Air tightness and air leakages of new lightweight single-family detached houses in Estonia

A field measurement study of the air tightness and the air leakages of 32 detached houses was conducted during 2003–05 in Estonia. The buildings were classified according to the number of storeys, building technology, and the ventilation systems. Using the standardized BlowerDoor pressurization technique, the air leakage rate of each house was determined. To determine typical air leakage places and their distribution, an infrared image camera and a smoke detector were used.     

The biofiltration of indoor air: implications for air quality

An alternative method of maintaining indoor air quality may be through the biofiltration of air recirculating within the structure rather than the traditional approach of ventilation. This approach is currently being investigated. Prior to its acceptance for dealing with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and CO2, efforts were made to determine whether the incorporation of this amount of biomass into the indoor space can have an (negative) impact on indoor air quality. A relatively large ecologically complex biofilter composed of a ca. 10 m2 bioscrubber, 30 m2 of plantings and a 3,500 litre aquarium were established in a 160 m2 'airtight' room in a recently constructed office building in downtown Toronto. This space maintained ca. 0.2 air changes per hour (ACH) compared to the 15 to 20 ACH (with a 30% refresh rate) of other spaces in the same building. Air quality parameters of concern were total VOCs (TVOCs), formaldehyde and aerial spore counts. TVOC and formaldehyde levels in the biofilter room were the same or significantly less than other spaces in the building despite a much slower refresh rate. Aerial spore levels were slightly higher than other indoor spaces but were well within reported values for 'healthy' indoor spaces. Levels appeared to be dependent on horticultural management practices within the space. Most genera of fungal spores present were common indoors and the other genera were associated with living or dead plant material or soil. From these results, the incorporation of a large amount of biomass associated with indoor biofilters does not in itself lower indoor air quality.     

The Danish Twin Apartment Study – Part II: Mathematical modeling of the relative strength of sources of indoor air pollution

Abstract This study deals with the modeling of air pollution in apartments from laboratory measurements of source strengths, using formaldehyde and Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOCs) as model pollutants. The sources in two test apartments were grouped into two: building-related sources and occupant-related sources. The measured source strengths and ventilation rates were used for the prediction of concentrations expected in the apartments. These predictions were compared to measurements in the apartment over 12 months. The conclusions were that the model predictions based on emission rates measured in the laboratory can be used to predict the long-term concentration of the two model pollutants in the apartments. Considering the measured differences in ventilation between the apartments, an occupant emission rate of between 0.2 and 0.3 mg/h/kg body weight could be estimated. Based on previous suggested limits of acceptable exposures of humans to VOCs, an acceptable average emission rate of VOCs from building materials in general was estimated to be about 30 (μ/m²/h. The modeling showed that during the first 200 days, building materials dominated the emissions. After this, sources relating to the occupants dominated. On average about half of the VOC pollution originated from the building materials.     

不同通风方式下室内空气质量的研究

介绍了国内外不同的研究背景,综述了不同通风方式下室内空气质量的研究情况。指出了新型通风方式———碰撞射流通风存在的研究难点和今后的研究方向。     

空调系统对室内空气品质的影响分析

结合空调系统对室内空气品质产生的危害，分析了空调系统设计对室内空气品质的潜在影响，详细地介绍了设计中改善空气品质的途径，以使空调系统满足人们日益提高的室内空气品质要求。     

The effect of environmental and structural factors on indoor air quality of apartments in Korea

The indoor air quality (IAQ) was measured in newly built Korean apartments before and after occupancy in a survey of 158 residences in 24-apartment complexes nationwide. Factors that might affect pollutant concentration, such as temperature, humidity, housing size, and duration of occupancy, were analyzed in relation to the measured concentrations. Average pollutant levels were consistent with the Ministry of the Environment's recommended standards; however, pollutant levels in some apartments exceeded the current standards. We found that the concentrations of formaldehyde and toluene often exceeded the more stringent guidelines that will soon be enacted. Our results suggest that stronger countermeasures are therefore required to control these two chemicals. The results show that the pollution concentration was generally proportional to temperature and humidity, but that, in some cases, the concentration measurements were inversely proportional to these two factors, and in a few others the relationship between these factors was not clear. Indoor air pollution readings were highest in the 30-pyeong apartments, followed by 10-, and 20-pyeong residences. The pollutant concentrations decreased to about half of their initial levels after one year of occupancy, but the concentration of formaldehyde in indoor air persisted for a longer period. The duration of the apartment's occupancy affected indoor air pollutant concentrations more so than other factors such as temperature, humidity, and apartment size.     

