Reports on pressure tests carried out on the Kasarminkatu 24 building (a museum of architecture) in Helsinki. The fans in the building were used to measure airtightness of the building envelope, and the tightness of windows and doors was measured separately by the guarded box method. The tightness of the building envelope was good (2 ach at 50 Pa). 70% of total air leakage came through the wooden roof structure, and only 5-10% through the windowstructure. Three alternative mechanical ventilation systems were also studied in the same building to assess their impact on indoor climate.
Describes expectations people have of indoor climate. Notes that the quality of indoor climate has often taken second place to fashionable architectural and material considerations. Refers to concern for improved environment and awareness of formaldehyde, radon and other pollutants and the need for correct ventilation to achieve derived air quality. Proves guidelines for air quality and the thermal indoor climate in both housing and working premises.
Individual mathematical models for formaldehyde concentrations in each of 3 normal rooms in a single family house is used to estimate ventilation rates needed to maintain formaldehyde concentration below the recommended Danish indoor standard (0.15 mg/m3). In an initial period after the house was finished a ventilation rate more than 10x the recommended Scandinavian maximum value (0.5 ach) was needed to keep the concentration below the indoor standard.
There have been considerable efforts to estimate risks to health from the present level of indoor air quality. However, there has been comparatively little work to relate these calculated risks to other risks of energy use or conservation, or to determine how large these risks will be in the future. This paper finds that, on the basis of extrapolated trends, risk associated with changes in indoor air quality in the United States. The other two are associated with the expected change to smaller automobiles and the entire coal fuel cycle, from producing electricity to synthetic fuels.
Briefly deals with Finnish research into formaldehyde concentrations in modern dwellings. Describes materials and methods used by the Institute of Occupational Health in Finland to measure formaldehyde concentrations in more than 100 dwellings. Ventilation rates have also been measured in 35 rooms in 20 dwellings, and 46% have been below the minimum acceptable value of 0.5 ach.Where the ventilation rate exceeded 0.5 ach only 9% of the measured HCHO concentrations exceeded the limit value for old houses.
Although indoor pollution is a greater problem than outdoor pollution, much less research has been devoted to it. Describes the sick building syndrome and an experiment (as distinguished from an opinion poll), comparing a diagnosed sick and a clean modern Swedish preschool. Forty eight previously unexposed subjects were tested in two buildings for two days, and the effect of the exposure was assessed.
Within the last ten years, energy shortages, economic pressures, and changes in indoor environmental requirements have resulted in buildings that are more energy efficient but less forgiving, environmentally. These results indicate that energ
Continues on from a previous paper, which gives a theoretical framework for using moments of concentration histories as a means of assessing air quality. Gives a more detailed presentation of the test conditions and the results from each test, together with plots of concentration v.time graphs.
Describes international research activities in the field of air infiltration, based on a recent research survey. Projects include research on indoor air quality and comfort, comparison of procedures for calculating air change rates in buildings, compiling data on air flow and pressure distributions around buildings, and measurement techniques. At the end, concentrates on Swiss projects.
Login