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York Environmental Sustainability Institute
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GREENIN

Climate change is increasingly affecting indoor environments through rising temperatures, variable humidity and changes in pollutant exposure. There is a pressing need to rethink how we design, occupy and retrofit indoor spaces to support health and wellbeing. While outdoor greening strategies have been widely implemented, the role of indoor nature-based solutions remains significantly underexplored. The GREENIN project seeks to address this critical gap by investigating how indoor plants can improve air quality, thermal comfort and humidity control within diverse building types.

Aims and objectives

  • Build a network of multidisciplinary specialists across sectors
  • Conduct collaborative studies to expand knowledge of indoor greening performance
  • Create practical guidelines for building design and management professionals
  • Promote wider use of greening to enhance building environments and public health

Outputs

  • Delivery of the national sandpit workshop held online in March 2026 to form collaborative teams
  • Development of feasibility study concepts eligible for funding of up to £30,000 to seed new research
Key York Contacts

Professor Nicola Carslaw, Department of Environment and Geography 

Professor Katherine Denby, Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, Department of Biology

Principal and Co-Investigators

Principal Investigator

Professor Prashant Kumar, University of Surrey

Co-Investigators

Professor Nicola Carslaw, Principal Investigator, University of York

Professor Katherine Denby, Co-investigator, University of York

Professor Kamaldeep Bhui, University of Oxford

Professor Laurence Jones, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)

Dr Zaheer Nasar, Cranfield University

Prof Sukumar Natarajan, University of Bath

Dr Jannis Wenk, Federal Institute of Hydrology, Germany

 

Principal Funder

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

External Partners

University of Surrey, GCARE

UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

University of Bath

University of Oxford

Cranfield University

Imperial College London

Outputs

Journal Publications

Machado, G. M., Kumar, P., & Nogueira, T. (2026). Fine particulate matter and environmental injustice: A review of global inequalities in exposure and their health effects. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, 19, Article 118. 

Sahani, J., Biswal, A., Dwivedi, A. K., Khalili, S., Sun, H., Andrade, M. de F., Locosselli, G. M., Franco, M. A., de Oliveira, M. C. Q. D., de Miranda, R. M., Candido, L. F., Jones, L., & Kumar, P. (2026). Quantifying the co-benefits of a tropical urban park in São Paulo through integrated mobile and stationary monitoring.City and Environment Interactions, 100360.

Machado, R. S., Goulart, E. V., Knaak, J., Santiago, A. M., Klippel, K., Furieri, B., Galvão, E. S., Machado, M., Santos, J. M., Júnior, N. C. R., & Kumar, P. (2026). Method choice in children's exposure assessment for NO2, SO2 and O3. Environmental Pollution 397, 127984.

Ilenič, A., Kumar, P., Ščančar, R. M., Durić, M., Pranjić, A. M., & Ščančar, J. (2026). Determination of Metal (oid) s and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Size-Fractionated Airborne Particulate Matter: Methodological Approaches, Trends, Gaps and Future Needs: A Review. Trends in Environmental Analytical Chemistry, e00303.

Andrade, M. de F., Marques, M. T. A. A., Medeiros, J. A. G. de, Souto-Oliveira, C. E., Franco, M. A., Kumar, P., Domingues, L. G., Leonardo, N. F., Yamasoe, M. A., Morales-Espinoza, L. L., & Landulfo, E. (2026). METROCLIMA-MASP: pioneering urban greenhouse gas monitoring in South America’s largest megacity. City and Environment Interactions 30, 100326.

Sobrinho, O. M., Vizuete, W., Hoinaski, L., Pedruzzi, R., Martins, L. D., Kumar., P., & Albuquerque, T. T. de A. (2026). Unreported mining emissions as a major source of PM10 bias in global inventories: Evidence from Brazil. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health 19, 47.

Fu, N., Wang, A., Kumar, P., & Cao, S. J. (2026). Airborne microplastic emissions from synthetic sports surfaces and associated health risks to children. Environmental Geochemistry and Health 48, 150.

