Ventilation and sleep quality

We sleep more than twenty years during our lives. Sleep is essential for physical and psychological health. Yet, nearly no standards define indoor environmental quality conditions for optimal sleep. In this paper, we present a summary of studies examining the effects of bedroom ventilation on sleep quality. The results suggest that the current ventilation standards for dwellings are inadequate concerning requirements of outdoor air supply rates in bedrooms and need to be revised. They suggest that the traditionally agreed level of carbon dioxide at 1,000 ppm to achieve good air quality should be revisited, and the lower levels need to be maintained to ensure that sleep quality is not disturbed. Furthermore, the traditional recommendation of 0.5 air changes per hour also needs to be revised, as the bedroom ventilation should most likely be twice this rate. There is a need for further research and validation of these results, as well as rethinking how the ventilation air is distributed within the dwelling so that the health and sleep of building occupants are not compromised.