Air Quality Matters

I sit down with two of the most influential actors in the indoor air quality sector, Georgia Lagoudas (Science Policy Expert and Bioengineer) and Bronwyn King (Australian Radiation Oncologist & Anti-Tobacco Campaigner), the principals behind the recent landmark air quality event at the UN General Assembly in New York. This event launched the Global Pledge for Healthy Indoor Air—the first internati...

Does fixing ventilation in homes actually make people with asthma healthier? The answer is an emphatic yes – but the type of system you install makes all the difference. This episode unpacks a remarkable two-year study from Chicago that followed 51 adults with physician-diagnosed asthma across 40 homes, tracking their health before and after different ventilation interventions. The researchers did...

In this special episode, we sit down with the founders and champions of World Ventilate Day (November 8th) to dissect the critical difference between air quality and ventilation. They reveal why their focus is on action, agency, and empowering everyone—from homeowners to governments—to take control of their indoor environments. Key Discussion Points: Action vs. Nuance: Why the day focuses on venti...

Why is it so difficult to prove that mold makes people sick when millions of people clearly suffer in water-damaged buildings? The association is undeniable. The causation? That's where things get complicated. This episode unpacks a fundamental challenge that has plagued the mold and health field for decades – the seemingly simple but scientifically complex distinction between association and caus...

When Worlds Collide: Tropical Wisdom Meets Temperate Challenges In this wide-ranging discussion, Chandra brings over 35 years of experience from Singapore's hot, humid environment to share insights that challenge conventional thinking about ventilation and comfort. As one of three pioneers who established Singapore's indoor air quality research unit in the early 1990s, his team's tagline – "energy...

Welcome back to Air Quality Matters and One Take as we explore a fascinating convergence of finance, health, and real estate that's reshaping how Wall Street thinks about buildings. What happens when the financial markets discover that healthy buildings aren't just good for people – they're good for portfolios? This episode unpacks a compelling business case that's turning heads in boardrooms and...

Join us for an enlightening conversation with Bill Bahnfleth, ASHRAE Fellow, former president, and professor at Penn State's Department of Architectural Engineering, who perfectly bridges the gap between rigorous science and practical application in the built environment. Where Are We Now in the Ventilation Journey? In this wide-ranging discussion, Bill offers a sobering assessment of our post-pan...

Welcome back to Air Quality Matters and One Take as we dive into a German medical guideline that fundamentally challenges how we think about mold diagnosis and testing. What if everything we've been told about measuring mold to prove it's making us sick is wrong? This episode unpacks the 2023 AWMF Mold Guidelines, a comprehensive consensus document from the German Association of Scientific Medical...

Welcome to Air Quality Matters as we illuminate a revolutionary that's been quietly transforming how we think about infection control in our built environment. In this episode, we dive into the world of far UVC light with Janet Price, Chief Science Officer at Visium, who brings an exceptional blend of molecular biology expertise and real-world application experience to this fascinating conversatio...

Welcome back to Air Quality Matters and One Take as we look into one of the more contentious debates in environmental health – a controversy that's suddenly captured mainstream attention following Jordan Peterson's recent diagnosis with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) linked to mold exposure. When a prominent public intellectual gets this diagnosis, it forces us all to confront an un...

Welcome back to Air Quality Matters as we conclude our special series from Healthy Buildings 2025 in Hyderabad with a fascinating conversation that reframes how we think about the air we breathe. What if we started thinking about air quality as our 'inhalable diet'? This compelling question drives our discussion with Tanya Kaur Bedi, assistant professor at the School of Planning and Architecture i...

Welcome back to Air Quality Matters and One Take – the series where complex research gets distilled into digestible insights in just one recording. What if fixing damp and mould in buildings doesn't actually pay for itself? This provocative question drives a groundbreaking study from Finland that dares to put a price tag on one of housing's most persistent problems. The research team tackled a mas...