Kumar, P., Sun, H., Biswal, A., Dwivedi, A. K., Cheung, H. Y. W., Bhui, K., Blanusa, T., Blocken, B., van den Bogerd, N., Calautit, J. K., Carslaw, N., Considine, B., Coulon, F., Epton, T., Frey, H. C., Grieshop, A., Jones, L., Kaur, S., McNabola, A., Mishra, S. K., Morawska, L., Mülfarth, R. C. K., Nasir, Z. A., Natarajan, S., Oliveira, F. L., Persiani, S. G. L., Pfrang, C., Richmond-Bryant, J., Santana, E. G. F., Sousa, E. B., Song, W., Thomas, J., Wang, X. L., Wenk, J., & Williams, A. (2026). Ten questions on indoor greening and environmental quality. Building and Environment, 114336.

Sun, H., Biswal, A., Bray, I., Cranshaw, O., Rodding, Kjeldsen, T., Pain, C.C., Roberts, T., Sinnett, D., Wild, T., Wendk, J., & Kumar, P. (2026). Environmental and Socio-Ecological Performance of Greening at Household and Street Level. Science of the Total Environment 1014, 181336.

Hayward, I., Martin, N. A., Ferracci, V., Kazemimanesh, M., Jude, S., Walton, C., Nasir, Z. A., & Kumar, P. (2025). Comprehensive comparison of correction techniques for low-cost air quality sensors: The impact of device type and deployment environment. npj Climate and Atmospheric Science 8, 389.

Kumar, P., Corada Perez, K., Biswal, A., Sun, H., Dwivedi, A. K., Hama, S., Khalili, S., Ahlawat, A., Andrade, M. de F., Alves, R. A., Amaral dos Santos, E. A., Athanassiadou, M., Bastos Ribeiro, C., Bhusal, P., Bucalem, M. L., Buchanan, B. G., Candido, L. F., Cao, S.-J., Casteli Figueiredo Gallardo, A. L., Chang, R., Chaves Ribeiro, A. K., Considine, B., de Miranda, R. M., de Paiva, L. A., de Souza, P., Franco, M. A., Freitas, E. D., Frey, H. C., Funari, M. F., Furieri, B., Gallagher, J., Giatti, L. L., Goroski Rambalducci, M. J., Halios, C. H., Haris, F., Hoinaski, L., Horton, C., Huang, Y., Jones, L., Jones, R., Kandulu, J., Katti, M., Locosselli, G. M., Lucchezi Miyahara, A. A., Martins, J. A., Martins, L. D., Mantoani, M. C., Mülfarth, R. C. K., Lago Kitagawa, Y. K., Andreão, W. L., Lemons, J., Machado, G. M., Malham, S. K., Martin, M. P., Starling, M. C. V. M., McNabola, A., Medeiros Sobrinho, O., Mohareb, E., Nascimento, E. G. S., Nogueira, T., Owen, G., Parajuli, R., Pandey, H. P., Pedruzzi, R., Pérez Martínez, P. J., Pinto, J. A., Piscoya Santibañez, J. A., Pokhrel, S., Rabelo Albala, P. L., Reis, N. C., Rudke, A. P., Saroj, D., Sui, Y., Soebarto, V., Tefera, Y., Toledo de Almeida Albuquerque, T., Veras Maia, B. L., Wang, F., Wenk, J., Will, R., Williams, C., Wood, H. S., Wu, Q., Xi, C., Yates, R., Yao, R., & Yao, R. Overlooked Considerations in Prescribing Green and Blue Infrastructure Solutions for Urban Environments. The Innovation, 101184.

Amaral, E. A., Neves, T. d. A., Albuquerque, T. T. d. A., Santos, I. B., Massonetto, M. M., Kumar, P., & Starling, M. C. V. M. (2025). The role of plants as biological monitors of air pollution: State of the art on methods and challenges with a focus on Lolium sp. Science of the Total Environment 1005, 180816.

Buonanno, G., & Kumar, P. (2025). Household air pollution and health: rethinking indoor exposure in the places we call home. Scientific reports 15, 37184.

