English

Thermal comfort in office buildings is usually unsatisfactory when ceiling air distribution isemployed, because it is hard to make adjustments to reach specific occupancy needs. On theother hand, underfloor air distribution allows some flexibility for adjustments. In order toevaluate thermal comfort conditions in office environments with underfloor air supply system,a laboratory facility was built at the Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil. In this work,quantitative and qualitative results obtained in such facility are discussed.

Ultra-fine and fine particle formation as a result of chemical reactions between ozone and fourdifferent air fresheners and a typical lemon-scented domestic cleaner was studied in a fullyfurnished, naturally ventilated office. The study showed that under conditions representativeof those occurring in such offices, air fresheners or scented cleaners may react with ozone toform secondary organic aerosols (SOA). The tested air fresheners were relatively smallsources of SOA with detectable increases occurring only in the ultra-fine particle numberconcentration.

Characterization of indoor particle sources from 14 residential houses in Brisbane, Australia,was performed. The approximation of PM2.5 and the submicrometre particle numberconcentrations were measured simultaneously for more than 48 h in the kitchen of all thehouses by using a photometer (DustTrak) and a condensation particle counter (CPC),respectively. From the real time indoor particle concentration data and a diary of indooractivities, the indoor particle sources were identified.

The aim of this work was to assess the influence of the ambient air quality and some indoorsources on the concentration levels of airborne fine particles and volatile organic compoundsin a large school of arts. Measurements were conducted, for both indoor and supply air, ineight office rooms in four floors controlled by four separate air handling units (AHU). Fineparticle measurements by SMPS in the size range 15-700 nm indicate that the placement ofthe HVAC air feed points and different AHUs affect the total particle concentration and sizedistribution in the supply air.

Fine particles (4 -700 nm), odour and VOC emissions before and after the used supply airfilters were studied in a ventilation unit. The pre-filter (G3) did not collect fine particles at thetest conditions, but acted as a source of particles 50-300 nm in size. The F7 fine filter, locatedafter the pre-filter, collected quite effectively even the finest particles. Sensory evaluationshowed that intensity of odour was highest after the F7 fine filter.

This paper considers the predictions obtained using a recently developed ventilation parameter (VP) for evaluating the ventilation performance which combines the indices for indoor air quality and thermal comfort. This ventilation parameter is used to analyse the changes in ventilation performance with changes in the position of workstation in a room ventilated using mixing ventilation.

The article compares the definitions and requirements in various standards (ASHRAE 62, DIN 1946, CEN CR 1752, CIBSE guide A, ISO TC 205) related to ventilation and indoor air quality in terms of health, comfort and productivity. It explains how standards, especially CEN CR 1752, define indoor air pollution (use of olf and decipol as well as carbon dioxyde and water vapour concentrations) and outdoor air pollution .

The objective of that study was to find out the important properties of ground covers, the optimal air change rates for the controlling of moisture conditions in an outdoor air-ventilated crawl space in a cold climate, and to estimate the acceptability of current moisture conditions in respect of material durability. In addition, factors affecting the transport indoors of possible pollutants from crawl spaces were studied.
The moisture conditions were calculated with a dynamic simulation model, which was validated against measured data.

A series of thermal comfort field data (about 1800 observations), collected in Bari (Southern Italy), were implemented according to the ASHRAE RP-884 world database format, thus constituting a local database for the Mediterranean area, which, with exception of Greece, is not represented in this world database. The collected data, mostly already published, were reexamined in the light of the latest international literature on the subject.

This paper shall investigate thermal comfort requirements for university students in the hot-humid region of Bahrain and the hot-dry region of Saudi Arabia. An extensive field survey shall be conducted among university students in an attempt to define optimum comfort requirements. The field surveys shall deal with the following aspects:
Recording climatic variables, which influence thermal sensation, these are; ambient temperature, radiant temperature, relative humidity and air velocity.