Understanding building-occupant-microbiome interactions toward healthy built environments: A review

Highlights

• The built environment, occupants, and microbiomes constitute an integrated ecosystem.

• This review summarizes research progress which has focused primarily on microbiomes.

• Critical research needs include studying impacts of occupant behaviors on microbiomes.

Abstract

Built environments, occupants, and microbiomes constitute a system of ecosystems with extensive interactions that impact one another. Understanding the interactions between these systems is essential to develop strategies for effective management of the built environment and its inhabitants to enhance public health and well-being. Numerous studies have been conducted to characterize the microbiomes of the built environment. This review summarizes current progress in understanding the interactions between attributes of built environments and occupant behaviors that shape the structure and dynamics of indoor microbial communities. In addition, this review also discusses the challenges and future research needs in the field of microbiomes of the built environment that necessitate research beyond the basic characterization of microbiomes in order to gain an understanding of the causal mechanisms between the built environment, occupants, and microbiomes, which will provide a knowledge base for the development of transformative intervention strategies toward healthy built environments. The pressing need to control the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in indoor environments highlights the urgency and significance of understanding the complex interactions between the built environment, occupants, and microbiomes, which is the focus of this review.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Microbiome / Built Environment / Occupant / Health

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Acknowledgements

This work is partly supported by US National Science Foundation (Award No. 1952140 and 2026719). Any opinions, findings recommendations, and conclusions in this paper are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of US National Science Foundation.

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