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How a forum at ASHRAE 2026 brought together medicine, engineering and public health around a single conviction: that buildings must actively support human health
“There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” — Victor Hugo
Every so often, the seemingly separate threads of a career weave themselves into a coherent whole.
Standing on stage in Austin, Texas, during the 2026 ASHRAE Annual Conference, iAIR Institute Principal Dr John McKeon reflected on a journey that had begun in the emergency department of a busy hospital.
As a young physician, Dr McKeon cared for patients experiencing the consequences of unhealthy indoor environments: children struggling through acute asthma attacks, adults debilitated by allergic disease, vulnerable patients whose lives depended on effective infection control. Long before “healthy buildings” entered everyday vocabulary, he had witnessed first-hand the influence that the built environment can have on human health.
At the time, these felt like separate clinical problems but today, they appear to be chapters of the same story.
A Golden Thread
That journey led from emergency medicine into indoor environmental science; from asthma and allergy towards bioaerosols, airborne pathogens and infection prevention; from clinical practice to laboratory research, standards development and international collaboration. It culminated, this summer, in Dr McKeon becoming President of the ASHRAE Ireland Chapter, the first physician to hold that office, while contributing to ASHRAE’s Environmental Health Committee, the newly established Center of Excellence for Indoor Environmental Quality and the Society’s work towards a comprehensive Indoor Environmental Quality Standard.
Looking back, there has always been a golden thread connecting these experiences because it is not simply about air. It is about health.
Austin: A Think-In on the Future of Healthy Buildings
Against this backdrop, the iAIR Institute was privileged to convene Indoor Air Quality, Public Health and the Future of Healthy Buildings alongside the 2026 ASHRAE Annual Conference at Cedar Door, Austin, Texas, on 29 June 2026.
The evening was never intended to be another technical seminar. It was designed as a think-in: a forum where scientists, clinicians, engineers, architects, policymakers and innovators could step back from individual disciplines and consider a much larger question. What if buildings became active participants in protecting human health?
The response exceeded every expectation. Among those joining the discussion were five Past Presidents of ASHRAE, including Bill McQuade, whose Presidential theme focused on Indoor Environmental Quality. Their presence reflected something deeply encouraging: healthy buildings are no longer a niche conversation. They are increasingly central to the future direction of the profession.
The evening was supported by Knauf North America, whose commitment to healthy building solutions demonstrates the vital role industry can play in translating scientific knowledge into practical outcomes.
Dr Jessica Green and the ARPA-H BREATHE Programme
The forum’s featured speaker and guest of honour was Dr Jessica Green, Program Manager for Resilient Systems at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and leader of the BREATHE (Building Resilient Environments for Air and Total Health) program.
ARPA-H was created to pursue ambitious, high-impact programmes capable of transforming health in ways that conventional research funding cannot reach. BREATHE embodies that ambition. Rather than asking how buildings can become incrementally healthier, it asks a more provocative question: can buildings continuously sense airborne threats, understand the risks they pose and respond intelligently to protect the people inside them? It is, in every sense, a moonshot for healthy buildings.
Dr Green also shared her work on PRO-MICROBE, which is developing a microbial health score for buildings by linking indoor microbial and environmental conditions to occupant respiratory health. The idea that a building might carry a measurable health score, grounded in environmental microbiology and validated against clinical outcomes, reflects how far and how fast this field is moving.
The Convergence Has Begun
One of the strongest impressions to emerge from Austin was not any single presentation, but the convergence taking place across multiple communities. Government agencies are investing in healthy buildings. Architects are earning continuing education credits in Health, Safety and Welfare through discussions on indoor environmental quality. Engineers are increasingly focused on health outcomes alongside energy performance. Microbiologists are revealing invisible ecosystems that shape daily life. Clinicians are recognising buildings as an extension of preventative healthcare. Industry is developing technologies capable of measuring, mitigating and managing airborne risk in real time.
Together these developments represent a profound shift in how society thinks about the built environment.
Indoor environmental quality now encompasses far more than ventilation or filtration. It embraces infection resilience, environmental microbiology, mental wellbeing, acoustics, thermal comfort, lighting, material chemistry, sensing technologies and the integration of artificial intelligence. The built environment is becoming one of the most important determinants of public health, and that represents a profound opportunity.
Why the iAIR Institute Exists: Shaping the Future of Healthy Buildings
The purpose of the iAIR Institute has never been simply to organise events. Its mission is to create the space where disciplines meet. Innovation rarely occurs at the centre of established fields. It happens at their boundaries: when physicians speak with engineers, when microbiologists challenge architects, when policymakers engage with entrepreneurs, when scientists collaborate with industry.
Austin demonstrated the value of bringing together people who might not otherwise find themselves in the same room. The future of healthy buildings will not belong to any one profession. It will belong to those willing to collaborate across them.
From Asclepius to Hygieia
The ancient Greeks understood something the modern world is rediscovering. Asclepius represented medicine. Panacea represented cure. But Hygieia represented something more enduring: the preservation of health before illness ever occurred.
For generations, healthcare systems have concentrated on treating disease. The next frontier is preventing it. Healthy buildings embody that philosophy. They recognise that where people live, work, learn and recover influences health every single day. The greatest healthcare intervention does not always occur in a hospital. It begins long before anyone becomes a patient.
Healthy Buildings: AIA Continuing Education
The forum was recognised by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as an approved continuing education activity, awarding participants 2 Learning Units in Health, Safety and Welfare (LU|HSW). That recognition reflects a growing acknowledgement that indoor environmental quality is a Health, Safety and Welfare issue for the built environment professions, and that it belongs in mainstream professional education.
Looking Forward
Leaving Austin, the sense was not of a successful single event but of something larger beginning to take shape. Healthy buildings are moving from aspiration to expectation, from specialist interest to mainstream policy, from engineering challenge to public health imperative.
New standards must be developed. Scientific evidence must continue to grow. Innovation must remain grounded in rigorous validation. Collaboration must deepen across disciplines. Yet the direction of travel is unmistakable.
Victor Hugo wrote that there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. Healthy buildings have become that idea. The question is no longer whether buildings can support human health. The question is how quickly the professions can work together to make that vision a reality.
To follow the iAIR Institute’s ongoing programme of research, education and interdisciplinary collaboration, visit iair.institute.
With thanks to Knauf North America for supporting the iAIR Institute Scientific Leadership Forum.
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