Ventilation and indoor air quality in a modern office building.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (formerly the National Bureau of Standards) has through an interagency agreement with the Public Building Service of the General Services Administration performed an evaluation of the thermal and environmental performance of a new Federal office building in Portland OR. The building was constructed during the 1986 and 1987 and occupancy began in August of 1987. This evaluation is part of a research effort by the Center for Building Technology of NIST to develop methods for evaluating advanced technology buildings. The procedure used for this evaluation was to install in the new office building a diagnostic center capable of monitoring important environmental parameters of the building. The measurements made consisted of 1.) air infiltration and ventilation rates, building envelope tightness, interzone air movement, detection of envelope thermal deficiencies, envelope thermal resistance and the levels of indoor contaminants. The indoor contaminants measured include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, respirable particulates in the 0.3 to 10 micron range, formaldehyde, radon and volatile organic compounds which could be emitted either by the new building materials and furnishings or the activities of the building occupants. Much of the measurements were made in real time. There are over 100 monitoring points in the building installed both in the interior space of the building, the building HVAC systems and the underground parking garage.