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This guideline has been prepared by a working group of the concerted action "Indoor Air Quality and Its Impact on Man" (COST project 613) and describes a method for the determination of formaldehyde emissions from wood based materials using large scale, walk-in type environmental chambers. The guideline describes essential features of the chambers to be used, such as size, inner wall and sealing materials, tightness, air circulation and position of sensors for temperature and humidity.

This study evaluated various ventilation strategies for efficiently removing house dust in the indoor environment. Experiments and simulations were performed to study the flow and diffusion fields that are affected by different locations and shapes of outlets. In this study, two kinds of ventilation strategies were considered i.e. ceiling exhaust and slit exhaust. In each case, experimental measurements showed that the characteristics of airflow within the whole room are generally similar except for airflow close to the outlet. CFD flow field and diffusion field simulations were also made.

This paper discusses the potential of passive cooling techniques for Malaysian modern houses with the aim of reducing air-conditioning usage. A full-scale field experiment was carried out to reveal the detailed indoor thermal environment for various ventilation strategies. Night ventilation was found to be better than daytime ventilation, full-day ventilation and no ventilation in terms of air temperature reductions during the day and night. Night ventilation improves thermal comfort more than the other ventilation conditions based on operative temperature.

Thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ) play a vital role in creating a pleasant and healthier indoor environment for occupants. The supply air conditions and the concentration of CO2 contaminant present in the supply air can decide the comfort level and purity of air in indoor environments. In this study, an effort was made to investigate the combined effect of a chilled ceiling and displacement ventilation (CC-DV) air conditioning (A/C) system that would possibly achieve good thermal comfort and IAQ in a proposed office building subjected to hot and humid climatic conditions.

The performance of stratum ventilation, a recently developed ventilation strategy, is assessed in terms of thermal comfort and indoor air quality using experimental and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques. The case of a typical Hong Kong workshop under local thermal boundary conditions is used to examine the ventilation system. Various factors including percentage dissatisfied (PD) and mean air age/CO2 were computed to determine the system performance. The stratum ventilation is shown to produce improved indoor air quality and thermal comfort for this particular case study.

The results of this investigation revealed the airflow distribution from a new design of supply diffuser under non-isothermal conditions. To illustrate the indoor climate parameters in the occupied zone, for both the heating and cooling seasons, an experimental investigation was carried out in industrial premises. The indoor climate was explored at ankle, waist and neck levels for a standing person at different positions, to determine the variation of the thermal comfort indexes and draught rating (DR) with position in the facility.

The Aluminerie Alouette Inc. (AAI) smelter in northern Quebec, Canada recently completed a major plant expansion that includes a new casthouse for the continuous production of low-profile, air-cooled aluminium sows. The radiation and convection heat release of 15 MW to the workplace from the aluminium metal solidification and cooling is significantly higher than that experienced in the traditional water-cooled casting process where the majority of the heat is removed by the cooling water.

If inhaled, welding fumes can be harmful to health, thus exposure must be controlled. A commonly used method of control is local exhaust ventilation (LEV) in the form of moveable capturing hoods but, to achieve efficient capture, this type of ventilation must be positioned close to the fume source and moved as welding progresses, although in practice re-location may not always occur. Alternatively, control may be exercised using a low volume high velocity system (LVHV), fitted either to an existing welding torch or manufactured as an integral part of a torch.

Much attention is given to the consequences of airborne particles on human health and well-being. Wear is one source of airborne particles and contributions in the urban environments from wheel-to-rail contacts and disc brakes cannot be neglected. Traditionally, mechanical wear has been associated with the generation of particles of diameters of some microns. However, the research described has found ultrafine particle generation from wear processes.

A planned new train tunnel under the central parts of Stockholm was intended to be ventilated by natural ventilation and the movement of the trains. However, the amount of heat generated by the trains is so high that natural ventilation would give abnormal temperatures and velocities in the tunnel and at the stations. The heat adsorbed by the rock surrounding the tunnel can be neglected in comparison with the amount transported by air.