Showing papers in "Indoor and Built Environment in 2014"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provided the environmental health perspectives of air pollution control in Central China and looked into research development regarding the dispersion of pollutants, control of indoor moisture thus reducing microbial proliferation whilst enhancing thermal insulation properties of walling materials, personal ventilation and sleep quality.
Abstract: Welcome to this Special Issue of Indoor and Built Environment. This issue provides the environmental health perspectives of air pollution control in Central China and looks into research development regarding the dispersion of pollutants, control of indoor moisture thus reducing microbial proliferation whilst enhancing thermal insulation properties of walling materials, personal ventilation and sleep quality; it also surveys the increasing prevalence of childhood respiratory and allergy diseases such as asthma and pneumonia in children in association with the ambient air pollution and indoor environment, particularly with the use of airconditioning/humidifier equipment and in relation with building characteristics of typical Chinese homes in Central China such as in Shanghai, Nanjing, Chongqing, Wuhan and Changsha where there has been a steady rise in prosperous growth in average household income, commercial goods and in industrial production which has improved the life style for many Chinese families. However, the environmental cost in relation to adverse health effects particularly of children should be evaluated, so that appropriate remediation technologies and regulatory standard can be effectively implemented to reduce environmental deterioration particularly for housing and urban developments. Environmental health is now an important government policy in China, to improve the environmental quality for the Chinese citizen which has become imperative especially considering the environmental pollution that has been prevalent in almost all Chinese cities in recent years. Outdoor air pollution is one of China’s most serious environmental problems. Burning of coal is the major source of energy in China, contributing to about 75% of all energy consumption for industrial processes, domestic and commercial heating and cooking. Consequently, coal smoke with suspended particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) are the major air pollutants in ambient environment. The increasing rise in the usage of motor vehicles in many Chinese cities has also contributed to the air pollution cocktail mixture in ambient air, with inhalable particular matters (PM10, PM2.5), SO2, and NOx being the critical pollutants of concern and these are now prominently featured for air quality standard regulation in China. Also, as the average household income is better off for many families, there is an increasing demand for western consumer’s goods and better furnishing and fitting of their home interior and increasingly many types of indoor air pollutants such as formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) typically found in western countries in relation to the use of composite wood-based products, adhesives, sealants and various types of coatings and vinyl floorings are found in high concentrations in these Chinese homes. The emissions of VOCs and formaldehyde could cause adverse health effects to occupants and there are requirements in the Chinese standard for certificating the emissions from building products and indoor air concentrations in newly built housings. There has been a steady political pressure for development of air-tight and energy-efficient buildings to commensurate with demand for growth of sustainable development of green buildings. Chinese standard maker are facing the dilemma of having requirement for reducing indoor air pollution and maintaining the comfort factor of buildings, whilst demanding higher energy efficiency standard. Central China (Yangtze valley Region) has a dense population and is an important economic development region of China where there has been a rapid growth in urban and industrial development. The economic growth in the region has been accompanied by a huge concomitant widespread growth in residential construction in the past 10 years. The region is situated within the hot summer and cold winter zone in China; characterized by the wet cold winters, very hot and humid summers. The temperature difference between day and night is normally small, with a minor daily temperature range. The housings in the region of Central China would experience a high level of humidity, particularly
143 citations
TL;DR: In this article, housing is an important focus of government policies to mitigate climate change, and current policy promotes the application of energy saving technologies in the UK's housing market, which is a major sector contributing to UK's greenhouse gas emissions.
Abstract: As a major sector contributing to the UK’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, housing is an important focus of government policies to mitigate climate change. Current policy promotes the application o...
103 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted a series of experiments to investigate the role of plants in providing a higher quality living environment, and found that plants can play an important role in providing high quality living environments.
Abstract: There is growing evidence to support the notion that plants can play an important role in providing a higher quality living environment. This study conducted a series of experiments to investigate ...
65 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a methodology for optimizing the envelope of a building with respect to the triple objective of heating load, cooling load, and daylight, and the objective is to minimize the total energy consumption of the building.
Abstract: The objective of this article is to provide a methodology for optimizing the envelope of a building with respect to the triple objective of heating load, cooling load and daylight. The variables to...
65 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a conceptual study regarding the energy yield and feasibility of building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) systems in several locations in Europe, with regard to the implemented PV module technology, the climatic zone, the orientation of the building and the mounting disposition.
