How demanding is global approach to indoor environmental quality assessment ?

The indoor environmental quality of a building is intended as the thermal, visual, acoustic and indoor air quality performances as a whole, which provide health and comfort for occupants. In architecture, global approach to environmental quality design is necessary. High levels of quality are needed for each aspect, even though design requirements may at times be opposed. In order to determine opportunities and limits of global approach, problems related to visual and acoustic comfort assessment were examined for a baroque church in Italy.

Optimum building envelope design for visual, thermal and acoustical comfort conditions in the offices.

The aim of this paper is to explain the results of a research project run in Yildiz Technical University which focuses on the optimum building envelope design for visual, thermal and acoustical comfort conditions in the offices placed in Istanbul city center. In this project, the building envelope alternatives are examined in terms of light, heat and sound considering the materials used mostly in Turkey.

Thermal comfort in low-cost dwellings : a case study in Curitiba, Brazil

The main goal of the present study was to determine thermal comfort parameters for dwellers of low-cost houses for a given set of indoor environmental conditions. 112 people living in over 60 dwellings were interviewed, according to a comfort questionnaire where information regarding age, sex, clothing, level of activity, thermal sensation and preference of the subjects was collected. Environmental factors such as air temperature and humidity were simultaneously registered with T/RH data-loggers. Results were then analyzed by comparing subjective and environmental factors.

Study on indoor humidity distributions

This study investigates the behavior of vapor in a ventilated room in which vapor is being produced. A test chamber equipped with three types of ventilation ducts and a vessel filled with heated water for evaporation was analyzed both experimentally and numerically. Experimental results showed that temperature and moisture distributions differed depending on the ventilation types. A numerical model of vapor generation from the heated water was introduced to simulate the evaporation.

Moisture transport in building materials with imperfect hydraulic contact interfaces

Based on the experimental results and predictions of a numerical model, the effects of uncertainty in estimation of imperfection of the interface on moisture transport were studied in the present study. It was found that, even though the imperfection of the interface varied with moisture content during the wetting process, the prediction using a constant resistance of the interface was close to that using an actual value.

Air curtains to reduce fire smoke pollution

This theoretical paper studies of the interaction between air curtains system and purging dilution systems in a real urban underground railway station in order to find the best design to reduce concentration of polluting gas toward adjoining environments. Numerical computations are carried out with NIST package Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). The use of an approximate form of the Navier-Stokes equations for low Mach number application is appropriate. Polluted gasses flow towards safe space can be reduced of the 26-53% by operating air curtain systems.

Study of the indoor air quality in offices building

The main objective of our study was to know more about indoor air quality in offices building over a long period. Our study has been carried out in one building located downtown Lyon (France). Measurements have been carried out one day each month during a one year period. Indoor air quality in the offices along with the one of air flows of the HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning) installation (outdoor air, blown air and returned air) has been characterised by temperature and relative humidity of air, dust concentration level, air biocontamination and CO2 concentrations.

Removal of dust with different cleaning methods in a library store

This study included the IAQ survey concentrated on particle levels in the library store (area of 1000 m 2 and having books or journals over 100 000 pieces in total) at the basement. The store was divided into three sections covered with plastic walls. Each section was cleaned with three different methods: two vacuum cleaners equipped either by HEPA filters I or II and one cleaner equipped with a water filtration unit. In addition, the surfaces of all sections were swept by wet cloth after twelve hours of vacuum cleaning.

Ventilation efficiency under various heating and air-exhausting conditions : an experimental study.

This work, along with the experimental measurements on which it is based, was carried out in the framework of research undertaken by the French “Groupe de Pilotage sur la Qualité des Ambiances” (GPQA), whose task was to initiate and co-ordinate work on ai

Numerical modelling of unsteady humidity transport and accumulation in walls

The purpose of the work is the determination of unsteady variation of the moisture content in the walls. The mathematical model is based on humidity transport equations in porous media. The humidity transport takes place as a result of the presence of both moisture content and vapour pressure differences. Using the proposed mathematical model, a computer program was developed in EES (Engineering Equations Solver). Numerical simulations were made for an office room, considering interior walls containing a gypsum board layer.

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