The short-term effect of residential home energy retrofits on indoor air quality and microbial exposure: A case-control study.
Weatherization of residential homes is a widespread procedure to retrofit older homes to improve the energy efficiency by reducing building leakage. Several studies have evaluated the effect of weatherization on indoor pollutants, such as formaldehyde, radon, and indoor particulates, but few studies...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2021-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0230700&type=printable |
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| author | Mytien Nguyen Eric C Holmes Largus T Angenent |
| author_facet | Mytien Nguyen Eric C Holmes Largus T Angenent |
| author_sort | Mytien Nguyen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Weatherization of residential homes is a widespread procedure to retrofit older homes to improve the energy efficiency by reducing building leakage. Several studies have evaluated the effect of weatherization on indoor pollutants, such as formaldehyde, radon, and indoor particulates, but few studies have evaluated the effect of weatherization on indoor microbial exposure. Here, we monitored indoor pollutants and bacterial communities during reductions in building leakage for weatherized single-family residential homes in New York State and compared the data to non-weatherized homes. Nine weatherized and eleven non-weatherized single-family homes in Tompkins County, New York were sampled twice: before and after the weatherization procedures for case homes, and at least 3 months apart for control homes that were not weatherized. We found that weatherization efforts led to a significant increase in radon levels, a shift in indoor microbial community, and a warmer and less humid indoor environment. In addition, we found that changes in indoor airborne bacterial load after weatherization were more sensitive to shifts in season, whereas indoor radon levels were more sensitive to ventilation rates. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4eb61e0c7ee74d42a912f073f55084da |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-4eb61e0c7ee74d42a912f073f55084da2025-08-20T02:00:56ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-01169e023070010.1371/journal.pone.0230700The short-term effect of residential home energy retrofits on indoor air quality and microbial exposure: A case-control study.Mytien NguyenEric C HolmesLargus T AngenentWeatherization of residential homes is a widespread procedure to retrofit older homes to improve the energy efficiency by reducing building leakage. Several studies have evaluated the effect of weatherization on indoor pollutants, such as formaldehyde, radon, and indoor particulates, but few studies have evaluated the effect of weatherization on indoor microbial exposure. Here, we monitored indoor pollutants and bacterial communities during reductions in building leakage for weatherized single-family residential homes in New York State and compared the data to non-weatherized homes. Nine weatherized and eleven non-weatherized single-family homes in Tompkins County, New York were sampled twice: before and after the weatherization procedures for case homes, and at least 3 months apart for control homes that were not weatherized. We found that weatherization efforts led to a significant increase in radon levels, a shift in indoor microbial community, and a warmer and less humid indoor environment. In addition, we found that changes in indoor airborne bacterial load after weatherization were more sensitive to shifts in season, whereas indoor radon levels were more sensitive to ventilation rates.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0230700&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Mytien Nguyen Eric C Holmes Largus T Angenent The short-term effect of residential home energy retrofits on indoor air quality and microbial exposure: A case-control study. PLoS ONE |
| title | The short-term effect of residential home energy retrofits on indoor air quality and microbial exposure: A case-control study. |
| title_full | The short-term effect of residential home energy retrofits on indoor air quality and microbial exposure: A case-control study. |
| title_fullStr | The short-term effect of residential home energy retrofits on indoor air quality and microbial exposure: A case-control study. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The short-term effect of residential home energy retrofits on indoor air quality and microbial exposure: A case-control study. |
| title_short | The short-term effect of residential home energy retrofits on indoor air quality and microbial exposure: A case-control study. |
| title_sort | short term effect of residential home energy retrofits on indoor air quality and microbial exposure a case control study |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0230700&type=printable |
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