While research around combating climate change has historically focused on energy use and external greenhouse gas emissions, recent studies target a more in-depth characterization of how both indoor (e.g., printers and copiers, radiant heaters, aging carpet) and outdoor emission sources (e.g., tobacco smoke, suspended soils, traffic exhaust) degrade the built environment.
This research aims to quantify the impact energy efficiency responses have on improvements in ambient air quality, which in turn may further elucidate community-wide progress to improve indoor air quality (IAQ) both in residential and commercial buildings. Exposure to ambient air pollution may exacerbate the effects poor indoor environmental quality (IEQ) has on community health and quality of life, considering Americans spend 90% of their time indoors (EPA 2015).
