Ventilation, energy and IAQ impacts of mechanical ventilation in a US dwelling.

Based on concerns about indoor air quality and trends towards tighter envelope construction,there has been increasing interest in mechanical ventilation of residential buildings in the UnitedStates. This paper reports on a situation study of indoor air quality, ventilation and energyimpacts of several mechanical ventilation approaches in a single-family residential building Thestudy focuses on a two-story house in the northwestern United States and employs themultizone airflow and contaminant dispersal model CONTAM96. The contaminants studiedinclude carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, water vapor, fine particles, and ageneric volatile organicc compound. One-year simulations were performed for a base case ofenvelope infiltration, passive inlet vents with intermittent mechanical exhaust, outdoor intake tothe forced-air system return balanced by mechanical exhaust, and continuous exhaust. Resultsdiscussed include whole building air change rates, energy consumption and contaminantconcentrations.