Person: MacNaughton, Piers
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MacNaughton
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Piers
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MacNaughton, Piers
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Publication Green Buildings and Health(2016-09-28) MacNaughton, Piers; Allen, Joseph G.; Spengler, John D.; Adamkiewicz, Gary; Coull, Brent40 years of public health research on buildings has identified the indoor environmental drivers of health and productivity. Concurrently, increased environmental awareness spurred the green building movement with the goal of encouraging more sustainable buildings. The question remains as to whether green buildings are also healthy buildings. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the impact of green buildings on health and cognitive function in both laboratory and real-world settings, and furthermore quantify these impacts in comparison to the potential environmental and economic costs. First, 24 participants spent 6 work days in a controlled office environment. On different days, they were exposed to conditions representative of Conventional (high volatile organic compound (VOC) concentration), Green (low VOC concentration), and Green+ (low VOC concentration and increased ventilation) office buildings. Additional conditions tested artificially elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. On average, cognitive scores were 61% higher on the Green building day and 101% higher on the Green+ building days than on the Conventional building day (p<0.0001). VOCs and CO2 were independently associated with cognitive scores. Second, based on the finding of improved cognitive scores in buildings with enhanced ventilation, the productivity benefits were compared to the environmental and economic costs of doubling ventilation rates. The costs were less than $40 per person per year in all climate zones investigated, while the benefits in terms of productivity exceeded $6,500 per person per year. The environmental impacts could be mitigated through the implementation of energy recovery ventilators (ERVs). Lastly, we conducted building assessments of 10 high-performing buildings (i.e. buildings surpassing the ASHRAE 62.1-2010 ventilation requirement and with low VOC concentrations) in 5 cities around the U.S. while tracking the health and productivity of office workers in those buildings. Even among high-performing buildings, workers in green certified buildings scored 26.4% higher on cognitive function tests than those in non-certified buildings. Sleep Quality scores were 6.4% higher in green certified buildings, suggesting an impact of the building on sleep quality. We show significant benefits to cognitive function and health in green buildings through multiple experimental approaches, driven by factors consistent with the public health literature.Publication Economic, Environmental and Health Implications of Enhanced Ventilation in Office Buildings(MDPI, 2015) MacNaughton, Piers; Pegues, James; Satish, Usha; Santanam, Suresh; Spengler, John; Allen, JosephIntroduction: Current building ventilation standards are based on acceptable minimums. Three decades of research demonstrates the human health benefits of increased ventilation above these minimums. Recent research also shows the benefits on human decision-making performance in office workers, which translates to increased productivity. However, adoption of enhanced ventilation strategies is lagging. We sought to evaluate two of the perceived potential barriers to more widespread adoption—Economic and environmental costs. Methods: We estimated the energy consumption and associated per building occupant costs for office buildings in seven U.S. cities, representing different climate zones for three ventilation scenarios (standard practice (20 cfm/person), 30% enhanced ventilation, and 40 cfm/person) and four different heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system strategies (Variable Air Volume (VAV) with reheat and a Fan Coil Unit (FCU), both with and without an energy recovery ventilator). We also estimated emissions of greenhouse gases associated with this increased energy usage, and, for comparison, converted this to the equivalent number of vehicles using greenhouse gas equivalencies. Lastly, we paired results from our previous research on cognitive function and ventilation with labor statistics to estimate the economic benefit of increased productivity associated with increasing ventilation rates. Results: Doubling the ventilation rate from the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers minimum cost less than $40 per person per year in all climate zones investigated. Using an energy recovery ventilation system significantly reduced energy costs, and in some scenarios led to a net savings. At the highest ventilation rate, adding an ERV essentially neutralized the environmental impact of enhanced ventilation (0.03 additional cars on the road per building across all cities). The same change in ventilation improved the performance of workers by 8%, equivalent to a $6500 increase in employee productivity each year. Reduced absenteeism and improved health are also seen with enhanced ventilation. Conclusions: The health benefits associated with enhanced ventilation rates far exceed the per-person energy costs relative to salary costs. Environmental impacts can be mitigated at regional, building, and individual-level scales through the transition to renewable energy sources, adoption of energy efficient systems and ventilation strategies, and promotion of other sustainable policies.Publication Impact of Particulate Matter Exposure and Surrounding “Greenness” on Chronic Absenteeism in Massachusetts Public Schools(MDPI, 2017) MacNaughton, Piers; Eitland, Erika; Kloog, Itai; Schwartz, Joel; Allen, JosephChronic absenteeism is associated with poorer academic performance and higher attrition in kindergarten to 12th grade (K-12) schools. In prior research, students who were chronically absent generally had fewer employment opportunities and worse health after graduation. We examined the impact that environmental factors surrounding schools have on chronic absenteeism. We estimated the greenness (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)) and fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5) within 250 m and 1000 m respectively of each public school in Massachusetts during the 2012–2013 academic year using satellite-based data. We modeled chronic absenteeism rates in the same year as a function of PM2.5 and NDVI, controlling for race and household income. Among the 1772 public schools in Massachusetts, a 0.15 increase in NDVI during the academic year was associated with a 2.6% (p value < 0.0001) reduction in chronic absenteeism rates, and a 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 during the academic year was associated with a 1.58% (p value < 0.0001) increase in chronic absenteeism rates. Based on these percentage changes in chronic absenteeism, a 0.15 increase in NDVI and 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 correspond to 25,837 fewer students and 15,852 more students chronically absent each year in Massachusetts respectively. These environmental impacts on absenteeism reinforce the need to protect green spaces and reduce air pollution around schools.Publication Associations of Cognitive Function Scores with Carbon Dioxide, Ventilation, and Volatile Organic Compound Exposures in Office Workers: A Controlled Exposure Study of Green and Conventional Office Environments(National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 2015) Allen, Joseph; MacNaughton, Piers; Satish, Usha; Santanam, Suresh; Vallarino, Jose; Spengler, JohnBackground: The indoor built environment plays a critical role in our overall well-being because of both the amount of time we spend indoors (~90%) and the ability of buildings to positively or negatively influence our health. The advent of sustainable design or green building strategies reinvigorated questions regarding the specific factors in buildings that lead to optimized conditions for health and productivity. Objective: We simulated indoor environmental quality (IEQ) conditions in “Green” and “Conventional” buildings and evaluated the impacts on an objective measure of human performance: higher-order cognitive function. Methods: Twenty-four participants spent 6 full work days (0900–1700 hours) in an environmentally controlled office space, blinded to test conditions. On different days, they were exposed to IEQ conditions representative of Conventional [high concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)] and Green (low concentrations of VOCs) office buildings in the United States. Additional conditions simulated a Green building with a high outdoor air ventilation rate (labeled Green+) and artificially elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels independent of ventilation. Results: On average, cognitive scores were 61% higher on the Green building day and 101% higher on the two Green+ building days than on the Conventional building day (p < 0.0001). VOCs and CO2 were independently associated with cognitive scores. Conclusions: Cognitive function scores were significantly better under Green+ building conditions than in the Conventional building conditions for all nine functional domains. These findings have wide-ranging implications because this study was designed to reflect conditions that are commonly encountered every day in many indoor environments. Citation: Allen JG, MacNaughton P, Satish U, Santanam S, Vallarino J, Spengler JD. 2016. Associations of cognitive function scores with carbon dioxide, ventilation, and volatile organic compound exposures in office workers: a controlled exposure study of green and conventional office environments. Environ Health Perspect 124:805–812; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510037