COVID seems like it is here to stay, and as we move into an endemic era, we need reliable and cost-effective solutions to support safe indoor congregation. If air contamination levels can be examined in buildings, we may be able to better control and identify COVID-19 outbreaks.

Localized surveillance and environmental controls are two critical factors. In our new paper, we show that improved ventilation and aerosol surveillance can be important parts of an overall strategy to support safe indoor activities. Using the AerosolSense Sampler, a machine that helps us collect air samples, we observed a 50% reduction in aerosol viral load (RNA) when dorm room windows were open. Additionally, we saw statistically significant relationships between human viral load (nose, mouth) and environmental samples.

These results may guide environmental viral surveillance strategies and be used to better control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 within built environments and better protect those caring for individuals with COVID-19.

Read our paper here.

The Biology and the Built Environment Center and IHBE are looking to add a post-doc to the team! Help us investigate fundamental questions surrounding the role of microorganisms in the built environment and in relation to human health outcomes. The position is open until filled.

Learn more and apply here.

Because buildings are the engine of our economy, we should do whatever we can to reduce the risk of indoor transmission.  As we consider further opening our economy, and therefore occupy more buildings, we should begin routine testing of our buildings for SARS-CoV-2. Concurrently, we should implement a bundle of building measures following guidance in our recent paper, that of the AIA, and of the ASHRAE. We should continue with routine testing for SARS-CoV-2 in our buildings to generate an evidence-based approach to reduce potential disease transmission risks indoors.

We are launching a campaign to test buildings for the virus – learn more!

As corporate entities, city, county, state and federal governments around the world take action against the spread of COVID-19, the built environment has been thrust onto center stage with a prominent role. Therefore, the unique expertise of researchers at the University of Oregon’s Biology and the Built Environment Center (BioBE) and collaborators at #microBEnet joined together to co-author a review paper on the role of the built environment in reducing transmission and submitted it yesterday to Nature Communications and to bioRxiv this morning. While it is currently under review, we wanted to share the information quickly and will share updated links on this website when they become available.

The paper is called “2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak: A Review of the Current Literature and Built Environment (BE) Considerations to Reduce Transmission”  The Abstract is below and the draft PDF is here.

Abstract

With the increasing spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that results in coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), corporate entities, federal, state, county and city governments, universities, school districts, health care facilities, assisted living organizations, daycares, homeowners, and other building owners and occupants have an opportunity to reduce the potential for transmission through built environment (BE) mediated pathways.  Over the last decade, substantial research into the presence, abundance, diversity, function, and transmission of microbes in the BE has taken place and revealed common pathogen exchange pathways and mechanisms. In this paper, we synthesize this microbiology of the BE research and the known information about SARS-CoV-2 to provide actionable and achievable guidance to BE decision makers, building operators, and all indoor occupants attempting to minimize infectious disease transmission through environmentally mediated pathways. We believe this information will be useful to corporate and public administrators and individuals responsible for building operations and environmental services in their decision-making process about whether to implement social-distancing measures and for what duration.

With the recent passing of one of our dearest members, founders and influencers; we are remembering GZ “Charlie” Brown with high regards knowing how much he impacted architecture and everyone around him throughout his life. Specifically, his time here at the University of Oregon. The full article can be found here on the Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory website.

This past January 2020, the publication How Light Exposure Changes Bacterial Communities in Household Dust was published under new discovery at Frontiers for Young Minds. The full article can be read here on their website.

Rosenberg, S., Ishaq, S., May, J., and Fahimipour, A.K. How light exposure changes bacterial communities in household dust. Frontiers for Young Minds. Article. Jan 2020.

Abstract

Did you know that there are bacteria living in the dust found inside many buildings? Most of these bacteria are harmless, but some might make us sick. We wanted to test how bacteria living in dust would be affected by light: which types would live and which types would die? To test this, we put dust in model offices for 90 days, under different lighting conditions, and measured the effects of light on the bacteria in that dust. We found that certain types of bacteria could not survive indoors when daylight entered rooms through ordinary windows. Understanding how different kinds of microbes thrive or decline in different environments is crucial, as we strive to create buildings of the future that can help us stay healthy, or at least do not make us sick as often.

Hot off the press, a new review on health in the built environment is available today!  The article is found here, but an open-access, view-only version is available here.  It’s part of the Healthy Building special issue from the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology.  It was led by undergrad (now post-bac) Patrick Horve and Sue Ishaq acted as managing author.

