A multi-city study of indoor air quality in green vs non-green low-income housing.

The condition of the home is a strong predictor of exposure to environmental contaminants, with low-income households being particularly vulnerable. Therefore, improving housing standards is a priority. Housing built to "green" standards, with improved building methods and materials, has been suggested to reduce contaminants. However, evidence is limited as to which contaminants are reduced. The Green Housing Study was conducted to address this issue. The study hypothesis was that housing built using green components has lower concentrations of environmental contaminants compared to conventional housing. A repeated-measures, 12-month cohort study was performed in three U.S. cities. Data were collected in the home at three time points throughout a year. The level of contaminants were estimated using air samples for particulate matter and black carbon, dust samples for aeroallergens and pesticides, and resident or study staff reporting evidence of mold. To investigate source(s) of PM In adjusted generalized estimating equations (GEE) models, black carbon concentration (μg/m This study provides quantitative data suggesting benefits of incorporating green building practices on the level of numerous environmental contaminants known to be associated with health. Occupant behavior, particularly smoking, is an important contributor to indoor air pollution.

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Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.