Professor Shelly Miller co-authored a new publication, which can be found in volume 169 in the Environmental Research Journal and is titled “Relationships between home ventilation rates and respiratory health in the Colorado Home Energy Efficiency and Respiratory Health (CHEER) study.” This publication discusses her evaluation of the relationship between air exchange rates and respiratory health in a multi-ethnic population living in low-income, urban homes. The basis for her research steams from the fact that as societies adopt green building practices to reduce energy expenditures and emissions that contribute to climate change, it is important to consider how such building design changes influence health. These practices typically focus on reducing air exchange rates between the building interior and the outdoor environment, to minimize energy loss and health effects of which are not well known or documented.
Shelly achieved this by enrolling 302 people in 216 non-smoking, low-income single-family homes, duplexes and townhomes from Colorado's Northern Front Range. A blower door test (measures the airtightness of buildings, measure airflow between building zones, tests ductwork airtightness, and to help physically locate air leakage sites in the building) was conducted and the annual average air exchange rate (AAER) was estimated for each home. Respiratory health was assessed using a structured questionnaire based on standard instruments. The research found that air exchange rates in many homes were high compared to prior studies. Additionally, residents in homes with higher AAER were more likely to report a chronic cough, asthma and asthma-like symptoms, including taking medication for wheeze and dry cough at night. The association between AAER and asthma-like symptoms was stronger for households located in areas with high potential exposure to traffic related pollutants, but this was not consistent across all health outcomes. This shows that high ventilation rates in single-family homes, duplexes, and townhomes in urban areas may also have negative impacts on respiratory health, possibly due to the infiltration of outdoor pollutants.