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In 1954, Lewis Strauss, then the chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, said homes would eventually have 鈥渆lectrical energy too cheap to meter.鈥� That set the tone for building design in this country for decades.

鈥淎ir conditioning and refrigeration allowed us to design without thinking about the exterior environment,鈥� said Mark Fretz, a research professor for the University of Oregon’s Institute for Health in the Built Environment based in Portland’s Old Town Chinatown. 鈥淎nd then the oil crisis hit in the 1970s.鈥�

Virtually overnight, designers began to consider the role buildings play in energy consumption 鈥� over 40 percent of all energy produced in the U.S. is consumed by the built environment, according to nonprofit Building Green. Renewable power gained popularity and new, indoor ecosystems were devised that took into consideration the many ways in which building design contributes to energy use.

鈥淎rchitects played a huge role in this,鈥� said Fretz, who formerly worked for ZGF Architects.

Today, researchers like Fretz and others at the institute are studying how to improve not only buildings’ energy efficiency but also their impacts on occupants. This research formed the basis for a Wednesday lecture 鈥� one of more than 350 events taking place during Design Week Portland.

The centerpiece facility for the researchers’ work is the university’s Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, which is split between the White Stag Building in Portland and the main campus in Eugene. Drawing upon century-old research into the effects of natural light on human health, UO researchers are now examining the benefits of daylight and how it might be best utilized. Moreover, efforts are now being made to identify how the built environment affects other aspects of health, including at the microbial level.

鈥淗ere at the U of O we’re saying that we’re trying to design for evolution,鈥� Fretz told the audience. 鈥淲e design for our own human biological evolution, not just in terms of buildings, but we frequently have mismatches between buildings and our environment, so this is where designing the unseen comes in.鈥�

The health care paradigm also plays a role in design now, Fretz added, explaining that non-medical determinants such as the physical environment play significant roles.

鈥淲e are starting to think of ourselves a little differently,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can also be health care providers in a different sense.鈥�

In Portland, Fretz and research partner Jason Stenson are making use of the lab’s unique climate chamber, which Stenson constructed by repurposing a walk-in refrigerator once used to store pickles. In the chamber, a radiant heating system built into movable wall panels offers the ability to heat the entire room, small portions or none of it. Meanwhile, humidity, acoustics and air flow are also studied. Even the bacteria that live in the built environment are studied.

Researchers have examined impacts such as the differences in the microbes found in buildings with mechanical ventilation versus window ventilation. For instance, buildings with exposure to the outdoor environment contain the most diverse collection of microbes, while buildings with mechanical systems hold the least diverse.

鈥淭he sources of air in an office are key,鈥� Fretz said.

One of the best ways to change the microbes present in a space is to introduce a dog, Stenson added.

鈥淭hey’re always bringing in new microbes from the outside,鈥� he said.