English

VIP 37: Impact of Energy Policies on Building and Ductwork Airtightness

Submitted by on Wed, 09/06/2017 - 17:22

This Ventilation Information Paper analyses both the policy instruments used (regulatory requirements and incentives, specific programme requirements, quality frameworks for testers and builders) and the changes observed in practice in terms of building and ductwork airtightness over the past 5 years, using as reference mostly publications from AIVC and TightVent led events. Although we have not restricted our literature review to specific parts of the world, the majority of the publications we found come from Europe and the USA.

VIP 36: Metrics of Health Risks from Indoor Air

Submitted by on Wed, 09/06/2017 - 16:23

In a recent review of 31 green building certification schemes used around the world, IAQ was found to contribute to only 7.5% of the final score on average. As policy makers strive to reduce the energy demands of buildings by sealing or reducing outdoor air ventilation rates, an unintended consequence could be the reduction in the quality of indoor air with corresponding negative health effects at a population scale. This article summarizes the discussions of an Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre workshop on IAQ metrics held in March 2017.

AIVC project: "Indoor Air Quality-IAQ metrics"

Submitted by on Thu, 08/31/2017 - 13:43

There have been many new sensors introduced on the market claiming that they can perform accurate measurements of Indoor Air Quality. Many of them are low-cost sensors that can be applied at the mass scale. The subsequent question is what is and should be considered to be the metric of Indoor Air Quality. No consesus on this matter has yet been achieved. Few metrics have been proposed in the past including most known CO2 and TVOC concentrations but actually only CO2 concentration has been widely used in the applications related to built environment and HVAC.

AIVC project: "Integrating uncertainties due to wind and stack effect in declared airtightness results"

Submitted by on Thu, 08/31/2017 - 09:59

Building airtightness tests have become very common in several countries, either to comply with minimum requirements of regulations or programmes, or to justify input values in calculation methods. This raises increasing concerns for the reliability of those tests.

There are four key sources of uncertainty in airtightness testing:

AIVC project: "Influence of zoning on the utilization of residential heat recovery ventilation"

Submitted by on Thu, 08/31/2017 - 09:45

The European market for residential ventilation is highly driven by energy performance regulations. In new buildings the share of balanced ventilation with heat recovery is increasing as a result of more severe energy performance requirements (NZEB). The energy labeling for residential ventilation units and the ecodesign requirements for ventilation units may be drivers for a more wide-spread application of heat recovery ventilation in new buildings.

Defining Indoor Air Quality

Submitted by on Tue, 06/06/2017 - 09:04

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.

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