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For millions of people living with asthma, even the air inside their own homes can make breathing difficult. However, new research co-authored by researchers at Illinois Tech, the University of Texas at Arlington, and Elevate shows that better ventilation systems in homes could make a measurable difference in helping people breathe more easily.

The recently published study, co-authored by Brent Stephens, Arthur W. Hill Endowed Chair in Sustainability at Illinois Tech, and UTA Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering Insung Kang (Ph.D. ARCE ’22), and colleagues, found that improved residential ventilation systems can significantly enhance indoor air quality and ease breathing for adults with asthma.

The three-year project, conducted in �鶹APP from 2017–20, evaluated the impact of different types of home ventilation systems on indoor air pollutants and respiratory health among adults with asthma.

“Recognizing how significantly indoor environments influence people’s health inspired me to dedicate my research to improving public health and supporting vulnerable and underserved communities,” says Kang. “When we visited homes, we could see the difference these systems made, especially for families facing economic or environmental disparities.” 

After a year of baseline monitoring, researchers installed one of three types of systems in participants’ homes: upgraded bathroom exhaust fans set to run continuously to pull air in from the outside, a supply fan connected to the central heating and cooling system set to run intermittently to push air into the home, or an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) that continuously pushed air in and pulled air out of the home. The supply and balanced systems also circulate and filter air, while the ERVs also conserve energy for heating and cooling. 

The findings, in the journal Building and Environment, showed that all systems led to measurable improvements in indoor air quality and asthma outcomes during the study’s second year, when ventilation was activated, while the ERV system led to the largest improvements in asthma symptoms. 

Researchers observed the most substantial improvements among lower-income participants and within Black and African American households, suggesting that better ventilation may help close health gaps related to asthma. Older adults—those over 45—also experienced more pronounced benefits. 

“This work would not have been possible without funding from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, the time and energy of our colleagues, contractors, and recruitment teams, donations from several manufacturers, and, of course, our study participants, each of whom invited us into their homes for air quality monitoring, welcomed our contractors to install ventilation systems in their homes, and completed dozens of surveys throughout the project,” says Stephens.  

“This research confirms that improved ventilation isn’t just a building upgrade, it’s a public health solution,” says Anne Evens, CEO of Elevate. “We’re honored to collaborate with the University of Texas at Arlington and Illinois Tech on this groundbreaking study. Together, we’re demonstrating how evidence-based housing interventions can reduce health disparities and help families breathe easier." 

Kang completed the project as part of his doctoral research at Illinois Tech and says the experience shaped his career focus on environmental health and equitable technology design. Now leading the Built Environment and Health (BEH) research group at UTA, he continues studying ways to make buildings healthier and more efficient across Texas and beyond. 

Image: Suite of monitoring instruments used by researchers to track indoor and outdoor air quality and ventilation system operation.