Talepour, N., Tahmasebi Birgani, Y., Kelly, F. J., Beevers, S., Kumar, P., Jaafarzadeh, N., Abdullatif Khafaie, M., & Assareh, N. (2025). Ambient PM2.5: Health policy implications and management in Khuzestan, Iran. Science of the Total Environment 1004, 180767.

Rudke, A. P., Droprinchinski Martins L., Martins J. A., Mantoani M. C., Andrade M. d. F., Kumar P., Alves R. A., Pedruzzi R., Thompson T., Medeiros Sobrinho O., Lima Véras Maia B., Chaves Ribeiro A. K., Toledo de Almeida Albuquerque T. (2025).Where there is smoke, there is fire: long- and mid-range biomass burning role on São Paulo's state air quality. Environmental Pollution, 126993.

Bleicher, J., Kumar, P. (2025)A Novel Framework integrating Resilient and Sustainable Urbanism for Designing 1 Climate Resilient Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods. Sustainable Cities and Society, 106577.

Kumar, P., Sahani, J., Corada Perez, K., Ahlawat, A., Andrade, M. D. F., Athanassiadou, M., Cao, S.-J., Collins, L., Dey, S., Di Sabatino, S., Halios, C. H., Harris, F., Horton, C., Inostroza, L., Jones, L., Rodding Kjeldsen, T., McCallan, B., McNabola, A., Kumar Mishra, R., Kumar Mishra, S., Sperandio Nascimento, E. G., Owen, G., Ravindra, K., Reis, N. C., Soebarto, V., Wenk, J., Wood, H. S., & Yao, R. (2025).Urban greening for climate resilient and sustainable cities: Grand challenges and opportunities. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities 7, 1595280.

Conference Presentations

Lynch, S., 2026, Introduction to GREENIN Micro-Network Plus Sandpit Event, at the Sister Network Plus webinar, online, 24 Feb 2026.

Kumar, P., 2026, Greening Prescription for Better Health, invited lecture at PHASECON 2026 – AI and Environmental Epidemiology Session, virtual presentation, 13 February 2026.

Kumar, P., 2026, presentation of GREENIN Micro-Network Plus at RECLAIM network ‘Looking Forward’ event, 12 Jan 2026

Kumar, P., 2026, Introduction to GREENIN Micro-Network Plus, In HESTIA Launch event, 15 Jan 2026

Kumar, P., 2025, co-organiser, In 10th Indian International Conference on Air Quality Management (IICAQM 2025), IIT Delhi, India, 17 December 2025

Lynch, S., 2025, Introduction to GREENIN Micro-Network Plus, In HESTIA Launch webinar, online, 12 Dec 2025

Kumar, P., 2025, Greening & Nature-based Interventions for indoor and outdoor environments In, World Psychiatric Association Collaborating
Centres & CHiMES Webinar Series, online, 11 December 2025

Kumar, P., 2025, Learning from abroad – Prescribing greening solutions for climate resilience, In International Symposium on Green Urban Futures & Future Tree Workshop, National Wine Centre of Australia, Adelaide SA, Australia, 3rd December 2025

Kumar, P., 2025, Towards Holistic Urban Resilience: Prescribing Greening Solutions for Climate Adaptation, RMIT University City Campus, Melbourne, Australia, 26th November 2025

Kumar, P., 2025, World Ventilation Day: Engineering Healthier Indoor Environments, Online, University of Sheffield, 02 November 2025

Sun, H., 2025, Introduction to GREENIN Micro-Network Plus, In EPSRC Micro-Network Plus – Air Hub launch, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, 24 November 2025

Sun, H., Dwivedi, A., Introduction to GREENIN Micro-Network Plus In BREATHE IN Micro-Network Plus launch, The Exchange, Birmingham, 19 November 2025

Kumar, P. 2025. Prescribing Green Solutions for Urban Climate Resilience In The 13th International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Building and Environment, Robinson College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, 27th - 31st July 2025