discussions from academia, industry, and public policy around 'Understanding IAQ for healthy buildings in a net zero world' and focussed on early career researchers and indoor air monitoring studies. We heard presentations across a range IAQ topics including monitoring, characterization methods, ventilation studies, modelling, IAQ health assessments and behavioural studies. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://breathingcity.org/event-report-understanding-iaq-for-healthy-buildings-in-a-net-zero-world/ |
Description | Understanding air quality for health in different environments |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | On 22 September 2022 the Breathing City hosting a half day event to explore indoor air quality for health with a particular focus on "Understanding AQ for health in different environments" - discussing the challenges of measuring air quality and ventilation and relating this to health parameters. We brought together a range of speakers including: Prof. Chris Whitty (pre-recorded): AQ and health; challenges and needs. Dr. David Fishwick: The Lungs at Work; formidable yet fragile. Dr. Miranda Loh: Healthy Air for Workplaces Cairan Van Rooyen: Public ventilation surveys. Dr. Abigail Hathway: Measuring ventilation rates in hospitality venues Jenny Carrington: Healthy building design |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://breathingcity.org/understanding-air-quality-for-health-in-different-environments-2/ |
Description | Ventilation policy event Sept 2021 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Event organised in collaboration with Healthy Homes & Buildings APPG and HEMAC network on ventilation. Participants from FUVN, UKRI, MHCLG, BEAMA, CISE, RAEng |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |