chemical pollutants

This article is devoted to Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in two low energy houses, with different frames (cast concrete (I-BB) and timber frame (I-OB)) built in platform INCAS of INES (National Institute of Solar Energy -in french: Institut National de l’Energie Solaire). In order to quantify pollutant emissions due to building materials and products, an experimental protocol consisted in stopping ventilation systems -”balanced ventilation”- of each house (a little before and during the measurement campaign), closing doors and windows, and not allowing occupant.

The study was carried out on 30 female subjects exposed in a low-polluting office in either presence or absence of personal computers that had been in service for 3 months. Under each of the two conditions, the persons performed simulated office work using low-polluting PCs. They were found to be strong indoor pollution sources, having a negative impact on perceived air quality, on performance of office work and on some SBS symptoms.

The study used CFD to examine reactions between ozone and terpenes in a room under 4 conditions. The study indicates that chemical reactions can significantly alter the concentration of air pollutants, an imperfect mixing may result in reactant and product concentrations significantly different from those predicted by the model that assumes fully mixed conditions.

This paper presents a universal but simple mathematic model very useful to predict Volatile Organic Concentration in the bulk air for different conditions in residential buildings.