HealthVent is a project designed to help develop ‘health-based’ ventilation guidelines for European countries, which would aid in the protection of people in both public buildings, such as schools and nurseries, as well as private property, like homes and office buildings. The project partners bring expertise from medical and public health sciences, engineering, physics, energy, ventilation and other areas, while bringing in experiences of patients with respiratory diseases to critically analyse available information to help develop effective health-based guidelines for ventilation.
Project participants share the common view that such guidelines would significantly improve health problems stemming from poor indoor air quality (IAQ). The experts’ key tasks are to assess ventilation systems and their effect upon IAQ in European buildings and to identify improvements which can lead to healthier and energy efficient buildings.
The guidelines, which will be produced in collaboration with the multidisciplinary project partners in 10 countries, the Federation for European Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning Associations (REHVA), EFA, the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health and the EC Joint Research Centre (JRC), are to form the basis for the revision of relevant building codes and standards, and take into consideration health, energy efficiency, different building types and climate conditions in Europe. Indoor air quality is a key priority for people with allergy, asthma and COPD, and EFA therefore welcomes this partnership and project with practical results, and hopes that it will help to stimulate a strategic approach to IAQ by the EU.
EFA’s role in the project, in collaboration with interested EFA members, is to review the evidence, collect relevant information from patients’ perspectives, review the guidelines and disseminate project information to our members and partners.
On the 20th of February, the HealthVent consortium presented its guidelines at the European Parliament in an event hosted by MEP Catherine Stihler.
For more information and the report of the event, click here.
If you would like to find out more about this project, please visit the HealthVent Project brief and website.