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.
The interpretation of the data presented in the named article (by Nazaroff W W et al, NO 1767) is extended to develop an improved model that can be used to predict radon concentrations in the single family house tested and possibly inothers as well. In particular, a more complete set of low sump activity data has been replotted.
A miniature passive perfluorocarbon tracer system was successfully applied to the determination of air infiltration and exfiltration rates from each zone of a multizoned structure, as well as the air exchange rates between zones inhomes, multiple unit condominiums, naturally ventilated apartment buildings, and large commercial buildings with multiple air-handling systems. Use of the multizone technique in indoor air quality assessments and air-handling system stratification studies appears to be quite feasible with the availability of this measuring system.
A major cooperative study of the effect of ventilation of timber flat (cold) roofs on combatting condensation and moisture accumulation has been undertaken in Denmark. Field measurements of moisture content in a number of test roofs over long periods and under different conditions are evaluated and conclusions drawn. They include the advice that, where moisture accumulation is a problem, it can be aggravated if roof vents are installed.
A subcommittee of the Nordic Committee for Building Codes has released guidelines for building regulations regarding indoor air quality, especially concerning ventilation. The main features of the guidelines, such as acceptable outdoor air quality for ventilation and minimum outdoor air flows for dwellings and offices, are presented and discussed. Mechanical ventilation is, in principle, required in all buildings including dwellings, due to therequirement of a minimum outdoor air change of 0.5 h-1 and the normal highly airtight nature of new buildings.
Discusses the nature of the problem of indoor air pollution, limitations in the authority of established health agencies in the US to control the problem, research needs and some control options. Indoor pollutants of current concern include radon, tobacco smoke, emissions from unvented indoor combustion appliances, aeropathogens, formaldehyde and pesticides.
A control program for a natural ventilation system for agricultural buildings is described which calculates a required ventilation rate, then adjusts vent openings to achieve this ventilation rate with equally distributed flows.
Efforts to reduce the energy needs to heat or cool dwellings have the potential to create new health hazards. Increases in indoor levels of radon and its progeny from the reduction in air exchange rates add a substantial radioactive burden to the general population. Other indoor pollutants reaching critical concentrations in homes with low air exchange rates are CO and NO2 from unvented combustion in gas stoves and heaters, tobacco smoke, and asbestos fibres.
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