In order to demonstrate conformity with the current Building Regulations, many house builders are incorporating sumps beneath the ground floor construction of houses within the designated Radon Affected Areas. These sumps will allow for later depressurisation of the below ground floor construction and thereby prevent radon passage to the internal building environment. There are concerns regarding the costs of these measures and also the potential for these sumps to be used by vermin as nesting sites as well as their effectiveness.
User experiences of the workings of a ventilation system have often been pretty disheartening. Draughty, too hot, noisy, too stuffy are some of the verdicts which in many cases have been confirmed by objective measurements. Often the complaints are due to the air flows not being appropriate to the room. This in turn can be due to adjustment difficulties or to the flow balance in different branches of the system being affected by residents tampering with the supply or exhaust air terminal device settings.