The effect of a photocatalytic air purifier on indoor air quality quantified using different measuring methods

The effect on indoor air quality of an air purifier based on photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) was determined by different measuring techniques: sensory assessments of air quality made by human subjects, Proton-Transfer-Reaction Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) and chromatographic methods (Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry and High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography with UV detection). The experiment was conducted in a simulated office, ventilated with 0.6 h⁻¹, 2.5 h⁻¹ and 6 h⁻¹, in the presence of additional pollution sources (carpet, chipboard and linoleum). At the lowest air change rate, additional measurements were made with no pollution sources present in the office. All conditions were tested with the photocatalytic air purifier turned on and off. The results show that operation of the air purifier in the presence of pollutants emitted by building materials and furniture improves indoor air quality, as documented by sensory assessments made by human subjects. It also reduces concentrations of many chemical compounds present in the air as documented by the PTR-MS technique. For the lowest ventilation, results from measurements using the chromatographic methods have similar tendency, however many of the 50 compounds that were targeted for analysis were not detected at all, independent of whether the purifier was on or off. For the two conditions with higher ventilation the results were inconclusive.     

Towards the application of indoor ventilation efficiency indices to evaluate the air quality of urban areas

Ventilation efficiency (VE) indices for indoor environments are widely used to evaluate the ventilation performance and air quality of indoor domains. These indices are considered effective for outdoor air quality assessments too. In this paper, application of the ventilation efficiency indices for indoor environments to urban domains is presented and their effectiveness is confirmed. Three indices for indoor VE indices are considered here: the purging flow rate (PFR: the effective airflow rate required to purge pollutants from the domain), visitation frequency (VF: the number of times a pollutant enters the domain and passes through it) and residence time (TP: the time a pollutant takes from once entering or being generated in the domain until its leaving), which can be calculated by means of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Two examples for evaluating the air quality of urban domains in terms of the VE indices were presented. In the first, CFD simulations were carried out using a two-building model to assess the effects of urban street width and street building heights on the VE indices of a domain located within a street. In the second example, numerical simulations were carried out to estimate the influence of the arrangement of building arrays on the VE indices of selected domains located within these arrays. The results of the study showed that the ventilation efficiency indices of indoor environments appear to be a promising tool in the assessment of the air quality of urban domains as well. One of the features of applying these indices is that it is not necessary to consider the location of the pollutant source within the study domain. In addition, the VE indices are able to describe the pollutant behavior within the domain, which is very important for obtaining a complete assessment for the wind ventilation performance within urban domains.     

Status of the indoor air chemical pollution in Japanese houses based on the nationwide field survey from 2000 to 2005

This paper describes the present state and the changes in indoor air pollution levels by Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in houses in Japan, as revealed through measurements of indoor VOC concentrations and investigations on the actual conditions in the residential environment by means of a questionnaire survey covering a total of more than 10,000 newly built houses over six years (from 2000 to 2005). The VOCs initially measured were formaldehyde, toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene, followed by the subsequent inclusion of styrene and acetaldehyde.     

