Indoor Air Quality-IAQ metrics

Duration:

2017- 2025

Status:

Completed

There have been many new sensors introduced on the market claiming that they can perform accurate measurements of indoor air quality. Many of them are low-cost sensors that can be applied on a large scale. The subsequent question is what is, and should be, considered the metric of IAQ. No consensus on this matter has yet been achieved. A few metrics have been proposed in the past, including the widely known CO2 and TVOC concentrations, but in practice only CO2 concentration has been widely used in applications related to the built environment and HVAC. At that point, it seemed like a good time to re-launch the discussion on what constitutes an IAQ metric, reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses of previous and current metrics, as well as future challenges. This project attempted to address some of these issues.

The objectives of this project were to:

Document and discuss the current state-of-the-art concerning development of IAQ metrics
Propose future developments and research on IAQ metrics

Publications

Ventilation Information Papers:

VIP 36: Metrics of Health Risks from Indoor Air

Contributed Reports:

CR22: Quantifying population harm from indoor air contaminants in dwellings

Events

Conferences:

Clima 2016 - Aalborg
- Topical Session: “2020 agenda for ventilation and air Infiltration: knowledge gaps, research priorities and the need for innovation”
37th AIVC Conference, September 2016, Alexandria, VA
- Keynote speech "On the Quest for Indices Defining Indoor Air Quality: What is a Reasonable Approach?"
- Topical session "Where Are We Going with IAQ Metrics?"
38th AIVC Conference, September 2017, Nottingham
- Topical session "Health outcomes of ventilation"
39th AIVC Conference, September 2018, Juan-les-Pins
- Topical session "Development of Indoor Air Quality Metric"

Workshops:

"Is ventilation the answer to indoor air quality control in buildings? Do we need performance-based approaches?", March 2017, Brussels
"Towards higher-performing buildings: The role of airtightness and ventilation", 19-20 March 2018, Wellington, New Zealand
- Topical Session: “Indoor Environmental quality, ventilation and health”
- Topical Session: “Indoor climate and air quality”
Ventilation for Indoor Air Quality and Cooling, March 2018, Sydney
- Topical Session: “Ventilation for Indoor Air Quality”
- Topical Session: “Ventilation for Indoor Air Quality and health”
Quality ventilation is the key to achieving low energy healthy buildings, March 2019, Dublin
- Topical Session: “Ventilation for good indoor air quality (IAQ)”
Indoor Environmental Quality in Sustainable Buildings, April 2025, Stuttgart
- Topical Session: “IAQ in relation to health”
- Topical Session: “IEQ in sustainable buildings”
- Topical Session: “Case studies schools and care facilities”
- Topical Session: “Demand and personal control, user interaction”

Webinars:

"On the quest for indices defining Indoor Air Quality. What is a reasonable approach?", 13 January 2017