The Evaluation of Natural Ventilation in Underground Office Space

One of the major factors in human comfort is the air quality, which occupies a specific environment and is usually renewed through natural ventilation. However, isolated underground spaces do not benefit from this factor and are often subject to high relative humidity, poor air quality, pollutant emissions and penetration of moisture from the surrounding soil and ground base. Due to such negative characteristics, underground spaces are generally recognized as undesirable living environments by most of Koreans. Consequently, most underground spaces are commonly planned as parking lots requiring a lower standard of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) control. The paper will investigate a scheme using natural ventilation to improve air quality in underground spaces, analyzing subsequent results supported by actual survey data and measuring contaminant concentration.