Welcome back to Air Quality Matters as we continue our special series from Healthy Buildings 2025 in Hyderabad, India. In this second instalment, we dive deep into the perspectives of both emerging researchers and industry leaders who are shaping the future of indoor environmental quality in one of the world's most dynamic regions. The Next Generation of Research First, we hear from three exceptio...

Welcome back to Air Quality Matters and One Take – the series where complex research gets distilled into digestible insights in just one recording. How do we know if those expensive school ventilation upgrades actually worked? This question drives a fascinating study from the Journal of Building and Environment that offers a practical roadmap for districts managing hundreds of buildings. The resea...

Join us for this special collaboration with the AIVC as we revisit Technical Note 68, a landmark document on residential ventilation and health that's nearly a decade old but more relevant than ever. Why does indoor air quality matter as much as traffic safety or smoking cessation? Arnold Janssens from Ghent University introduces this deep dive into TN68, joined by three experts who shaped and con...

Welcome back to Air Quality Matters and One Take – the series where complex research gets distilled into digestible insights in just one recording. Should we mandate indoor air quality standards for all public buildings? This deceptively simple question sits at the heart of a fascinating scientific debate unfolding in the pages of prestigious journals. In this episode, we dive into a perspective p...

Send us a text (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2264976/open_sms) Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman for England, takes us on a profound journey through the evolving landscape of social housing complaints and the critical issue of damp and mould that has transformed the sector. "Home is a really emotional place," Richard explains, capturing the essence of why housing complaints di...

Send us a text (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2264976/open_sms) Ever wondered if that tiny spot of mold in your bathroom corner actually matters? A study from France just answered this question with a resounding yes – and the findings should make us all reconsider how we think about household mould. Mouldy area size and asthma symptom score and control in adults: the  CONSTANCES...

From Healthy Buildings in India 2025, Air Quality Matters sits down in this series of podcasts from the event. In part 1, we talk to three of the next generation of researchers looking at the science of IEQ from the region and three Industry Leaders at the coal face right now. Innovation, collaboration and knowledge sharing are themes that cut through the conversation here, from personalised venti...

Send us a text What if the very standards designed to keep us comfortable in buildings are actually making us unhealthy? This provocative question lies at the heart of groundbreaking research from Delft University of Technology. It challenges the fundamental assumptions that have guided building science for decades. Even when our buildings meet all current standards for temperature, lighting, acou...

Send us a text Is world of ambient air quality monitoring is in a deadlock. Despite having targets and technology, air pollution remains a persistent urban challenge.  Why aren't things changing? This question drives Maxime Interbrick, co-founder of Sparrow Analytics, whose company is pioneering a revolutionary approach to environmental intelligence by deploying mobile sensors on vehicle flee...

Send us a text Have you ever wondered how researchers measure something as subjective as your comfort in a building? The latest episode of Air Quality Matters takes a surprising step back from specific pollutants to examine one of the most fundamental yet overlooked tools in indoor environmental research: the questionnaire. When scientists ask you to rate how stuffy a room feels or how comfortable...

Send us a text When we talk about air pollution, we often think of it as an environmental issue – something that affects our skies and lungs. But the reality is far more complex and concerning. What if I told you that the particles you breathe in right now could be traveling through your bloodstream to every organ in your body? Sir Stephen Holgate, a distinguished physician and leading expert in r...

Send us a text What's the true financial value of a healthier workplace? This episode of Air Quality Matters dives into research from the University of Cambridge that quantifies exactly how much companies are willing to pay for healthier office environments. The research reveals a significant "health premium" of 4-6% for buildings certified under health-focused standards like WELL a...

Send us a text The journey from visible smog in Beijing to sophisticated indoor air quality monitoring systems spans just a decade, but the transformation has been remarkable. In this eye-opening conversation, Liam Bates, CEO and co-founder of Kaiterra, shares how personal experience with air pollution sparked a mission that evolved from consumer devices to enterprise-level building solutions. We...