What happens when building science and health science come together?
Research Themes
Founded as a collaboration of Delos and Mayo Clinic, the Well Living Lab brings together building science and health science to inform research on optimizing indoor environments to promote human health and well-being.
The team at the Well Living Lab uses our key themes - Healthy Living, Healthy Working, and Healthy Aging - to conduct innovative research and help us find answers to improve the lives of people where they live, work, learn and play.
Current Research Studies
Well Living Lab researchers aim to understand how indoor environments affect human health.
Study participants go about their daily lives in a simulated, real-world environment. Meanwhile, scientists
adjust elements such as sound, lighting, temperature, air quality, and more. Unobtrusive sensors monitor biometric reactions, while tools for participants to self-report offer additional scientific insights.
COVID-19 & Beyond: Behavior CAPTURE Survey
In collaboration with the University of Minnesota, our researchers are surveying more than 1300 employees in non-healthcare fields to examine the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 and health and prevention behaviors. Observations from this study can better inform the care of employees as they return to office-based work.
COVID-19 & Beyond: Low-Cost Air Purification in a Conference Room
Using the Well Living Lab's 175-square-foot Conference Room Module, our researchers examined how low-cost portable air purification units could reduce potentially harmful airborne particles and alter their path and the way they deposit on surfaces. We collaborated with the University of Minnesota on this study to provide evidence about how we might mitigate the spread of respiratory viruses, such as COVID-19, in small spaces.
Clinician Burnout
In collaboration with Mayo Clinic and Delos, our researchers are examining whether a unique relaxation room may aid in helping to reduce clinician burnout, which may offer benefits for clinician health and well-being and quality of medical care.
Office Worker Performance + Energy & Ventilation
Together with the University of Minnesota, Well Living Lab researchers are exploring how adaptive ventilation and filtration systems within an office space may facilitate better air quality and improvements in employee performance and health at an energy cost lower than traditional systems.
Acute Stress Recovery
The Well Living Lab, in collaboration with Delos, is working to optimize indoor environmental features that could be beneficial in helping individuals recover from stress. Our researchers are exploring which elements of a relaxation environment (such as calming auditory or visual stimuli) are most impactful in helping individuals during stress recovery.
Impact of Automated Control of Indoor Air Pollutants on Cardiopulmonary Health, Environmental Comfort, and Sleep Quality in a Simulated Apartment
In the Lab’s residential modules – simulated one-bedroom apartments - our researchers are examining how indoor air pollution affects the body and the mind. Study participants cook and clean while scientists college various physiological (body) and psychosocial (mind) measures to determine whether ventilation and filtration systems that control indoor air pollutant concentrations lead to improved health outcomes.
Innovation Project: Breath Tracking Personalized Ventilation
Well Living Lab researchers are working to develop a system that provides clean air directly to the immediate area where an individual is breathing, which could reduce respiratory disease transmission and improve overall health in clinical and non-clinical settings.
Innovation Project: Using Neurological Signals to Help Office Workers De-Stress
In collaboration with Delos, our researchers are evaluating ways to improve office worker performance and health through the use of neurological signals from headphones, such as those from Neurable, which notify workers when their stress has risen to a level where a break is needed.
