Healthy Buildings America 2021, a biennial event sponsored by the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ), and the host organization Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI), today announced the full list of plenary speakers scheduled to present at the conference. Themed “Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice – In the Age of COVID-19 and Beyond,” the event will take place on Nov. 9-11, 2021, at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu. 

 

“We nearly doubled the typical number of abstract submissions received this year, which indicates an extremely high level of interest for this event,” said Dr. Kerry Kinney, president of this year’s event. “With more than 300 science-based workshops, oral presentations and poster presentations planned, attendees will not only learn the latest research related to healthy buildings, but also hear case studies from the field about how others solved their toughest challenges.” 

 

To “bridge the gap” between research and practice, Healthy Buildings America 2021 is open to the academic research community along with practitioners and contractors in the broad spectrum of fields whose services contribute to indoor air quality. Presentations will focus on indoor exposures, with additional focus on COVID-19 and implications on the indoor environment for current and future generations.

Joseph G. Allen, Ph.D. associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and co-author of Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity, with John Macomber at Harvard Business School.

 

Terry Brennan, Ph.D. building scientist and educator, is the former president and senior building scientist at Camroden Associates, Inc. Brennan has provided research, training, curriculum development and program support for the U.S. EPA, the National Center for Healthy Housing, building owners and managers, individual homeowners and several state health departments.

 

Lidia Morawska, Ph.D. Professor at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia, and the director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health (ILAQH) at QUT, which is a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization on Research and Training in the field of Air Quality and Health.

 

Jordan Peccia, Ph.D. Thomas E. Golden Jr. Professor of Environmental Engineering at Yale University. Research in the Peccia lab integrates engineering and public health approaches with quantitative molecular biology tools to study human exposure to microbes in the built environment. 

 

Anita van Breda, Ph.D. Senior Director Environment and Disaster Management. World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Washington DC, USA. Anita leads WWF’s work supporting environmentally responsible disaster recovery, reconstruction, and risk reduction including international policy, operations, and training, and is a member of the WWF Internal COVID-19 Working Group.

 

Greg Whiteley, Ph.D. is the Chairman of Whiteley Corporation and an Adjunct Fellow in the School of Medicine at Western Sydney University. He is the Collaboration Partner Study Director for an iMCRC grant with the School of Medicine which is investigating novel solutions for biofilm mediated infections and other forms of biofilm contamination.

 

“We are thrilled to welcome such an esteemed group of speakers to this event, as it indicates the high caliber of education attendees can expect," said Dr. Richard Shaughnessy, vice president of HB2021. “With separate as well as joint tracks for both researchers and practitioners, there will be something for everyone during Health Buildings America.”

 

In addition to the educational sessions and speakers, attendees will also have the option of attending pre-conference short courses, along with social activities that include a welcome reception and a luau-themed dinner. 

 

“Bringing researchers and practitioners together benefits everyone,” according to John Downey, Executive Director of CIRI. “Research needs to be applicable to real-world scenarios and practice needs to be based on sound science,” he added, concluding “The result will be development of better methods and processes to clean and restore buildings in ways that enhance the health and wellness of the people occupying them.”

 

Early bird registration is available through September 17, 2021. In addition to in-person attendance, a livestream will feature all general/plenary sessions as well as research-to-practice breakouts. Click here to reserve your seat. 

 

ISIAQ is an international, independent, multidisciplinary, scientific, non-profit organization whose purpose is to support the creation of healthy, comfortable and productive indoor environments. The organization believes this is achievable by advancing the science and technology of indoor air quality and climate as it relates to indoor environmental design, construction, operation and maintenance, air quality measurement and health sciences.

 

Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI) is an independent and impartial institute focused on cleaning and building maintenance research. Its purpose is to improve cleaning and restoration outcomes and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) for all indoor environments. CIRI is a 501.c.3 nonprofit scientific, educational and research institute recognized for its groundbreaking cleaning science and research programs. As such, CIRI serves the dual purpose of serving both the “public good” as well as the cleaning and restoration industries. CIRI does not compete with existing organizations; rather, it serves a unique, complementary role and works with all leading industry groups.