Stephanie Taylor, MD, M Arch

The indoor environment, where most of us spend 90% of our time, is one of the largest determinants of human health. Why then, do building standards focus on aesthetics, energy conservation and dramatic failures such as fire and earthquakes – while neglecting regulation of the indoor environment and indoor air quality (IAQ) to specifically support occupant health? 

Almost overnight, a mutating member of the ubiquitous Coronavirus family wreaked havoc in our homes, communities, and – in fact– the entire world. Confusion about routes of COVID-19 transmission and the role of our own immune system in disease progression resulted in fear about how to safely inhabit our homes, schools, offices, and all enclosed spaces. 

Despite the complexity of the interacting factors between indoor environments and human occupants, research motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as preexisting studies in microbiology, medicine and building science, highlight a key step that we can take to support human health. Humans need mid-range levels of water vapor in occupied spaces to be healthy!

Safely maintaining indoor relative humidity between 40% to 60% will diminish the transmission of airborne infectious diseases and support human health – in all seasons. Conversely, dry indoor air during heating seasons in cold climates promotes viral respiratory diseases as well as a host of other health problems. 

Dr. Taylor will present studies showing the health benefits of hydrated air and will discuss the opportunities and challenges in maintaining an indoor relative humidity of 40%–60% worldwide.  

Dr. Stephanie Taylor received her MD from Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts in 1984. For the next several decades, she practiced clinical medicine and did academic research in cellular growth mechanisms.
 

During this time, she became increasingly concerned about patients who were harmed by new infection during their in-patient treatment. Determined to gain a better understanding of the impact of the built environment on patient well-being, she returned to school and obtained her Master's Degree I Architecture and Engineering from Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont. After working for several years in a healthcare design architecture firm, she founded Taylor Healthcare Consulting, Inc., in order to focus on designing, building and maintaining hospitals to better support patient healing. She quickly learned that many of the building and indoor air characteristics that affect people in hospitals also influenced the health of all people in buildings.
 

Dr. Taylor is currently working at the intersection of architectural design, indoor air management, the microbiome of the built environment and occupant health. She finds the impact of buildings on our health startling! Managing the built environment and indoor air with the goal of decreasing diseases from acute infections to chronic inflammation to cognitive impairment, is a very underutilized yet powerful approach to disease prevention. She finds that her physician insights and biological research helps her understand the science behind the interaction of buildings, human physiology and energy consumption.
 

Dr. Taylor has designed hospitals globally, from the United States to Papua New Guinea to Vietnam. In addition to her Taylor Healthcare Consulting work, she is a member of the Harvard Medical School Incite Health Fellowship. This program brings together multidisciplinary teams from across the US, trains them in design thinking and entrepreneurship, and gives them the tools and resources to guide the future of medical care.
 

To communicate her work and understanding about the fascinating convergence of human health, microbiology and architecture, Dr. Taylor writes monthly columns and bi-annual feature articles for Engineered Systems Magazine and publishes in other healthcare journals. She is an active member of ASHRAE, ASHE and national and international medical associations. When not working elsewhere, Dr. Taylor lives in beautiful Stowe, Vermont with her husband and eight dogs. One of her favorite activities is skydiving, which she finds is great practice for staying outside of her comfort zone!