2017 Progress Report: Determinants of Indoor and Outdoor Exposure to Ozone and Extreme Heat in a Warming Climate and the Health Risks for an Aging Population
EPA Grant Number: R835754Title: Determinants of Indoor and Outdoor Exposure to Ozone and Extreme Heat in a Warming Climate and the Health Risks for an Aging Population
Investigators: Sailor, David J , Wiedinmyer, Christine , Banerjee, Deborah , Nichka, Doug , Hayden, Mary , Wilhelmi, Olga , Nepal, Vishnu
Current Investigators: Sailor, David J , Wiedinmyer, Christine , Banerjee, Deborah , Nichka, Doug , Hu, Huafen , Hayden, Mary , Wilhelmi, Olga , Nepal, Vishnu
Institution: Portland State University , City of Houston Department of Health and Human Services , National Center for Atmospheric Research
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: January 15, 2015 through January 1, 2018 (Extended to January 1, 2019)
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 15, 2017 through January 1,2018
Project Amount: $999,635
RFA: Indoor Air and Climate Change (2014) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Climate Change , Air
Objective:
The overall goals of this proposed project are to 1) develop an integrated modeling framework to characterize current and future health risks of an older population to urban ozone and extreme heat, indoors and outdoors; 2) improve understanding of how emerging trends in building design and management practices affect indoor air quality; and 3) build local capacity in reducing negative health outcomes during episodes of high ozone and extreme heat.
Progress Summary:
The project tasks revolve around three key elements: (1) develop scenarios for air pollution, weather, building management/operations, and system failures; (2) conduct measurements in the laboratory and in occupied residences (Assisted Living Facilities and Single Family Residences) to characterize air quality/exposure-related interactions among building materials, management practices, occupant behavior, and ambient conditions; and (3) use these results in conjunction with data gathered from phone and in-person surveys to develop exposure and health outcomes models for scenarios developed in (1).
In this third year of the project we completed our work on the second element described above and made major progress on the first and third elements. Specifically, we have completed an extensive suite of laboratory measurements to explore the air quality interactions associated with different materials found in residences. This has included experiments with different carpet fiber materials, paints, indoor vegetation, indoor paints, and HVAC filters associated with vegetated and conventional roofs. These laboratory studies have resulted in three peer-reviewed publications. Data from these measurements will supplement data available in the literature to characterize emissions of volatile organic compounds and secondary reactions with indoor ozone that may produce various harmful compounds in indoor air. We have also completed two summers of indoor/outdoor measurements in Assisted Living Facilities and individual homes during the summers of 2016 and 2017. These measurements have been used to provide input for and validate models of indoor-outdoor exchange processes. Archetype building models have been developed and simulations have been conducted to explore indoor air quality and temperature response to episodes of extreme heat and poor air quality coincident with equipment and/or air conditioning failures. During the second summer of measurements we conducted surveys and in-person interviews to better assess perceptions and adaptive capacity of elderly residents with respect to extreme heat and episodes of poor air quality. The results of these analyses are informing the development of the health outcomes model and have also resulted in several publications and multiple conference presentations.
Future Activities:
In this next project year, we have received a no-cost extension which will enable us to finalize the development of the health outcomes model which will allow us to link metrics of indoor and outdoor environmental conditions to health outcomes obtained from death certificate and hospital admissions records.
Journal Articles on this Report : 3 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 21 publications | 9 publications in selected types | All 9 journal articles |
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Abbass OA, Sailor DJ, Gall ET. Effect of fiber material on ozone removal and carbonyl production from carpets. Atmospheric Environment 2017;148:42‐48.
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R835754 (2017) R835754 (Final) |
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Abbass OA, Sailor DJ, Gall ET. Effectiveness of indoor plants for passive removal of indoor ozone. Building and Environment 2017;119:62‐70.
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R835754 (2017) R835754 (Final) |
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Baniassadi A, Heusinger J, Sailor DJ. Energy efficiency vs resiliency to extreme heat and power outages: the role of evolving building energy codes. Building and Environment 2018;139:86-94.
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R835754 (2017) R835754 (Final) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
ozone, heat, vulnerability, elderly, GIS, surveys, buildings, relative riskRelevant Websites:
Workshop on Extreme Heat and Ozone Exit