UT Establishes First-Ever Indoor Environmental Quality Program

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July 12, 2006

UT Establishes First-Ever Indoor Environmental Quality Program

UT Austin's Environmental Engineering Professor _ Corsi_

(http://www.ce.utexas.edu/profile.cfm?profilePK=78) was recently awarded a

$2.9 million

research grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a new

graduate program at the university aimed at studying indoor environmental

quality. The five-year grant was propelled by studies indicating that most of

us

spend a whopping 18 hours inside for every hour outside, and that air quality

indoors can often be much worse than we thought:

“The indoor environment is not the safe, clean sanctuary we thought it was,â€

Corsi said. “In fact, the exposure of Americans to toxic substances is

dominated by what we breathe and touch while we are indoors. We really do very

little in our country to improve the quality of indoor environments in

non-industrial settings... we need more engineers, scientists, and social

scientists

engaged in improving knowledge related to indoor environmental quality,

solving related problems and educating the public on the do’s and don’ts in

their

own homes.â€

Corsi, already endowed with the E. C. H. Bantel Professorship for

Professional Practice, claims that indoor radon and air pollution combined make

up the

biggest environmental threat to the American populace. A study publshed in

March by the California Air Resources Board further suggests that both may

account for " billions of dollars " in hidden health and economic costs.

The fledgling program, part of UT's _College of Engineering_

(http://www.engr.utexas.edu/) , is to include internship partnerships with the

prestigious

Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, access to the J.J. Pickle Research Campus, and

a two-year funding commitment for up to 28 doctorate students.