Ten questions concerning the future of residential indoor air quality and its environmental justice implications

D. Booker; G. Petrou; L. Chatzidiakou; D. Das; F. Farooq; L. Ferguson; OE.I. Jutila; K. Milczewska; M. Modlich; A. Moreno Rangel; S.K. Thakrar; A.M. Yeoman; M. Davies; M.I. Mead; M.R. Miller; O. Wild; Z. Shi; A. Mavrogianni; R.M. Doherty

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.112957

Ten questions concerning the future of residential indoor air quality and its environmental justice implications

D. Booker^*, G. Petrou, L. Chatzidiakou, D. Das, F. Farooq, L. Ferguson, OE.I. Jutila, K. Milczewska, M. Modlich, A. Moreno Rangel, S.K. Thakrar, A.M. Yeoman, M. Davies, M.I. Mead, M.R. Miller, O. Wild, Z. Shi, A. Mavrogianni, R.M. Doherty

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Humans spend a large proportion of their time at home, where exposure to poor indoor air quality has detrimental – and often inequitably distributed – impacts on health and wellbeing. Unprecedented changes to residential indoor environments are expected in the coming decades, especially in order to meet net zero energy and greenhouse gas emissions targets. However, it is unclear how these changes will affect indoor air quality, and to what extent they will differentially impact different social groups. In this paper, we pose and address ten questions concerning the future of residential indoor air quality and its environmental justice implications. We pay attention to environmental justice in relation to indoor air quality, including distributive, procedural, recognition, capabilities, and epistemic dimensions. The ten questions specifically address: social gradients in health and exposure, and how changes in climate, policies, behaviours, technologies, populations, and demographics might affect residential indoor air quality and environmental justice. We also highlight the role that transdisciplinary research can play in improving residential indoor air quality in a more environmentally just way.

Original language	English
Article number	112957
Number of pages	16
Journal	Building and Environment
Volume	278
Early online date	1 Apr 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.112957
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 1 Apr 2025

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Indoor air quality
Environmental justice
Housing
Residential
Inequality
Climate change

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10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.112957Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

Ten questions concerning the future_BOOKER_DOA31032025_VOR_CC-BYFinal published version, 3.3 MBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132325004391Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

The health and equity impacts of climate change mitigation measures on indoor and outdoor air pollution exposure (HEICCAM)
Doherty, R. (Principal Investigator), Pearce, J. (Co-investigator) & van der Horst, D. (Co-investigator)
Natural Environment Research Council
1/09/20 → 31/12/24
Project: Research

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Booker, D., Petrou, G., Chatzidiakou, L., Das, D., Farooq, F., Ferguson, L., Jutila, OE. I., Milczewska, K., Modlich, M., Rangel, A. M., Thakrar, S. K., Yeoman, A. M., Davies, M., Mead, M. I., Miller, M. R., Wild, O., Shi, Z., Mavrogianni, A., & Doherty, R. M. (2025). Ten questions concerning the future of residential indoor air quality and its environmental justice implications. Building and Environment, 278, Article 112957. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.112957

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abstract = "Humans spend a large proportion of their time at home, where exposure to poor indoor air quality has detrimental – and often inequitably distributed – impacts on health and wellbeing. Unprecedented changes to residential indoor environments are expected in the coming decades, especially in order to meet net zero energy and greenhouse gas emissions targets. However, it is unclear how these changes will affect indoor air quality, and to what extent they will differentially impact different social groups. In this paper, we pose and address ten questions concerning the future of residential indoor air quality and its environmental justice implications. We pay attention to environmental justice in relation to indoor air quality, including distributive, procedural, recognition, capabilities, and epistemic dimensions. The ten questions specifically address: social gradients in health and exposure, and how changes in climate, policies, behaviours, technologies, populations, and demographics might affect residential indoor air quality and environmental justice. We also highlight the role that transdisciplinary research can play in improving residential indoor air quality in a more environmentally just way.",

keywords = "Indoor air quality, Environmental justice, Housing, Residential, Inequality, Climate change",

author = "D. Booker and G. Petrou and L. Chatzidiakou and D. Das and F. Farooq and L. Ferguson and OE.I. Jutila and K. Milczewska and M. Modlich and Rangel, {A. Moreno} and S.K. Thakrar and A.M. Yeoman and M. Davies and M.I. Mead and M.R. Miller and O. Wild and Z. Shi and A. Mavrogianni and R.M. Doherty",

