University of York facility to deliver world-leading indoor air quality research

An ambitious three-year project at the University of York is destined to become a world-leading facility for the study of domestic, indoor air quality. The £1.2m funding – secured from The Wolfson Foundation and the University itself – will allow the research team to build a semi-detached house, known at the INTERIORS Facility, on campus.

One side of the semi-detached will be energy efficient and modern, the other side will be more typical of UK buildings from the 1950s-1960s. A laboratory between the two buildings will monitor the air quality in each side of the house, as identical activities such as cooking, cleaning and DIY are carried out under these different ventilation and build conditions. The facility will also have a flexible design so the impact of things such as internal furnishings on indoor air quality can also be examined.

Work on building the house will start this spring and it will be fully operational by 2026. The research is being led by Nic Carlsaw, Professor of Indoor Air Chemistry, who said: ‘The Wolfson INTERIORS Facility will allow us to explore indoor air quality in much more detail, and under more realistic conditions, than ever before. Together with the data we collect from people’s homes as part of the parallel INGENIOUS project, we will be in a strong position to identify what drives air pollution in homes and, more importantly, how we then provide solutions.

‘This research has never been more important. it will deliver evidence-based recommendations to support future policy in areas such as building infrastructure, furnishing materials and consumer products. It will be part of an international paradigm shift for indoor air quality research. The University of York is the ideal location given the modelling and measurement expertise in indoor and outdoor air quality that already exists here. We can’t wait to get started.’

The issue of indoor air quality is starting to attract more attention, with the current concern over wood burning stoves being very much in the spotlight.