Abstract: Since the photovoltaic (PV) scientific community started exploring innovative ways of incorporating solar electricity into buildings, a whole new vernacular of solar electric architecture emerged. Currently, there is a growing consensus that building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) systems will be the backbone of the zero energy building (ZEB) European target by 2020, through their widespread commercialization. BIPV systems often produce however less energy than conventional PV systems due to architectural constraints in the design of BIPV arrays. This paper presents a conceptual study regarding the energy yield and feasibility of BIPVs in several locations in Europe. Specific conclusions on the energy yield and economic feasibility of BIPVs with regard to the implemented PV module technology, the climatic zone, the orientation of the building and the mounting disposition are drawn. The findings of this work that were also validated using hourly time step computational analysis, reveal the necessary condi...
53 citations
TL;DR: Potential applications of bedside PV system could benefit human sleep comfort and quality, particularly in summer which could also be of benefit to hospital care of patients.
Abstract: A bedside personalized ventilation (PV) system was investigated by experiments on human subjects including children, adults and elderly. Short-term exposure experiment was first carried out to find...
50 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors found that around 40% of total energy consumption in the UK is consumed by creating comfortable indoor environment for occupants, and that occupants' behaviour in terms of achieving thermal comfort could have a signif...
Abstract: Around 40% of total energy consumption in the UK is consumed by creating comfortable indoor environment for occupants. Occupants’ behaviour in terms of achieving thermal comfort could have a signif...
49 citations
TL;DR: The anthropogenic developments have been causing a warming phenomenon of city centres called urban heat islands (UHI), which is made worse by the urban canopy characteristics of concrete, faca....
Abstract: The anthropogenic developments have been causing a warming phenomenon of city centres called urban heat islands (UHI). The effect is made worse by the urban canopy characteristics of concrete, faca...
48 citations
TL;DR: Findings indicate that TOTR, in addition to ΣVOCs, could be used as a new risk indicator for human health regarding indoor air quality, and correlated with SBS symptoms among sensitive people.
Abstract: Sick-building syndrome (SBS) is a range of symptoms such as eye irritation, sore throat, and headaches that occur when entering a newly constructed or refurbished building. Volatile organic compoun...
42 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the effectiveness of green and cool roofs at reducing summertime overheating was assessed for a naturally ventilated, poorly insulated office roof in London, and the results indicated the direct effects of the green and cooling roof at reducing overheating are much greater than the indirect cooling effect.
Abstract: Mitigating summertime overheating is increasingly viewed as a key issue in urban planning – a warming climate and increasing urbanisation will exacerbate the problem. The effectiveness of green and cool roofs at reducing summertime overheating was assessed for a naturally ventilated, poorly insulated office roof in London. This was contrasted to the application of retrofitting traditional insulation. The new Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers overheating criteria was used to assess the level of overheating as predicted by a whole building thermal simulation model. The impacts of the roofing strategies were split into the direct and indirect effects. The indirect effects of the roofs were modelled using microclimatic modelling software. The results indicate the direct effects of green and cool roofs at reducing overheating are much greater than the indirect cooling effect. A non-insulated cool roof was found to be the most effective strategy. By insulating the roof, the level of overheating ...
37 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the effectiveness of passive solar elements on indoor thermal comfort by adopting modern climate-responsive design strategies in Sugganahalli, a rural vernacular community in a warm-humid region in South India.
Abstract: Sugganahalli, a rural vernacular community in a warm-humid region in South India, is under transition towards adopting modern construction practices. Vernacular local building elements like rubble walls and mud roofs are given way to burnt brick walls and reinforced cement concrete (RCC)/tin roofs. Over 60% of Indian population is rural, and implications of such transitions on thermal comfort and energy in buildings are crucial to understand. Vernacular architecture evolves adopting local resources in response to the local climate adopting passive solar designs. This paper investigates the effectiveness of passive solar elements on the indoor thermal comfort by adopting modern climate-responsive design strategies. Dynamic simulation models validated by measured data have also been adopted to determine the impact of the transition from vernacular to modern material-configurations. Age-old traditional design considerations were found to concur with modern understanding into bio-climatic response and climate-responsiveness. Modern transitions were found to increase the average indoor temperatures in excess of 7 degrees C. Such transformations tend to shift the indoor conditions to a psychrometric zone that is likely to require active air-conditioning. Also, the surveyed thermal sensation votes were found to lie outside the extended thermal comfort boundary for hot developing countries provided by Givoni in the bio-climatic chart.
