A project to tackle the mounting rate of illness through poor indoor air quality in commercial buildings, in which AREMA has agreed to be a partner, has just been awarded $5million for it to get started.
AREMA had agreed to partner with the Queensland University of Technology which had made the bid for research funds to the Australian Research Council.
The extend of AREMA’s involvement in the project will be worked out soon.
The $5 million grant will be used to establish the ARC Training Centre for Advanced Building Systems Against Airborne Infection Transmission.
The aim of the centre is to address the fundamental question of how to mitigate the risk of indoor airborne infection transmission. The centre will work with partners, including AREMA, to develop training programs, conduct research into indoor air characteristics and initiate new guidelines and standards for building ventilation.
Australians spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors, and the burden of inadequate indoor air quality is only beginning to emerge. Inhalation of infectious pathogens, vehicle emissions and other contaminants are contributing to rising rates of infections.
According to the World Health Organization, ‘Respiratory diseases are leading causes of death and disability in the world. Three million die from it each year. Only with the COVID pandemic has a significant mode of infection transmission – airborne transmission – been recognised by the government and the public as an area of urgent concern. Reducing transmission of airborne pathogens has become a clear necessity in buildings.’
