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Project title

Design and Synthesis of M(O,S)y-Heterostructures and Nanocomposites for Photocatalytic-Degradation of Contaminants of Emerging-Concern and Industrial-Waste-Chemicals

Primary Funding Agency

Irish Research Council

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

Environmental Protection Agency - Health Research Board

Lead Organisation

Irish Research Council (UL)

Lead Applicant

Misganaw Zeleke

Project Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic and increasing knowledge about the health effects of air pollution have changed how we think about the air we breathe. There is an opportunity now to examine how clean our air is and to ensure we are prepared for future challenges. Ideally, a building indoor-air management system would be flexible enough to deal with the extended demands during threats to occupant health, like a pandemic or nearby wildfire, and provide healthy indoor air during everyday operation. It should be able to achieve this without consuming unduly large amounts of energy. To achieve this goal, we need to create a matrix of engineering solutions for the optimum design and operation of indoor air management systems. Solutions that are agile and lean will serve the building on regular days and high demand days (agile) and incur minimal extra energy expenditure when operating at a higher capacity (lean). We will be combining results from field studies in a sample of actual classrooms with building performance simulation results to test and fine tune our proposed solution matrix. The framework would cover combinations of measures that can be employed to design future buildings, or retrofit existing ones, for healthier indoor air quality and resilience against future public health threats. The framework may later be broadened to serve other building types and in other climatic regions. Present air quality guidelines lack the flexibility to handle such threats. Through our efforts, we want to initiate a move towards relevant policy changes and provide a starting point for other researchers working on indoor environment and health

Grant Approved

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Research Hub

Healthy Environment

Research Theme

n/a

Start Date

02/10/2023

Initial Projected Completion Date

01/10/2026