Airbase publication

Air and airborne contaminant mixing in building spaces is important to ventilation system design and performance, tracer gas measurements of ventilation rates, and occupant exposure to indoor pollutants. The physics of air and contaminant mixing have been studied for decades and are fairly well understood. Nevertheless, many discussions of building ventilation, air movement and indoor air quality use the term “perfect mixing” without a clear discussion of what it means or how it applies to the situation being considered.

This keynote presented the new government guidance on the health risks of damp and mould for the housing sector in England. This guidance highlights the serious risks that damp and mould can pose to tenants’ health, the legal responsibilities of social and private rented housing providers, the imperative to respond quickly, and the practical steps that should be taken both to address damp and mould and prevent them. Research led by UKHSA found that there was a considerable burden of respiratory illness in England from residential damp and mould.

Most people in Central Europe spend the majority of the day indoors. The quality of indoor air is therefore very important for health and well-being. Construction products can be an important source of indoor pollution through their emissions. The implementation of health requirements to assess emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from construction products into indoor air under the Construction Products Regulation has been under discussion since 2010.

This keynote aimed to review the state of knowledge on indoor air quality in our main living spaces, including homes, daycare centers, schools, and offices, emphasizing the differences according to building types and occupancy. The health effects associated with exposure to various indoor pollutants were examined. Recent evolutions and future trends were presented.

A discussion on the political and economic challenges of renovating our building stock, as well as the opportunity that the Recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive offers to building owners and occupiers as well as to industry.

This report documents all key performance indicators (KPI)s developed in the framework of Annex 80, relevant for the Annex 80 deliverables. Their application may be more precisely defined in the guidelines of specific task groups or Subtasks of Annex 80, e.g. in the simulation guideline or in the case study document. 

This report summarizes the structure and the outcomes of Annex 80 – Resilient Cooling of Build-ings, which was conducted as a five-year international research project within the IEA Technical Collaboration Programme EBC – Energy in Buildings and Communities.  

The world is facing a rapid increase of cooling of buildings. This is driven by multiple factors,  such as urbanization and densification, climate change, power shortage, and elevated comfort expectations as well as economic growth, especially in hot and densely populated regions of  the world. The trend towards cooling seems inexorable. It is mandatory to guide this  development towards sustainable solutions.  

This midterm report sums up the developments of Annex 80 between October 2019 and July 2021. Commencing with an initial Expert Meeting held in person in Vienna, Austria, subsequent work efforts by the Operating Agent (OA) and its team included conference calls and the second through fourth Expert Meetings which were held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 75 participants from 17 countries and 36 institutions actively took part in the fourth Expert Meeting. 22 institutions confirmed their participation with official letters in the first half of the Annex working phase. 

The world is facing a rapid increase of air conditioning of buildings. This is being driven by multiple factors, such as urbanization and densification, climate change and elevated comfort expectations as well as economic growth in hot and densely populated regions of the world. The trend toward cooling seems inexorable. It is imperative to steer this development towards sustainable solutions.