Building upon current knowledge and techniques of indoor microbiology to construct the next era of theory into microorganisms, health, and the built environment. Patrick F. Horve, Savanna Lloyd, Gwynne A. Mhuireach, Leslie Dietz, Mark Fretz, Georgia MacCrone, Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg & Suzanne L. Ishaq.  Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology (2019) 

Abstract

In the constructed habitat in which we spend up to 90% of our time, architectural design influences occupants’ behavioral patterns, interactions with objects, surfaces, rituals, the outside environment, and each other. Within this built environment, human behavior and building design contribute to the accrual and dispersal of microorganisms; it is a collection of fomites that transfer microorganisms; reservoirs that collect biomass; structures that induce human or air movement patterns; and space types that encourage proximity or isolation between humans whose personal microbial clouds disperse cells into buildings. There have been recent calls to incorporate building microbiology into occupant health and exposure research and standards, yet the built environment is largely viewed as a repository for microorganisms which are to be eliminated, instead of a habitat which is inexorably linked to the microbial influences of building inhabitants. Health sectors have re-evaluated the role of microorganisms in health, incorporating microorganisms into prevention and treatment protocols, yet no paradigm shift has occurred with respect to microbiology of the built environment, despite calls to do so. Technological and logistical constraints often preclude our ability to link health outcomes to indoor microbiology, yet sufficient study exists to inform the theory and implementation of the next era of research and intervention in the built environment. This review presents built environment characteristics in relation to human health and disease, explores some of the current experimental strategies and interventions which explore health in the built environment, and discusses an emerging model for fostering indoor microbiology rather than fearing it.

Recently, Dr. Gwynne Mhuireach published one of the chapters from her dissertation, on evaluating bacteria found in air from vegetated or paved areas in an urban setting!

Mhuireach, G.Á., Betancourt-Román, C.M., Green, J.L., Johnson B.R. 2019. Spatiotemporal controls on the urban aerobiome. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7:43. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00043

Abstract:

Greater exposure to environmental microorganisms has been hypothesized to reduce the likelihood of developing autoimmune disorders, and vegetation is known to be a source of diverse microbiota to the air. However, the spatiotemporal dynamics of airborne microbial communities in urban environments with varying amounts and types of vegetation are poorly understood. In this study we used high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene to assess whether fine-scale variation in urban vegetation influences the diversity, composition, or structure of airborne bacterial communities over time. We used passive settling dishes to collect airborne bacteria from 36 sites representing three urban land cover types (forest, grassland, paved) over a 3-month period in Eugene-Springfield, Oregon, USA. We used remote sensing data (aerial 4-band orthoimagery and LiDAR) and geographic information systems (GIS) to assess detailed site characteristics (e.g., total vegetation cover and structural diversity) for each site. Our initial analysis indicated that site was the most important factor explaining variation in bacterial community structure (R² = 0.32, p < 0.001), followed by sampling date (R² = 0.24, p < 0.001), while land cover type was a significant but weak predictor (R² = 0.06, p < 0.001) and other vegetation metrics were even less predictive. However, when samples were analyzed separately by date, the explanatory power of land cover type increased substantially; six of nine dates showed significant effects (p < 0.05) with R² ranging from 0.16–0.31, indicating that land cover type had a marked influence on bacterial community structure that was obscured by the effects of site and sampling date. Despite the importance of site as a predictor of bacterial community structure, Mantel tests for spatial correlation were insignificant for most sampling dates, suggesting that localized site characteristics were driving this relationship. We use our results to propose a space-time conceptual model of the interactions between site-scale environmental features (e.g., vegetation characteristics) and regional-scale temporal processes and events (e.g., agricultural harvesting) to understand and perhaps manage intraurban airborne bacterial communities.

Another of BioBE’s stellar student researchers is headed to graduate school! Sam Velazquez has been working with Dr. Sue Ishaq on bioinformatics in our lab. She is a bright face in the room, conducting experiments, programming, working on data visualization, and taking initiative on a variety of projects in the lab, so it’s no wonder that she’s been accepted into the University of Oregon’s Bioinformatics and Genomics Master’s Program!  The program is a combination of in silico academics and training internships offered through a variety of local institutions.

Sam is completing her bachelors in Biology. She’s currently looking into the applications of probiotic cleaning solutions. We are excited to see what she embarks on next.

Congratulations Sam!

This Saturday, April 13th, is the 2019 UO Science and Invention Fair, held on campus in Willamette Hall from 11 am to 3 pm.  The Fair is designed for children in grades K – 8 to meet local scientists, and develop an enthusiasm for STEM using hands-on activities and carrying out their own experiment.

BioBE will be there, with sampling materials and culture plates: help us investigate the microbiology of the built environment!