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CoE Continues its Efforts to Improve Indoor Air Quality...and Syracuse's Economy

Jason Chen/WAER News

Researchers at the Syracuse Center of Excellence are working with Carrier Corp. on whether indoor environments could have impacts on human health and performance. Center Executive Director Ed Bogucz said by controlling factors such as temperature and humidity in buildings, the air quality affects people's productivity.

“We found significant differences in people’s decision making, and that was something that’s never been understood before. So it’s brought a new attention to the building codes relating to how much fresh air is brought into a building to provide fresh air for occupants.”

Bogucz said professors and students at Syracuse University are also transforming HVAC systems by developing personalized environmental control systems. He said it’s a “win-win situation” for all.

Credit Center of Excellence
The TIEQ Lab allows researchers to control factors such as temperature, humidity, lighting and sound to see if they affect human health and performance in indoor environments.

“Right now in your home, if you have an air conditioner, it’s like you condition the whole room or maybe even the whole house. If there’s only one or two people in the house, you are conditioning all the rooms and all the houses. If you are going to seat and watch television, you might just want to condition your space. The whole building would save energy. There’s less energy that’s used to condition the building, and everybody gets the temperature that they want at their seats.”

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul visited the center Tuesday. She said the projects are not only about promoting sustainability and entrepreneurship but also about boosting the economy in Central New York.

“We are no longer going to just put our money toward the larger industries. It’s all about supporting the new entrepreneurs as students are educated at a great institution like Syracuse University, working with their professors (and) working with community partners. We are now finally shifting to a new economy where people are going to have a stake in it and get more people back to work. So it’s all about creating jobs, keeping those jobs here and connecting those jobs with people that were born and raised here.”

Credit Center of Excellence
Here are some of the findings of the study.

Hochul also stopped at SUNY Upstate Medical University, and made an announcement at the Hotel Utica as part of her swing through Central New York.

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.