Thermal comfort in office buildings is usually unsatisfactory when ceiling air distribution isemployed, because it is hard to make adjustments to reach specific occupancy needs. On theother hand, underfloor air distribution allows some flexibility for adjustments. In order toevaluate thermal comfort conditions in office environments with underfloor air supply system,a laboratory facility was built at the Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil. In this work,quantitative and qualitative results obtained in such facility are discussed.
The study has been carried out in two different French buildings. The main objective of the study was to know more about office buildings’ indoor air quality as well as HVAC installation working over a long period (1 year). A lot of data are available but
Field investigations have been conducted for that study in 5 office buildings of Taiwan to assess the risk of formaldehyde exposure for general population.This study demonstrates that the level of formaldehyde emitted from building materials can be affected by climatic conditions such as temperature and relative humidity. Consumers must be protected from exposure and it is urgent to help the industry to develop low emission materials in that part of the world.
This paper presents the results of an indoor air quality-energy audit made in five air-conditioned office buildings in Singapore. Data are presented from both objective and subjective measurements.It appears that on the one hand BSI (Building Symptom Index) values are in correlation with IAQ and thermal comfort acceptability but on the other hand, no significant correlation exists between BSI (Building Symptom Index) and IPSI (Indoor Pollutant Standard Index).
The Indoor Air Pollution Index (IAPI) has been developed to put an end to communication concerns among building tenants, building managers, and IAQ investigators. That index, simple and easy to understand, satisfies the 3 criteria of environmental indices because it relates to occupant symptoms, is easy to communicate to the consumer and can be used as an environmental and management tool for reducing in-office air pollution effectively.The index uses a unitless single number between 0 (lowest pollution level and best IAQ) and ten (highest pollution level and worst IAQ).
There has been much debate over the use of steady-state and adaptive thermal comfortmodels. Many researchers have suggested that the former model is better suited to buildingswith full HVAC systems whilst the latter is better suited to naturally ventilated buildings. Thispaper suggests that the most appropriate form of thermal comfort model is dependent on theadaptive opportunity available to building occupants, regardless of climate control strategy.Some results from a series of field studies carried out in the UK as part of a doctoral thesis arepresented.
The aim was to study changes of symptoms and signs in an office exposed to flooding fromheavy rain. All 18 workers participated in medical investigations in January 1998. Thesubjects were first investigated on a Monday in a reference building and then all moved backand were reinvestigated in a damp building after 2 days of exposure.
This study highlights the presence of dominant source/s of several VOCs and theirgeographical similarities and differences within European Union (EU) and Singaporebuildings. Concentrations and emission rates of 2-methylpentane and heptane are higher inEU buildings as compared to the ones in Singapore. Also, lower alkanes are observed to behigher in levels in EU buildings as opposed to the higher alkanes, which are more dominant inSingapore buildings with statistical differences approaching significance.
The research emphasized on typical characteristics of interior decoration material, decoratedarea and relative influence factors to consider about the contaminants concentration of TVOCand formaldehyde in Taiwan. This study conducted complete diagnosis and measurement insix office buildings including 16 different types of office rooms in 2001. In this survey, thecharacteristic of the space, types of building materials used, properties of decorated area andthe room volume were all considered.
The design for the new Federal Building for San Francisco includes an office tower that is to be naturally ventilated. Each floor is designed to be cross-ventilated, through upper windows that are controlled by the building management system (BMS). Users have control over lower windows, which can be as much as 50% of the total operable area. There are significant differences in the performance and the control of the windward and leeward sides of the building, and separate monitoring and control strategies are determined for each side.
Login