RAPID: Understanding the Interrelationships Among Floods, Building Characteristics, Mold Growth and Occupants’ Asthma Symptoms in the Aftermath of Hurricane Ida

RAPID：了解洪水、建筑特征、霉菌生长和居住者之间的相互关系——艾达飓风过后的哮喘症状

• 批准号: 2203180
• 负责人: Ebrahim Ahmadisharaf
• 金额: $ 10.79万
• 依托单位: Florida State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-12-01 至 2024-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2203180&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Understanding; Interrelationships; Among; Floods

Extensive dampness and mold growth in buildings are some of the most common, yet overlooked indirect impacts of floods, which adversely affect the human respiratory health, particularly among asthmatic individuals. Threats posed by these events are anticipated to intensify in the future due to the climate change, aging infrastructures and rapid population growth, exposing a broader range of communities to flooding. There is currently a lack of understanding on interrelationships among flood characteristics and drivers, building and HVAC system properties (e.g., ventilation rates), human behaviors (e.g., time spent in homes) and vulnerability to mold growth (e.g., asthma symptoms) in the built environment, particularly in residential buildings. Hurricane Ida, a catastrophic event with huge losses, created a rare and unique opportunity to study these interrelationships since it caused various flood intensity levels within a short timeframe and affected a wide range of communities with diverse demographics and asthma prevalence. This Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) project will collect critical data in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida across West South Central and Northeastern Regions of the US in order to study the abovementioned interrelationships in submerged or water-damaged residential buildings. The collected data and identified relationships can be used to guide building designers and occupational health scientists to establish resilient indoor environments, provide a foundation to develop flood-induced mold growth and asthma risk models, assist public health officials and emergency managers to have a better understanding of indirect health-related impacts of floods and support the development of timely strategies for disaster management in population centers. Our interdisciplinary team seeks to answer the following scientific questions: (1) what flood characteristics and drivers, building and HVAC system properties and human behaviors cause higher levels of mold growth in residential buildings? and (2) how does living in submerged or water-damaged houses after floods affect asthma symptoms among the residents? To answer these questions, we will investigate the aftermath of Hurricane Ida and collect critical data required for examining human respiratory health risks associated with mold growth in water-damaged and submerged wooden single-family houses located across New Orleans, New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. We will explore a comprehensive range of factors influencing mold growth in submerged or water-damaged buildings of two distant regions affected by a catastrophic hurricane event. A combination of online surveys, comprehensive questionnaires, home inspections and existing datasets will be used to collect information on flooding, respiratory health and built environment. The project will develop a unified empirical database of flood characteristics and drivers, building and HVAC system properties, human behaviors, mold growth and asthma symptoms, which is essential to advance the scientific understanding of flood impacts on human respiratory health in the built environments.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

建筑物中的大面积潮湿和霉菌生长是洪水最常见但却被忽视的间接影响，这对人类呼吸系统健康产生了不利影响，特别是在哮喘患者中。由于气候变化、基础设施老化和人口快速增长，预计这些事件构成的威胁未来将加剧，使更广泛的社区面临洪水。目前缺乏对洪水特性和驱动因素、建筑物和HVAC系统属性（例如，通风率），人类行为（例如，在家中花费的时间）和对霉菌生长的脆弱性（例如，哮喘症状）在建筑环境中，特别是在住宅建筑中。飓风艾达是一个造成巨大损失的灾难性事件，它为研究这些相互关系创造了一个罕见而独特的机会，因为它在很短的时间内造成了各种洪水强度，并影响了人口统计和哮喘患病率不同的广泛社区。这个快速反应研究（RAPID）项目的赠款将收集关键数据，在飓风艾达横跨美国西南部和东北部地区，以研究淹没或水损坏的住宅建筑物的上述相互关系。收集到的数据和确定的关系可以用来指导建筑设计师和职业健康科学家建立弹性室内环境，提供一个基础，以开发洪水引起的霉菌生长和哮喘风险模型，协助公共卫生官员和应急管理人员有一个更好的了解间接的健康相关的影响洪水和支持人口中心的灾害管理的及时战略的发展。我们的跨学科团队致力于回答以下科学问题：（1）哪些洪水特征和驱动因素、建筑和暖通空调系统特性以及人类行为导致住宅建筑中霉菌生长水平较高？以及（2）洪水后居住在被淹没或水损坏的房屋中如何影响居民的哮喘症状？为了回答这些问题，我们将调查飓风艾达的后果，并收集所需的关键数据，以检查与位于新奥尔良，纽约市和费城大都市区的水损坏和淹没的木制单户住宅中霉菌生长相关的人类呼吸系统健康风险。我们将探讨一个全面的因素影响霉菌生长淹没或水损坏的建筑物的两个遥远的地区受到灾难性的飓风事件。将结合在线调查、综合问卷、家庭检查和现有数据集，收集有关洪水、呼吸健康和建筑环境的信息。该项目将开发一个统一的经验数据库，包括洪水特征和驱动因素、建筑物和HVAC系统特性、人类行为、霉菌生长和哮喘症状，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的评估来支持。影响审查标准。