December 12, 2011

...in the rush to go green, safety is often overlooked...

Grad Helps Make Green Buildings Safe for Workers: Researcher Develops Tool to Integrate Safety Into Design


Mohamed Omar, a 2011Work Environment graduate, conducted research on the safety of green building features.Mohamed Omar, a 2011Work Environment graduate, conducted research on the safety of green building features.
12/09/2011 By Karen Angelo
Green buildings are intended to do good – conserve energy, protect the environment and improve the health of occupants. But some green systems are putting people who install and maintain them in harms way, says a research study conducted by Work Environment graduate Mohamed Omar. 

“We found that many of the green buildings that house these systems were not designed with workers in mind,” says Omar, a Lowell resident who works as an environmental management engineer at Harvard University’s Office of Environmental Health, Safety and Emergency Management. “Unfortunately, in the rush to go green, safety is often overlooked.”

Working with his adviser Prof. Margaret Quinn, Omar found an increased risk of occupational safety and health hazards for five common green building features –  geothermal wells, green roofs, rainwater harvesting systems, energy recovery wheels and natural light percolating systems.