TL;DR: In this article, the monitored environmental conditions in the bedrooms of 26 low energy houses in Scotland, include both naturally ventilation and houses with mechanical ventilation with heat control, were described. But they did not specify the type of ventilation they used.
Abstract: This paper describes the monitored environmental conditions in the bedrooms of 26 low energy houses in Scotland, include both naturally ventilation and houses with mechanical ventilation with heat ...
TL;DR: In this paper, a building energy simulation (BES)-computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-integrated simulation is used to provide accurate and informative prediction of the thermal and air-quality performance in buildings, especially in the design stage.
Abstract: As ventilation is one of the critical heat loads in an office space, the ventilation rate might be optimized to develop sustainable, low-energy buildings and a healthy indoor environment. To create comprehensive and optimized indoor environmental designs, a building energy simulation (BES)-computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-integrated simulation is used to provide accurate and informative prediction of the thermal and air-quality performance in buildings, especially in the design stage. With the aim of developing an optimization procedure for the ventilation rate, this paper presents simulations that integrates BES and CFD with CO2 demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) system, and applies them to a typical office space in Japan to optimize the ventilation rate through an energy recovery ventilator (ERV). The transient system control strategy is applied to two different airflow conditions in an office: a traditional ceiling supply system and an under-floor air distribution system. Compared with the fixed out...
TL;DR: A post-occupancy evaluation, a form of survey method, was used in assessing the satisfaction and perception of residents in two residential colleges, at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Successful implementation of bioclimatic design strategies not only reduces energy use, but more importantly increases the resident's satisfaction. A post-occupancy evaluation, a form of survey method, was used in assessing the satisfaction and perception of residents in two residential colleges, at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. Both Case Study A (CS-A) and Case Study B (CS-B) repre- sent the uppermost and moderate implementation of bioclimatic design strategies. The results showed that 414 questionnaires were retrieved fully filled by occupants at CS-A while 155 respondents from CS-B returned their questionnaire. The questionnaire was based on a 5-point Likert scale. Respondents were asked to rate the levels of satisfaction and perception with various aspects of the building, including the immediate environment. A detailed survey on thermal comfort had also been done by adopting the predicted mean vote index. As initial findings, the implementations of bioclimatic design strategies at the selected residential colleges were able to provide comfort for the residents.
TL;DR: In this paper, the natural radioactivity levels in a total of 117 samples of 14 different building materials collected from building construction sites and from the retailers in Adana were studied by means of gamma-ray spectrometer with HPGe detector.
Abstract: In this paper, the natural radioactivity levels in a total of 117 samples of 14 different building materials collected from building construction sites and from the retailers in Adana were studied by means of gamma-ray spectrometer with HPGe detector. The mean activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K measured in the studied building material samples ranged from 2.1 to 88.2 Bq kg−1, 1.8 to 52.7 Bq kg−1 and 68.1 to 847.5 Bq kg−1 for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K radionuclide, respectively. The external and internal index, the indoor absorbed dose rate and the corresponding annual effective dose were evaluated for potential exposure risks from the usage of the building material samples. The evaluated values of the external and internal index were below the recommended upper level. All the values of effective annual dose determined were lower than recommended exemption level of 0.3 mSv. The results suggest that the use of the studied building material samples in the construction of buildings is unlikely to give...
TL;DR: Sub-aerial biofilms on frescoes and façade of the Holy Virgin Church were investigated to study the effectiveness of benzalkonium chloride (BAC) as a biocide and Origanum vulgare essential oil showed strong antifungal potential against selected fungal isolates.
Abstract: Sub-aerial biofilms (SAB) on frescoes and facade of the Holy Virgin Church (Gradac Monastery, Serbia) were investigated to study the effectiveness of benzalkonium chloride (BAC) as a biocide. Antif...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors determined the concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) at six subway stations and compared the levels at the platforms, inside the trains' cabin an...
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) at six subway stations. The PM2.5 levels were compared at the platforms, inside the trains’ cabin an...
