Research will shed light on how climate change might affect indoor microscopic organisms – could it affect indoor air?

With predicted warmer and wetter weather, buildings could become more susceptible to increased microbial growth and this will likely affect the health of humans and buildings. Research led by Professor Phillip Watts from the Ģֱ aims to identify how building materials and design, and the future climate, might change the types of indoor microscopic organisms that affect building integrity and the indoor air. The  Academy of Finland granted a research project funding of 400 000 euros. The research is part of the consortia of three universities, which received funding totalling of almost 1 million euros.
Research led by Professor Phillip Watts from the Ģֱ studies how building materials and the future climate, might change the types of indoor microscopic organisms. Credit: The Ģֱ
Published
16.12.2019

As people spend most of their lives indoors, our health depends upon the composition of the community of the microscopic organisms (bacteria, fungi and viruses) that live within our built environment.
However, the conditions within buildings will vary in the future, for example because of changes in climate as because of the need to use more energy efficient buildings and an increased use of sustainable materials.

The project will require samples of microbes collected from within buildings across Finland and also experimental tests of microbial growth and evolution when provided with different building materials and climate. The consortia will be seeking collaboration with interested partners who would be able to provide samples from diverse buildings. 

“Changes in climate, building design and materials can alter moisture content and temperature of the building and thus the kinds of microscopic organisms that can grow”, says professor Phillip Watts.

The research is part of the ECOCIDE-research consortia, which received funding totalling of almost 1 million euros. With the Ģֱ, the members of the consortia are The University of Oulu (Dr Filip Fedorik, Structures and Construction Technology) and the University of Eastern Finland (Dr Antti Haapala, Wood Materials Science). 

“In the University of Eastern Finland the research focuses on new bio-based building materials and how the changes in moisture and temperature in structures may impact their performance and capacity to act as growth media for unwanted microscopic organisms", says Associate Professor Antti Haapala from the UEF.

The Academy of Finland chose seven research consortia (29 subprojects) for funding in the second stage of the call for applications of the Academy Programme Climate Change and Health (CLIHE). A total of eight million euros were granted to the research consortia. The projects that received funding this round will start in January 2020 and ends in the end of 2023.

Link to the Academy of Finland’s release:

For further information:
Professor Phillip Watts, phillip.c.watts@jyu.fi
Dr Filip Fedorik, Filip.Fedorik@oulu.fi
Dr Antti Haapala, antti.haapala@uef.fi,  tel. + 358 44 520 2849

Communications officer Tanja Heikkinen, The Ģֱ, tanja.s.heikkinen@jyu.fi, tel. 050 581 8351
The Faculty of Mathematics and Science: 
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