housing

In Switzerland, 70 % of building refurbishments are realised in stages. When only a window replacement is done, the new airtight windows can lead to a reduced infiltration air exchange and subsequently there may be moisture issues, e.g. mould. The integration of passive window ventilation openings (PWVO) with additional exhaust fans in the kitchen and bathroom(s) can ensure a user-independent basic air change rate. PWVO can be defined as small air inlets integrated in or near the window frame.

The French indoor air quality observatory (OQAI) was set up by the French authorities in 2001 with the objective to collect data on indoor pollutants in various indoor environments to be used for public policies. Funded exclusively by public funding, the OQAI is coordinated by the scientific and technical center for building (CSTB) and involved an extensive network of partners across France in charge of the field campaigns and the laboratory analyses. To date, nationwide surveys were carried out in dwellings (2003-2005), schools (2013-2017), and office buildings (2013-2017).

The Low Income Group (L.I.G) in Lagos, Nigeria represents about 70% of the 18million population of the state. They are an important part of the economic activities in the state, with the bulk of public transportation and informal trading being undertaken by these groups. Housing, as the second most important human need after food has a profound influence on the health, efficiency, social behaviour, satisfaction and general welfare of the community.

It is estimated that people in the developed world spend more than 85-90% of their time indoors. Of this, most is spent in homes. To minimize health risks from pollutants occurring in homes, exposures should be controlled. The most effective way to achieve this is to control sources of pollutants and to reduce emissions. Often, especially in existing buildings, this strategy is difficult to implement, in which case exposures are controlled by providing sufficient, presumably clean, outdoor ventilation air to dilute and remove the contaminants.

In many hot countries courtyard housing has evolved to help people achieve thermal comfort under hot conditions. Field studies have identified several thermal comfort adaptive actions that a person might take to achieve comfort. One of these actions is moving to a different thermal environment from the one causing the discomfort. The present paper examined how people adapt themselves thermally to achieve comfort in Iranian courtyard housing by moving between different spaces .in the house during the day.