Occupant satisfaction and ventilation strategy - a case study of 20 public buildings.

Occupant response in a good indicator of the effectiveness of a ventilation system. In a one-year study in the province of Quebec region, 20 public buildings were studied. Occupants were asked to answer questions on their perception of their environment and the ventilation at their workstation. Annual energy consumption for each building was recorded. The ventilation systems were studied as well as their rates; minimum outdoor air rates and average total air rates, at each workstation and at the ventilation system. Ventilation rates were plotted against energy consumption.

Do filters pollute or clean the air?

The contribution of new and used fine bagfilters to indoor air pollution has been determined in a laboratory study by a trained panel as well as by TVOC measurements. The used filters were all taken out of air handling systems which run with full outdoor air supply. The time that a used filter had been situated in the ventilation system until it was taken out and was studied in the laboratory varied from two to ten months. The new filters did not pollute significantly in comparison to the used filters. However, all used filters polluted the air instead of cleaning it.

Measurement of cross-contamination between vehicles using scalemodels

This paper deals with the problem of exhaust cross-contamination between vehicles in a slow-moving traffic queue, as would be found in a busy modern city. This study has been undertaken using an open-jet wind tunnel, to determine the level of exhaust contamination around a 1:10 scale model car under various prevailing wind conditions. Tracer-gas techniques have been combined with static pressure measurements, to model the flow of pollutants around a vehicle body.

Indoor/outdoor levels of pollutants

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