Air Quality Matters
Air Quality Matters inside our buildings and out.
This Podcast is about Indoor Air Quality, Outdoor Air Quality, Ventilation, and Health in our homes, workplaces, and education settings.
And we already have many of the tools we need to make a difference.
The conversations we have and how we share this knowledge is the key to our success.
We speak with the leaders at the heart of this sector about them and their work, innovation and where this is all going.
Air quality is the single most significant environmental risk we face to our health and wellbeing, and its impacts on us, our friends, our families, and society are profound.
From housing to the workplace, education to healthcare, the quality of the air we breathe matters.
Air Quality Matters
Episodes
97 episodes
One Take #6 - Maternal Air Pollution Exposure: How It Shapes Your Child's Respiratory Future
Research reveals that a mother's exposure to air pollution during pregnancy could significantly increases her child's risk of developing asthma, suggesting that our respiratory health journey begins before we take our first breath. ...
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7:51
#77 - Robert Bean: The Human Element and Building Better Spaces
Indoor environmental quality is about more than just air quality – it encompasses everything our sensory systems experience within built environments. This knowledge provides a framework for creating healthier, more human-centered buildings.
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Episode 77
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1:56:00
One Take #5 Clean Air, Full Classes
Research establishes a direct link between classroom air quality and student attendance rates through a comprehensive study of 144 classrooms across 31 Midwestern elementary schools. The findings provide compelling evidence that improved ventil...
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9:54
#76 - Erik Malmstrom: The Invisible Made Visible: Tracking Pathogens Through Buildings
Imagine if you could actually see how viruses and bacteria move through the air in a building. That's exactly what Safe Traces technology allows us to do, and the implications for public health and building performance are profound. In this eye...
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1:50:21
One Take #4 :Indoor Air Crisis in Global Social Housing
What happens when the air inside your home is slowly making you sick? For millions of people living in social housing across developing nations, this isn't a hypothetical question—it's daily reality.A review published in Applied Science...
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9:45
#75 - Sarah Gudeman: The Human Side of Sustainable Engineering
What distinguishes a truly healthy building from one that simply meets minimum code requirements? In this conversation with Sarah Gudeman, Principal and Practice Lead at Branch Pattern, we explore the critical intersection where engineering exp...
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Episode 75
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1:46:47
One Take #3 - Beyond the Comfy Chair: Home indoor air quality and cognitive function over one
Ever wondered why you sometimes struggle to focus when working from home? We dive into fascinating new research that connects the invisible elements of our home environments to how well our brains function during remote work.This episod...
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13:33
#74 - Joseph Allen: Communicating science and turning in buildings into health assets
What if the air you breathe at work is silently shaping your performance, creativity, and health? Harvard's Dr. Joseph Allen has become the leading voice connecting building science with human potential - showing how something as simple as bett...
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Episode 74
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1:50:53
One Take #2 - Experimental analysis to quantify inactivation of microorganisms by Far-UVC
Imagine a technology that could silently work in the background, destroying harmful microbes in the air we breathe without harming us. That's the promise of Far-UVC light at 222 nanometers, and groundbreaking room-scale research just brought th...
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10:49
#73 - Olivia Swann & Dan Bowers: Echo Chambers and Interlopers: Breaking Down Built Environment Barriers
What happens when a pediatrician who codes and a psychologist studying technology acceptance walk into a built environment conference? Sometimes the most illuminating perspectives come from the margins.In this episode, I sit down with D...
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Episode 73
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1:08:55
One Take #1: Ten questions concerning the future of residential indoor air quality and its environmental justice implications
We explore a paper examining the future of residential air quality and its environmental justice implications. This research highlights how poor indoor air quality disproportionately affects disadvantaged communities, creating a "triple jeopard...
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7:34
#72 - John Wenger: Hydroxyl Radicals: Nature's Invisible Engine Room, Ambient Air and more
Have you ever wondered what's really happening in the air around us? In this captivating conversation with Professor John Wenger of University College Cork, we dive into the hidden chemistry that shapes our atmosphere and affects our health in ...
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Episode 72
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1:41:03
#71 - Asit Kumar Mishra: Data, People, and Buildings: The Life of a Built Environment Researcher
What drives someone to spend two decades studying the air we breathe indoors? In this conversation, I sit down with Asit Kumar Mishra, a research fellow at University College Cork, to explore the fascinating world behind the research that shape...
