Achievement

IGERT trainees Erin Darling and Elliott Gall and affiliate Clement Cros (all Environmental Engineering) have emerged as international leaders in the development of passive reactive materials for removal of indoor pollutants without an energy penalty. Through controlled laboratory experiments, a novel proof of concept over a six month period in actual buildings, human panel evaluations, and follow-up Monte-Carlo simulations, they (1) identified several materials that can effectively remove ozone and other pollutants from indoor air, (2) showed that clay plaster can effectively purify indoor air and simultaneously improve human perceptions of indoor air quality (especially amongst females), and (3) developed first-ever design curves for implementation of passive removal materials in residential buildings. The efforts of these IGERT students led to one published journal article and five conference papers during the past year.