In recent years, the invisible atmosphere within our buildings has come under intense scrutiny. As we spend approximately 90% of our time indoors, the quality of the air we breathe has a profound impact on our long-term health, cognitive function, and general well-being. To address the significant gaps in our understanding of these effects, a major European initiative called K-HEALTHinAIR (Knowledge for improving indoor AIR quality and HEALTH) has emerged to pioneer new standards for indoor environments.

What is K-HEALTHinAIR?

K-HEALTHinAIR is an interdisciplinary research project funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe program. Its primary mission is to identify the chemical and biological indoor air pollutants that affect human health and to provide affordable, science-based solutions for monitoring and improving air quality.

The project focuses on nine diverse real-life scenarios, including homes, schools, hospitals, and nursing homes, across six European countries. By integrating advanced data analysis, artificial intelligence, and clinical studies with vulnerable groups (such as high-risk outpatients and the elderly), K-HEALTHinAIR aims to establish clear correlations between specific air pollutants and health outcomes.

Standardizing the Search for Clean Air: The GO AQS Methodology

A critical challenge in indoor air quality (IAQ) research has historically been the lack of a unified global benchmark. Regulations vary widely between countries, often focusing more on ventilation rates than on the actual concentration of pollutants. To overcome this, the K-HEALTHinAIR scientific team has decided to utilize the GO IAQS (Global Open Indoor Air Quality Standards) methodology.

GO IAQS provides a universal language for air quality, offering a tiered framework that identifies key pollutants and their determinants. In a recent study involving five homes in Barcelona, the team applied this methodology to characterize scenarios and detect specific episodes of poor air quality. The standards focus on critical parameters such as:

• Particulate Matter (PM2.5): Tiny particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs.
• Carbon Dioxide (CO2): A primary indicator of ventilation efficiency.
• Formaldehyde (CH2O): A common VOC found in furniture and building materials.

By using this open standard, the project can consistently compare different environments, from a classroom in Poland to a retirement home in the Netherlands, under a common set of criteria.

Key Preliminary Findings

Based on the monitoring of five specific homes in Barcelona, the scientific team has identified several critical trends:

• Hospitalization and IAQ Correlation: Initial data suggests a notable link between “unhealthy” indoor air quality episodes—as defined by GO IAQS standards, and hospitalization events for patients with respiratory conditions.
• Pollutant Prevalence:
  • PM2.5: In approximately 17.9% of the monitored time, levels were found in the “Moderate” or “Unhealthy” categories, often exceeding the recommended thresholds of 35 µg/m³.
  • CH2O: This pollutant showed significant variance. While some homes maintained low levels, others reached the “High exposure” diagnostic category, with concentrations exceeding 50 µg/m³ for substantial portions of the day.
  • CO2: Monitoring revealed that while many homes stay within recommended limits (below 850 ppm), specific “High exposure” scenarios saw CO2 levels spikes, indicating periods of poor ventilation.
• Impact of Resident Behavior: The study highlighted that homes with smokers or specific cooking habits (determinants) showed significantly higher percentages of time in the “Unhealthy” IAQ risk categories.
• Vulnerability Insights: Preliminary data from the broader project, which includes over 205 homes and 350 high-risk outpatients, indicates that vulnerable groups are disproportionately affected by these pollutant fluctuations.

These early results demonstrate that the GO IAQS framework is effective at not just measuring air, but diagnosing the risk associated with specific living environments. By identifying these patterns early, the K-HEALTHinAIR team is moving toward creating predictive models that can alert patients and doctors before an air quality episode leads to a medical emergency.

The Power of Common Ground

The success of such an ambitious international project highlights a fundamental truth: scientists cannot effectively collaborate unless they have common ground. GO AQS, as an open standard, allows researchers, policymakers, and building managers to speak the same scientific language. It is essential to be able to benchmark buildings all around the world with the same standards to ensure fairness and, most importantly, the protection of occupants from harmful air pollutants. By moving away from fragmented regulations and toward a global, transparent benchmark, we can ensure that every person, regardless of their location, has the right to breathe clean, healthy air indoors.

Join the K-HEALTHinAIR Permanent Stakeholder Community

You can be part of the K-HEALTHinAIR efforts on improving knowledge for Indoor Air Quality and Health, by joining the project’s Stakeholder Community. This community plays a pivotal role in offering guidance and direction. Interested stakeholders actively participate in a series of consultation activities aimed at expressing their expectations and assessing the project’s outcomes at various points during its duration.

Express your interest to be involved in the K-HEALTHinAIR Stakeholders Community

You can now take part in the open consultation activity on Regulations proposal for Indoor Air Quality:

The aim of this survey is to collect stakeholder and public input in relation to efforts to establish or revise regulatory measures on Indoor Air Quality across the EU. The feedback will help inform policy-making by gathering evidence on real-world conditions, concerns, and priorities.