Online Events to Focus on Heat Protection Policies, Building Ventilation Systems
Two National Academies events scheduled to be held in September will focus on heat protection policies and building ventilation systems.
On Sept. 4, the National Academy of Medicine Climate Communities Network (CCN) will host the webinar “Leveraging Data to Drive Effective Heat Protection Policies.” CCN’s goals include identifying and developing solutions to climate-related health outcomes. This virtual event will bring together community members, decision-makers, and others in roles related to heat, health, and policy. Presenters will discuss how heat protection policies informed by data can help protect communities from heat exposure and related adverse health outcomes as well as strategies to address data gaps. The event description states that participants will leave the webinar with “practical tools, tailored to their spheres of influence, to advance effective, community-informed heat policy.” Individuals who are interested in attending may register at no cost via the website of the National Academy of Medicine.
A roundtable that will be held later in September in person at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C., and online will focus on improving commercial building ventilation systems. The event, titled “Health in Buildings Roundtable: Focus on What Matters - Improving Ventilation for Health and Productivity,” will take place on Sept. 17. One part of the workshop will focus on GSALink carbon dioxide research findings from more than 30 large commercial buildings. In a 2018 report from the Government Accountability Office (PDF), U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) officials described GSALink as “a computer software program that collects and analyzes data from advanced meters—including gas, electric, and water meters—and from a facility’s ‘building automation system’ and uses this information to alert building staff to potential problems.” The technology is part of GSA’s smart buildings program.
Planned discussion topics for the Sept. 17 roundtable include the efficacy of carbon dioxide monitoring as a measure of ventilation effectiveness and increasing ventilation with effective filtration for human health and productivity. There is no charge to register for this event. Further details can be found on the National Academies website.
Related: A Synergist article published in August 2023 discusses the role of building automation systems in laboratory ventilation.