indoor air

Deep Energy renovation (DER) adopts a whole building approach and achieves much larger energy savings than shallow energy renovations that typically only included a small number (one or two) of upgrade measures. DER includes the installation of high levels of insulation, uses renewable energy technologies and minimises uncontrolled air leakage by achieving air permeability levels no greater than 5 m3/h.m2 to achieve building energy ratings (BER) of at least A3.

Since the turn of the century, alarming data produced by the Indoor Air Quality Observatory (OQAI) have led to changes in French legislation, including, most notably, the introduction of compulsory labelling for construction products (decree no. 2011-321 of 23 March 2011).

Furniture can raise indoor air contaminants with toxic emissions of VOC and formaldehyde.. While furniture is classified as a subject of safety and has quality labeling, there is a lack of domestic regulations related to contaminant emissions with the exception of sinks. When looking at the analysis on environment-related patients related to the smell or odors from furniture every year, patients suffering from asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis are on the rise.

A physically based diffusion model is used to evaluate the sink effect of diffusion-controlled indoor materials and to predict the transient contaminant concentration in indoor air in response to several time-varying contaminant sources. For simplicity, it is assumed that the predominant indoor material is a homogeneous slab, initially free of contaminant, and that the air within the room is well mixed.

It is only fairly recently that scientific and public concerns have focused on the probable health risk that the presence of air pollutants can cause in residential or non-industrial buildings. Several reasons have contributed to the deterioration of indoor air quality (IAQ) including some aspects of trends in the construction sector, most important of which are the design of buildings with increased air tightness for the sake of energy conservation but also the use of innovative building materials based on complex synthetic chemical substances.

A study was made of radon-safe building in 300 Finnish low-rise residential buildings using data obtainedfrom a questionnaire study. The study also aims at finding the main defects in design andimplementation and how the guidance given on radon-safe building in slab-on-grade houses has beenfollowed. According to the guidance, the prevention of the flow of radon-bearing air from the soil intothe house is recommended to be carried out through installation of aluminized bitumen felt and use ofelastic sealants.

The average indoor radon concentration in Finnish flats is 80 Bq/m3. Typically walls have been madeusing concrete elements. Building materials are the dominant source of indoor radon. However, in theflats of the lowest floor, with a floor slab in direct ground contact, the main source of radon is oftenthe inflow of radon bearing soil air. The number of these ground contact flats is less than 10 % of thetotal number of flats. The average indoor radon concentration of these ground contact flats is 150Bq/m3.

There is a currently growing interest in the effect of exposure to 222Rn, because it became recognised as an important “pollutant” factor of the environment. Possible lung cancer incidence due to exposure to environmental radon levels may thus account for

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 effect on Indoor Air Quality of painting at home while resident stays at home has been discussed. This paper presents a case study of the effects. A normal Scandinavian apartement has been refurnished with new paint on the walls and ceilings and the VOC emissions have been followed during eight weeks. Two types of low-emitting paint was selected for the study. A paint shop rolled two layers of new paint on the walls and ceiling in two rooms in the flat.