IAQ metrics

The overall objective of the International Energy Agency project, Energy in Buildings and Communities Annex 68 "Indoor Air Quality Design and Control in Low-energy Residential Buildings,"1 is to provide a scientific basis for optimal and practically applicable design and control strategies for high IAQin residential buildings. An obstacle for close inte­gration of energy and IAQstrategies in building design and optimization is the lack of an index that can quantitatively describe indoor air quality (IAQ) and be compared with indices that describe energy performance.

The objective of Subtask 4 in the IEA EBC Annec 68 was to integrate knowledge and results from remaining Subtasks and present them in the context with current knowledge. The focus of the Subtask 4 was on practitioners dealing with ensuring high Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in modern low-energy residences, the demands and challenges they meet during daily work. This especially includes architects and ventilation designers, facility managers, property developers and employees of public authorities. This publication is a result of Subtask 4’s work.

The present paper aims at illustrating the practical use of the Annex68 IAQ Dashboard. To this end, numerical simulations have been performed to provide useable data about the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) of a low-energy detached house. The dashboard has been used to compare three possible solutions of ventilation systems commonly found in French residential buildings i.e. natural ventilation using vertical ducts for extraction, self-regulated exhaust and balanced mechanical ventilation.

The objective of present work was to develop the metric that assess the performance of solutions securing high indoor air quality in low-energy (modern) residential buildings. This was achieved by summarizing data on the levels and types of gaseous pollutants and particulate matter in low-energy buildings and comparing them with the existing exposure limits for pollutants.