The impact of renovation on the air quality in the stadium, and prevention of indoor air pollution.

Indoor air quality is a critical factor influencing athletic performance, particularly in professional sports settings, yet its impact remains underexplored. This study utilizes a panel dataset from 2516 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) matches across 20 cities in China between 2014 and 2019. We integrate daily air pollution metrics with player efficiency ratings (PER) to investigate the effects of air quality on individual performance. We find that a 10% increase in the air quality index (AQI) corresponds to a 1.4223 decrease in PER, indicating a strong negative effect of poor air quality on player productivity. Different pollutants have varying effects, with some exacerbating the decline in both overall performance and precision in tasks. Notably, older players and international players exhibit greater resilience to air pollution. These insights contribute to the development of a comprehensive index for assessing work efficiency under varying air quality conditions and suggest targeted strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of air pollution in competitive athletic settings.

Health effects of holistic housing renovation in a disadvantaged neighbourhood in the Netherlands: a qualitative exploration among residents and professionals.

BACKGROUND: Holistic housing renovations combine physical housing improvements with social and socioeconomic interventions (e.g. referral to social services, debt counselling, involvement in decision-making, promoting social cohesion). In a deprived neighbourhood in Utrecht, the Netherlands, this paper examined residents' and professionals' experiences, ideas, and perceptions regarding holistic housing renovation, its health effects, and underlying mechanisms explaining those effects. METHODS: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 social housing residents exposed to holistic housing renovation, and 12 professionals involved in either the physical renovation or social interventions implemented. Residents were interviewed in various renovation stages (before, during, after renovation). Transcripts were deductively and inductively coded using qualitative software. RESULTS: Residents experienced and professionals acknowledged renovation stress caused by nuisance from construction work (noise, dust), having to move stuff around, and temporary moving; lack of information and control; and perceived violation of privacy. Involvement in design choices was appreciated, and mental health improvement was expected on the long term due to improved housing quality and visual amenity benefits. Social contact between residents increased as the renovation became topic for small talk. Few comments were made regarding physical health effects. The interviews revealed a certain amount of distrust in and dissatisfaction with the housing corporation, construction company, and other authorities. CONCLUSIONS: Renovation stress, aggravated by lack of information and poor accessibility of housing corporation and construction company, negatively affects mental health and sense of control. Potential stress relievers are practical help with packing and moving furniture, and increased predictability by good and targeted communication. Social interventions can best be offered after renovation, when residents live in their renovated apartment and the nuisance and stress from the renovation is behind them. Social partners can use the period leading up to the renovation to show their faces, offer practical help to reduce renovation stress, and increase residents' trust in their organization and authorities in general. This might also contribute to residents' willingness to accept help with problems in the social domain after renovation.

Deep learning-based models for environmental management: Recognizing construction, renovation, and demolition waste in-the-wild.

The construction industry generates a substantial volume of solid waste, often destinated for landfills, causing significant environmental pollution. Waste recycling is decisive in managing waste yet challenging due to labor-intensive sorting processes and the diverse forms of waste. Deep learning (DL) models have made remarkable strides in automating domestic waste recognition and sorting. However, the application of DL models to recognize the waste derived from construction, renovation, and demolition (CRD) activities remains limited due to the context-specific studies conducted in previous research. This paper aims to realistically capture the complexity of waste streams in the CRD context. The study encompasses collecting and annotating CRD waste images in real-world, uncontrolled environments. It then evaluates the performance of state-of-the-art DL models for automatically recognizing CRD waste in-the-wild. Several pre-trained networks are utilized to perform effectual feature extraction and transfer learning during DL model training. The results demonstrated that DL models, whether integrated with larger or lightweight backbone networks can recognize the composition of CRD waste streams in-the-wild which is useful for automated waste sorting. The outcome of the study emphasized the applicability of DL models in recognizing and sorting solid waste across various industrial domains, thereby contributing to resource recovery and encouraging environmental management efforts.

Umnutzung von Gewerbegebäuden in Wohnraum: Was ist bezüglich möglicher Schadstoffbelastungen in der Innenraumluft zu beachten?

