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SRG Partnership principal Kent Duffy has long advocated for incorporating natural ventilation into building designs for efficiency reasons. He now argues that it’s also good for the health of building occupants.

It turns out letting plenty of outside air into a building could foster diverse interior populations of microbes, according to University of Oregon researchers. The tiny creatures floating all around us have been found to play a role in various aspects of human health, but many of the beneficial microbes are filtered out of interior spaces by mechanical ventilation systems.

The finding has added a whole new dimension to how Duffy said he as architect views sustainable building design.

鈥淲e were looking for the most impact for reducing what a building consumes in its lifetime,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow, what we have is an argument that this is really important beyond the energy setting. (Building occupants) are going to be in a better environment in a building that has natural ventilation.鈥�

Although microbes often get a bad rap because of harmful varieties that make us sick, biologists have found most are vital to our survival. Microbes living on and in human bodies can protect against germs and pathogens, boost our immune systems and help get us digest nutrients from food. Research even suggests that microbes can even influence our moods and promote lower levels of stress, anxiety and depression.

Since people spend most their time indoors, researchers from the University of Oregon’s architecture and biology departments teamed up to investigate microbes in the built environment.

The university’s has used funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a New York-based philanthropic organization, to figure out if green building design influences interior microbe populations in a positive or negative way.

The research has included comparing microbe levels between the naturally and mechanically ventilated portions of the SRG-designed Lillis Business Complex on the university’s Eugene campus. Researchers sampled dust in the air of rooms in the building using a filtered air pump.

The lab’s climate chamber at the White Stag Building in Portland was used as a sterile testing ground to measure the microbes surrounding test subjects.

鈥淭here is just kind of a cloud around you,鈥� Duffy said. 鈥淲hat’s very interesting is it turns out you can actually identify a person based on their 鈥榤icrobial aura.’鈥�

The results of air testing in Lillis showed that microbe levels in the naturally ventilated portions of the building more closely resemble what is found outside than areas that relied on heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, said G.Z. 鈥淐harlie鈥� Brown, a University of Oregon architecture professor and the lab’s director.

The findings brought another wrinkle to the lab’s work to help architects and engineers find innovative ways to reduce energy consumption in buildings, he said.

鈥淚t looks to me like natural ventilation and daylighting might be key to creating healthy buildings,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淭he problem with HVAC is they filter out (microbes) indiscriminately. They filter out the good ones and the bad ones.鈥�

Often the microbes that are left are harmful varieties that people have on or around their bodies when they enter a building, he said.

鈥淚t’s a much greater abundance of microbes outside,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淭he ones that people carry with them have more pathogens.鈥�

Human bodies are better equipped for the more diverse microbial environment found outdoors, according to University of Oregon biology professor Jessica Green. She has collaborated with Brown on investigating microbes in the built environment.

In a in Portland on this topic, Green pointed out that by filtering out certain microbes, the ventilation systems in modern buildings could be harmful to our health.

鈥淚 believe what we’re breathing indoors, or growing, is a microbial monoculture and when you think about our bodies we probably haven’t evolved to function very well in this type of microbial environment,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here’s a lot of evidence that’s been published recently that suggests this may be affiliated with the rise of antibiotic resistance and the rise of autoimmune disorders that we face in the developed world, like asthma and allergies.鈥�

Along with research conducted at the University of Oregon’s Eugene and Portland campuses, energy studies lab staffers have examined the impact of weatherization projects on microbe levels in single family houses, Brown said. They also analyzed microbe populations at Providence Portland Medical Center with similar results to the study comparing natural and mechanical ventilation in Lillis, he said.

The findings contradict building codes that require high mechanical ventilation rates in health care settings, Duffy said. Instead, natural ventilation in hospitals could both create a healthier environment for patients as well bring down energy costs, he said.

鈥淩ight now the building codes are a tough nut to crack,鈥� Duffy said. 鈥淲e’re at the point where we’re alerting the health care world to these issues 鈥� This research is pretty fresh. A lot of people are just finding out about this.鈥