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Booker, D, Petrou, G, Chatzidiakou, L, Das, D, Farooq, F, Ferguson, L, Jutila, OEI, Milczewska, K, Modlich, M, Rangel, AM, Thakrar, SK, Yeoman, AM, Davies, M, Mead, MI, Miller, MR, Wild, O, Shi, Z, Mavrogianni, A & Doherty, RM 2025, 'Ten questions concerning the future of residential indoor air quality and its environmental justice implications', Building and Environment, vol. 278, 112957. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.112957

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T1 - Ten questions concerning the future of residential indoor air quality and its environmental justice implications

AU - Booker, D.

AU - Petrou, G.

AU - Chatzidiakou, L.

AU - Das, D.

AU - Farooq, F.

AU - Ferguson, L.

AU - Jutila, OE.I.

AU - Milczewska, K.

AU - Modlich, M.

AU - Rangel, A. Moreno

AU - Thakrar, S.K.

AU - Yeoman, A.M.

AU - Davies, M.

AU - Mead, M.I.

AU - Miller, M.R.

AU - Wild, O.

AU - Shi, Z.

AU - Mavrogianni, A.

AU - Doherty, R.M.

PY - 2025/4/1

Y1 - 2025/4/1

N2 - Humans spend a large proportion of their time at home, where exposure to poor indoor air quality has detrimental – and often inequitably distributed – impacts on health and wellbeing. Unprecedented changes to residential indoor environments are expected in the coming decades, especially in order to meet net zero energy and greenhouse gas emissions targets. However, it is unclear how these changes will affect indoor air quality, and to what extent they will differentially impact different social groups. In this paper, we pose and address ten questions concerning the future of residential indoor air quality and its environmental justice implications. We pay attention to environmental justice in relation to indoor air quality, including distributive, procedural, recognition, capabilities, and epistemic dimensions. The ten questions specifically address: social gradients in health and exposure, and how changes in climate, policies, behaviours, technologies, populations, and demographics might affect residential indoor air quality and environmental justice. We also highlight the role that transdisciplinary research can play in improving residential indoor air quality in a more environmentally just way.

AB - Humans spend a large proportion of their time at home, where exposure to poor indoor air quality has detrimental – and often inequitably distributed – impacts on health and wellbeing. Unprecedented changes to residential indoor environments are expected in the coming decades, especially in order to meet net zero energy and greenhouse gas emissions targets. However, it is unclear how these changes will affect indoor air quality, and to what extent they will differentially impact different social groups. In this paper, we pose and address ten questions concerning the future of residential indoor air quality and its environmental justice implications. We pay attention to environmental justice in relation to indoor air quality, including distributive, procedural, recognition, capabilities, and epistemic dimensions. The ten questions specifically address: social gradients in health and exposure, and how changes in climate, policies, behaviours, technologies, populations, and demographics might affect residential indoor air quality and environmental justice. We also highlight the role that transdisciplinary research can play in improving residential indoor air quality in a more environmentally just way.

KW - Indoor air quality

KW - Environmental justice

KW - Housing

KW - Residential

KW - Inequality

KW - Climate change

U2 - 10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.112957

DO - 10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.112957

M3 - Article

SN - 0360-1323

VL - 278

JO - Building and Environment

JF - Building and Environment

M1 - 112957

ER -

Ten questions concerning the future of residential indoor air quality and its environmental justice implications

Abstract

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

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Projects

The health and equity impacts of climate change mitigation measures on indoor and outdoor air pollution exposure (HEICCAM)

Cite this