Moving towards a Robust Definition for a “Healthy” Indoor Microbiome

Buildings of the future should be designed to support human health, both by promoting the presence of beneficial microbes and by reducing exposure to harmful ones. However, we still do not have a robust definition of what constitutes a “healthy” indoor microbiome. Such a definition would allow us to better understand implications of building design and behavioral decisions of residents, especially for vulnerable populations such as asthmatic children. Relevant assessment methods could then be developed to make microbiome information available to home occupants, environmental health professionals, policy writers, building designers, and building remediation specialists.