Burnet Institute welcomes the Victorian Government's $9.87m investment in the Pathway to Clean Indoor Air project to build evidence for sustainable policy and solutions to improve indoor air quality management.
Burnet has established an expert transdisciplinary consortium with the University of Melbourne, Monash University, the Training Centre for Advanced Building Systems Against Airborne Infection Transmission (THRIVE), and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to co-design and deliver the program of work, in partnership with the Victorian Government.
"Our talented medical researchers across Victoria are delivering critical studies with life-saving results - cementing Victoria's reputation as a world leader in cutting-edge health and medical research," Minister for Medical Research Ben Carroll said.
Over the next two years, the project will be testing, refining and evaluating practical interventions to improve indoor air quality in various settings, including schools, workplaces and public spaces.
This includes monitoring indoor air quality in real-time and assessing the feasibility of low-cost ventilation and air cleaning (filtration) solutions.
The long-term goals are to reduce the health, social, and economic impacts of indoor airborne infections and hazards.
Burnet Institute Director and CEO Professor Brendan Crabb AC highlighted the investment's potential, saying it signalled a turning point in a cleaner indoor air future.
"This is not just an investment in the direct health and safety of all Victorians. It has the potential for improved learning, productivity and economic gains," Professor Crabb said.
"This extraordinary step by the Victorian Government will result in benefits that could be adopted throughout Australia and other parts of the world."
Multiple studies in schools and workplaces have shown improving air quality enhances test performance, and increases attendance and cognitive performance.
A study by the UK Royal Academy of Engineering in 2022 showed that ensuring good air quality could also enhance productivity by around 1-4%.
Burnet Institute's Chief Health Officer for COVID and Health Emergencies, and technical director of the project, Associate Professor Suman Majumdar said clean indoor air solutions operate in the background as "passive" controls - not requiring significant behaviour change, knowledge or dependence on a person's ability to access to tools such as tests, treatments or masks.
"Reducing airborne threats through improved indoor air quality is one of the most powerful tools to protect us against current and future pandemics and health emergencies, including respiratory infections (COVID-19, influenza, TB), hazards (bush fire smoke) and allergens (thunderstorm asthma)."
"Clean air strategies promote greater health equity if they can be delivered at scale in public settings."
Leading the engineering domain of the project is the University of Melbourne's head of mechanical engineering, Professor Jason Monty, who said the program would drive innovation in public building design and revolutionise our indoor ventilation practices.
"To achieve the health and economic gains of improved indoor air, we need to adapt our existing buildings, which are where Victorians spend most of their time," he said.
"Understanding how to adapt existing buildings to improve indoor air quality is critical to learning what is best for future builds and to streamline our approach to design, engineering and construction for optimal indoor air quality."
AWS will collaborate with the consortium to establish practical steps for an integrated indoor air quality solution.
In 2023, AWS rolled out a real-time air quality monitoring network across its global commercial office portfolio to uplift worker productivity and align with occupational health and safety requirements.
Burnet Institute is a foundation partner of the world-leading Australian Institute for Infectious Disease (AIID).
