ENERGY BENCHMARKS FOR VENTILATION SYSTEMS IN AIR-CONDITIONED OFFICES

Indoor environmental quality (IEQ), subjective satisfaction of occupants and energy conservation ofbuildings are usually determined separately. Since the energy crisis in 1973, engineers haveendeavored to implement energy conservation in buildings. Unfortunately, the effort resulted in energysavings without the fundamental delivery of indoor satisfaction in many cases. It is worthwhile todetermine a balance strategy between the potential energy saving and occupants satisfaction inworkplaces.

SCREENING FOR INDOOR AIR QUALITY EXPRESS ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL OF AIR-CONDITIONED OFFICES

A successful Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) surveillance plan is essential for healthy and safe workplaces;yet it is costly to sample all air pollutants of the entire community. In Hong Kong, a voluntary IAQcertification scheme for workplaces proposes the acceptable concentration levels of nine commonindoor air pollutants, namely carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), respirable suspendedparticulates (RSP), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), formaldehyde (HCHO), total volatile organiccompounds (TVOC), radon (Rn) and airborne bacteria count (ABC).