IAQ - indoor air quality

The objective of Subtask 4 in the IEA EBC Annec 68 was to integrate knowledge and results from remaining Subtasks and present them in the context with current knowledge. The focus of the Subtask 4 was on practitioners dealing with ensuring high Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in modern low-energy residences, the demands and challenges they meet during daily work. This especially includes architects and ventilation designers, facility managers, property developers and employees of public authorities. This publication is a result of Subtask 4’s work.

Indoor air quality and comfort of occupants, in the context of international commitments, reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is an important subject. The Paris Agreement of 2015 on Climate set ambitious targets to limit global warming. The energy and environmental challenges that we collectively face are translated by France into a proactive policy of reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint, particularly in the building sector, responsible for nearly 45% of national energy consumption and more than 25% of greenhouse gas emissions. The ventilation of buildi

Substantial energy is used to condition the air that enters California homes through leaks in the building envelope and ductwork - typically about a third of all heating and cooling. Reducing this through air sealing is essential to California achieving zero energy homes. However, this outdoor air also dilutes pollutants emitted inside homes and contributes to a healthy indoor environment and acceptable indoor air quality (IAQ). To address this IAQ issue, California’s Title 24 Building Standards have required mechanical ventilation in new homes since 2008.

The objective of present work was to develop the metric that assess the performance of solutions securing high indoor air quality in low-energy (modern) residential buildings. This was achieved by summarizing data on the levels and types of gaseous pollutants and particulate matter in low-energy buildings and comparing them with the existing exposure limits for pollutants.

The first ASHRAE IAQ conference in 1986 was held “to review the latest research in indoor air pollution and provide missing current data for Standard 62” with the understanding that, “the indoor environment should minimize any impact on health and should be free of any impact on comfort, and control should minimize the use of energy.”1 Implicit in this statement is the belief that the performance measures needed to realize this goal could be defined in practical terms.

This guide, released by the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ), is a literature review of recent research on indoor air quality that is relevant to New Zealand’s indoor environments (residential houses, schools, preschools and age care facilities). The document looks at the health effects, the pollutants and the building characteristics. Where possible, New Zealand research is presented. Emphasis is placed on gaps in the knowledge in order to identify future research in New Zealand.