The UK is building 1.5 million new homes in the next five years, but 80% of existing housing stock is over 40 years old—and neither wave of construction has a systematic way to ensure healthy indoor air. This network tackles a gap that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed: despite cheap sensors, better filters, and a surge in public awareness about airborne pollutants and pathogens, no comprehensive framework exists to translate those lessons into actual building practice. Architects, engineers, public health researchers, and construction firms still work in disciplinary silos. The network will break those silos by funding pilot studies, running roundtables and sandpits, and offering pump-priming grants for high-risk, interdisciplinary ideas. If successful, the network could change how homes, schools, and offices are designed and retrofitted—not just for air quality, but for thermal comfort, energy efficiency, and the mental health of occupants. It also aims to train a new generation of researchers through mentorship and bursaries, particularly for early-career and underrepresented groups. The work is applied and translational: it targets a concrete, everyday problem—the air people breathe indoors—and seeks to embed health into the fabric of the built environment.
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BreatHE IN will generate 1) a network to champion Healthier Environments and increase public awareness about the benefits of strengthening this research area; 2) a holistic, cross-disciplinary framework to transfer knowledge across academia, industry and the public sector; 3) a hub to fund and promote innovative ideas in this new area of research. More than 1.5 M new homes are to be built in the next five years in the UK, where 80% of the UK housing stock is more than 40 years old. The COVID-19 pandemic brought awareness on the presence of airborne pollutants and pathogens - particularly in indoor environments. The popularisation of sensors and filters highlighted the importance of air quality within built environments and the need for appropriate ventilation. However, four years later, and despite relevant technological advances, there is still a need for comprehensive methodologies and tools to implement the lessons learned in construction practice. It is crucial to incorporate health considerations in the new wave of building and retrofitting. BI will promote high-risk/high-reward interdisciplinary research. The network will develop roundtables and sandpits and offer participants the possibility to apply for pump-priming funding to develop pilot or proof of concept studies. The Network will make particular emphasis in building a legacy. We will set up a mentorship scheme and allocate funds for bursaries for early career researchers and those in underrepresented groups to train the new generation of researchers in the field. We will facilitate and foster the co-creation of long-term collaborations and research proposals. BI’s approach puts the building environment in the centre to cut through disciplinary barriers. We will promote and fund research directed to further our understanding and improve the air quality and thermal comfort of indoor environments and to reduce or suppress the spread of pollutants and airborne pathogens. BI is also interested in strategies to co-deliver high air quality standards and energy efficiency. Finally, we also want to understand how these aspects can affect (and improve) the life and mental health of the building’s occupants and users.
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