English

The monitoring of air pollution and health levels was carried out in coal burning districts and the districts with central heating in Chengde City. The air pollution levels in winter and summer were compared in coal burning districts and the districts with central heating, indoors and outdoors, in kitchens and bedrooms, before and after the central heating system was used. The health levels of residents who lived in coal burning districts and in the districts with central heating were compared.

Household coal burning is one of the major sources of total suspended particulate matter (TSP) in African urban residential areas in South Africa. The coal stoves used are usually poorly vented or unvented, consequently resulting in high levels of indoor air pollution. The effects of household fuels used in two Townships in the Vaal Triangle (central South Africa) on the health of 8-12 year old children living in these households, were investigated.

Forty years ago, smoke and sulphur dioxide pollution from domestic coal burning caused an air pollution episode that led to the premature deaths of 4,000 Londoners. These so-called smogs have been all but eliminated by a combination of measures of which the most important were the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968, the move away from domestic coal burning for home heating and the centralisation of electricity generation in large power stations away from towns and cities. Largely because of pollution emissions from motor traffic, urban air quality is once more causing public concern.

Ventilation of buildings in urban areas may result in high internal concentrations of traffic pollutants if air intakes are positioned where external concentrations are highest. This paper presents the results of a wind tunnel study into different wind-driven natural ventilation strategies for a building situated close to a busy road.

A dynamic simulation of the ventilation processes and the thermal behaviour of an office building is developed. This is used to investigate two aspects of night cooling with natural ventilation: the control strategies and the required ventilation open

Since the beginning of this decade, natural ventilation in office buildings has been receiving specific interest. There are two sorts of application. Natural ventilation can be a strategy for indoor air quality control. It can also be used as night ventilation during warm or hot periods. In this case the objective is to cool down the thermal mass and improve the thermal summer comfort. The EC JOULE NatVent project wanted to identify the barriers to the application of natural ventilation in office-type buildings in moderate and cold climates and to provide solutions.

In many existing ventilation systems unintentional reentrainment of pollutant, due to improper location of exhaust and air intake, decreases quality of indoor environment. Unfortunately, the more precise method of assessment of exhaust plume behaviour, the more difficult potential application in regulatory codes and standards. The aim of the paper is to discuss advantages and disadvantages of different types of the models and their applications in regulatory requirements.

Filters for gaseous contaminants which are used inside HVAC systems are characterised by means of rated air flow rate, air motion resistance, trend of the mass efficiency versus time and holding capacity of the considered gas. The determination of the characteristics cannot do without the use of experimental activities, even though many aspects seem to be foreseeable through calculation models based on general laws. A test rig for granular media which uses toluene in small concentrations in the air is presented here.