Assessing the Co-Benefits of Residential Weatherization During Wildfire Smoke Events
New
Challenge
As climate change intensifies, wildfire smoke is an increasing threat in Minnesota. With this comes fine particulate pollution, which can infiltrate homes and cause adverse human health outcomes. Current mitigation strategies focus mainly on filtration from heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
Impact Goal
Alternatively to filtration, weatherization provides an opportunity to reduce wildfire smoke exposure by preventing it from infiltrating the home, and has the potential to deliver co‑benefits such as lower energy use, reduced cost burdens, improved indoor comfort during heat waves and better health.
Funding
Partner Organization(s)
Project Leads
Center for Sustainable Building Research
Department of Pediatrics
Protecting Minnesota Homes from Wildfire Smoke
The impacts of climate change have arrived in Minnesota. Wildfire smoke in the past five years has driven up concentrations of fine particulate pollution (PM2.5), a pollutant with multi-organ health impacts. Canadian wildfires, one major source of wildfire smoke in Minnesota, have driven recent increases in PM2.5 and are increasing over time due to unmitigated climate change.
Given its considerable health impacts, and the expected growth in wildfire smoke exposures due to ongoing climate change, preventing its impacts in Minnesota will require both implementation of known wildfire smoke mitigation strategies along with the development of new ones.
Current solutions to infiltrated wildfire smoke emphasize filtration solutions. High quality filtration can mitigate indoor PM2.5 but has important limitations. First, not all homes have central HVAC systems and would therefore require multiple individual room units. Second, relying solely on mechanical filtration could have detrimental impacts on electricity consumption and, similar to air conditioning, drive up summer electricity demand.
This project team hypothesizes that weatherization will enhance protection from smoke and local pollution while delivering important co‑benefits. This team will study how residential weatherization reduces infiltration of outdoor wildfire smoke and cumulative air pollution through a partnership with Hennepin County.
Project Goals
- Design the study establishing the research framework, including participant recruitment, home selection and exclusion criteria, monitoring protocols and data quality assurance
- Weatherize 20 homes in environmental justice communities within Hennepin County, equipping them to prevent wildfire smoke infiltration, improve indoor air quality and reduce energy use
- Synthesize findings into final technical reports, policy briefs and community‐accessible materials
- Share results with Hennepin County officials, state weatherization programs, community partners and national forums focused on housing, energy efficiency and wildfire resilience
Meet the Project Team
Project Lead
Additional Team Members
Project Status
Last Updated
Aug 10, 2026
Impact Location
Twin Cities
Start Date
Expected Completion
Jun 30, 2028