standard

This environmental information handbook was prepared to assist both the non-technical reader and technical persons, such as researchers, policy analysts, and builders/designers, understand the current state of knowledge regarding combustion so

The text of a paper on ventilation equipment and systems for existing air-tight houses, presented at the Bouwcentrum/Vakinfo one-day conference, Rotterdam, November 1, 1984. Treats the application of 1. natural ventilation systems with vertical ducts and adjustable openings, 2. the same with mechanical exhaust via kitchen, bathroom, and toilet, 3. mechanical supply to all rooms and exhaust via kitchen, bathroom, and toilet, 4. balanced supply and exhaust. Treats the possibility of the private buyer or tenant estimating the quality of the house.

Under the provisions of the Law for Maintenance of Sanitation in Buildings, the "Building Sanitation Control Standards" came into force subsequently. The air quality standard, one of these Standards, is composed of the following 6 items: Suspended particles, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, temperature, relative humidity, and air velocity. Since the enactment of the law, we have surveyed actual conditions of indoor environment for these 13 years, and found the percentage of buildings which failed to come up to the standards.

ASHRAE's first ventilation standard, published in 1973, has been used in many building codes in the USA. The 1981 revision of this standard has been criticised for its approach to indoor air quality. A comparison of the '73 and '81 standard, currently underway, is expected to better explain the rationale and provide new support for controversial parts of the standard.

This paper discusses the situation in the Netherlands with respect to air tightness of dwellings and reflects discussions about this in the Dutch Standard Committee on Air Tightness of Buildings. Results of measurements and calculations are given and the considerations of different groups in thediscussion are included. Finally an attempt is made to produce a model for the prediction of air flow rates, infiltration losses and seasonal gas consumption on the basis of air leakage measurements.

The situation in Canada with regard to building regulations affecting the airtightness of buildings is reviewed with emphasis on a new standard test method for measuring airtightness which departs somewhat from methods used inother countries. The purpose of this test is held to be primarily to determine an important aspect of building envelope quality, namely the degree to which unintentional openings have been avoided, rather than to determine energy conservation potential.

The Swiss performance standard for energy conservation in buildings SIA 380/1 is explained. This standard leaves air infiltration and other detail decisions to planners if minimum performance levels are met. Calculation procedures for heat balances based on a standard occupancy are described. Tools to achieve optimum space heating and ventilation rates are explained. Instrumentation for checking the thermal performance of the house in operation is defined.

Ventilation standards in buildings are receiving increased attention because of energy conservation and indoor air quality. An important example of this is the current ASHRAE Standard 62-1981, "Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality." This standard contains two distinct procedures that can be used to set ventilation rates. The first is a prescriptive specification that mandates ventilation rates for particular building types. The second is a performance specification that uses target concentrations of indoor contaminants as the basis for deciding the adequacy of ventilation rates.

Increased attention to the reduction of energy consumption in buildings and greater awareness of the need to maintain acceptable standards of indoor air quality have led to the development of new or revised standards of building airtightness and ventilation requirements. In this review of the existing standards of twelve countries, an attempt has been made to compare their main features and criteria. In many cases, direct comparison is not possible because of different ways of expressing the significant parameters.