On-site passive flux sampler measurement of emission rates of carbonyls and VOCs from multiple indoor sources

In indoor environments with high levels of air pollution, it is desirable to remove major sources of emissions to improve air quality. In order to identify the emission sources that contribute most to the concentrations of indoor air pollutants, we used passive flux samplers (PFSs) to measure emission rates of carbonyl compounds and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from many of the building materials and furnishings present in a room in a reinforced concrete building in Tokyo, Japan. The emission flux of formaldehyde from a desk was high (125 μg/m²/h), whereas fluxes from a door and flooring were low (21.5 and 16.5 μg/m²/h, respectively). The emission fluxes of toluene from the ceiling and the carpet were high (80.0 and 72.3 μg/m²/h, respectively), whereas that from the flooring was low (9.09 μg/m²/h). The indoor and outdoor concentrations of formaldehyde were 61.5 and 8.64 μg/m³, respectively, and those of toluene were 43.2 and 17.5 μg/m³, respectively. The air exchange rate of the room as measured by the perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) method was 1.84/h. Taking into consideration the area of the emission sources, the carpet, ceiling, and walls were identified as the principal emission sources, contributing 24%, 20%, and 22% of the formaldehyde, respectively, and 22%, 27%, and 14% of the toluene, respectively, assuming that the emission rate from every major emission sources could be measured. In contrast, the door, the flooring, and the desk contributed little to the indoor levels of formaldehyde (1.0%, 0.54%, and 4.1%, respectively) and toluene (2.2%, 0.31%, and 0.85%, respectively).     

民用建筑室内新风量检测方法影响因素的研究

新风对于稀释室内空气中的有害物质、改善室内环境有着重要的意义。新风量则是衡量新风的有效手段,目前不设独立新风系统的建筑室内新风量测量广泛采用CO_2示踪气体法。本文通过一系列实验探讨CO_2初始浓度、门窗开关方式、室外风速以及室内杂物对室内新风量检测结果的影响。实验结果表明CO_2初始浓度、门窗开关方式、室外风速、室内杂物这些因素均对新风量检测值均存在不同程度的影响,其中室外风速和室内有无杂物对新风量检测结果的影响最为明显。     

自然通风在大空间建筑空调系统下室内热环境中应用的理论分析及实测研究

以上海市建筑科学研究院生态建筑示范基地为研究对象,对夏季由上部自然通风与下部空调系统共同形成的室内热环境进行了理论建模和现场测试研究.分析了不同工况下的温度分布,并探讨了自然通风在改善大空间建筑室内热环境中的有效利用及其优化途径.     

Comparison of strategies to improve indoor air quality at the pre-occupancy stage in new apartment buildings

Indoor air quality of new apartment buildings, which is known to cause Sick Housing Syndrome, has become a major concern among apartment residents as well as construction companies in Korea. Recently, the Indoor Air Quality Management Act, a regulation that limits concentration levels of formaldehyde and five volatile organic compounds in new apartment buildings, has been implemented. In this study, the effects of ventilation and decomposing agents were investigated and compared, which could be used at the pre-occupancy stage as solutions to high VOCs concentration levels in new apartment buildings. Six housing units were investigated under different conditions to assess the extent of the improvement in indoor air quality. The results demonstrate that ventilation is an effective way to control indoor air pollution caused by VOCs emissions, and the effect of decomposing agents on improving indoor air quality depends on the types of VOCs.     

The effects of changes in cadmium and lead air pollution on cancer incidence in children

This article presents the results of research on the effects of air pollution on cancer incidence in children in the region of Silesia (Poland), which has undergone one of the most profound anthropogenic transformations in Europe. The main objective of the research was to specify the impact of changes in cadmium and lead pollution in the years 1990-2005 on the incidence of cancers reported in children. Lead concentration ranged from 0 to 1490 · 10^-9 G m⁻²/year, and cadmium concentration ranged from 0 to 33.7 · 10^-9 G  m⁻²/year. There was no strong significant correlation (max 0.3) between air pollution and incidence rate (IR) in the general population of children in any particular year. Alongside the cartographic presentation of dependences, correlation coefficients between the variables in question were calculated. This made it possible to determine the relationship between the pollution levels and incidence rates in the area. There was a significant reduction in the level of pollution during the investigated period. The study of the relationship between the number of cancers reported and the condition of the natural environment revealed increased sensitivity to toxins in boys (correlation coefficient 0.3). In addition, the spatial distribution of the number of cases reported in boys suggests a correlation with the spatial distribution of the coefficients for the entire group of children included in the study. The yearly average IR of childhood cancer in specific districts ranged from 0 to 61.48/100,000 children under 18 years of age during the 1995-2004 period.     

