More than 200 Commissioners from over 40 countries, including many of the world’s most distinguished scientists, public health luminaries, technical experts, building practitioners, business leaders and advocates working to advance healthy indoor air, collaborated over the past year to develop the Global Framework for Action.
The far-reaching roadmap sets out nine interconnected levers of market transformation, 40 strategic focus areas and nearly 180 recommendations to drive systemic change and deliver healthier indoor air at scale.
NEW YORK, September 22, 2026 /3BL/ – The Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air today launched the Global Framework for Action: Advancing Healthy Indoor Air through Societal Engagement and Market Transformation, a landmark global roadmap designed to elevate and embed healthy indoor air as a public health imperative and a market priority, ultimately institutionalizing it as an everyday expectation in buildings everywhere.
Unveiled during Climate Week in New York, just one year after the Commission’s launch at the United Nations, the Framework provides a comprehensive and coordinated strategy for tackling one of the world’s most consequential yet underrecognized public health challenges. It calls on governments, multilateral organizations, public health institutions, businesses, building practitioners, researchers, financial institutions, professional organizations and communities to move beyond isolated interventions and align the policies, investments, innovations and everyday decisions that shape the air people breathe indoors.
The Framework draws on the latest scientific evidence and a year-long collaborative process involving more than 200 Commissioners from over 40 countries, bringing together expertise and experience from dozens of disciplines and sectors. They developed 40 strategic focus areas and nearly 180 recommendations spanning the major levers of market transformation that can move healthy indoor air from growing awareness to widespread and sustained adoption. The Framework works toward a shared global vision: a future in which healthy indoor air is expected, measured, valued, financed, governed and continuously improved across all the places people live, learn, work and heal. Put simply, healthy indoor air should be the norm, not the exception.
“Last year, we came together at the United Nations to launch the Global Commission and affirm through the Global Pledge for Healthy Indoor Air that healthy indoor air is a fundamental human right,” said Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO of the International WELL Building Institute. “Today, we are putting that commitment into action. Over the past year, more than 200 leaders from more than 40 countries, including many of the world’s leading scientists, technical experts and advocates in healthy indoor air, have come together to build a first-of-its-kind global roadmap that aligns science, education, policy, innovation, investment and public demand. We did not need another report diagnosing the problem or explaining why it matters. We needed an actionable plan for changing the systems, markets and expectations that shape the air inside our buildings. That is what this Framework delivers: a practical path for leaders all around the world to align their efforts and uphold the right to healthy indoor air for everyone, everywhere.”
The launch comes at a moment of profound urgency and possibility. Household air pollution alone contributes to more than three million premature deaths each year, but mortality is only the starkest measure of a far wider toll. Poor indoor air increases the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, worsens asthma and allergies, contributes to the spread of airborne infection, and undermines learning, cognitive performance, productivity and quality of life.
At the same time, the solutions are increasingly within reach. Effective source control, moisture and mold prevention, healthier materials, ventilation, filtration, monitoring and sound building operations can reduce exposure and help homes, schools, workplaces, healthcare settings, public spaces and other critical infrastructure better protect and promote health.
“For decades, we have advanced the science and unequivocally demonstrated that better indoor air is essential to human health. It can help prevent premature deaths, reduce acute and chronic health risks and improve learning, thinking, creativity, productivity, performance and quality of life,” said Dr. Lidia Morawska, Co-Chair of the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air and Distinguished Professor at Queensland University of Technology. “We know the difference better indoor air can make, and many of the tools we need to support it are already available. What has been missing is a coordinated, transdisciplinary strategy for applying what we know at the scale this fundamental requirement for human health demands. The Global Framework for Action provides the bridge from research to decisions, and from decisions to healthier buildings and healthier lives.”
Nine Interconnected Levers of Action
The Framework, a shared strategic roadmap, shows how nine mutually reinforcing levers can shift markets, institutions, professional practice and public expectations. They include:
- Building awareness and public engagement
- Innovation, research and development
- Advocacy and policy development
- Education and training
- Driving demand and market incentives
- Financing and resource mobilization
- Codes, standards and leadership certifications
- Partnerships and collaboration
- Implementation, monitoring and evaluation
The levers are designed to reinforce one another. Research and evidence can inform standards and building practice. Innovation can affect technical feasibility, reach and cost. Policy can create demand and accountability. Financing can accelerate deployment. Education can build the workforce needed to deliver widespread improvements. Public awareness and trusted performance information can reinforce every other lever.
