Occupant behavior

Single-family and low-rise multifamily homes in the United States have become tighter to save energy and enhance comfort. To ensure acceptable indoor air quality (IAQ), mechanical ventilation is also required. As these systems become commonplace in the U.S., various improvements and updates have been made to codes, standards, and voluntary programs such as ASHRAE Standard 62.2, International Mechanical Code, International Residential Code, USEPA Energy Star Home and Indoor Air Plus, and USDOE Zero Energy Ready Homes. 

We present a study of natural ventilation design during the early (conceptual) stage of a building's design, based on a field study in a naturally ventilated office in California where we collected data on occupants' window use, local weather conditions, indoor environmental conditions, and air change rates based on tracer-gas decay. We performed uncertainty and sensitivity analyses to determine which design parameters have most impact on the uncertainty associated with ventilation performance predictions.

In recent years, PM, which is one of the most important indoor air pollutants, has attracted a great deal of attention. PM is mainly generated by occupant activities. In particular, cooking and smoking are occupant activities that have the greatest effect on the indoor PM concentrations. The objective of this study is to analyse indoior PM concentration and occupant behavior of Korean residential buildings. PM concentration increased rapidly in a short time during the cooking process.