Adele Houghton
Architectural Epidemiology founder Adele Houghton, FAIA, DrPH, LEED AP works at the intersection of buildings, public health, and climate change. She is a member of the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows and received a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she also teaches. Her work seeks to convert the building sector from its current status as a major contributor to climate change, chronic disease, and inequity into a primary driver of community and planetary health.
She has 17 years’ experience advising the real estate sector on how to prioritize green and healthy building design and operations decisions based on the environmental exposures and population health characteristics inside and outside the project boundary.
Her book, Architectural Epidemiology (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024), co-authored with Professor Carlos Castillo-Salgado of Johns Hopkins University, proposes a novel method for architectural design: combining neighborhood-scale environmental health data with participatory community engagement to maximize a building's positive ripple effect on community and planetary health.
She came to this work in response to the frustration expressed by green building advocates and clients alike that many environmental and health goals feel distant in time and location. Project teams want to make a tangible difference in the quality of life of building occupants and the community. ArchEPI helps them turn that vision into reality.