Decision support system for the evaluation of urban air pollution control options: Application for particulate pollution in Thessaloniki, Greece

Development of strategies to control urban air pollution is a complex and multi-disciplinary process involving a wide range of scientists with different expertise and interests. This paper presents an integrated assessment methodological scheme for the evaluation of air pollution control measures that are put forward in order to reduce sufficiently air pollution levels in urban areas. Forming long-term, efficient air pollution control strategies requires knowledge of the costs associated with their implementation, the emission inventories and emission reductions to be achieved, as well as the concentration variations that represent air quality levels in the area examined. In contrast to the majority of the currently employed assessment approaches, the presented scheme enables the evaluation of any proposed air pollution control option in terms of its combined impact on air quality and social welfare, by correlating economic and health impact assessment issues. The approach presented in this paper brings together air quality modelling and mathematical programming techniques and provides a decision support system for the determination of optimal bundles of air pollution control options according to the particular features and needs of the areas examined. Both cost-effectiveness and cost–benefit approaches are taken into account in order to put the problem on the basis of economic efficiency from a societal perspective. The methodology is implemented for the case of Thessaloniki, Greece, which is selected on the grounds that the area is considered as one of the most polluted—if not the most polluted—cities within Europe, especially with respect to airborne particles.     

Multivariable control of indoor air temperature and humidity in a direct expansion (DX) air conditioning (A/C) system

Controlling indoor humidity at an appropriate level is very important since this affects occupants' thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ). The paper presents an investigation on developing a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) control strategy for simultaneously controlling the indoor air temperature and humidity by varying the speeds of both compressor and supply fan in an experimental DX A/C system. The MIMO-based controller was designed based on the linearized dynamic model of the experimental DX A/C system. The Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) technique was used in designing the MIMO-based controller. The controllability tests with respect to both the disturbance rejection capability and the command following capability were carried out to assess the control performance of MIMO controller. The results of disturbance rejection capability test showed that the MIMO control strategy can effectively maintain the indoor air temperature and humidity to their respective settings after an unmeasured heat load disturbance was imposed by simultaneously varying speeds of both the compressor and the supply fan of the DX A/C system. Furthermore, in the command following capability test for indoor air temperature, the test results showed that the indoor air temperature can be controlled to its new setting while indoor humidity remained unchanged. Similar test results were also observed in the command following capability test for indoor humidity. Therefore, the MIMO controller developed can effectively control indoor air temperature and humidity simultaneously by varying compressor speed and supply fan speed of the DX A/C system. Compared to the previous related studies using conventional on–off control method or single-input single-output (SISO) control strategy, which can only effectively control either air temperature or relative humidity, the MIMO controller can simultaneously control the indoor air temperature and humidity with adequate control sensitivity and accuracy. The application of MIMO control strategy developed can be extended to other HVAC systems in the future to improve their operating performance and energy efficiency.     

板式儿童家具中挥发性有机物（TVOC）对室内空气质量影响的研究

对北京流通领域的板式儿童家具分别进行抽样,参照国际标准ISO16000-9对其TVOC释放量进行了试验研究。测试结果表明：测量获得挥发性有机化合物种类高达60种,有酸、醛、醇、芳香烃、烷烃等多大类型。4个样品舱内TVOC含量,均未达到室内空气质量标准的TVOC限量要求。儿童家具是形成儿童房室内空气中挥发性有机物的一个主要来源。提出了可行、有效的家具检测测试方案。     

An experimental investigation of the wind environment and air quality within a densely populated urban street canyon

This paper presents an experimental investigation of wind flow characteristics and air quality along a street canyon located within a dense urban area. Four typical models of a highly populated urban area are studied and wind tunnel experiments are carried out over an extended range of the applied wind directions. The building patterns are represented by 1:100 scale models, where wind velocity and tracer gas concentrations are measured along the two sides of the street. The study results provide evidence that building configurations and wind directions are very important factors in determining both wind flow and pollutant dispersion characteristics within urban domains. Also, the results demonstrate that gaps between buildings are a very important factor to be considered by urban planners and designers, because, for a given building height, larger gaps induce more wind in urban canyons, thus improving the ventilation process.     

