Post-pandemic, an increasing focus on indoor air quality
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, “fundamental shifts” have taken place in how businesses, governments, scientific and medical communities, and the general public think about indoor air, according to Harvard Chan School’s Joe Allen.
New methodology reveals health, climate impacts of reducing buildings’ energy use
Increasing energy efficiency in buildings can save money—and it can also decrease the carbon emissions and air pollution that lead to climate change and health harms. But the climate and health benefits of reducing buildings’ energy consumption are…
Regulations reducing lead and copper contamination in drinking water generate $9 billion of health benefits per year, according to new analysis
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Lead and Copper Drinking Water Rule Revision (LCRR) costs $335 million to implement while generating $9 billion in health benefits annually—far exceeding the EPA’s public statements that the LCRR generates $645 million in…
How building design can improve people's well-being
Flora Jiaxuan Xu, SM ’23, studies how building design can improve people’s well-being.
Better Off Podcast: Is cooking with natural gas unhealthy?
40 million American homes cook their meals with natural gas. But most people don’t think of the little blue flame on their gas range as the end of a very long natural gas pipeline. New research shows that…
Rethinking building design for the health of people and the planet
Adele Houghton, DrPH ’23, is creating new tools to help real estate teams become more responsive to the health needs of their buildings’ occupants and the surrounding communities.
Healthy Buildings on the Horizon
From fighting coronavirus to boosting cognitive performance, Joe Allen thinks healthy buildings will be the next public health revolution.
Unleashing New Tools to Build a Healthier Environment
The Login5 Foundation, which had previously supported the initial development and debut of the CoBE calculator, is continuing its support of the project with a new gift of $1.5 million.
Opinion: How our buildings can be optimized to curb coronavirus
While the conditions of crowded cities can aid the spread of viral illnesses such as coronavirus, the buildings we inhabit can act as important barriers to contamination when properly optimized, according to a March 4, 2020 op-ed in…
Renewal of NIEHS grant paves way for new research on how complex environmental exposures affect health
August 8, 2019 – With the renewal of a major federal grant, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s NIEHS Center for Environmental Health will focus on a broad new objective—the exploration of how a wide variety of…