TL;DR: In this paper, a method for dynamic modelling of the interactions of semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) with airborne and settled particulate matter in the indoor environment is described.
Abstract: This paper describes a method for dynamic modelling of the interactions of semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) with airborne and settled particulate matter in the indoor environment. As part of the framework for dynamic modelling of indoor SVOCs recently proposed by this author, this method is fully compatible with the other components in the framework. With reduced computational complexity, the method is more flexible than the existing dynamic models. Despite the uncertainties in some of the key parameters, the simulation results have revealed important information regarding the general behaviour of SVOC-particle interactions and the role of particulate matter in human exposure to indoor SVOCs.
TL;DR: In this article, the types of building materials that could present a hazardous risk to health of building occupants are reviewed, and the review is necessary as many countries including Korea including Korea...
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to review the types of building materials that could present a hazardous risk to health of building occupants. The review is necessary as many countries including Korea...
TL;DR: The computational fluid dynamics analysis and back propagation neural network were employed to solve the inverse problem of indoor environment (IPIE) and the result demonstrated the utility of the proposed method in solving the IPIE.
Abstract: The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis and back propagation neural network (BPNN) were employed to solve the inverse problem of indoor environment (IPIE). The approaches to identify the contaminant source locations and inlet boundary conditions by the measurement data at specified observation locations were put forward separately. The inverse design of the indoor boundary conditions by the desired distribution of predicted mean vote (PMV) in the control domain was also presented. The result demonstrated the utility of our proposed method in solving the IPIE.
TL;DR: This article showed that on-site measurement has the benefit of obtaining real-life data under real atmospheric boundary layer conditions, but it is too difficult to capture the real atmospheric condi...
Abstract: The review shows that on-site measurement has the benefit of obtaining real life data under real atmospheric boundary layer conditions, but it is too difficult to capture the real atmospheric condi...
TL;DR: The results indicated that the residential characteristics such as surrounding environment and household equipments could have notable association with children’s health in Shanghai, and using clean fuel for home cooking, living far away from a highway or increasing home ventilation could possibly reduce the children's risk of suffering asthmatic symptoms.
Abstract: A China, Children, Homes, Health (CCHH) study was conducted in Shanghai to investigate the associations between residential characteristics and childhood asthma, wheeze and dry cough of 4- to 6-year-old children. In the present study, 13,335 children participated in the questionnaire survey, and the questionnaires were completed by children’s parents with a response rate of 85.3%. Multiple logistic regression analysis was the main method for analyses. Using wood as fuel for cooking was shown to have a strong positive association with asthma (adjusted odds ratio, 95% confidence interval: 2.84, 1.24–6.54). Existence of a highway within 200 m of the residence could have a positive association with wheeze ever (1.20, 1.02–1.41) and dry cough (1.22, 1.02–1.40). Children having suffered wheeze symptom ever was negatively associated with the use of fume exhaust ventilator in the kitchen (0.85, 0.73–0.99) and exhaust fan in the bathroom (0.86, 0.78–0.95) but positively associated with the use of home air purifier...
TL;DR: The indoor environment can play a significant role in the airborne transmission of diseases, such as those caused by influenza virus and tuberculosis virus as mentioned in this paper, and the airborne route of transmission is co...
Abstract: The indoor environment can play a significant role in the airborne transmission of diseases, such as those caused by influenza virus and tuberculosis virus. The airborne route of transmission is co...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a simulation of an intended built environment to enable architects, engineers, and project managers to visualize the evolution of a construction process before a project starts.
Abstract: Visual simulation has emerged as a key planning tool for an intended built environment because it enables architects, engineers and project managers to visualize the evolution of a construction process before a project starts. The process thus enables efficient construction, reducing time and cost through planning and controlling resources, machines and materials. On the other hand, construction industry has evolved from traditional on-site building to offsite modern methods of construction (MMC). Highly efficient and effective onsite planning and management processes are urgently needed, and this would require implementing visual techniques in MMC to provide a powerful management platform for planning and controlling projects. Development in MMC is important as the technique can enable higher degree of air-tightness in buildings necessary for energy-efficient passive homes and would minimize waste generation, thus contributing to a sustainable development. This project reviews the simulated operational a...
TL;DR: Exposure to traffic-related air pollution could play an important role in the development of pneumonia in preschool children, and the revised National Ambient Air Quality Standards (2012) for NO2 has provided a better control strategy for ambient air quality to reduce the risk of adverse health effects such as pneumonia.