Elemental carbon and respirable particulate matter in the indoor air of apartments and nursery schools and ambient air in Berlin (Germany)

This study was performed to examine exposure to typical carcinogenic traffic air pollutants in the city center of an urban area. In all, 123 apartments and 74 nursery schools were analyzed with and without tobacco smoke interference and the households in two measuring periods. Simultaneously, the air outside 61 apartment windows as well as the average daily traffic volume were measured. Elemental carbon (EC), the marker for particulate diesel exhaust and respirable particulate matter (RPM) were determined. The thermographic EC analysis was conducted with and without prior solvent extraction of the soluble carbon fraction. Comparison of these two thermographic EC measurements clearly showed that method-related differences in the results, especially for indoor measurements, when high background loads of organic material were present (e.g. tobacco smoke), existed. Solvent extraction prior to EC determination was therefore appropriate. For the first winter measuring period, the EC concentration levels without solvent extraction in the indoor air were about 50% higher than those measured in the spring/summer period. In the second measuring period (i.e. spring/summer), the median EC concentrations after solvent extraction were 1.9 microg/m3 for smokers' apartments and 2.1 microg/m3 for non-smokers' apartments, with RPM concentrations of 57 and 27 microg/m3, respectively. Nursery schools showed high concentrations with median values of 53 microg/m3 for RPM and 2.9 microg/m3 for EC after solvent extraction. A significant correlation between the fine dust and EC concentrations (after solvent extraction) in the indoor and ambient air was determined. Outdoor EC values were also correlated with the average daily traffic volume. The EC ratios between indoor and ambient concentration showed a median of 0.8 (range: 0.3-4.2) in non-smoker households and 0.9 (range: 0.4-1.5) in smoker apartments. Furthermore, the EC/RPM ratio in indoor and ambient air was 0.01-0.15 (median 0.06) and 0.04-0.37 (median 0.09), respectively. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: In the absence of indoor sources a significant correlation with regard to respirable particulate matter (RPM) and elemental carbon concentrations between the indoor and ambient air of apartments was observed. The high degree of certainty resulting from this correlation underscores the importance of ambient air concentrations for indoor air quality. In nursery schools we found higher concentrations of RPM. An explanation of these results could be the high number of occupants in the room, their activity and the cleaning intensity.     

Valuing the health benefits of improving indoor air quality in residences

Unlike commercial premises, the indoor air quality of residences is more dynamic, uncontrolled, and prone to human behavioral changes. In consequence, measuring the health benefit gains derived from improving indoor air quality in residences is more complicated. To overcome this, a human thermal comfort model was first integrated with indoor microenvironment models, and subsequently linked with appropriate concentration-response and economic data for estimating the economic benefit gains derived from improving indoor air quality in residences for an adult and an elderly person. In this study, the development of the model is illustrated by using a typical residential apartment locating at the worst air quality neighborhood in Hong Kong and the daily weather profiles between 2002 and 2006. Three types of personal intervention measures were examined in the study: (i) using air cleaner in residence, (ii) changing time spent in residence, and (iii) relocating to a better air quality neighborhood. Our results revealed that employing air cleaners with windows closed in residence throughout the entire year was the most beneficial measure as it could provide the greatest annual health benefit gains. It would give a maximum of HK$2072 in 5-year cumulative benefit gain for an adult and HK$1700 for an elderly person. Employing air cleaners with windows closed in only cool season (October through March) could give the highest marginal return per dollar spent. The benefit gains would become smaller when windows were opened to a greater extent. By contrast, relocating to a better air quality neighborhood and changing the time spent in residence did not appeal to be beneficial intervention measures.