A research initiative led by Virginia Tech, with significant involvement from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), has secured a federal contract worth up to $40 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The project aims to develop a smart-building system designed to monitor and improve indoor air quality, addressing airborne contaminants that can pose health risks.
The research team’s project, called Bioaerosol Risk Assessment interVention Engineering (BRAVE), seeks to reduce respiratory illnesses such as colds, flu, and asthma by 25 percent. The system uses biosensors capable of detecting 25 different viruses, bacteria, allergens, and fungi in real time. These include SARS-CoV-2, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, Legionella, and black mold. Data from these sensors are analyzed using computational modeling software to assess risk levels for building occupants.
When elevated risk is detected, the system automatically adjusts building ventilation, filtration systems, or activates germicidal UV lights. It may also issue alerts or recommend behavioral changes like reducing occupancy. Most adjustments will occur automatically in the background.
Initial testing will take place in daycare centers due to their high pathogen exposure rates. Findings from these tests are expected to be applicable in other communal environments such as schools, hospitals, supermarkets, and airports.
Linsey Marr of Virginia Tech leads the project. “The knowledge that comes out of this project will mean that when you go into a classroom, office, restaurant, or other building that has adopted the solutions from this research, the air is going to be cleaner and safer than it was before,” said Marr. “That will mean that you have fewer days of illness, fewer missed workdays, and a better quality of life.”
Richard Corsi, dean of engineering at UC Davis and contributor to the project stated: “This project will lead to significant public health and economic benefits. I am thrilled that researchers in the UC Davis College of Engineering will play a key role in this novel and important effort.”
Chris Cappa from UC Davis added: “The ability to monitor pathogens and allergens in the air in real time will allow us to transform the way our buildings operate to make them actively work to keep us healthy. This has the potential to be one of the biggest advances in how we think about the air inside buildings since the advent of air conditioning.”
UC Davis is responsible for leading implementation and assessment phases including integrating new biosensors with building systems and measuring their effectiveness at reducing exposure.
The interdisciplinary team includes subproject leaders Rajan Chakrabarty (Washington University in St. Louis) and Madhav Marathe (University of Virginia), along with collaborators from institutions such as University of Michigan; Yale University; Pennsylvania State University; Emory University; Johnson Controls; Signature Science LLC; and Varro Life Sciences Inc.
Additional UC Davis investigators include Theresa Pistochini (Co-director), Sarah Outcault (Research Director), Christy Green (Research Engineer), Jeffrey Hoch (Department of Public Health Sciences), and Matthew Ellis (Department of Chemical Engineering).
Marr commented on the collaboration: “We’ve brought together an incredibly strong team of world-class experts in lots of different topics to focus on this one problem because that’s what we need to make a big leap forward. There was a flurry of activity about indoor air inspired by the pandemic, and now we need to take the next step.”
ARPA-H’s Building Resilient Environments for Air and Total Health (BREATHE) program funds this initiative with an initial $20 million investment; further funding could reach $40 million over five years.
The team plans eventual commercialization so that its whole-building system—including biosensors and intervention technology—can become widely available for installation.
