Presentation at Sloan Foundation 2015 Microbiology of the Built Environment Conference, Boulder Colorado. Addressing the need for engagement between the MoBE community and professional societies like ASHRAE

1. The New Research
Agenda…If You Build It, Will
They Come?
William P. Bahnfleth, PhD, PE, FASHRAE, FASME
Department of Architectural Engineering
The Pennsylvania State University
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 1

2. Motivation for MoBE
http://www.sloan.org/major-program-areas/basic-research/microbiology-of-the-built-environment/
• Indoor microbiome is significant
• Most of our time spent indoors
• Personal microbiomes and their interactions
• Indoor environment has not received enough attention as a
research field
• Historical focus on natural or urban outdoor environments.
• Little is known about indoor microbial ecosystems
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 2

3. MoBE Objective/Strategy
Grow a new field of scientific inquiry.
1. To push the research frontier and educate a small leadership
cohort.
2. To build a national, multidisciplinary community
3. To improve the cohesiveness of the community and its
ability to communicate internally and externally via data
visualization and imaging techniques and repositories.
4. To demonstrate the excitement and value of the field by
supporting a small number of research targets of
opportunity.
5. Put built environment on plans of other funding agencies by
developing a compelling, widely accepted research agenda.
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 3

4. MoBE Stakeholders
• Medical community
• Built environment researchers
• The public
• The exposed
• Consumers
• Manufacturers
• Building products and systems
• Products for indoor use
• Process industries
• Building professions
• Architects
• Engineers
• Contractors
• Building operations professions
• Facility managers
• Hygienists
• What do they value?
• What can they contribute?
• How well are we connecting with
them?
• What is the best way to engage?
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 4

5. How to make a difference and be sustainable
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 5
“Pure”
Science
Translational /
Applied Research
Application
MoBE Experts
Wider Research
Community
Industry/
End Users

6. Support for policy and funding
frequently follows a big issue
• Issues that have driven built
environment research in the
past several decades
• Energy shortages
• Stratospheric ozone depletion
• Climate change
• Homeland security
• Strongest with alignment of
• Experts/professional
community
• Public
• Government
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 6
This hasn’t happened yet for
indoor environmental quality

7. Barriers to penetrating the built environment
industry
• Deficiencies in education and training
• Heavy emphasis on thermal environment and energy
• Belief that good IAQ = enough ventilation
• Belief that perception is the right metric
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 7
If I had asked people
what they wanted,
they would have said
faster horses
~Henry Ford

8. Barriers to penetrating the built environment
industry
• It’s a business
• Capital cost is important
• Energy use is monetized, IEQ is not
• Risk aversion
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 8
A difference isn’t a difference
unless it makes a difference
~Gil Carlson

9. Engaging the broader community of
stakeholders is essential to the future
• Educate professional community and public
• Move beyond characterization to consequences
• Establish the cost of the status quo/benefit of change in a
credible way
• Support the development of feasible improvements –
technically and economically
• Advocacy
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 9
All can be facilitated through participation in the work of
professional and industry associations

10. A global society advancing human well-
being through sustainable technology for
the built environment
• Activities
• Professional development
• Student activities
• Conferences
• Technical publications
• Standards development
• Research
• UG/grad scholarships
• Student project grants
• New Investigator award
• Advocacy
• 54,000 members in 130 countries,
10,000 outside North America
• ~140 grassroots chapters
• Diverse membership
• Design Professionals
• Manufacturers
• Contractors
• Facility managers
• Academics/Researchers
• Students
• 100+ professional staff
• ~100 technical committees
• $27 million annual budget
• $4-5 million annual research budget
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 10

11. ASHRAE and Indoor Environment
•2 of 11 research priorities address IEQ
• Significantly advance our understanding of the impact of
indoor environmental quality (IEQ) on work performance,
health symptoms and perceived environmental quality in
offices, providing a basis for improvements in ASHRAE
standards, guidelines, HVAC&R designs and operation
practices
• Understand influences of HVAC&R on airborne pathogen
transmission in public spaces and develop effective
control strategies
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 11

12. ASHRAE and Indoor Environment
• Committees
• Environmental Health
• Standards Committees
• Technical Committees
• IAQ conference series
• Advocacy
• Indoor Environmental Quality Global Alliance
• The objective of the alliance is to get the societies to think together, work
together and speak with the same voice. The alliance is formed as an
interdisciplinary, international working group of societies interested in indoor
air quality, thermal comfort, lighting and acoustic science, technology, and
applications to stimulate activities that will help in a significant way to
improve the actual, delivered indoor environmental quality in buildings
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 12

13. ASHRAE and Indoor Environment
• Handbook (a sample)
• Indoor Environmental Health
• Air Contaminants
• Indoor Environmental Modeling
• Standards (just the major ones)
• 55 Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy
• 62.1 Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality
• 62.2 Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential
Buildings
• 170 Ventilation of Health Care Facilities
• 188 Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems
• Rating standards for air cleaners
• HVAC Design Manual for Hospitals and Clinics
• Indoor Air Quality Guide: Best Practices for Design, Construction and
Commissioning http://iaq.ashrae.org/
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 13

14. ASHRAE and Indoor Environment
•Position documents related to
•Indoor air quality
•Airborne Infectious Diseases
•Limiting mold and dampness in buildings
•Filtration and air cleaning
•Legionellosis
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 14

15. Benefits of outreach - summary
• Teach-learn-collaborate
• Project findings of MoBE research to key stakeholders through a global
organization
• Build a broader base of support for future funding
• Opportunities for funding/co-funding of research
• Opportunities for students
• Find collaborators with an end-user perspective
• Contribute directly to standards that will implement MoBE findings
• ASHRAE is only one of many organizations that should be interested
in microbiome research – AIHA, AWMA, AWWA, IAQA, REHVA,
USGBC…
7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 15

16. 7/17/2015 Sloan Foundation - Microbiology of the Built Environment 16
Thank you!
wbahnfleth@psu.edu