ACCESS-AGE: benchmarking WUI smoke transformation, deposited residues, and model-ready hazard modules for community resilience
Residents and building operators in WUI-affected communities currently make shelter-in-place, filtration, cleanup, and reoccupation decisions using outdoor PM₂.₅ thresholds and nominal MERV filter ratings that were not developed for mixed-fuel or battery-involved WUI smoke. Without the source-specific, aging-contextualized, filtration-conditioned indoor residue evidence this project produces, those decisions will continue to rest on metrics that cannot distinguish between a plume that a MERV 13 filter genuinely reduces to safe levels and one that overwhelms it, or between a carpet that needs professional remediation and one that does not. This project closes that gap — not by producing evidence that could eventually inform guidance, but by producing evidence and the guidance simultaneously, through a co-production process that ensures both are ready, accessible, and usable by the communities that need them.
About Iowa State University
Iowa State University is a large, comprehensive public land‑grant research university based in Ames, known for combining fundamental discovery with translational, industry‑relevant work. Companies collaborate through a research and technology park that co‑locates corporate R&D with faculty labs and startups, creating steady talent pipelines. Pilot‑scale facilities, field test sites, and a statewide extension network support prototyping, validation, and deployment with partners across the region. Research is supported by competitive federal funding, including awards from NSF, USDA, and DOE. A dedicated technology transfer office and affiliated research foundation streamline IP, licensing, and startup formation, with incubator space on site.
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