Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to page-level navigation Go to the Disability Resource Centre Website Go to the DRC Booking Accommodation Portal Go to the Inclusive Technology Lab Website
The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
UBC Okanagan News
  • Research
  • People
    • Student Profile
    • Faculty Profile
    • Alumni Spotlight
  • Campus Life
    • Campus News
    • Student Life
    • Teaching & Learning
  • Community Engagement
  • About the Collection
    • Stories for Media
  • UBCO Events
  • Search All Stories
Home / 2014 / May / 28 / Engineering tool links health risks, poor household air quality
Health

Engineering tool links health risks, poor household air quality

May 28, 2014

UBC research suggests lives, millions of dollars could be saved in health-care costs

Craig Hostland

Craig Hostland

A UBC Okanagan graduate engineering student has developed an indoor environmental assessment tool that has the potential to reduce respiratory illness from household mold and dampness.

PhD candidate Craig Hostland developed the tool utilizing building science and measurable site criteria, by modelling a home’s indoor environment based on its construction type, maintenance characteristics, and history of moisture events. The model then determines with a 95-per-cent probability at what level the home may be a source of respiratory distress. An added feature is that based on the occupants’  health condition, the model can confirm which house repairs could improve the conditions leading to illness, savings thousands in unneeded repairs

“I found in my research that patients that may be stricken by the most severe effects of asthma can not only partially or fully recover their health through simple remediation of their residence, the public health-care system can potentially save tens to hundreds of millions of dollars annually,” says Hostland, a senior professional engineer dedicated to designing a solution to the health consequences of indoor molds. “I estimate there are almost 500 such patients in the interior health region and more than 3,000 in British Columbia alone that can be helped,” Hostland says.

Hostland’s paper, HEALTH2: A Holistic Environmental Assessment Tool, is being delivered in Halifax this week at the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering Annual Conference, environmental division. His co-investigators are UBC School of Engineering Professors Rehan Sadiq, Deborah Roberts and Associate Professor Gordon Lovegrove.

The research paper proposes a reliable empirical model, the Holistic Environmental Assessment Lay Tool for Home Healthiness (HEALTH2), and develops guidelines for its use as a tool to evaluate and rank mold and dampness and related indoor environmental conditions associated with known respiratory health outcomes.

Hostland’s research is based on residential environmental site inspections conducted in the Okanagan between 2007 and 2013, historical data and published scientific studies.

—30—

Media Contact

Patty Wellborn
Media Relations Strategist
University Relations

The University of British Columbia
Okanagan campus
Tel: 250 317 0293
E-mail: patty.wellborn@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Release
More content from: College of Graduate Studies, School of Engineering

Trending Stories

  • Opening doors for international student research
  • Cutting breakfast carbs can benefit people with Type 2 ...
  • UBCO honours this year’s most outstanding researchers
  • Why don’t we eat turkey eggs?
  • Call for Canada to braid Indigenous rights with endangered ...
All Stories
Contact Media Relations

About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

Discover more about UBC Okanagan

Find a Program Admissions Book a Tour UBCO Facts
UBC Okanagan Campus News, University Relations

Innovation Precinct Annexation 1 (IA1)
3505 Spectrum Court
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 2Z1

We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

Search all stories

Subscribe to receive news by email

Visit UBC's Vancouver news room

Global and Admin Messages

News

Okanagan Campus

TikTok icon Linkedin icon

UBC Okanagan News
Okanagan Campus
3333 University Way
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 1V7
Find us on
  
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility