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: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=717511
• 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.

建筑环境作为现代人类的主要栖息地，包含活生物体和死亡生物体（称为室内微生物组）的复杂混合物，这不仅会影响居住者的福祉和生产力，还会使建筑物的不同部分恶化，导致材料的结构性能发生不良变化。此外，由于建筑环境是资源开采和建筑行业大量二氧化碳排放的主要引擎，因此它也是气候变化相关问题的部分原因。近年来，为了减少温室气体排放，绿色建筑设计以及新型生物来源绿色材料在非结构性和结构性室内应用中的使用有所增加。然而，新兴的绿色材料是可自然生物降解的，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将如何影响此类可持续建筑的结构完整性和室内空气质量。 我的长期愿景是通过整合建筑环境生态动态的潜在因素来应对气候变化，以及它们对新兴绿色建筑材料环境性能的影响，从而设计出新的理解和方法，以更好地设计健康、有弹性和可持续的建筑。在短期内，通过这个发现计划，我的目标是研究气象因素对室内空气质量动态以及有植物（亲生物设计）和没有植物（非亲生物设计）的办公室中微生物群落的影响。此外，我的目标是更好地了解室内微生物群对在自然事件（例如气候变化导致的洪水）影响日益加大的情况下，在亲生物和非亲生物空间中使用的精选绿色建筑材料的物理和机械性能恶化的季节性影响。随后，我还旨在评估实验室规模的基因增强天然纤维对抗微生物降解的性能，以供未来的潜在应用。也就是说，后者旨在开发一种新技术，从根本上使易受影响的绿色建筑材料对微生物生长和代谢活动（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健康、弹性和可持续建筑设计方面的领导地位，最终使设计师和建筑师能够更优化地使用植物和抗微生物材料，同时减少气候变化造成的潜在长期经济损失。