IAQ

Increasing demand for energy efficiency places new requirements on energy use in historic buildings. Efficient energy use is essential if a historic building is to be used and preserved, especially buildings with conventional uses such as residential buildings and offices. This paper presents results which combine energy auditing with building energy simulation and an indoor environment survey among the occupants of the building. Both when comparing simulations with measurements as well as with survey results good agreement was found.

Distributed demand control ventilation (DDCV) has shown potential for improving both indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy consumption over conventional ventilation systems. However, ventilation strategies based on measurements of CO2 concentrations suffer from several shortcomings due to issues related to accuracy and drift of off-the-shelf CO2 sensors as well as the highly non-uniform distribution of CO2 in typical office environments.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from various sources may adversely affect human health,comfort and performance. In particular, formaldehyde has been identified as a major indoor pollutantwhose emission is controlled by workstation systems. Engineered wood products such asparticleboards have widely been used with wood veneer and laminate to form work surfaces ofworkstation systems, which is a major formaldehyde emission component. The emission rate offormaldehyde depends on the composition of each material layer, temperature and moisture content inthe materials.

Ventilation strategies play an important role of enhancing thermal comfort, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) andenergy conservation in any conditioned space. Introduced in late 90s, Impinging Jet Ventilation (IJV) isthe system that can utilize stratification, while supplying with high velocity. With this characteristic andthe simplicity of its terminal configuration, IJV has an advantage over well-known DisplacementVentilation (DV) system. In this study, IJV system was investigated for establishing the protocol used inComputational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation.

Introduced in late 90’s, Impinging Jet Ventilation (IJV) is the system that can utilize stratification, while supplying with medium to high velocity. This characteristic makes IJV easy to be controlled and operated, while room Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) can

Urban indoor air quality (IAQ) is an international health issue, since city dwellers spend 90% of theirtime indoors. Research by a number of authors is reviewed here, demonstrating a range of capacitiesof indoor plants to improve IAQ and promote occupant wellbeing. Our laboratory studies, with nineindoor plant species, and our field studies in 60 offices, show that potted-plants can reliably reducetotal volatile organic compound (TVOC) loads, a major class of indoor pollutants, by 75%, to below100 ppb. They work equally well with or without air-conditioning, and in light or dark.

The epidemiological research on indoor environments in homes and health has been reviewed.Science has mainly been about health effects like asthma/allergies and exposures such as VOCs,mould and dampness. So far there are few conclusive findings. Dampness, pets, mites, dampness,ETS, a low ventilation rate, and some phthalates are risk factors for asthma and allergies. There is alarge need of studies of other health effects, and other exposures, especially regarding new frequentlyused chemicals.

This research determines chemical substance removal rates of domestic air cleaners using with thepollutant constant-emission test. In previous studies, we have already reported the formaldehyderemoval rates of room air cleaners and the high accuracy of our method for predicting indoor pollutantconcentration. In the present study, the VOCs removal rates of room air cleaners were measured.Gas-phase contaminants were supplied to the environmental test-chamber using a custom-builtemission device. And performance evaluation test was conducted to two kinds of air cleaners.

For energy conservation and good Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), it is crucial to improve Outdoor Air Quality(OAQ). For achieving good OAQ in urban areas, wind flow patterns among buildings should beimproved as well.In this paper, effects of building layout on outdoor thermal climate and air quality are investigatednumerically. In addition to the environment around pedestrians, enthalpy of outdoor air introduced intobuildings and its air quality are examined from the standpoint of IAQ.