The evaluation of HVAC systems and indoor air quality of high-rise appartments

Although most of the apartments adopt state-of-the-art convenience facilities, since they have become the most popular housing type in Korea, they depend on natural ventilation for HVAC systems, as traditional floor heating systems (Ondol) are used. On the other hand, the indoor environments of the apartments have become more important, because people stay longer in a room and the room environment is polluted, because of various kinds of interior materials. Accordingly, some apartments apply air conditioning systems using AHU and ventilation systems using heat exchangers. However, there are few studies on indoor environments related to these. In this study we evaluated ventilation performance and the change in concentration of the pollutants, by measuring indoor environment of high-rise apartments with different ventilation systems to provide a method to maintain comfortable air conditions. From the study, it is proved that they cannot maintain indoor environment standards by natural ventilation and they need to introduce mechanical ventilation systems for ordinary ventilation.