The White House Summit on Indoor Air Quality
On October 11th, 2022, the White House held its first-ever Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Summit, describing the importance of adopting more strategies to implement indoor air quality improvements nationally and announcing billions in related funding.
The global pandemic of COVID-19 has engaged a national focus on how indoor air quality is key to preventing the spread of infectious diseases and providing a myriad of other health-related benefits.
The White House Summit on Indoor Air Quality gathered a collection of experts and institutions across public and private sectors to discuss and analyze best practices for improving indoor air quality in buildings and promoting clean indoor air as a powerful preventative effort.
Presentations and panelists described how tackling IAQ must be a collaborative effort across multiple sectors built on infrastructure, training, and personnel changes. Buildings that serve as community hubs for the elderly and schools must be prioritized as healthy spaces. Improving IAQ prevents the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19 and provides several health benefits, especially to our nation’s most vulnerable populations.
Most experts agreed that affordable and accessible technology is key to bettering IAQ, with Joseph Allen of The Lancet COVID-19 Commission stating, “Seeing an IAQ monitor on the wall should be as normal as seeing a thermostat.”
White House officials, and experts, emphasized that current policy must seize the moment to create an agenda around sustainability and air quality; this paired with the announcement of the Clean Air in Buildings pledge opportunity alongside more American Rescue Plan funding for building improvements.
The White House Summit on Indoor Air Quality emphasized that the Biden Administration wants to tackle bettering indoor air quality head-on as it will be a vital tool for improving health and preventing the spread of infectious diseases outside of COVID-19. As part of a public effort, the federal government has directed billions in funding from the American Rescue Plan and beyond to change how IAQ in buildings across the nation is addressed.
In closing, Dr. Arati Prabhakar, the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, emphasized the everyday importance of IAQ by describing her family’s relief that “something as simple as filtering our air in our home could actually give us a place to be safe” during multiple crises like COVID-19 and wildfires.