Abstract: Pneumonia is the most important cause of child death in the world today. Recent findings suggest that exposure to outdoor air pollutants may increase the pneumonia occurrence, but so far the associations have not been clearly illustrated. Therefore, the effects of outdoor air pollutants and the episode day on childhood pneumonia were investigated by this study. A standardized questionnaire on health, home and environmental factors of 4988 children was conducted in the city of Changsha, China. Average exposure to ambient air pollutants during 2008–2011 was monitored by the air pollution monitoring stations of Changsha Environmental Protection Agency. A two-stage hierarchical regression approach was adopted to estimate the effects of PM10, SO2 and NO2 on pneumonia risk. The prevalence of pneumonia in children aged 3–6 years was 38.2%, which is greatly higher than the developed countries but lower than some developing countries. Furthermore, the increased risk of childhood pneumonia was significantly associa...
TL;DR: In this article, a numerical analysis of airflows caused by train motion in one-shaft subway system and two-shavings subway system was carried out using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method.
Abstract: A numerical analysis of airflows caused by train-motion in one-shaft subway system and two-shaft subway system was carried out using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The dynamic mesh meth...
TL;DR: It is suggested that increased ventilation rates may mitigate overheating, alleviate SBS symptoms, and improve satisfaction with IAQ, the perceived indoor air quality of students.
Abstract: This paper compares energy and ventilation performance, and levels of pollutants in six school classrooms and associates them to asthmatic and Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) symptoms and the perceived indoor air quality (IAQ) of students. Self-reported data on subjective perception of air quality and health responses were gathered with a standardised questionnaire completed by 151 school children (Response Rate (RR):86%) attending two schools in the Greater London Area: a contemporary suburban low carbon school building and an urban, high thermal mass school built in the 19th century. Temperature, particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) concentrations were monitored in three classrooms and one outdoor site in each school for 5 consecutive days during the heating seasons. Biological parameters were determined in settled dust and analysed with molecular methods. Overall, asthma prevalence in the school environment was associated with exposure to highe...
TL;DR: In this article, a comprehensive dataset of ventilation rates measured in European office buildings is presented, for the first time, which can provide input to modelling studies. But this dataset is limited to office buildings.
Abstract: The current review creates, for the first time, a comprehensive dataset of ventilation rates measured in European office buildings. This dataset can provide input to modelling studies. A review of ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined how CO2 is distributed within a complex indoor environment of a classroom and how this distribution is affected by different parameters and found that higher CO2 concentration values can be found at higher levels in a room and not only at a height between 1'm and 1'2'm.
Abstract: In most buildings, occupants are the main source of indoor carbon dioxide (CO2) due to exhalation. Although CO2 is not considered to pose serious health risks to occupants, elevated levels of CO2 may serve as an indicator of insufficient ventilation. This study examines how CO2 is distributed within a complex indoor environment of a classroom and how this distribution is affected by different parameters. Measuring CO2 concentrations at a single location or height may not act as a true representation of an entire space, unless it is measured in a very small confined space. In this study, it was observed that higher CO2 concentration values can be found at higher levels in a room and not only at a height between 1 m and 1.2 m as claimed by many researchers. Therefore, if CO2 concentration levels vary significantly, deviations from the average measured values could become large. It was also found that the CO2 concentration reflects the dynamic relationship among the occupants, their activity levels and occup...
TL;DR: In this paper, the radon concentration in air and in water of 16 thermal spas of the Isle Ischia to assess the corresponding mean effective dose for workers is given.
Abstract: The aim of the paper is to give information about radon concentration in air and in water of 16 thermal spas of the Isle Ischia to assess the corresponding mean effective dose for workers. Measurements of air radon concentration were carried out by means of Electret Passive Environmental Radon Monitor (E-PERM) devices in long-term configuration, while radon activity concentration in water was measured using the same detectors in short-term configuration. In each plant, several kinds of rooms of different uses (office, muddy room, massage room, relax room, aerosol, mud pit and medical treatment room) were selected. Results show a great variability among the measurements relative to the different kinds of rooms of the spas. In some cases, the dose received by workers was higher than 3 mSv/y, which is the effective dose limit for occupational exposure imposed by Italian legislation.