Residence

The rate of ventilation in buildings is regulated in most European countries to provide a sufficient exchange of clean air to maintain and ensure the health and comfort of building occupants. Information on the actual level of ventilation rates is needed to estimate the consequences of reduced ventilation on the potential increasing risk of health problems. Unfortunately only limited population based data are available on the measured ventilation rates of residences in European countries.

We developed an air cleaner (AC) for chemical sensitivity (CS) patients. The AC have a high efficiencyair filter and a special activated carbon filter to remove airborne particles and gaseous contaminants.Using the AC, we conducted a monitoring experiment to investigate improvement of indoor air quality(IAQ) in the actual residences of CS patients. In the experiment, IAQ in the residences of nine CSpatients was measured before and after AC operation.

Gas cooking in the home can release high levels of nitrogen dioxide (N02) and carbon monoxide (CO). This study investigated the effect of various ventilation strategies to reduce personal exposure to these pollutants. It considered the effectiveness of windows, a kitchen extract fan and trickle ventilators for different dwellings, occupant behaviour, environmental conditions etc. Strategy selection was based on the need to minimise both personal exposure and energy loss. These strategies were simulated using BRE's BREEZE multi-zonal computer code.