indoor air quality

In order to better address energy and indoor air quality issues, ventilation needs to become smarter. A key smart ventilation concept is to use controls to ventilate more at times it provides either an energy or IAQ advantage (or both) and less when it provides a disadvantage. This would be done in a manner that provides improved home energy and IAQ performance, relative to a “dumb” base case. This paper highlights that a favourable context exists in many countries, with regulations and standards proposing “performance-based approaches”.

As policy makers strive to reduce the energy demands of houses by reducing infiltration rates, an unintended consequence could be a fall in the quality of indoor air with corresponding negative health effects at a population scale. Measuring pollutant concentrations in-situ is difficult, expensive, invasive, and time consuming and so the simulation of indoor conditions, using representative models of a housing stock, is a more common method of investigation.

This presentation will summarize the last forty-five years of indoor air quality (IAQ) studies, investigations and research from the first energy crisis in the USA in the 1970’s to the latest issues with regards to climate change and its effect on IAQ. The initial occupant complaints about the quality of the air in buildings coincided with changes in infiltration and ventilation in buildings. In particular, the first ASHRAE 62 Standard was issued in 1973, and then substantially changed in the 1981 version.

The communication presents the Technical Appraisal Procedure followed in France for Demand-Controlled ventilation systems through the illustration of the use of a thermo-hygro-aeraulic nodal model called MATHIS developed by CSTB. The calculations methodology is described. Its application is illustrated for different family of ventilation systems currently under the scope of the procedure. The needs and the current developments for a better modelling of Indoor Air quality are lastly exposed. 

The implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2010/31/EU recast puts increasing pressure to achieve better building and ductwork airtightness.  

In this context, Eurovent Certita Certification decided to establish a new certification programme for Ventilation Ductwork Systems, opening a new chapter in the history of the Eurovent Certified Performance (ECP) certification mark, which concerned only products, not systems, until then.  

In order to better address energy and indoor air quality issues, ventilation needs to become smarter. A key smart ventilation concept is to use controls to ventilate more at times it provides either an energy or IAQ advantage (or both) and less when it provides a disadvantage. This would be done in a manner that provides improved home energy and IAQ performance, relative to a “dumb” base case. A favorable context exists in many countries to develop smart ventilation strategies.

The ClimACT project has been developed under the priority axis “Low Carbon Economy” of the Interreg SUDOE program. It aims to support the transition to a low carbon economy in schools. Environmental audits addressing energy and water consumptions, waste management, travels to school, procurements and green spaces have been carried out in 38 pilots schools of Portugal, Spain, France and Gibraltar. Indoor air quality and ventilation measurements were also achieved. The concentrations of 9 aldehydes and 10 selected VOCs were measured from passive sampling in two classrooms of each school.

Indoor environment and indoor air quality (IAQ) are considered as subjects of major concern: as we build more and more energy efficient and airtight buildings, the conflicting issues of energy efficiency, adverse health effects and discomfort become more relevant. Significant rates of malfunctions of ventilation systems are still observed among new constructions.

The “VIA-Qualité” project (2013-2016) aims at developing quality management (QM) approaches (ISO 9001) on ventilation and indoor air quality (IAQ), for low-energy, single-family buildings. The goal of these QM approaches is to improve both ventilation and IAQ actual in-situ performance. The main benefits of those approaches are to: 1-Improve ventilation system performance from design to implementation; 2-Limit indoor internal pollution sources, monitoring building materials selection and design regarding the outdoor pollution sources; 3-Improve final users understanding. 

The importance of reducing the ingress of outdoor pollution into the indoor environment is becoming increasingly important as concerns rise regarding the acute and chronic health effects of air pollution. In general, people in developed countries spend typically 90% or more of their time indoors, with the most susceptible individuals, such as the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions, spending almost all of their time indoors.