“Partnership is leadership at its best, and this Framework shows what becomes possible when committed leaders across disciplines and regions focus on what they can accomplish together,” said Jason Hartke, Secretariat of the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air and Executive Vice President at IWBI. “The defining strength of this Framework lies not in any single recommendation, but in how it aligns the full range of levers needed to drive market transformation and deliver healthy indoor air at scale. That coordination creates momentum no discipline or sector could generate alone. It also makes clear that we all have a role to play and invites each of us to step forward and do our part to bring healthier indoor air within reach for all.”
A Public Health Imperative
The Framework is grounded in the Commission’s conviction that access to healthy indoor air is a fundamental human right. To advance this public health imperative, the Framework’s recommendations are guided by core principles including equity, locality, trust, scientific evidence, accountability, scalability, value creation and the recognition that human health, climate action and resilience are inextricably linked.
“Public health’s greatest victories often come from preventing harm before it occurs,” said Dr. Richard Carmona, 17th Surgeon General of the United States and Co-Chair of the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air. “Healthy indoor air is far more than a building issue. Ensuring that everyone can breathe healthy indoor air is a sacred responsibility, one that influences health, opportunity and resilience throughout life. This Framework brings public health and the building sector to the same table, uniting us behind a common vision and giving us a shared plan of action to protect people in every community.”
A Global Foundation for Country-Level Leadership
The Global Framework provides a common starting point, not a one-size-fits-all plan. Countries and communities can use the Framework to identify the actions most relevant to their governance structures, climates, building stocks, economic conditions and public health needs. The next phase of the Commission’s work will support national organizations and coalitions as they develop tailored Blueprints for Action that translate the Framework’s shared strategic direction into country-specific priorities, implementation pathways, financing approaches and stakeholder responsibilities. The Commission will continue mobilizing partnerships, strengthening professional capacity, supporting innovation and elevating healthy indoor air across national and international policy agendas.
“We hope this Framework helps countries, organizations, industries, communities and leaders around the world join this growing movement, strengthen collaboration, turn ideas into action and propel this movement forward,” said the Commission Co-Chairs.
The Global Framework for Action is available through the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air at wellcertified.com/global-framework-for-action.
What Other Commissioners Are Saying
“The launch of the Global Framework for Action marks an important step from recognizing healthy indoor air as a priority to establishing a shared path for meaningful progress. Through my work at the intersection of data, buildings and public health, I have seen how clear guidance and reliable evidence can help decision-makers turn good intentions into lasting improvements for the people who live, learn and work indoors. I’m excited to see this framework inspire collaboration and accelerate meaningful action around the world.”
— Serene Almomen, PhD, CEO, Attune
“The Global Framework for Action helps resurface the critical issue of indoor air quality in the built environment. It sets out a common global benchmark that can be applied across the sector, and highlights the power of the collective in making progress on this critical topic.”
— Mark McKenna, Global Sustainability Director, Arcadis
“Healthy indoor air shapes how well we live, learn, work, and thrive, yet it is still too often overlooked. My work as an educator and built environment professional across countries and cultures has strengthened my belief that everyone deserves indoor air that supports their health and well-being. Serving on the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air gives me the opportunity to bring the Commission’s practical roadmap into my teaching and mentoring, preparing the next generation to create healthier buildings and more equitable communities.”
— Bahar Armaghani, Instructional Associate Professor, University of Florida, Director
“Historically, the building sector has treated energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality as competing priorities. The Global Framework for Action fundamentally breaks that compromise, proving that human health and climate action can advance hand in hand. The technologies and systems to deliver clean air while reducing carbon emissions and operating costs are commercially viable today. As commissioners, our mission is to make healthy indoor air an expected, measurable, and universal standard in every community. Now, through the levers of market transformation outlined in this Framework, we have the collective roadmap to turn these proven solutions into the global norm.”
