People spend approximately 90 percent of their lives indoors, making the air within homes, schools, workplaces and health care facilities one of the most persistent influences on human health. However, indoor air remains among the most consequential and underrecognized public health issues worldwide.

Household air pollution alone contributes to an estimated 2.9 million premature deaths each year. That devastating figure captures only one part of the burden. It does not account for many of the health effects associated with dampness and mold, chemical pollutants, airborne disease transmission, wildfire smoke or outdoor pollution that enters buildings.

Poor indoor air increases the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, worsens asthma and allergies and contributes to the spread of airborne infections. Its effects also extend to classrooms and workplaces, where unhealthy air can undermine learning, cognitive performance, productivity, and quality of life. Children, pregnant women, older adults and people living with chronic illnesses may face greater risks because of their health, living conditions or level of exposure.

The evidence is clear. The continuing question is whether governments, institutions, businesses and communities can coordinate the policies, investments and everyday decisions needed to protect the air people breathe indoors. The International WELL Building Institute is rallying global experts to create a collaborative call to action.

A Framework for Coordinated Action

The Global Framework for Action Advancing Healthy Indoor Air Through Societal Engagement and Market Transformation offers a path forward. Developed by the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air, it is designed to move healthy indoor air from a growing concern to an everyday expectation across every type of building.

More than 200 Commissioners from more than 40 countries collaborated for a year to develop the framework. The Commission brought together scientists, public health leaders, technical experts, building practitioners, industry executives, advocates, policymakers and communication professionals. That breadth was essential because no profession, institution or sector can deliver healthy indoor air at scale.

“The Global Commission demonstrates what becomes possible when leaders look beyond the mission of any one organization and focus on what we can accomplish together,” shares Jason Hartke, PhD, Secretariat of the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air and Executive Vice President, International WELL Building Institute.  “By aligning science, policy, investment, professional practice and public engagement, this framework gives countries and communities a practical foundation for making healthy indoor air the norm rather than the exception,” he added.

Science can identify threats and evaluate solutions. Industry can develop and deploy technologies. Public health professionals can assess population-level consequences. Policymakers can establish expectations and accountability. Building professionals can translate standards into daily practice, while communication specialists can help people understand why the issue matters and what action they can take.

The framework turns that shared knowledge into a shared strategy. It establishes nine interconnected points for market transformation, 40 strategic focus areas and some 180 recommendations. Together, they connect public engagement, research, policy, education, market incentives, financing, standards, partnerships and measurement.

The Solutions Are Within Reach

Improving indoor air is not a problem waiting for invention. Effective measures are already available, including source control, moisture and mold prevention, healthier materials, ventilation, filtration, monitoring and sound building operations. These measures can reduce exposure across homes, schools, workplaces, health care settings and public spaces.

The scale of exposure gives these interventions unusual importance. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors. EPA studies also found levels of about a dozen common organic pollutants to be two to five times higher indoors than outdoors. Those findings do not mean that every indoor environment is consistently more polluted. They do show why the quality of indoor air deserves the same sustained attention given to outdoor air.

The remaining obstacle is sector-wide fragmentation. Research does not automatically translate into better building practice, and innovation does not guarantee access. A new standard does not create a workforce prepared to implement it. Public awareness does not necessarily generate investment, while policies without financing can leave communities with expectations they cannot afford to meet.

The IWBI framework addresses those gaps by showing how each lever supports the entire ecosystem of players. Research can inform codes and professional practice. Innovation can improve performance while lowering barriers to adoption. Education can prepare building professionals to apply new knowledge. Financing can help communities move from intention to implementation. Policy can create accountability, while clear performance information can help people make informed decisions about the places where they live, learn, work and receive care.

Communication Is Part of the Infrastructure

Indoor air is invisible, and its health effects may not appear immediately. People cannot ask informed questions or support better policies if they do not recognize the issue. Communication is therefore part of the public health infrastructure required to make healthier indoor environments possible.

Technical evidence must become practical knowledge. Building owners need to understand the value of better ventilation and filtration. Employers need to recognize indoor air as part of workforce health and organizational resilience. School leaders and parents need useful information about how classroom environments affect learning. Patients, clinicians and health care administrators should consider indoor air within infection prevention and healing.

Communication must also help prevent a new divide between buildings that protect health and those occupied by people with the fewest resources and choices. Healthy indoor air cannot become a premium amenity reserved for newer offices, affluent communities or prestigious institutions. The framework is grounded in the Commission’s conviction that access to healthy indoor air is a fundamental human right. Equity must therefore shape policy, financing and implementation from the beginning.

The public needs evidence presented truthfully, with uncertainty explained rather than hidden. People need useful guidance rather than fear. Understanding should lead to agency and action.

Global Direction and Local Leadership

A global framework establishes a common direction without imposing one plan on every country. Climate, governance, building stock, economic conditions and public health needs differ widely. A school system in a densely populated city faces different challenges from a rural clinic, an older apartment building, a factory or a household that relies on polluting cooking fuels.

The next stage of the Commission’s multiyear work will support national organizations and coalitions as they develop country-level Blueprints for Action. These blueprints can translate global strategy into local priorities, financing approaches, implementation pathways and stakeholder responsibilities. They also offer countries a common starting point, reducing the need to build a strategy independently and helping promising solutions move more quickly into practice.

Local adaptation should make action more practical, equitable and durable. It should never become an excuse for delay.

Healthy Buildings Support Healthy People

The COVID-19 pandemic has conditioned the world to recognize that pathogens can travel through indoor spaces. That lesson should not fade as the immediate crisis recedes. Indoor air influences heart and lung health, cognitive performance, educational opportunity, workforce productivity and community resilience.

Healthy indoor air also belongs within the larger climate conversation. Buildings must become healthier and more energy efficient. Those goals should advance together through better design, smarter operations and technologies that account for human health as well as environmental performance.

Serving as one of the Commission’s more than 200 members offered a close view of what becomes possible when scientific knowledge, industry experience, public health leadership, policy insight and communication expertise converge around a shared responsibility. The achievement belongs to the full Commission and to the many disciplines and countries represented in its work.

Its success will not be measured by the number of recommendations published. It will be visible in cleaner classrooms, safer workplaces, and healthier homes and work environments that better protect the people who occupy indoor spaces.

Everyone breathes. Healthy indoor air should be expected, measured, valued and continuously improved wherever and whenever people gather. The Global Framework for Action offers that roadmap. The opportunity is now to use it.