Microbiology of the Built Environment (MoBE) for architects, a review of applied spatial metrics for application in healthy building design

Abstract

Humans spend up to 90% of their time in indoor built environments. There is recognition and academic consensus that architectural design impacts both the sources of the microbial communities, (via activity and mix of occupancy), and the processes that affect them. Microorganism have been shown to negatively impact on human health in buildings, as established by research in the field of Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI). Researchers conducted a systematic literature review to investigate the extent to which the emerging field of the microbiology of the built environment (MoBE), takes into consideration the spatial metrics which are of interest to the generators of the built environment, with specific reference to the architectural community. The literature review found that the majority of MoBE studies collect some architectural, engineering or related data, such as occupancy, occupant activity and spatial data, but the objectives and methods varied significantly, which poses a barrier to comparing studies and deriving conclusions useful to the built environment practitioners such as architects. Furthermore, where built environment data is collected, it is generally not used in analysis and reporting, and is therefore limited in its practical utility in building design, which influence the practical application for built environment practitioners.