40 female and 39 male judges have each evaluated the intensity and acceptance of body odour 29 times on entering an experimental auditorium occupied by 105 women. During the experiment, which lasted three hours and 50 minutes, the ventilation rate was varied while the air temperature was kept constant around 20-21 deg C. Carbon dioxide was measured continuously. No substantial difference was found in the ventilation rates required in spaces occupied by women and men. A ventilation rate around 8 l/s per person is required to satisfy 80% of people entering a space.
This paper describes the results of a study of the indoor climate at 11 Danish schools. The investigation shows how the pupils themselves experience the indoor climate and indicates, for example, the relationship between the volume of outdoor air supplied per pupil and the pupils' evaluation of the quality of the air in the classroom.
A major research endeavour has been initiated to establish the extent to which prevailing ventilation codes for American hospitals should be revised to achieve the dual purpose of improving the patient care environment and increasing the energy efficiency of health care institutions. Accomplishments during the first year of this study and the activities planned for continuing investigations are the subject of this presentation.
In addition to air quality problems encountered in other sealed buildings, both workers and patients in hospitals may be exposed to very special air contaminant problems. Levels and ranges of a variety of chemical pollutants measured in 16 h
ASHRAE's first ventilation standard, published in 1973, has been used in many building codes in the USA. The 1981 revision of this standard has been criticised for its approach to indoor air quality. A comparison of the '73 and '81 standard, currently underway, is expected to better explain the rationale and provide new support for controversial parts of the standard.
Ventilation is widely used to help maintain acceptable indoor pollutant concentrations. In this paper, the relationships between ventilation rate and indoor concentration are examined by the use of mass balance models and measured data. It is shown that the pollutant source strength and pollutant removal by processes other than ventilation can have a large impact on the indoor concentration and that maintenance of a typical ventilation rate does not ensure an acceptable indoor concentration.
Air infiltration in two well-insulated houses is being investigated to determine its effect on energy use and indoor air quality. The first paper of this series provides a general perspective on the design. This paper reports on the effect on conservation measures taken, including the installation of an air-to-air heat exchanger, on air exchange and energy use. A third paper presents pollutant measurements and modelling results.
The general principles and mechanism of how soil gas infiltrates and carries radon from the foundation bed and subsoil into buildings are discussed. The Swedish Building Research Council has funded experiments and evaluation of cost effective remedial actions. The work has concerned existing dwellings with high concentration of radon, resulting from infiltrating soil gas and/or exhalation from building materials. A review and evaluation is given of experience and results acquired up to the summer of 1984.
The paper proposes a methodology for evaluating and ranking specific alternatives for control of indoor air quality in existing buildings, based on comparative costs and benefits. The method avoids the difficulties of assigning a monetary value to a change in air quality by adjusting the air exchange rate in each alternative until equivalent indoor air quality is achieved. The difference in air exchange rates between alternatives allows calculation of energy savings, which can be compared to capital cost savings,which can be compared to capital cost using the payback period method.
As part of a comprehensive indoor air quality and infiltration field study, radon concentrations were measured in 60 houses in upstate New York using passive integrating monitors. Indoor air radon concentrations ranged from 0.2 pCi/1 to 50 pCi/1. Four houses with the highest radon levels were then extensively monitored using real-time continuous instruments for the measurement of radon, radon daughters, respirable particles, infiltration, inside-outside pressure difference, and weather parameters.
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