A survey is given of the sitution in The Netherlands with regard to ventilation and infiltration. Starting from a point of generally very leaky and hardly insulated buildings now the necessity is felt on the one side to make standards for the airtightness to prevent energy wastes by too high infiltration rates and on the other hand to define minimum ventilation rates to secure safe and hygienic conditions in well insulated and airtight buildings. This minimum ventilation rate is based on contaminants, caused by the occupants themselves, the so-called unavoidable sources.
Modelling houses as two coupled chambers, namely, the living area and basement, predicts more accurately the total indoor radon source flux from building materials and geology than a one-chamber model in houses with disparate radon concentration
Concentrations of airborne radon ranging from 0.05 to 135 pCi/L were found in houses in Maine. Track-etch cups were placed in five positions for 100 houses to determine integrated average radon concentrations over the period October 1980 - May
The indoor air of 60 residences in and around a Maryland suburb of Washington, DC, was monitored in a pilot study to determine residential radon concentrations. In each residence, a radon grab sample was acquired in the living room, and, if possible, in the basement. Infiltration rates were determined by tracer gas dilution. To help standardize sampling conditions, each home remained closed up for 8 hours prior to sampling and during analysis. Over 60% of the residences sampled showed air infiltration rates below 0.6 air changes per hour.
The expectation of elevated 222Rn levels in modern homes that have low air interchange rates with the outdoor air led to a survey of both conventional and solar homes in northeastern New York State. As a group, homes that are more airtight ha
Particulate and gaseous emissions from indoor combustion appliances.and smoking can elevate the indoor concentrations of various pollutants. Indoor pollutant concentrations resulting from operating one or several combustion appliances, or from sidestream tobacco smoke, were measured in a 27m3 environmental chamber under varying vent ilation rates. The combustion appliances investigated were gas-fired cooking stoves, unvemed kerosene--fi red space heaters, and unvented natural gas-fired space heaters.
Ambient temperature may influence both the emission and the perception of human odour. This paper studies how human odour is perceived at different temperatures.
Results from a two-box model for calculation of tracer gas concentrations in rooms are given and consequences of different definitions of ventilation efficiency are discussed. Results from three different series of experiments are presented.
The typical infiltration load for a residential building has been found to range from one-third to one-half of the total space conditioning load. However, most infiltration measurements have been made on single-family houses.
To elucidate any connection between high radon concentrations and low-infiltration houses, the 222Rn concentrations and infiltration rates have been measured concurrently in US houses. Three housing surveys have been undertaken: one in energy-efficient houses located throughout the US and twoin conventional houses in the San Francisco area and in Maryland. In each of the groups surveyed, no clear correlation was observed between 222Rn concentrations and infiltration rate, although each parameter varied over a wide range.