The conversion of industrial buildings into residential space requires special consideration of the inherited building fabric and associated pollutants. Due to the previous industrial use at contaminated sites, certain pollutants may play a significant role that are normally not the focus of refurbishments activities of residential spaces. In order to comply with the increased requirements with respect to indoor air quality in residential spaces, and to avoid unnecessary efforts and costs of amendments to the refurbishment, the Indoor Air Hygiene Commission (IRK) provides advice on how to prepare the conversion of commercial buildings so that healthy living conditions are ensured.

Innovate and renovate: Environmental intensive care unit design.

This article describes the reallocation of space and construction of a new adult shock trauma intensive care unit implementing methods to mitigate the environmental impact. The environmental burden was reduced through innovative reallocation of space and diversity of lighting sources. Circular economy principles were implemented which enabled much of the infrastructure materials to be reused. Collaboration among interdisciplinary health care teams, such as described in this article, helped to ensure expertise was shared so that the environmental impact was lessened. This article provides insight into innovative methods to mitigate the carbon footprint of a critical care renovation project.

Maternal exposure to housing renovation during the periconceptional period and the risk of offspring with isolated congenital heart disease: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most prevalent birth defect in recent decades. The aim of this research was to examine the association between maternal housing renovation exposure during the periconceptional period and isolated congenital heart disease (CHD) in their offspring. METHODS: A multi-hospitals case-control study was conducted from six tertiary A hospitals in Xi'an, Shaanxi, Northwest China based on questionnaires and interviews to address this question. The cases included fetuses or newborns diagnosed with CHD. Controls consisted of healthy newborns without birth defects. In total, 587 cases and 1180 controls were enrolled in this study. The association between maternal periconceptional housing renovation exposure and isolated CHD for offspring was assessed by estimating odds ratios (OR) with multivariate logistic regression models. RESULTS: After adjusting for potential confounding variables, it was found that maternal exposure to home improvement projects was associated with a higher probability of isolated CHD in offspring (adjusted OR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.34, 2.33). Additionally, the risk of the ventricular septal defect (VSD) and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) for CHD types was significantly associated with maternal exposure to housing renovations (VSD: adjusted OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.41; PDA: adjusted OR = 2.50, 95% CI: 1.41, 4.45). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that maternal exposure to housing renovation during the periconceptional period was associated with an increased risk of isolated CHD in offspring. Consequently, it would be beneficial to avoid living in a renovated home from 12 months before pregnancy through the first trimester to lower isolated CHD in infants.

Maternal periconceptional environmental exposure and offspring with congenital heart disease: a case-control study in Guangzhou, China.

BACKGROUND: Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are a major global health problem, yet their crucial environmental risk factors are still unclear. We aimed to explore the associations between maternal periconceptional environmental exposures and all CHDs, isolated and multiple CHDs and CHDs subtypes. METHOD: A case-control study including 675 infants with CHDs and 1545 healthy controls was conducted. Participating mothers who delivered in Guangzhou from October 2019 to November 2021 were recruited. To examine the independent associations between maternal periconceptional environmental exposure and offspring with CHDs, we calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using multivariable logistic regression model. RESULTS: Maternal exposure to living near main roads [adjusted OR (aOR) = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.06-3.56] and housing renovation (aOR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.03-3.67) during the periconceptional period were positively related to a greater risk of all CHDs, similar results were also found in isolated CHDs rather than multiple CHDs. Additionally, living near main roads was positively associated with secundum atrial septal defect/patent foramen ovale (aOR = 2.65, 95% CI = 1.03-6.81) and housing renovation was strongly positively associated with ventricular septal defect (aOR = 5.08, 95% CI = 2.05-12.60). However, no association was observed between incense burning and family relationships and all CHDs, isolated and multiple CHDs and CHDs subtypes. CONCLUSION: Living near main roads and housing renovation during the periconceptional period are significantly associated with the increased risks for all CHDs and isolated CHDs. Further study is needed to extend sample size to explore the effects of time and frequency of burning incense and family relationships on CHDs in offspring.

