The White House Clean Air in Buildings Challenge

An Overview of the 2022 Initiative

On March 17^th of this year, the White House announced the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge, a call for building owners and operators to improve and protect public health and reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses through actions designed to advance indoor air quality (IAQ) with better ventilation and filtration. 

The pandemic put the collective air that we breathe under the microscope and revealed a dire need to modernize existing air quality systems within indoor spaces in America. The Clean Air in Buildings Challenge was initiated as part of the COVID preparedness plan, in response to the knowledge that the most common way that COVID-19 is transmitted is through airborne particles of the virus, but the program is part of a larger plan to advance our national infrastructure and public health.

It has long been known that inhaling these microscopic particles — also known as PM 2.5, particles less than 2.5 microns in width — can cause serious health issues. (In comparison, the width of a single human hair is 50 to 100 microns.), reports the Washington Post. 

Why This is a Big Deal

U.S. federal health authorities were initially slow to identify airborne transmission of the virus. It was only in October 2020 that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognized that the virus can sometimes be airborne, long after many infectious disease experts warned that the coronavirus traveled aloft in small, airborne particles. Scientists have been calling for a bigger focus on addressing that risk for more than a year.

The initiative is “really a big deal,” said William Bahnfleth, a professor of architectural engineering at Pennsylvania State University and head of the Epidemic Task Force at the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. “It’s making the start that is often the most difficult part.”
“For decades, Americans have demanded that clean water flow from our taps and pollution limits be placed on our smokestacks and tailpipes,” said Dr. Alondra Nelson, Chief of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “It is time for healthy and clean indoor air to also become an expectation for us all.”

How Funding is Being Distributed

With funds available through the American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the initiative includes $350 billion in funding for state and local governments, plus an additional $122 billion for schools to support investments in ventilation and IAQ improvements. Unlike the funding process for previous programs like the CARES Act, these funds have already been allocated at the state and local level, so they are easily accessible and each district and municipality is responsible for distributing grants.