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Venting range hoods are important residential ventilation components that remove pollutants generated by cooking activities and natural gas cooking burners. To address the lack of data on range hood installations in California, we conducted a survey by examining photographs of homes for sale or rent listed on a popular real estate web site. The survey was conducted in November 2010 and April–May 2011.

Cooking of food and use of natural gas cooking burners generate pollutants that can have substantial impacts on residential indoor air quality. The extent of these impacts depends on cooking frequency, duration and specific food preparation activities in addition to the extent to which exhaust fans or other ventilation measures (e.g. windows) are used during cooking. With the intent of improving our understanding of indoor air quality impacts of cooking-related pollutants, we created, posted and advertised a web-based survey about cooking activities in residences.

This report presents results from the first year of a two-year study, investigating associations of five air pollutants (CO, NO2, NOX, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde) with the presence of natural gas appliances in California homes. From November 2011 to March 2012, pollutant concentration and occupant activity data were collected in 155 homes for 6-day periods. The sample population included both single-family (68%) and multi-family (32%) dwellings, with 87% having at least one gas appliance and 77% having an unvented gas cooking appliance.

Background: Residential natural gas cooking burners (NGCBs) can emit substantial quantities of pollutants and they are typically used without venting.

Objective: Quantify pollutant concentrations and occupant exposures resulting from NGCB use in California homes.

At a workshop held in Paris during February 2008, more than 140 public and private sector stakeholders representing 29 countries and numerous intergovernmental and other organizations examined the scope to maximize energy efficiency by improving the effectiveness of existing policy measures.

The 26th AIVC Annual Conference took place in Belgium at the Hotel Husa President Park, located in Brussels. Some 250 participants from 27 different countries attended the conference, which spanned three days and consisted of more than 100 paper and poster presentations. It focused on ventilation in relation to the energy performance of buildings.

The common EPIC – AIVC Conference was organized in Lyon France between 22 to 24 of November 2006. A very high number of excellent papers were presented and the conference was regarded as being of high scientific quality. 

More than 80 of the papers presented at the Conference dealt with ventilation studies and most of these reported very interesting and innovative results. Among the best papers, we have selected 10 which we believe merit publication in the International Journal of Ventilation. 

A conference report from the 27th AIVC and 4th Epic Conference  "Technologies & sustainable policies for a radical decrease of the energy consumption in buildings", held in Lyon, France, 20-22 November 2006.

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