Assessment of indoor environmental quality and seasonal well-being of students in a combined historic technical school building in Slovakia.

One of the major present challenges in the building sector is to construct sustainable and low-energy buildings with a healthy, safe, and comfortable environment. This study is designed to explore long-term impacts of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) parameters in a historic technical school building on the health and comfort of students. The main objective is to identify environmental problems in schools and to direct public policy towards the enhancement of in-service historic buildings. The collected data on five consecutive days in various seasons from five different classrooms indicate allergy in 45% and asthma in 10% of students. Environmental factors, such as temperature, draught, noise, or light, affected 51% of students' attention. Low temperature, unpleasant air, noise, and draught were found to be the most frequent concerns for students. The lowest temperature was measured during spring at 17.6 °C, the lowest humidity of 21.1% in winter, the largest CO2 amount in the air in autumn at 2041 ppm level, and the greatest total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) as 514 µg/m3. The experimental and statistical analysis results suggest the necessity of a comprehensive restoration of the building with a focus on enhancement of IEQ as well as replacement of old non-standard materials. An effective ventilation system is also necessary. The building requires major renovations to preserve its historic features while safeguarding the well-being and comfort of students and staff. Further research is needed on acoustics, lighting, and energy factors as well as the health effects of old building materials.

[Analysis of noise reduction measures in a noise workshop handover control room].

Objective: To explore the sound insulation, sound absorption and other noise reduction transformation methods in a noise workshop handover control room. Methods: In December 2021, through the occupational health investigation and on-site testing of the handover control room of a noise workshop, the causes of excessive noise were analyzed, and the transformation design scheme to reduce noise was proposed and the effect was analyzed. Results: Before the transformation, the peak frequency band noise intensity of the noise workshop handover control room was 112.8 dB (A), and the peak frequency was 1000 Hz. After noise reduction, the theoretical calculated control value was 61.0 dB (A), and the measured noise intensity was 59.8 dB (A) . Conclusion: The noise intensity of the handover control room is reduced after noise reduction, which is in line with the contact limit requirements of the control room in GBZ 1-2010 "Hygienic Standards for the Design of Industrial Enterprises", and has reference significance for noise control engineering.

Improved Copper Circularity as a Result of Increased Material Efficiency in the U.S. Housing Stock.

Material efficiency (ME) can support rapid climate change mitigation and circular economy. Here, we comprehensively assess the circularity of ME strategies for copper use in the U.S. housing services (including residential buildings and major household appliances) by integrating use-phase material and energy demand. Although the ME strategies of more intensive floor space use and extended lifetime of appliances and buildings reduce the primary copper demand, employing these strategies increases the commonly neglected use-phase share of total copper requirements during the century from 23-28 to 22-42%. Use-phase copper requirements for home improvements have remained larger than the demand gap (copper demand minus scrap availability) for much of the century, limiting copper circularity in the U.S. housing services. Further, use-phase energy consumption can negate the benefits of ME strategies. For instance, the lifetime extension of lower-efficiency refrigerators increases the copper use and net environmental impact by increased electricity use despite reductions from less production. This suggests a need for more attention to the use phase when assessing circularity, especially for products that are material and energy intensive during use. To avoid burden shifting, policymakers should consider the entire life cycle of products supporting services when pursuing circular economy goals.

Associations between home renovation and asthma, allergic rhinitis, and eczema among preschool children in Wuhan, China.

To investigate the potential associations between household renovation and allergic diseases among preschool children in Wuhan, we conducted a large cross-sectional questionnaire survey among 9455 preschool children aged 3-6 years in Wuhan during November to December 2019. Data on demographics, health status, and home decoration conditions were analysed based on a questionnaire. Compared with tiles/stone/cement floor covering, the use of composite floor significantly increased the risk of diagnosed rhinitis and eczema among children (rhinitis: AOR, 95% CI: 1.36, 1.06-1.73; eczema: AOR, 95% CI: 1.47, 1.17-1.85). Household renovation had significant associations with diagnosed eczema (within 1 year before pregnancy: AOR, 95% CI: 1.34, 1.20-1.50; during pregnancy: AOR, 95% CI: 1.25, 1.08-1.44). This study suggests that use of artificial synthetic materials in home renovation during early childhood and pregnancy may be potential risk factors for childhood asthma, allergic rhinitis, and eczema.

