In 1987, workers in the kitchen of one of the teaching hospitals in Halifax, Nova Scotia began to experience symptoms of pruritus, folliculitis, wheezing, conjunctiva/ irritation, sore throat and headache, all suggestive of an indoor air quality (IAQ) problem. Approximately 127 of 160 kitchen workers were affected over a 2-year period and the complaints included cognitive difficulties and reactivity to environmental irritants.

When outdoor air is the main source of pollutants indoors, mechanical air ventilation can be viewed as having two fronts of action in controlling indoor air quality. The first is its capacity to remove indoor air pollutants by dilution, and the second is its capability to prevent, through its pressurisation effect, the pollutant source (i.e. untreated outdoor air) from infiltrating, through the building envelope, to the occupied space.

Results of an investigation of the effects of window position on the airflow characteristics for a typical bedroom setting in Taiwan are presented. Four different window positions were examined in the experiment which used a full-scale laboratory bedroom model with a single bed. A three-dimensional ultrasonic anemometer was used to measure airflow distribution and the results of flow measurements at two height levels are presented. Computer simulation of the airflow distribution was performed using the standard k-e turbulence model.