A systematic analysis of recently constructed dwellings in the Flemish Region has been undertaken within the SENVIVV-project (1995-1998). In total 200 dwellings have been examined in detail. The study involved various aspects: energy related building data (thermal insulation level, net heating demand, installed heating power, .. ), indoor climate (temperature levels in winter and summer), building airtightness, ventilation, appreciation of the occupants, . . . This paper especially focuses on the results for thermal insulation, airtightness and ventilation.

Natural ventilation can be a part of a strategy for a good indoor air quality. It can also be a way to realise night time ventilation during warm periods. In this latter case, the aim is to cool down the thermal mass of the building to obtain a better thermal comfort during daytime. Night time ventilation requires high ventilation rates and sufficient accessible thermal mass. The ventilation openings have to be well designed to avoid undesirable effects like rain, pollution and burglary.

Indoor air pollution in residential environments caused by chemicals, such as formaldehyde and

Exposures to respirable suspended particles (RSP) and both the particulate and vapour phases of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) were monitored in eight European cities. Over 1500 housewives and office workers participated in the studies by wearing personal monitors over a 24-h period to assess exposures in the home and workplace. Based upon median 24-h time weighted average (TWA) concentrations, the most highly exposed subjects throughout Europe were office workers living and working with smokers.

The purpose of this work is to see the influence of the heat preservation in the cold season and also to show the building material influence on the indoor radon concentration in dwellings. Three methods were used to measure the radon content in houses and buildings (workplaces). The results of measurements show that in the winter season the indoor radon concentration is about 2 times higher than in the summer season for these regions from Transylvania.

This investigation was carried out on a mechanically ventilated office building with a high prevalence of occupant symptoms. The commonest complaints were of dry air, stuffy air and noise. Occupant symptoms, however, were most strongly associated with reports of dusty air and static electricity. Allergic and asthmatic people suffered the most. Cleaning standards were high, and upgrading the air filters failed to give improvements in occupant symptoms. Air flows to the rooms were adequate, but air movements in the rooms were poor.

There is a risk that patients can catch a range of infections during any stay in a hospital. A recent UK Office of Health Economics report highlighted that 10% of in-patients contract a hospital acquired infection from one source or another. There are many sources of infection but one specific route is via the surgical wound during an operation. Bacteria can be carried from the source to the wound site by currents of air causing post-operative infection at a later date.

Rating or ranking techniques are often used for checking compliance with regulations, evaluating the efficiency of a retrofit, or even labelling a building. However, the building is, in most cases, rated on very few parameters - when not only one - among many building qualities that should be taken into account. Within the frame of the Joule-Therrnie OFFICE project, a multicriteria ranking methodology, based on the ELECTRE family algorithms, is being developed.

This paper describes the methodology used in the Design and Evaluation Group in the project OFFICE - Passive Retrofitting of Office Buildings to Improve their Energy Performance and Indoor Working Conditions' funded by the European Commission under the JOULE III Programme. The objectives of the OFFICE project are to promote passive solar and energy efficient retrofitting measures in office buildings.

OFFICE is a research project partly funded by the CEC dealing with the passive retrofitting of office buildings to improve their energy performance and indoor working conditions. The project is coordinated by the University of Athens with the participation of organizations and research institutes from eight European countries. The aim of the project is to develop global retrofitting strategies, tools and design guidelines in order to promote successful and cost effective implementation of passive solar and energy efficient retrofitting measures to office buildings.