Ventilation and indoor air quality in five Estonian residential buildings: a comparison with Scandinavian conditions.

Measurements of ventilation rates and indoor climate parameters were carried out in fiveEstonian residential buildings. The purpose of the study was to investigate potentialdifferences-between residences in former eastern Europe and Scandinavia, as regards theindoor environment. Air change rates were measured both during wintertime and springtime,and the air temperature and relative humidity were monitored both outdoors and indoors overextended periods of time. A variety of both organic and inorganic air pollutants weremeasured using both passive sampling and continuous monitoring. The air change rate in theEstonian buildings studied seem to vary more with the outdoor climate than what is typicallythe case, for example, in Swedish buildings. Furthermore, at low outdoor air temperatures theventilation rates found in the studied Estonian buildings are substantially higher than what istypically found in Swedish residential buildings. Emissions from indoor sources is the reasonfor the relatively high indoor concentrations of aromatic compounds measured.