Unbuilding the city: Deconstruction and the circular economy in Vancouver.

Globally, the construction, renovation, and demolition sectors are increasingly responsible for growing resource demand and structural waste, even given progress in energy efficient technologies, 'green' building design, and local planning regulations. In response, the Circular Economy has become a popular agenda in the construction, renovation, and demolition sector as it offers a new model that not only maximizes materials reuse and recovery but also reframes urban systems and the built environment in a closed-loop (cradle-to-cradle) paradigm. In particular, popular visions of the Circular Economy promote, among other actions, 'optimizing' the end-of-the-life of buildings and their materials. Deconstruction (i.e. piece-by-piece demolition) is one key optimization strategy that has received increasing, yet limited, attention by researchers. This paper traces the development of an incipient deconstruction sector in Vancouver, focusing on the possibilities and challenges of deconstruction and material recovery practices as viable strategies for a transformative Circular Economy. I investigate two related aspects: first, the emerging policy landscape surrounding green demolition, and second, the development of 'unbuilding' practices and more formal 'Deconstruction Hubs'. Overall, the paper finds that while these developments represent fundamental steps towards a more sustainable built environment, there remain a number of significant social, political and economic limitations that must be confronted if we are to meet the growing demands for more radical sustainability and 'circularity' not only in Canadian construction, renovation, and demolition sectors, but across Canadian cities and beyond.

Full inversion tillage during pasture renewal to increase soil carbon storage: New Zealand as a case study.

As soils under permanent pasture and grasslands have large topsoil carbon (C) stocks, the scope to sequester additional C may be limited. However, because C in pasture/grassland soils declines with depth, there may be potential to sequester additional C in the subsoil. Data from 247 continuous pasture sites in New Zealand (representing five major soil Orders and ~80% of the grassland area) showed that, on average, the 0.15-0.30 m layer contained 25-34 t ha-1 less C than the top 0.15 m. High-production grazed pastures require periodic renewal (re-seeding) every 7-14 years to maintain productivity. Our objective was to assess whether a one-time pasture renewal, involving full inversion tillage (FIT) to a depth of 0.30 m, has potential to increase C storage by burying C-rich topsoil and bringing low-C subsoil to the surface where C inputs from pasture production are greatest. Data from the 247 pasture sites were used to model changes in C stocks following FIT pasture renewal by predicting (1) the C accumulation in the new 0-0.15 m layer and (2) the decomposition of buried-C in the new 0.15-0.30 m layer. In the 20 years following FIT pasture renewal, soil C was predicted to increase by an average of 7.3-10.3 (Sedimentary soils) and 9.6-12.7 t C ha-1 (Allophanic soils), depending on the assumptions applied. Adoption of FIT for pasture renewal across all suitable soils (2.0-2.6 M ha) in New Zealand was predicted to sequester ~20-36 Mt C, sufficient to offset 9.6-17.5% of the country's cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture over 20 years at the current rate of emissions. Given that grasslands account for ~70% of global agricultural land, FIT renewal of pastures or grassland could offer a significant opportunity to sequester soil C and offset greenhouse gas emissions.

Health Benefits and Costs of Clean Heating Renovation: An Integrated Assessment in a Major Chinese City.

