A new model for evaluating air quality in rooms. Ein neues Komfortmodell fur Raumluftqualitat.

For more than a century air quality standards have been based on the Pettenkofer Theory, which regards the human being as the decisive source of air pollution in residential and community building. Regrettably these standards have not prevented many buildings from having serious air quality problems. Presented here is a new philosophy of ventilation, which takes into account pollution sources other than human contiminants and tobacco smoke, e. g. construction materials, furniture, and utilities. Use is made of the new quantities for measuring perceived air quality, the olf and the decipol. These entities make possible a new comfort equation for room air quality whereby the air exchange volume necessary for a given quality level (expressed in decipol) in a room with known pollution sources (expressed in olf) can be determined. The equation calls for higher rates of air exchange than do prevailing standards or a reduction of hidden olf, which pollute the air in many buildings. The comfort equation provides a rational basis for the ventilation standards of the future.