All the findings about indoor air quality is of little use to the average citizen, if they are not applied and and translated into rules incorporated in our building codes for the design, construction, and last but certainly not least maintenance of our buildings. And scientifically based up-to-date coders are not much use if they are not backed by strict , honest, and competent building inspectors. Recommendations are made for improvements in building codes to ensure good indoor air quality by concentrating, but not exclusively, on ventilation.
The National Bureau of Standards has undertaken a research effort to develop a general air quality simulation program for buildings. At present there exists three computer programs which can be used to analyse interzonal air movements in multizoned buildings and predict the level of contaminants due to a wide variety of contaminants. This paper will introduce the reader to the scientific and mathematical basis of the models, the preparation of building input data for these programs, and the use of the models for both residential and commercial buildings.
In order to avoid demage to the health of occupants, annoyance or reduction in amenity and demage to the building fabric the concentration of indoor air pollutants has to be held below pollutant specific levels. One appropriate measure for the control of concentration is ventilation. In several national and international activities in the past, among others in the IEA's Annex IX "Minimum Ventilation Rates" and standardization efforts in Germany and other countries, ventilation rates have been defined which should meet both indoor air quality (iaq) requirements and energy conservation.
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