— Mauro J. Atalla, SVP and Chief Technology & Sustainability Officer, Trane Technologies
“At a time when so many forces and causes are competing for our attention, it’s critical not to lose sight of the simple truth that all people deserve access to healthy indoor air. As stewards of the built environment, it is empowering and reassuring to contribute to guidance that goes beyond the ‘why’ and delivers a clear outline of ‘how’ to hold ourselves and our peers accountable for creating spaces where everyone can thrive.” — Jessica Bantom, Global Leader of Equity, Diversity and Belonging, DLR Group,
“The Commission absolutely, positively did its work. Never before has such a distinguished group of professionals gathered together to tackle such a meaningful problem in the built environment. This effort has legs and is destined to make a difference.”
— John H. Barrett, Chairman Emeritus, ISSA
“Healthy indoor air needs to move from something we measure occasionally to something we understand and improve continuously. This Framework gives governments, building owners and industry a shared path to turn the science into practical action, and ultimately make healthy indoor environments the norm.”
— Liam Bates, CEO and Co-Founder, Kaiterra
“We are our environment. As we design and engineer high-performance environments for human wellbeing globally, a shared focus on indoor air quality elevates. As humans we are continuously exchanging molecules with every breath. Bringing in all that surrounds us. Each day, we inhale approximately 11,000 liters of air, carrying oxygen that sustains our bodies, hearts, and minds, while also bringing in pollutants, particulate matter, pathogens, and other contaminants can enter deeply into our biological systems. In regions such as Delhi NCR, severe winter pollution places extraordinary pressure. The design of our buildings, workplaces, educational centers, and living environments all get to step up. Our research and implementation underscore the importance of measurable PM 2.5 targets, appropriate filtration, pressure management, continuous monitoring, and clear operational methodologies. We are what we breathe, and this places a profound responsibility on all of us to advance the science and practice of indoor air quality excellence. Together it is paramount that we design, specify, construct, and operate our built environments with deliberate, conscious care, stewarding the health of present and future generations.” — Dr. Christine Bruckner, FAIA, HKIA, R.A., HKIUD, LEED AP, RESET AP Fellow, WELL AP, WELL Faculty and Concept Advisor, BREEAM AP, BEAM Professional, LBC Ambassador, Fitwel Ambassador, GBCI TRUE Advisor, BG-EHS Practitioner, AIA International Former President | M Moser Associates, Global Director
“As a physician, I see healthy indoor air as prevention before the patient reaches the clinic. This Global Framework turns prevention into action by making healthy indoor environments a societal norm—with transformative potential for health across the Global South and beyond.”
— Dr. Ranga Reddy Burri, President, Infection Control Academy of India
“The unveiling of this landmark framework is an important step forward in our collective effort to make healthy indoor environments a fundamental part of every school. It gives educators, school leaders, policymakers, and the professionals who support them a practical framework to move from simply identifying indoor environmental challenges to implementing measurable, lasting solutions. As we continue working to improve the health, safety, and learning environments of our children, this framework provides an important foundation for meaningful action and global collaboration.”
— Peter Cantone, Founder, Smart Air Defense
“Healthy indoor air is fundamental to human health, productivity, and a better quality of life, yet it remains one of the greatest untapped opportunities for creating positive societal impact. The Global Framework for Action provides a much-needed roadmap for aligning policy, innovation, and investment to accelerate the market transformation for healthier indoor air in buildings and spaces around the world. As a representative of the banking and financial services sector, I believe finance can play a powerful role in scaling solutions that deliver healthier buildings, stronger communities, and more resilient economies around the world.”
— Chris Castro, Founding Director and EVP-Chief Sustainability Officer, Climate First Bank
“In subtropical Asia, healthy indoor air is not a comfort question but a survival one — heat, humidity and outdoor pollution leave people with no good way to simply open a window. Having spent two decades building healthy building standards in Taiwan, I see the Global Framework for Action as the bridge we lacked between science and public policy. It is time to make healthy indoor air a global standard — not a privilege.”
— Dr. Che-Ming Chiang, Distinguished Professor, Research Center for Energy Technology and Strategy, National Cheng Kung University
“The launch of the Global Framework for Action is an important step in giving healthy indoor air a more consistent place in public policy and professional practice. From the school sector, I see its greatest potential in helping turn concern about indoor air into clearer expectations and more informed action.”
— Tony Colaneri, Co-Founder, Illinois Stakeholders for Air Quality in Schools
“We celebrate the launch of the Global Framework for Action as an important milestone in advancing indoor air quality as a global health priority. In Brazil, national health regulations have addressed indoor air quality since 1998, including physical, chemical, and biological parameters, and today the Brazilian National Indoor Air Quality Plan (PNQAI) brings together more than 40 organizations working to raise awareness and promote coordinated action across the country. This Global Framework strengthens our shared commitment and reinforces the importance of collaboration among governments, academia, industry, health professionals, and civil society to create healthier indoor environments for all.”
