English

Poor indoor air quality caused by poor ventilation was indicated from field measurements in apartments in Taiwan. Four strategies of employing thermal buoyancy effect, dedicated air flow pattern, transom and spatial connection control are proposed to improve indoor air quality by removing indoor pollutants with outdoor air. To prove the concepts, a bathroom design based on the proposed strategies is presented by numerical simulation using 11 computational fluid dynamics code.

Tracer distribution measurements were performed to assess pollutant transport from basement garages situated in a commercial building and in two residential buildings, in which the occupants had reported typical garage odors and complained about bad indoor air and typical SBS symptoms. A tracer gas technique (tracer gas SF6, infrared detection) was used in all three buildings to study the contaminant distribution in the buildings. In the commercial building, a leaky HVAC system distributed contaminated air from the garage to other zones of the building.

This study, in progress in Trondheim, Norway, deals with the connection between energy economy and indoor air quality in detached houses. It includes 41 new houses, all equipped with balanced ventilation and heat-pump for energy savings. The study includes both questionnaires and various measurements, and will be finished in 1994. Comparing the new and old housing, 90 % of the occupants are more satisfied with the indoor air quality in their new home, than their old home.

Noise from fan-assisted radon sump systems can be a problem in the home. This leaflet describes how to design a sump system with a view to minimising noise disturbance. It also includes advice on reducing noise from unsatisfactory existing systems. The leaflet will be of interest to householders, builders and designers dealing with noise from fan-assisted radon sump systems

An effective way of reducing the level of radon in dwellings is to extract air from beneath the ground floor. This is usually achieved by mechanical ventilation or by the use of a radon sump. However, in some circumstances, these remedial measures may lower the air pressure inside the dwelling. In a small number of cases, this causes combustion gases from open-flued combustion appliances, such as open fires, to spill into the living spaces. Spillage of this type is potentially hazardous, and should always be avoided.

The UK Building Research Establishment has carried out measurements of levels of nitrogen dioxide (N02) in 12 homes in the South of England. Two types of detection device were used: the Scintrex LMA-3 continuous N02 analyser and the Palmes passive diffusion tube. NO 2 concentrations were recorded using both devices in the kitchen, living room and a bedroom of each home for a period of a week. Gas cooking was observed to be the most important source of peak concentrations of N02 in the home.