The latest ARPA-H initiative has allocated approximately $150 million dollars to teams who propose a sound approach to supporting occupant health through building management.
At the present time, many people are unaware of the health significance of indoor contaminants that they cannot smell or feel through irritation of their respiratory tract.
When people became aware that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was primarily through the air, reducing airborne exposure in buildings immediately became a high priority.
Barely three years after a pandemic disrupted life around the globe, reports of avian influenza infections moving from birds into mammals are surfacing.
Thankfully, the COVID-19 vaccines that are currently being distributed — ones based on the original virus spike sequence — are effective in inducing immunity to the new strain.
The association between low humidity and increased disease from SARS-CoV-2 is real, important, and cannot be discounted by the presence of other variables.
It’s important for engineers to realize that the health of building occupants, both now and after COVID-19, is strongly affected by indoor air management.