Architectural Epidemiology: Exploring Health Impacts of Building Decarbonization Through Experimental Exposure Pathways
April 24, 2025 11am-12pm PT
The built and natural environment create the physical context within which we live our daily lives. It can be designed to protect society from environmental toxins (such as traffic-related air pollution or high concentrations of airborne viruses like SARS-CoV-2) and to make health-promoting behaviors the obvious choice (such as safely walking to school). On the other hand, design decisions can also result in increased exposure to environmental hazards (such as buildings located in flood zones) and barriers to a health-promoting lifestyle (such as neighborhoods lacking access to fresh and healthy food).
This webinar will use a novel framework called Architectural Epidemiology to reveal the environmental and social determinants of health that are influenced by changes to the built environment – particularly at the intersection of climate change, communicable and non-communicable disease, and social equity. Students will apply the framework to a site in New York City to demonstrate how a built environment intervention could be leveraged to bring outsized co-benefits around climate, health, and equity both on the property and in the surrounding neighborhood.
Adele Houghton, FAIA, DrPH, LEED AP, is President of Biositu, LLC where she works at the intersection of buildings, public health, and climate change. She is a member of the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows and received a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she also teaches. Her book Architectural Epidemiology (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025), co-authored with Professor Carlos Castillo-Salgado of Johns Hopkins University, proposes a novel method for architectural design: combining neighborhood-scale environmental health data with participatory community engagement to maximize a building’s positive ripple effect on community and planetary health.
Suggested Readings:
Houghton A, Castillo-Salgado C. Architectural Epidemiology: Introducing a Transdisciplinary Field of Study and Practice Using Real Estate as a Mechanism for Epidemiological Interventions on Climate Change and Chronic Disease. Proceedings of the ARCC-EAAE 2022 International Conference, Resilient City: Physical, Social, and Economic Perspectives. 2022; pp. 41-48. Available from: http://www.arcc-arch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ARCC-EAAE-2022_Proceedings_Digital-Version.pdf
Houghton A. “Co-Benefits” as a Lens Through Which COVID-19 Building Upgrades Can Advance Environmental Sustainability, Climate Mitigation and Adaptation, and Social Equity. Harvard Public Health Review. 2020; 27. Available from: https://bcphr.org/29-article-houghton/
Frieden TR, A Framework for Public Health Action: The Health Impact Pyramid. American Journal of Public Health. 2010; 100(4): 590-595. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2009.185652
Optional: Houghton A, Li X. The Alignment Process: Generating Value for All Through Community Benefit Design. 2023; pp 1-59. Available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aTWUF0I8sC3Z4IbvVihzCamk4AGL_ehm/view?usp=sharing
Alignment Process website: https://www.alignmentprocess.org
Webinar Recording
