IEQ

The Book of Proceedings of the 43^rd AIVC - 11^th TightVent - 9^th venticool Conference: "Ventilation, IEQ and health in sustainable buildings" held in Copenhagen, Denmark on 4-5 October 2023.

The Presentations at the 43^rd AIVC - 11^th TightVent - 9^th venticool Conference: "Ventilation, IEQ and health in sustainable buildings" held in Copenhagen, Denmark on 4-5 October 2023.

Due to global warming, severe problems of buildings overheating during summer in temperate and hot climates arise. Thus, there is an increasing use of air conditioning. However, alternative passive and soft cooling systems exist to address comfort and energy savings issues, such as natural ventilation or ceiling fans, that consume less energy. Although they are well-known today, their use remains under-enhanced.

Office buildings are significant contributors to energy consumption and greenhouse emissions, and it is obvious that office building occupants and their behavior play an essential role in building energy performance. However, how buildings, respectively, their indoor environment, influence building occupant´s behavior, wellbeing, and productivity is not so clear and easy to predict. The main problem is that this correlation is very subjective and influenced by many factors.

Sleep is essential for multiple aspects of a person’s well-being and can be affected by a person’s physical and mental state in addition to the environment they sleep in. To date, the majority of research analyzing the relationship between a person’s sleep quality and indoor environment has focused on environmental parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, light, and noise. However, in recent years, a few key studies have identified indoor air quality (IAQ) as a potential contributor to sleep quality.

Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) inactivates viral aerosols in indoor environments. Upper room UVGI systems use wall or ceiling mounted fixtures to create a disinfection zone above the occupied zone. The performance of upper room UVGI systems varies with indoor airflow induced by mechanical ventilation and thermal plumes from occupants, which carries contaminated air into the disinfection zone where viral aerosols are partially inactivated before circulating back into the breathing zone.

The occupants’ satisfaction with the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of a building is a key factor to determine if the indoor climate can be considered as acceptable. Current standards, evaluating the IEQ, do not always guarantee sufficiently high occupant satisfaction levels, since these standards do not handle all satisfaction influencing parameters, such as, personal preferences or perceived control. Therefore, the assessment of occupant satisfaction with the IEQ remains an important issue.

In this paper various direct reading instruments and techniques used in air monitoring are reviewed. Principles of operation are described, pointing out advantages and disadvantages of using such instruments. A procedure for inspection activities, and a sampling and analysis approach is outlined. One case study, covering inspection in an office space is presented in detail, describing monitoring of different types of contaminants, possible false positives and calculations related to exposure limits.

The present study investigates acoustic comfort in naturally ventilated residential buildings through an indoor soundscape approach. Preliminary results from a laboratory listening test are presented, where, in a mock-up living room with a window sight, participants have been exposed to 20 acoustic scenarios, obtained as a combination of 4 indoor sound sources and 5 outdoor urban environments filtered through a window ajar. Participants were asked to rate each exposure condition.

Green buildings incorporate several features to improve energy efficiency, indoor environmental conditions, and occupant satisfaction. However, studies have indicated that green-certified buildings do not always provide occupants with an acceptable level of satisfaction. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) requires that at least 80% of occupants are satisfied with the indoor thermal conditions.