Heath, Environment & Buildings - Building Ecology, Science and

Heath, Environment & Buildings - Building Ecology, Science and Technology Lecture Series Dr. Jennifer Veitch Wednesday January 26, 6:00PM Daniels Faculty Lecture Hall Room 103, 230 College Street, Toronto OAA 2 CORE HOURS - FREE ADMISSION FOLLOWED BY SNACKS AND REFRESHMENTS. Canadians, like others in the industrialized world, spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, making these environmental conditions important determinants of our health and well-being. For instance, noise exposure in the home and classroom adversely affects children’s’ acquisition of reading skills; noise exposure at work can contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease. A growing literature on exposure to daylight and nature views shows benefits for these conditions in reducing strain and improving healing following surgery. These findings have had limited influence on building design, construction, and operation, in part because of limited interaction between the relevant disciplines. Success in understanding how our built environment affects our health demands such interdisciplinary work; success in improving our living conditions demands further co-operation with designers, builders, and policy-makers. This presentation will briefly summarize current research, and make the case for an urgent need for broadly-based interdisciplinary research to provide a basis for practical interventions.