— Leonardo Cozac, Chairman of the Board, ABRAVA
“For years I have taken histories that stopped at the patient’s front door — asking about smoking, rarely about ventilation, mould or the fuel they cook with. The Global Framework for Action gives clinicians what we have lacked: a shared basis for treating indoor air as a modifiable exposure rather than an invisible one. In the Caribbean, where so much of our non-communicable disease burden is environmental, that shift belongs in the consulting room as much as in the building code.”
— Safiya Cummings, Public Health Medical Officer, Port of Spain City Corporation
“The biggest challenges of our time cannot be solved by one profession, field, or solution. It has been amazing to see over 200 diverse experts from more than 40 countries come together on the Global Framework for Action to carve out multiple pathways for healthier indoor air for all!”
— Sandra Dedesko, Collaboratrice Scientifique, EPFL
“Healthy indoor air should no longer be seen as a nice-to-have, it should be a basic expectation and a fundamental part of the right to a healthy place to live and work. From a corporate real estate and workplace perspective, the Global Framework for Action can help turn this ambition into practical, scalable action, providing organizations with a shared foundation to make healthier indoor environments the norm rather than the exception.”
— Ömer Döne, Head of Sustainable Workplace Certifications, Sanofi
“The launch of the Global Framework for Action is a pivotal moment for the built environment, accelerating the global shift towards healthier buildings with improved indoor air quality. It also offers governments across Africa and worldwide a valuable opportunity to advance the Healthy Indoor Air agenda nationally.” — Jojo Ekuban, CEO, ChazahGlobal Ltd
“At New Buildings Institute, we believe healthy indoor air should be a fundamental outcome of every building—not a premium feature available only to those who can afford it. By embedding IAQ into building codes, performance standards, and retrofit investments, we can shift the conversation from upfront costs to the long-term health, resilience, and cost benefits that better buildings deliver. The Global Framework for Action makes the invisible visible and turns ideas into action.”
— Nora Wang Esram, CEO, New Buildings Institute
“It is a privilege to serve on this Commission alongside more than 200 colleagues from over 40 countries. Indoor air is invisible until we measure it, and what stays invisible never gets managed. We already know how to monitor indoor air continuously and to make the data meaningful for the people whose health depends on it; what the Global Framework for Action adds is the shared strategy to make that monitoring expected rather than exceptional. Now, working from a single roadmap, data we can trust, compare and act on is what will move healthy indoor air from aspiration to expectation, everywhere, not only in a handful of leading buildings.”
— María Figols, Chief Scientific Officer & Co-founder, inBiot
“For decades, indoor air pollution has been a hazard we couldn’t fully see or measure, which made it easy to overlook despite its enormous toll on public health. As a manufacturer of air quality monitoring instrumentation, we know that accurate, repeatable, and accessible data is the foundation of any real solution: you cannot manage what you cannot measure. This Framework’s push for global coordination is a vital signal to industry that the demand for reliable, affordable monitoring technology will only grow, and we’re committed to meeting it.”
— Adam Giandomenico, CEO, Particles Plus, Inc.
“I am honored to have been part of IWBI’s Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air and am excited to see the Global Framework for Action come to life. The spaces where we live, work, learn, and play have such a profound impact on our health and well-being, and I believe this framework can help create better indoor environments for people around the world.”
— Candi Hampton, VP Global Sustainability, Shaw Industries
“What we can measure and model, we can manage, and indoor air quality is now within that reach. The Global Framework for Action converts exposure science into a shared roadmap for standards, technology and policy, so that healthy indoor air becomes the norm in every building.”
— Prof. Mukesh Khare, Fellow of Wessex Institute of Great Britain; Fellow Institution of Engineers, India; DAAD Fellow, KIT, Germany; Member, High Level Task Force, Prime Minister Office, India; Board member, Global Alliance on Health and Pollution, Geneva
“The ability to raise the issues, collect quality data and drive solutions is a real strength of the framework. We are supporting the Global Framework for Action because it provides a powerful platform to identify and prioritise critical issues, build a strong evidence base, and translate insight into collective action. Its ability to connect quality data with practical solutions can strengthen decision-making, drive accountability, and accelerate meaningful, sustainable progress at a global level.”
