The effect of painting at home with a modern paint

The effect on Indoor Air Quality of painting at home while resident stays at home has been discussed. This paper presents a case study of the effects. A normal Scandinavian apartement has been refurnished with new paint on the walls and ceilings and the VOC emissions have been followed during eight weeks. Two types of low-emitting paint was selected for the study. A paint shop rolled two layers of new paint on the walls and ceiling in two rooms in the flat.

Approaches to harmonisation of emission tests for the huge variety of quality labels

The variety of quality labels and classifications dealing with emission into indoor air require many similar tests to be done if a company wants to apply for more than one these. If we want to reduce the necessary number of tests and thus the costs then it is essential that these voluntary labels consider to adapt the international standards and try to harmonise. There are many different approaches in the respective testing protocols but also some common tracks. At the present stage it is already possible to combine testing requirements of some labels to a certain degree.

Study on Influence of Mass Transfer Coefficients on Emission Rate of Formaldehyde released from Medium Density Fiberboard by Test Chamber Method and CFD Analysis

The paper presents experiment results of emission rates of HCHO from Medium DensityFiberboard (MDF, JIS grade E2) using three different test chambers. In this study, a full-scale stainless steel test chamber (19.68m3), a boundary layer type small test chamber (0.4m3), and a field and laboratory emission cell (FLEC, 3.510-5m3) were used. The coefficient of air change performance within the three test chambers was examined by CFD analysis. The convective mass transfer coefficient of HCHO from MDF was computed by CFD and the emission experiment.

Investigation of building materials as VOC sources in indoor air

This paper give descriptions of the tasks conducted in the two phases of the material emissions project that lasted from 1996 to 2000. The main aim of that client-supported project was the creation and maintenance of a material emission database and single-zone indoor air quality simulation program called MEDB-IAQ.

Information from the EC MATHIS project

This project lasted from February 1998 to January 2001. The main result from "MATerials for Healthy Indoor Spaces and more energy efficient buildings" project is SOPHIE : a database of indoor pollutants sources, a useful tool for the selection of low polluting materials and components. Other interesting results have been obtained :
- SOPHIE protocol testing for building material
- A new model for IAQ and energy efficiency
- 3 new methods and first results concerning study sorption and diffusion properties of VOCs in the materials

Quantification of the effects of air velocity on VOC emissions from building materials

The effects of environmental factors can be important in simulating indoor levels of VOCs emitted from building materials. In this study the effort has been made to quantify the relationship between air movements and emissions of decane applied on an oak substrate.
The aim of this research is to determine the correlation between environmental factors and coefficients of mass-transfer based emission models in a mathematical form.

Comparison of outdoor and indoor mobile source-related volatile organic compounds between low-and-high-floor apartments

The hypothesis that there is a vertical variation in mobile source-related volatile organic compound (VOC ) concentrations in high-rise apartment buildings is examined in that paper.

Outline of a methodology for construction of a healthy building (Article in portuguese)

This paper gives the description of the outline of a methodology whose aim is to decrease or even eliminate the emissions resulting from building materials.

Sensory pollution sources in buildings

This paper describes how the pollution loads in non-industrial buildings can be quantified by using the olf unit. It also sums up the existing data on the measured sensory pollution loads. Their use seems the most suitable approach for the prediction of ventilation rates required for an acceptable indoor air quality.

Recommendations for establishing target values and guidance values for volatile organic compounds (VOC) in indoor air

Toxicologically derived guidelines for the evaluation of VOC concentrations are still sparse.Therefore a schema is proposed for establishing target or intervention values which includesfollowing basics: i) Guidelines are derived from statistical values of representative studies. ii)Guidelines should refer to standardized analytical methods. iii) Guidelines should exist for allvolatile indoor air contaminants. iv) Possibility of dynamic adaptation, if the VOC mixturechanges. v) Up-to-dateness. vi) TVOC concept and values for groups of VOC should beincluded.

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