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Episode 71
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1:18:11
#70 - Rosie Wills: Housing's Hidden Battles and Data Driven Solutions to Damp and Mould
The curious mind can transform an industry—and that's exactly what Rosie Wills has accomplished at Mid Devon Housing. Her journey from accidental investigator to sector-recognized expert offers a masterclass in how systematic curiosity can revo...
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Episode 70
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1:18:36
#69 - Carl Zimmer: Airborne - The Hidden History of the Air We Breathe
Carl Zimmer, columnist for the New York Times and acclaimed science writer, discusses his new book "Airborne" which explores the fascinating yet troubling history of how we understand disease transmission through air.• Pandemic debates ...
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Episode 69
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1:32:39
#68 - Jelle Laverge, Gaëlle Guyotte and Marc Abadie - Clean Air, Smart Buildings and Annex 86
What happens when 46 research institutes from 21 countries join forces to tackle one of our most pressing indoor environmental challenges? A groundbreaking framework that's already changing how we approach air quality in our homes.The A...
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Episode 68
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1:29:37
#67- Barry Cope: You Can't Manage What You Don't Measure: How Proper Ventilation Testing Could Save Lives
The quality of air we breathe in our homes directly impacts our health, yet the ventilation systems responsible for delivering that air are failing at alarming rates. In this eye-opening conversation with Barry Cope, Group Managing Director of ...
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Episode 67
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1:58:10
66 - Aayush Jha: Clean Air as a Service: The Future of Indoor Environments?
The revolutionary "clean air as a service" business model is transforming how we approach indoor air quality in challenging environments. Rather than simply selling filtration equipment with uncertain outcomes, companies like Clairc...
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Episode 66
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1:30:44
#65 - Steven "Robbie" Burns & Ian Ray: The Air They Breathe: A Firefighter's Unseen Battle
What happens when those who run toward danger face an invisible, deadly threat long after the flames are extinguished? This compelling episode pulls back the curtain on the shocking occupational health crisis affecting firefighters worldwide.
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Episode 65
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1:54:16
#64 - Liz Male: Communicating Complexity: How to Craft Messages That Resonate and Tell Stories that win Hearts and Minds
We explore the art of communicating technical subjects effectively with PR expert Liz Male MBE, focusing on how consistency in messaging builds trust and the power of storytelling to convey complex information.• Communications in the bu...
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Episode 64
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1:44:06
#63 - David Pierpoint: Quality Over Quantity. Why Proper Training Transforms Our Building Environment
David Pierpoint discusses how skills and training are key to improving quality in our built environment, drawing from his 15 years of experience developing the retrofit sector through The Retrofit Academy.• Industry struggles with consi...
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1:17:34
#62 - Simon Jones: Healthy Building, On Air, Mouldy Homes and New Laws
Solo episode this week as we catch up on the ISIAQ Healthy Buildings Conference in Hyderabad in India, a new venture for Air Quality Matters and an exploration of indoor air quality intersects with the urgent issues of damp and mould affecting ...
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25:55
#61 - Hector Altimirano: Rethinking Mould - Health Implications, Diagnostic Challenges, and Global Collaboration in Building Science
In this episode, we delve into the intricate relationship between mould, our built environments, and health. Hector Altamirano shares insights on how mould serves as a messenger for underlying issues in our homes, the potential health impacts o...
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1:44:57
#60 - Corinne Mandin, Paweł Wargocki & Henry Burridge: Transforming Classroom Air Quality – Cognitive Impact, Health Challenges, and Sustainable Solutions
This episode, live from the Eurovent Conference on School Air Quality we discusses the crucial relationship between indoor air quality and children's health and cognitive performance in classrooms. We analyse the current state of air quality in...
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1:10:20
#59 - Plum Stone: Addressing Indoor Air Quality – Health, Accessibility, Social Justice, and Pandemic Lessons
Indoor air quality is an often-overlooked issue that directly impacts public health, especially for individuals with chronic illnesses. Plum Stone, founder of the Safer Air Project, emphasizes the need for better air quality standards to ensure...
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Episode 59
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1:55:34