— Dave Kieft, CEO, Raven Delta Group
“As the saying goes, ‘actions speak louder than words’. So let’s commit to work for a cleaner and healthier habitat for all.”
— Dr. Khee Poh Lam, Professor of Architecture and the Built Environment, National University of Singapore
“In trying times, this global action is so much needed to build brain trust, nurture talent and foster consensus on a resource, still under-valued, for everyone.”
— Joyce S. Lee, FAIA, WELL AP, LEED Fellow, President, IndigoJLD Green + Health
“Healthy indoor air should be treated as essential infrastructure, not an optional feature of a building. What excites me about the Global Commission is the opportunity to bring science, policy, technology and real-world implementation together, and turn growing awareness into practical action that can scale across countries, sectors and buildings.”
— Joakim Lindh, Managing Director, Airthings for Business
“As a global leader in sustainability and a leading flooring producer on four continents, Mohawk has been at the forefront of delivering improved air quality in public and private spaces through product innovation. We are completely aligned with the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air’s Global Framework for Action, and we are actively supporting the initiative’s goals by increasing the number of VOC-free products in our portfolio.”
— Malisa Maynard, Chief Sustainability Officer, Mohawk Industries
“The launch of the Global Framework for Action is a powerful reminder that meaningful progress happens when ambition is paired with action. From my vantage point working with organizations around the world, this framework provides a shared foundation to align stakeholders, accelerate impact, and turn global challenges associated with healthy IAQ into measurable outcomes.”
— Sean McCrady, Vice President Advisory, UL Solutions
“A key challenge for architecture is to look beyond design intent and understand how buildings actually perform in use, and what that means for the health of the people who occupy them. We need to make that performance visible through monitoring and connect real-world building performance with population health data, so measured evidence from buildings in use can shape future standards and support a more preventative approach to public health.”
— Dr. Gráinne McGill, Lecturer, Department of Architecture, School of the Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast
“As a physician who has spent decades working at the intersection of health, science, and the built environment, and as President of ASHRAE Ireland, I see this challenge from both a clinical and a technical perspective. Healthy indoor air can’t remain aspirational. It has to be measurable, verifiable, and built into the codes, standards, and certifications that shape our buildings. No single discipline can deliver that alone, and the Global Framework for Action gives us a collaborative, science-backed roadmap to finally make healthy indoor air the norm, not the exception.”
— Dr. John McKeon, Principal, iAIR Institute
“As a global practitioner focused on achieving flourishing by design across the Triple Helix of academia, industry, and government, I recognize indoor air quality as a fundamental human right. We cannot meaningfully design for health, well-being, performance, or flourishing while overlooking the air people breathe every day. The Global Framework for Action helps move indoor air from a technical consideration to a shared expectation—one that should shape the places where we live, learn, work, and heal.”
— Jenna Mikus, CEO, Eudae Group & Honorary Fellow, University of Melbourne
“Indoor air pollution is one of the most under-recognised public health hazards of our time, a silent, pervasive risk that affects billions of people daily, often invisibly, in the very spaces meant to protect them: their homes, schools and workplaces. As an aerosol scientist, I see this Framework as a critical step toward closing the evidence-to-action gap, ensuring that the scale of this hazard is finally matched by coordinated, science-led response across regions and sectors.”
— Anil Namdeo, Professor of Air Quality, Northumbria University, UK
“The Global Framework is a monumental step toward better indoor air quality for all. Thanks to all the commissioners and the organizers.”
— Paula Olsiewski, PhD, Contributing Scholar, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
“Agadir was rebuilt around a seismic code after the devastating 1960 earthquake, and that code still shapes how more than a million people live across Greater Agadir today, because everyone who builds here works to the same standard. The Global Framework for Action gives us that shared standard for the air inside our buildings, at the moment most of the world’s remaining construction is happening in mid-sized cities like ours. What I welcome most is that it is measurable, because an indicator only gets funded once it is visible to everyone who has to act on it.”
— Zakaria Oulad, Vice-President, Urban Planning and Smart City Commission, City of Agadir, Morocco
“As we launch this Global Framework for Action from Latin America, we recognize that healthy indoor air is a cornerstone of resilient and sustainable communities. In rapidly urbanizing regions, integrating high-performance building standards is an urgent public health priority that directly protects our people and shapes our collective future.”
