Loughborough University’s Study On Covid-19 Air Quality Wins National Industry Award

A Loughborough University-led study that has created the first ever guidance on how to design and operate non-domestic buildings to minimise the spread of airborne viruses has won a national industry award.

The government funded AIRBODS (Airborne Infection Reduction through Building Operation and Design for SARS-CoV-2) project helped get large-scale events back up and running following the Covid-19 lockdown.

Last night (1 March) the study won the Learning and Development category at the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Building Performance Awards. The annual honours recognise the people, products and projects that demonstrate engineering excellence in the built environment.

The AIRBODS team, led by Loughborough’s Professor Malcolm Cook, was delighted its ground-breaking project was acknowledged by industry leaders. New detailed guidance developed from the team’s work – the largest ever study of non-domestic building air quality – will be released later this month.

Speaking about the award, Professor Cook said: “It has been a privilege to lead such a committed team of researchers who worked tirelessly during the pandemic to collect extensive data and run bespoke computer simulations.

“The work has substantially increased our understanding of indoor air quality which has become such a key focus for our nation’s health and wellbeing. This award recognises this commitment and contribution to knowledge.”

The AIRBODS project was led by Loughborough University, in partnership with University College London, the University of Cambridge, the University of Nottingham, the University of Sheffield, London South Bank University and Wirth Research.