English

Remedial measures to prevent soil gas infiltration have been implemented on many buildings affected by intrusion of radon, water vapour, methane and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs ). The success of these measures has been well documented for gases such as radon; however similar detailed documentation was not readily available for methane or other vocs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of four different remedial solutions installed on houses. All houses tested in this study had the potential of methane intrusion.

Data on moisture sources, winter condensation potential, C02 levels, levels of biological contamination and blood lymphocytes from fifty nine houses subjected to detailed testing and inspection in a previous phase of the Wallaceburg study were subject to more detailed statistical evaluation to determine the relationships between moisture sources, fungal growth and objective measures of health.

In the near future a large number of dwellings in Switzerland dating from the 50s to the 70s will need to be retrofitted in order to upgrade the comfort levels to today's standards and to reduce the energy consumption. By carrying out an overall retrofit of both the envelope of the building and the building services this can be successfully accomplished. Two retrofit projects of apartment blocks, one in Meilen and one in Cossau, demonstrate how a well-balanced strategy can achieve a comprehensive and economical retrofit.

Finished basements in twenty-seven Ottawa houses were investigated to determine if the basement assemblies could contribute to poor indoor air quality due to molds. The wall cavities were inspected with optical fibrescopes to determine the composition and note the conditions. Visible mold colonies were sampled to identify mold species. The presence of molds correlated with the presence of chronic wetting events rather than any particular basement finishing techniques. Molds were analyzed from 16 (59%) of the houses and toxigenic molds were found in all houses except one.

Household electrical energy consumption is typically studied in two categories: a) energy consumption for familiar end uses, and b) energy consumption for miscellaneous (other or residual) end use. Assignment of the different electrical energy uses to these two categories is not standardized, with different research groups using different assignments. Familiar end uses generally include space heating, air conditioning, water heating, refrigeration, cooking, clothes drying, dish washing, lighting, television, and furnace fans.