— Guillermo Simon Padros, Executive Director, Argentina Green Building Council
“Once more, the air quality community comes together under the supervision of IWBI to make a clear statement about the importance of indoor air quality and present the Global Framework for Action. At GO AQS, it is in our DNA to collaborate with all stakeholders and help with the communication and dissemination of something as fundamentally essential as the air we breathe. Breathe safely!”
— Sotirios Papathanasiou, Founder, Global Open Air Quality Standards (GO AQS)
“As an interior designer, I’ve seen how profoundly the spaces we create shape the way people feel, focus, and thrive – and the air we breathe indoors is one of the most powerful, and most overlooked, levers we have. The IWBI Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air and its Global Framework give us the shared language, evidence, and standards to move air quality from an afterthought to a design imperative. I’m proud to serve as an ambassador because everyone deserves environments that support their health and well-being, and healthy indoor air is fundamental to that promise.”
— Kay Sargent, FASID, FIIDA, CID, LEED® AP, MCR.w, WELL AP, Senior Principal, Director of Thought Leadership, Interiors, HOK
“I’ve seen how the environments we create can shape people’s health, well-being and ability to thrive—from classrooms and workplaces to our homes. For India and the world, this Commission and its Global Framework for Action offer a unique opportunity to turn what we know into action, providing a common global direction while enabling locally relevant solutions that make healthy indoor air a fundamental part of the places we create.”
— Deepa Sathiaram, LEED Fellow, USGBC & WELL Faculty, Executive Director, En3 Sustainability Solutions
“Congratulations on taking this significant step toward improving indoor air quality for better health. As professionals and educators dedicated to sustainability and wellness from Buenos Aires, Argentina, we applaud the progress in prioritizing this issue on the global agenda.”
— Andres Schwarz, Professor, University of Buenos Aires
“Leadership sits at the intersection of seeing what must change and charting a path to make it happen. With this Global Framework, we are marking a new beginning and opening a new chapter, one in which leaders and all those committed to healthy indoor air, across sectors and around the world, have a shared agenda and clear pathways to act, align and drive progress together.” – Paul Scialla, Founder and CEO, Delos
“Forty years in HVAC and indoor air quality taught me this: what we do touches every breath, every day—comfort, health, and well-being for everyone. That’s real power. Clean, healthy indoor air isn’t a luxury; it’s a fundamental human right.”
— Chandra Sekhar, Professor, Department of the Built Environment, National University of Singapore
“If you don’t have good health, nothing else matters, and healthy air to breathe is paramount to a healthy lifestyle. It’s so inspiring to launch this Global Framework for Action, providing a playbook to drive positive change for global air quality in the decades ahead. Here’s to clean and healthy air for all people on planet Earth!”
— Drew Shula, Founder and CEO, Verdical Group
“We all know the importance of clean indoor air, and through the Framework, we now have a publicly available roadmap toward action. I’m extremely excited that it provides a set of consistent strategies that can be applied to varied markets across the world, especially in locations that are looking to expand their IAQ planning and knowledge capacity. Similarly, the Framework includes implementable solutions to drive impact that can be utilized by a wide variety of stakeholders and aspiring leaders across the public, private, and citizen sectors.”
— Andrew Snowhite, Founder, Snowhite Strategies
“Working in sustainable construction across Latin America, we see every day how much indoor air quality shapes people’s health and dignity — often invisibly. This framework gives us something powerful: a shared foundation to turn that invisible work into public policy, ensuring healthier air isn’t just built into individual projects, but guaranteed for entire communities.”
— Federico Steinvorth, Partner and Sustainability Director, SPHERA
“Buildings protect life. Everyone should have access to healthy indoor air, every day. Drawing on more than a decade of healthy building practice in China, we aim to improve indoor air quality in schools, healthcare facilities and community spaces through technological innovation, assess results through independent verification, and embed health protection in building upgrades and daily operations in support of Healthy China. We hope the Global Framework for Action will strengthen international collaboration and the exchange of practical experience, bringing affordable, scalable solutions for healthier indoor air to more people.”
