English

The Aardvark automated system has been developed for continuously measuring the air-exchange rate and 222Rn (radon) concentration in an occupied residence. The air-exchange rate is measured over 90 min intervals by tracer gas decay using sulphur hexafluoride as the tracer gas.

To quantify the inferred elevated radon concentrations in energy efficient homes caused by lower air infiltration due to airtightness, an attempt was made to eliminate some of the more important conflicting parameters by measuring pairs of adjacent homes i.e. comparing retro-fitted or new houses with a conventional neighbouring dwelling.

A simple means for determining air infiltration rates into homes and buildings for assessment of indoor air quality and energy conservation measures, based on a passive perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) technique, was evaluated in a well-defined environmental chamber under experimental conditions of 1) constant temperature and ventilation rate, 2) constant temperature, variable ventilation
rate, and 3) variable temperature, constant ventilation rate.

Industrial buildings, particularly those containing nuclear and process plant, often require high standards of ventilation in order to cope with unusual features of the operations or process which take place within the buildings.

The primary objective of this paper is to show the distribution of heat losses in prairie commercial greenhouses of various constructions and to suggest and test methods of energy saving. Seventy five percent of the total heat loss is through the roof of a glass greenhouse. This can be significantly reduced by adding an extra layer of polyethylene preferably in the area where lower lightlevels can be tolerated.

1100 branch members of the New York branch of the Office and Professional Employees International Union working in nine office buildings filled out a detailed questionnaire on working conditions and health comfort complaints. 

A review of 116 investigated incidents of building illness among office workers in North America and 27 buildings selected for investigations for reasons other than building illness has recently been completed. 

For controlling and for setting ventilation standards to maintain acceptable indoor air quality, it would appear to be of greatest importance to determine the strength of relationships between contaminant concentrations on one hand and different rates of ventilation and how these rates are expressed on the other.

Tests were conducted in Ottawa during the winter of 1982/83 to investigate the effects of a gas cooking stove in the kitchen of an energy-efficient two-storey test house. Products of combustion: NO, NO2, CO and CO2, were measured in the kitchen, living room and bedroom in order to relate theinfluence of air infiltration and kitchen hood exhaust operation to the levels of air contaminants. Tests were also conducted, using the enclosed kitchen as a test chamber, to establish the values of emission rate for CO, NO and NO2and of reactivity for NO and NO2.

Measures of a number of ventilation parameters and of a number of pollutants from 21 locations furnished data for evaluating interrelations among commonly used descriptors of ventilation as well as their relation to frequently measured indoor gaseous and particulate pollutants.