AIA Upjohn Research Award
Since the founding of the 1993 Green Building Council, design trends have been dominated by“sustainable” building (SB) models, designated via adherence to a rating system that prioritizes: energy consumption, water consumption, use of natural resources, indoor environmental quality and locality. Conventional buildings (CB) – those that meet basic building and energy codes but do not prioritize sustainable design elements in either construction or operation - provide an excellent control from which to expand research on the co-benefits of SBs to improve occupant health and wellbeing beyond the current limited focus on indoor air quality harm reduction. Case studies have demonstrated the potential for sustainable buildings to increase“soft”benefits such as improved wellbeing and productivity, however, consistent and reliable measures of building occupant health outcomes have not yet been developed. Moreover, buildings are usually one-off projects. Anecdotal evidence and limited case studies are inadequate to leverage changes in mainstream design practices, in which decisions are primarily influenced by building economics and regulations. Technological advances such as low-cost sensors, wearable devices, virtual reality systems and machine learning provide new methods and tools enabling elevation of sustainable building research to the next level – the healthy building model. The goal of this research project is to develop, test, and validate a data-driven approach using virtual reality (VR) and electroencephalogram (EEG) technology for understanding the potential physiological influences of sustainable design features. We propose technology-enabled, repeatable measures for quantifying how SB features affect occupancy emotion and cognitive functions – proxies for health and wellbeing.
Brain + Behavior Initiative Grant
The goal of this research project is to develop, test, and validate a data-driven approach using virtual reality (VR) and electroencephalogram (EEG) technology for assessing the effect of architectural building design features on occupants’ emotional and cognitive functions - proxies for mental health and wellbeing. The project will provide technology-enabled, repeatable measures for quantifying the “soft” benefits of building design features thus providing an economically viable and repeatable assessment model, pre-build.
Nexus Between Sustainable Buildings and Human Health: a Neuroscience
The goal of this research project is to develop, test, and validate a data-driven approach using virtual reality (VR) and electroencephalo- gram (EEG) technology for assessing the effect of architectural building design features on occupants' emotional and cognitive functions - proxies for mental health and wellbeing. The project will provide technology-enabled, repeatable measures for quantifying the "soft" benefits of building design features thus providing an economically viable and repeatable assessment model, pre-build.