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Course Information: ARCH 4621
Department of Architecture, Cornell University


ARCH 4621 Sustainable Architecture: the Science and Politics of Green Building

Spring 2020

Jonathan Ochshorn

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Assignment for week 13

Read the following:

  1. Martin Holladay, "Ventilation Rates and Human Health" (also available online)

  2. Martin Holladay, "How Much Fresh Air Does Your Home Need?" (also available online)

  3. Laquatra et al., "Indoor Air Pollutants: Limited-Resource Households and Child Care Facilities"

  4. LEED reference guide v.4, credits and prerequisites related to IEQ (Indoor Environmental Quality)

Optional: Nicola Twilley, "The Hidden Air Pollution in Our Homes," The New Yorker, April 1, 2019

Optional: My critique of the LEED guidelines for indoor environmental quality.

For all students:

Writing assignment (only for selected students)

  1. Summarize the benefits and drawbacks of increased ventilation rates to promote indoor air quality. Why do low-income families have more indoor air quality problems? How does the LEED section on IEQ deal with the specific issues raised in the first two articles (i.e., the debate about more or less outdoor air for ventilation), and income-based disparities in indoor air quality?

  2. Be prepared to read (or otherwise present) a condensed version of your paper in class (7–10 minutes).

  3. Paper should be 1000–1300 words, or approximately 3–4 typed pages, 1.5 line spacing.

For all students except those selected for the writing assignment.

Write a short (1-paragraph) response to a sentence extracted from one of the readings that you found interesting or provocative. Provide a footnote citation for the quotation you have chosen using the "notes and bibliography system."1


Copyright 2017–2021 J. Ochshorn. All rights reserved. First posted: 26 September 2017 | last updated: 18 February 2021

1 You can find information on citations in the Chicago Manual of Style. (You can leave out page numbers.)