China has been promoting one of the world's largest campaigns for clean heating renovation since 2017. Here, we present an integrated cost-benefit analysis in a major prefecture-level city by combining a large-scale household energy survey and PM2.5 exposure measurement, high-resolution chemical transport simulation, and health impact assessment. We find that the completed renovation decreases the share of solid fuels in the heating energy mix from 96 to 6% and achieves a concomitant reduction of cooking solid-fuel use by 70%. The completed renovation decreases the ambient PM2.5 concentration in Linfen by 0.5-5 µg m-3 (2.4 µg m-3 on average) and decreases the integrated PM2.5 exposure by 4.2 (3.5-5.0) µg m-3. The renovation is estimated to avoid 162 (125-225) and 328 (254-457) premature deaths annually based on two health impact assessment methods. The ratios of monetized health benefits to cost are 1.51 (0.73-2.59) and 3.06 (1.49-5.23) based on the above two methods. The benefit-to-cost ratio is projected to remain high if the renovation is further expanded. More polluted and less wealthy households enjoy larger health benefits but also experience a higher expense increase, suggesting that a more carefully designed subsidy policy is needed to protect low-income households.

The effect of reduction measures on concentrations of hazardous semivolatile organic compounds in indoor air and dust of Swedish preschools.

Young children spend a substantial part of their waking time in preschools. It is therefore important to reduce the load of hazardous semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in the preschools' indoor environment. The presence and levels of five SVOC groups were evaluated (1) in a newly built preschool, (2) before and after renovation of a preschool, and (3) in a preschool where SVOC-containing articles were removed. The new building and the renovation were performed using construction materials that were approved with respect to content of restricted chemicals. SVOC substance groups were measured in indoor air and settled dust and included phthalates and alternative plasticizers, organophosphate esters (OPEs), brominated flame retardants, and bisphenols. The most abundant substance groups in both indoor air and dust were phthalates and alternative plasticizers and OPEs. SVOC concentrations were lower or of the same order of magnitude as those reported in comparable studies. The relative Cumulative Hazard Quotient (HQcum ) was used to assess the effects of the different reduction measures on children's SVOC exposure from indoor air and dust in the preschools. HQcum values were low (1.0-6.1%) in all three preschools and decreased further after renovation and article substitution. The SVOCs concentrations decreased significantly more in the preschool renovated with the approved building materials than in the preschool where the SVOC-containing articles were removed.

Indoor volatile organic compounds exposures and risk of childhood acute leukemia: a case-control study in shanghai.

A case-control study was conducted to investigate the relationship between indoor air pollution and childhood acute leukemia (AL) in Shanghai. 97 cases and 148 gender-, age-, and residence-matched controls were included. Indoor air pollution was evaluated by questionnaires and quantitative measurement including 14 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the homes of the two groups. The levels of individual VOCs, VOC families, TVOC (sum of the concentrations of the individual VOCs) and NO2 were compared between the two groups. Exposure to styrene and butyl alcohol were associated with an increased risk of childhood AL (styrene: odds ratio (OR)=2.33, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07-5.07; butyl alcohol: OR = 2.51, 95%CI: 1.19-5.28); 4th quartile of chlorinated hydrocarbons (OR = 2.52, 95%CI: 1.02-6.26) and 3rd quartile of TVOC (OR = 4.03, 95%CI: 1.06-6.81) had significant higher ORs for childhood AL compared with that in the lowest quartiles. Elevated levels of individual VOCs, VOC families and TVOC were also associated with self-reported risk factors. Our findings suggest that VOCs exposure was associated with an elevated risk of childhood AL, underscore that more attention should be paid to indoor air pollution as a risk factor of childhood AL.

Benthic foraminifera as indicators of water renewal in Bertioga estuarine channel (SP, Brazil).

We use benthic foraminifera and hydrography as environmental indicators to characterize the estuarine channel of Bertioga (SP, Brazil). Salinity and temperature measured in four fixed stations (F1-F4) influence differentiation related to species habitat, fluvial discharge, and environmental quality. Tidal oscillation during neap and spring tides changes the Hansen and Rattray stratification-circulation classification from highly stratified (type 2b) to weakly stratified (type 2a). In the northern entrance close to Itapanhaú River, F1 is highly stratified environment (type 2b), with significant difference between bottom and surface salinities, presenting Pararotalia sp., Pseudononion atlanticum, Hanzawaia boueana, and Quinqueloculina lamarckiana as indicator species. F2 in summer is highly stratified (type 2b) with large difference between surface and bottom salinity, whereas in winter is partially mixed weakly stratified (type 2a) with small difference between salinities and the agglutinated Arenoparella mexicana, Haplophragmoides wilberti, and Trochammina inflata thrives. In summer and winter, F3 is partially mixed weakly stratified (type 2a) with A. mexicana, H. wilberti, Trochammina inflata, Ammobaculites sp., and Ammotium salsum. In the southern entrance, F4 in the winter, is partially mixed, weakly stratified system (type 2a) that changes to highly stratified (type 2b) with large difference between salinities. This indicated low influence of fluvial freshwater and high influence of saline and polluted waters from Santos Channel where Arenoparella mexicana, Gaudryina exilis, and Ammotium cassis inhabits. Presence of Quinqueloculina spp. and Triloculina sp. indicates high saline influence, and presence of Ammonia tepida and Elphidium spp. indicates mixohaline environments which salinity dilution occurs.

