English

The air tightness of eight apartment buildings containing six to eleven units each on three or four floors has been tested with and without guard-zone pressure, i.e. with and without consideration of internal leakages. The layouts of these buildings varied: two of them had no central stairwell, in two other buildings, only some of the apartments were connected to the central stairwell, and the third type had all apartments connected to a central stairwell.   During these tests, two to eight BlowerDoor systems were used simultaneously to create guard-zone pressure conditions.  

Conventional building management systems are costly to install in existing buildings. Building services fail, which results in a cascade of incorrect responses, or occupants and administrators misuse systems. A possible way to reduce the installations costs is to use wireless sensor networks (WSN) to monitor and control building services. 

This study deals with ventilation effects on measured and perceived indoor air quality (IAQ) in a demonstrator building where IAQ problems can occur. Unlike outdoor air, indoor air is usually recycled continuously, which makes it trapping pollutants. Indoor air quality (IAQ) is characterized by a pollutants' concentration, as well as air temperature and humidity. The study's aim is to implement an efficient and smart ventilation system while leaning on continuous measurements of indoor air pollutants in a demonstrator building via a smart sensor based on a Raspberry Pi 3 model B+ card.

Over the past few years there have been advances in sensing of some pollutants, primarily particles, that might lead to ventilation controls based on direct sensing of pollutants – particularly those relating to health. In this study we evaluated low-cost (about $200 US) IAQ monitors that measured PM2.5 - the most important health-related pollutant in indoor air. Controlled laboratory tests were carried out with known sources of particles (cooking, cleaning, candles, cigarettes) and by comparing the IAQ monitors response to research-grade and reference measurement methods.

The difficulty in measuring IAQ indicators like VOCs and particles, lies in the multiplicity of the composition of these pollutants. Analysis of the responses of some low cost IAQ sensors when subjected to real sources of pollution shows that they do not react homogeneously, due to their sensitivity and post-treatments. These sensors can be used by consumers to understand the effect of their actions on the evolution of IAQ indicators, not to rely directly on the values displayed.

The different methods for air flow rate measurement at air terminal devices are presented in this overview, such as van anemometer with a cone, small velocity probe (thermal probe or small vane anemometer), compensation method, etc. Several measurement methods are available on the market at highly variable cost. However some of these methods are suspected to lack reliability.  

Two European standards EN 16211:2015 and EN 12599:2012 describe measurement methods for air flow. 
The methods can be used at supply or exhaust air terminal devices, ATDs, or in ducts. 
Both standards include the methods air flow hoods, bag and reference pressure method. EN 12599 presents a compensation method with a test chamber and the effective area, Ak-method. EN 16211 also includes two types of air flow hood compensation methods. 

Occupants in non-industrial indoor environments should decide whether the indoor air quality is acceptable or not. This paper describes the method by which the assessments of acceptability of air quality can be used for measuring short-term sensory effects on humans caused by indoor exposures. It also describes how this method can be applied to estimate the perceived indoor air quality used as a design criteria for the ventilation of buildings.

The proposed Annex should bring researchers and industry together to investigate the possible energy benefits by using gas phase air cleaners (partial substitute for ventilation) and establish procedures for improving indoor air quality or reduced amount of ventilation by gas phase air cleaning. The project shall also establish a test method for air cleaners that considers the influence on the perceived air quality and substances in the indoor air.

This workshop session will consist of a series of presentations by members of the Board for the Indoor Environmental Quality – Global Alliance (IEQ-GA). The AIVC is one of the founding members of the IEG-GA, and its representatives have participated in the formation of the Global Alliance as well as active members in planning for the next stage of its development. The Alliance is expected to be an independent international NGO whose members are public or non-profit entities that are involved with advancing knowledge on common indoor environmental quality issues.