indoor air quality

Within the ventilation principle of buildings, the outdoor air is considered as a source of fresh, "clean" air. However, as we all know, this is not always the case. Although the outdoor air quality in our cities already improved, the concentrations of certain pollutants, especially particulate matter and peak pollutions of ozone (and its precursors nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds), remain problematic.

Outdoor air is usually considered as a source of clean air in building ventilation principles. Although outdoor air quality has already improved in our cities, this principle may be challenged. Particulate matter remains especially problematic. This simulation study investigates the role that the mechanical ventilation system, with or without filtration, plays in the penetration of outdoor air pollutants, which may have adverse effects on indoor air quality and occupant health. Based on the Brussels PM2.5 pollutant data, several configurations were examined using the CONTAM software.

In the frame of the project Flux50 smart ventilation, researchers and industrials aim at qualifying ventilation in mid-sized buildings through multidisciplinary consideration of sleep quality, user satisfaction, acoustic comfort, installation, maintenance, resilience and indoor air quality. As those factors may impact at different levels it is important to select a common metric for evaluation. Assessment of financial costs induced by the various categories will be used in that purpose.

The serious social and health crisis faced as a result of the spread of SARS-Cov 2 has highlighted the weaknesses of human beings but has mainly highlighted the inadequate static response of existing buildings; all those confined spaces characterised by the simultaneous presence of a large number of people, such as classrooms, have shown, over the past two years, how unhealthy are because of the high possibility of contraction of the virus inside them.

Occupants in residential buildings usually control natural ventilation through window openings. However, few studies have developed simple rules based on the outdoor weather forecast that can inform the occupants to predict the indoor condition by applying natural ventilation for thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ). This paper describes a model based on indoor/outdoor correlations, derived through simulations using EnergyPlus and CONTAM, to help occupants maintain internal environmental quality manually or through simple controls.

As part of the mandated standards for estimating the energy performance of buildings CEN 16798-1 and -2 was developed to provide input for the indoor environment (thermal comfort, air quality/ventilation, lighting, acoustic) to energy calculations and design of buildings with its heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting systems. A revision of this standard has now been started.

ASHRAE’s 2022 publication of a new position document on indoor carbon dioxide (CO2) has been a significant contribution to ongoing discussions of how indoor CO2 can be used to understand ventilation and indoor air quality (IAQ). The position document clarifies what is known about the relationship between CO2 concentrations and ventilation rates, the effects of CO2 on building occupants, and how CO2 concentrations relate to airborne infectious disease transmission. While the position document is a key step to addressing ongoing debate and

In order to evaluate the impacts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions from building materials on the indoor air quality beyond the standard chamber test conditions and test period, mechanistic emission source models have been developed in the past. However, very limited data are available for the required model parameters including the initial concentration (Cm0), in-material diffusion coefficient (Dm), partition coefficient (Kma), and convective mass transfer coefficient (km).