Our Hidden Roommates

About this episode

The episode features an interview with Dr. Sarah Haines discussing the impact of indoor environments on human health through the lens of building science and microbiology.

An interview with Dr. Sarah Haines The Indoor Microbiome is the complex, invisible world of microorganisms living within our daily surroundings, serving as the primary ecological interface through which buildings influence human biology. In this light, we are beginning to view indoor environments not merely as passive shelters, but as powerful positive health interventions that can actively shape our immune development and long-term wellbeing. Today, we are joined by Dr. Sarah Haines, Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto and Principal Investigator of the IMEE Lab, to explore the foundational framework behind this shift. We will discuss the emerging perspective of "biologically informed architectural design" and the fact that architects and interior designers don’t just curate materials, they curate our basic microbial exposures and therefore our health and wellbeing. Sarah Haines Dr. Sarah R. Haines is an interdisciplinary researcher and educator working at the intersection of building science, environmental engineering, and microbiology to investigate how indoor environments shape human health. Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering at…

People in this episode

Guest: Dr. Sarah Haines

Topics covered

• indoor microbiome
• building science
• human health
• biologically informed architectural design
• microbial exposures
• environmental engineering

Keywords

• indoor environments
• microorganisms
• health interventions
• architectural design
• immune development
• wellbeing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Toronto, IMEE Lab, Hub for Advancing Buildings, The Ohio State University

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