— Steven Shuai Tao, Founder, Air Aurora
“Healthy indoor air should be something everyone can expect, wherever they live, learn or work. What I value most about this Framework is that it does not pretend there is a single fix; it brings policy, evidence, public awareness and market action together, giving countries a practical place to start. Its real promise is turning shared global ambition into cleaner air and better health in people’s everyday lives.”
— Martin Townsend, Growth Director, British Standards Institution (BSI)
“For decades, healthy indoor air has been an aspiration we design for and periodically measure. Operational AI gives us the ability to make it a continuously managed outcome—creating a unified understanding of buildings and their systems, interpreting changing conditions, and orchestrating action in real time across facilities and entire portfolios, while balancing health, comfort, energy and sustainability.”
— Bert Van Hoof, CEO, Willow
“For decades, indoor air has been the one environmental exposure we managed blind — unmeasured, unmapped and therefore unaccountable. Deploying air intelligence across schools and healthcare facilities in several countries has shown me the gap is not technology; it is consensus on what ‘good’ means and who is accountable for it. The Global Framework for Action closes that gap.”
— Narendra Babu Vattem, Founder and CEO, iSpatial Techno Solutions Inc. (Houston, USA) — Founder, SmartEco.AI
“For me, the launch of the Global Framework for Action represents a meaningful step toward bringing human health, climate, equity, and planetary health into the same conversation. From the Global South, where environmental and social vulnerabilities often overlap, it reinforces a core principle of planetary health: healthier people depend on healthier, more resilient environments — and evidence must be translated into equitable action.”
— Nelzair Vianna, Researcher in Public Health, Fiocruz, Brazil
“I’m excited to have contributed to the Global Framework for Action, which brings healthy indoor air to the fore as a critical part of the sustainable buildings agenda. At a time when the conversation around buildings is understandably focused on climate change, energy efficiency and resilience, the Framework highlights how these issues are interconnected, while keeping sight of the fundamental goal of healthy indoor air for everyone, everywhere.”
— Danjuma Waniko, President, Green Building Council Nigeria
“Poor indoor air quality harms everyone’s health, and as someone with lived experience of high clinical risk from airborne infection who works with others similarly affected, I know just how seriously it can impact people’s lives. It is inspiring to know how much could be done to make indoor air healthy for all, and how significant the benefits would be for workplaces, education and public health, yet deeply frustrating that this vital issue often receives so little attention. Launching a Global Framework for Action is an important first step towards making Healthy Indoor Air a reality—and a right—for everyone, and we all now have a role to play in making it happen.”
— Sally Witcher, Founder and Director, Inclusive New Normal
“The Global Framework for Action turns shared ambition into a clear route towards meaningful change. From a UK ventilation and indoor air quality perspective, its importance lies in connecting global thinking with practical action that delivers healthier buildings, cleaner air and better lives.”
— Nathan Wood, Managing Director, Farmwood Ltd
“Few countries realize the public health costs and the associated financial costs of indoor air pollution. In China, such financial cost in 2017 was 2880 billion Chinese Yuan which accounted for 3.45% of China’s GDP. Therefore, strengthening attention to indoor air quality and advancing practical action have become both an urgent public health priority and a timely opportunity. Improving indoor air quality will enhance people’s health and well-being greatly, and will also save the financial costs at hundreds of billions Chinese Yuan level.”
— Professor Yinping Zhang, Professor, Building Science and Technology Department, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University
About the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air
The Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air is a transdisciplinary alliance of more than 200 leaders and experts from more than 40 countries across every region of the world. Launched at the United Nations during Climate Week on September 23, 2025, the Commission brings together leaders spanning public health, medicine, academia, civil society, building science, real estate and industry. Its shared mission is to make healthy indoor air the norm – not the exception – in all buildings, everywhere. The Global Commission is a multi-year initiative stewarded and supported by the International WELL Building Institute.
About the International WELL Building Institute
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the global authority for transforming health and well-being in buildings, organizations and communities. In pursuit of its public-health mission, IWBI mobilizes its community through the development and administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL), WELL for residential, WELL Community Standard, its WELL ratings and management of the WELL AP credential. IWBI also translates research into practice, develops educational resources and advocates for policies that promote people-first places for everyone, everywhere. More information on WELL can be found here.
International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL EP, WELL Score, The WELL Conference, We Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Performance Rated, WELL Equity Rated, WELL Equity, WELL Coworking Rated, WELL Residence, Works with WELL, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.
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