Associations between household renovation and rhinitis among preschool children in China: A cross-sectional study.

During 2010-2012, we surveyed 40,010 3- to 6-year-old children in seven Chinese cities (Beijing, Taiyuan, Urumqi, Shanghai, Nanjing, Changsha, and Chongqing). Their parents reported information on household renovation, including the timing of renovation and the choice of materials for walls and floors in the child's room, and the incidence of their child's rhinitis. Multivariate and two-level (city-child) logistic regression analyses yielding adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals were performed. Sensitivity analyses stratifying data for location and economic level were also performed. About 48.0% of the children had ever had allergic rhinitis, 41.2% had current allergic rhinitis, and 9.0% had had doctor-diagnosed rhinitis. Exposure to household renovation during early lifetime (birth to 1-year-old) had an AOR of 1.43 (1.04-1.9) for allergic rhinitis. The incidence of allergic rhinitis was significantly different in children exposed to different floor and wall covering materials. Floor or wall covering material composed of organic materials significantly increased the risk of childhood allergic rhinitis compared with tile flooring or lime wall covering. Oil paint had an AOR of 1.66 (1.28-2.14) for diagnosed rhinitis compared with lime wall covering. Adding new furniture the year before pregnancy was associated with an AOR of 1.18 (1.10-1.27) and 1.18 (1.11-1.25) for lifetime and current rhinitis. Solid wood or tiles/ceramic as floor materials, and using wallpaper, oil paint, or emulsion panels as wall materials were risk factors for doctor-diagnosed rhinitis. Sensitivity analyses showed that children living in southern or higher economic level China cities were more likely to have allergic rhinitis with household renovation.

Leveraging Survey Results in Support of a Library Renovation: A Case Study.

The Health Sciences Library (HSL) at Stony Brook University along with the School of Medicine were motivated to make improvements in seating and hours based on survey results from an LCME self-study. Preparation for the site visit from the Liaison Committee for Medical Education helped to garner resources and support for this initiative. To meet the evolving needs of the HSL patrons, librarians completed an overdue collection assessment project which allowed for 142 new seats, including newly designed spaces and furnishings. Ongoing assessment of the redesigned space will be conducted to evaluate success and areas for continued improvement.

High prevalence of eczema among preschool children related to home renovation in China: A multi-city-based cross-sectional study.

We surveyed 40 010 three- to six-year-old children in seven Chinese cities (Beijing, Taiyuan, Urumqi, Shanghai, Nanjing, Changsha, and Chongqing) during 2010-2012 so as to investigate possible links between home renovation and childhood eczema. Their parents responded to questions on home renovation and childhood eczema. Multivariate and two-level (city-child) logistic regression analyses yielding odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were performed. Sensitivity analyses stratifying data for region, climate, and income level were also performed. The prevalences of childhood eczema in children with different floor and wall covering materials were significantly different and were significantly higher with home renovation during early lifetime. Exposure to synthetic materials significantly increased the risk of childhood eczema by 20%-25%. The risks (AOR, 95% CI) of current eczema among children in families with solid wood flooring and oil paint wall covering were 1.25 (1.04-1.49) and 1.35 (1.14-1.60), respectively. Home renovation during pregnancy was related to children's lifetime and current eczema.