Sustainable, resilient and healthy built environments: An integrated approach

可持续、有弹性和健康的建筑环境：综合方法

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-05036
• 负责人: Pakpour, Sepideh
• 金额: $ 1.89万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=761772
• 关键词: Sustainable; resilient; healthy; built; environments

Built environment, as the main habitat of the modern human, encompasses a complex mixture of viable and dead organisms (known as indoor microbiome), which can not only affect occupants' wellbeing and productivity but also deteriorate different parts of the buildings, leading to undesirable changes in the materials' structural properties. In addition, the built environment is accountable for part of problems associated to climate change, due to being a principal engine for resource extraction and high amount of CO2 emissions by the building sector. Recently, green building designs and use of novel bio-sourced green materials for non-structural and structural indoor applications have increased as an effort towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the emerging green materials are naturally biodegradable and there is no clear indication as to how their mutual interaction with built environment microbiome would affect the structural integrity of such sustainable buildings and the indoor air quality. My long-term vision is to devise new understandings and methods for better design of healthy, resilient, and sustainable buildings by integrating factors underlying dynamics of built environment ecology in response to climate change, and their effect on the environmental performance of emerging green building materials. In the short-term, through this Discovery Program, I aim to investigate the effect of meteorological factors on dynamics of indoor air quality and on microbial communities in offices with plants (biophilic design) and without plants (non-biophilic design). In addition, I aim to better understand the seasonal effect of indoor microbiome on deterioration of physical and mechanical properties of select green building materials for use in both biophilic and non-biophilic spaces under the increasing impact of natural incidences such as flooding as a result of climate change. Subsequently, I also aim to assess the performance of laboratory-scale genetically enhanced natural fibres against microbial degradation for future potential applications. Namely, the latter aims to develop a novel technique that could fundamentally make the susceptible green building materials more resilient against microbial growth and metabolic activity (as the main cause of biodegradation). Completion of the proposed Discovery program will contribute to Canada's leadership in the design of healthy, resilient, and sustainable buildings, which can eventually enable more optimal use of plants and microbial-resistant materials by designers and architects, while decreasing potential long-term economic losses due to the climate change.

作为现代人类的主要栖息地，建筑环境涵盖了可行和死亡生物体（称为室内微生物组）的复杂混合物，这不仅可以影响居住者的福祉和生产力，而且还会导致建筑物的不同部分，从而导致材料结构特性的不良变化。此外，由于是用于资源提取的主要引擎和建筑部门的大量二氧化碳排放量，因此建筑环境对与气候变化相关的问题负有责任。最近，为了减少温室气体排放而努力，绿色建筑设计和新型生物制造的绿色材料用于非结构和结构室内应用。但是，新兴的绿色材料自然是可生物降解的，并且没有明确的迹象表明它们与建筑环境微生物组的相互作用如何影响这种可持续建筑物的结构完整性和室内空气质量。 我的长期愿景是通过整合对气候变化的构建环境生态学动态的基本动力，及其对新兴绿色建筑材料的环境性能的影响，从而设计新的理解和方法，以更好地设计健康，弹性和可持续建筑。在短期内，通过这个发现计划，我旨在研究气象因素对室内空气质量动力学和具有植物（生物素设计）和没有植物（非生物嗜生物设计）办公室的微生物群落的影响。此外，我的目标是更好地了解室内微生物组对精选绿色建筑材料的物理和机械性能恶化的季节作用，以在生物嗜生物和非生物嗜生物空间中使用，这是由于气候变化所导致的自然事件的日益影响。随后，我还旨在评估实验室规模的遗传增强的天然纤维，以防止微生物降解以实现未来的潜在应用。也就是说，后者旨在开发一种新型技术，该技术可以从根本上使易感的绿色建筑材料对微生物生长和代谢活性（作为生物降解的主要原因）更具弹性。 拟议的发现计划的完成将有助于加拿大在设计健康，韧性和可持续性建筑物设计方面的领导，最终可以通过设计师和建筑师对植物和微生物耐药物材料进行更最佳的使用，同时降低由于气候变化而导致的潜在长期经济损失。