Modelling the Effect of Energy-Efficient Housing Interventions on Indoor Environmental Health in Urban Multi-Family Populations
Environmental Public Health Ph.D. candidate Lindsay Underhill, under the direction of School of Public Health Associate Chair and Professor Jonathan Levy, will develop flexible building simulation prototypes that model the urban multi-family housing stock in Massachusetts. These simulation models will be used to examine seasonal indoor pollutant concentrations and identify energy-efficient and health protective housing interventions that reduce harmful environmental exposure among urban, multi-family dwellers.
Indoor air quality is a well-established determinant of health, but energy efficiency housing initiatives do not explicitly take health into consideration. Additionally, little is known about the types of energy-efficiency interventions that are health protective, nor the impact of those interventions when accounting for building type, occupant behavior or climate.
Underhill will use the multi-zone airflow and contaminant transport analysis program CONTAM, but develop new templates that represent Massachusetts multifamily housing stock to account for specific nuances and correlated risk factors among the MA multi-family housing population.
The researchers seek to:
- Characterize the distribution of pollutant exposure in Massachusetts multi-family housing
- Identify the differential effect of behavioral (e.g. smoking cessation) and structural (e.g. improved weatherization) housing interventions on pollutant exposure
- Predict the indoor environmental impact of housing interventions
- Inform future health risk assessments
View more projects funded through our Early Stage Urban Research Awards