Healthy, safe and comfortable: Emerging indoor air practices in Australian households

Abstract

Health concerns regarding indoor air quality are leading to greater uptake of air purification technologies internationally, alongside the continuing normalisation of air conditioning. With thermal comfort largely considered separately from air quality, the energy sector risks inadequately preparing for the emergence of new indoor air practices and associated ‘needs’. Conceptually grounded in theories of social practice and design anthropological foresighting, this article explores how people's household air practices are changing, what kinds of air technologies they expect to be using in the near future (2025–2030), and how this might impact energy sector ambitions. The article draws on research from a four-year project with Australian households involving in-home virtual ethnography, and a design ethnography futures activity involving a ‘thing interview’ where participants designed and roleplayed their ideal future air technology and were interviewed by a researcher roleplaying the electricity grid. The analysis reveals that households increasingly expect healthy, safe and comfortable indoor environments, in which people seek to manage air flows through the home with air technologies. The futures analysis identifies the anticipated desire for air quality embedded within heating and cooling systems, an expectation for smart control, and some interest in incentives to modify air practices in order to optimise electricity system outcomes. We discuss the implications of these findings for energy demand, call for an expanded definition of thermal comfort that accounts for emerging air practices, and recommend further research on healthy, safe and comfortable air in indoor environments, pointing towards sites for intervention and innovation.