Airbase publication

The Book of Proceedings of the 43^rd AIVC - 11^th TightVent - 9^th venticool Conference: "Ventilation, IEQ and health in sustainable buildings" held in Copenhagen, Denmark on 4-5 October 2023.

The Presentations at the 43^rd AIVC - 11^th TightVent - 9^th venticool Conference: "Ventilation, IEQ and health in sustainable buildings" held in Copenhagen, Denmark on 4-5 October 2023.

To reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment, a significant overhaul of the existing housing stock is essential. This entails not only ensuring proper insulation and airtightness in residences but also optimizing their ventilation systems. To precisely gauge the impact of an advanced ventilation system, the use of a pressure node model, such as multizone ventilation models like COMIS or TNO's AirMAPs model, is indispensable. However, when dealing with existing dwellings, numerous unknown variables, including interior door usage, can introduce substantial variations in results.

In celebration of its 30th Anniversary in 2022, the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ) organized a groundbreaking webinar series that spanned the entire year. This series brought together esteemed researchers who have made significant contributions to the field of indoor air sciences, as well as young and promising researchers who are shaping the future of research in this domain.

In the context of energy saving, new buildings are becoming more airtight and purpose-provided, often central mechanical ventilation is required to create and sustain a healthy indoor air quality (IAQ). This policy is summed up by the well-known energy efficiency mantra “Build tight, ventilate right”.

Achieving energy-efficient dwellings has become a vital part of the global climate action plan to reduce energy usage and carbon emissions. Deep energy retrofits (DER) can help reduce residential energy use significantly. However, evidence on how DER impacts on indoor air quality (IAQ), and consequently, occupant health, is scarce. More in-depth analysis of IAQ data before and after energy retrofits is essential to understand the indoor environmental challenges of adopting energy efficiency measures.

The measurement of particulate matter (PM) in rooms has gained interest in the last decade. However, the sensors that are currently used are intended for use in still standing air and cannot be applied to ventilation ducts with a typical velocity up to a couple of meters per second. Therefore, a prototype of a measurement module for particulate matter has been developed for use in ducts of ventilation systems. To the author’s knowledge, this has not been done before.

In the residential sector, there are several indoor sources of pollutants related to activities such as cooking, cleaning and heating, besides those from occupants, building materials, finishing and furniture. Considering these sources, the kitchen appears as the space in the house that has the largest number of sources, with cooking being the most relevant source. In addition, meal preparation generates derivative processes related to cleaning utensils and the environment, in which detergents, air fresheners and other categories of cleaning products are used.

Particles generated from cooking activities are the biggest contributor to the concentration of indoor particles in most homes, and they are not easily removed without natural or mechanical ventilation. As more focus is directed on human health, kitchen range hoods have drawn increasing attention and their performance in various conditions needs to be evaluated. Consequently, in this study, we performed measurements to establish the particle capture efficiency of a kitchen range hood for various particle diameters at different exhaust flow rates.

Indoor air pollution can pose a serious threat to human health and can increase the risk of early mortality. Studies have shown that human exposure to indoor pollution is more common than to outdoor pollution, especially where people spend the majority of their time indoors at home. Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are used in buildings to regulate internal climate to improve the comfort level for occupants. In addition, ventilation rates are often increased to maintain appropriate Indoor Air Quality (IAQ).