The year 2020 has seen the emergence of a global pandemic as a result of the disease COVID-19. This report reviews knowledge of the transmission of COVID-19 indoors, examines the evidence for mitigating measures, and considers the implications for wintertime with a focus on ventilation.
The design of a natural ventilation strategy requires the establishment of the location and size of a series of purpose provided ventilation openings (PPOs). The success of the design is dependent on knowledge of the aerodynamic performance of the PPOs often described by their geometry (normally an area) and resistance to airflow. The incorrect interpretation of this information can lead inappropriate ventilation strategies and buildings that overheat and have an excessive energy demand.Many definitions of PPO area are used by standards, guidelines, text books, and software tools. Each can be assigned multiple terms and a single term can be assigned to different definitions. There is evidence that this leads to errors in practice. An effective area of a PPO, defined as the product of its discharge coefficient and its free area, is proposed as a standard description because it is unambiguous and its measurement is governed by recognised standards. It is hoped that PPO manufacturers will provide an effective area as standard and that its use will be recognised as best practice. It is intended that these steps will reduce design errors and lead to successful natural ventilation strategies and better buildings.
HIGHLIGHTS Definitions of free, effective, and equivalent ventilation opening areas are given A review of current definitions highlight contradictions in national standards and guidelines The contradictions are shown to lead to unintended design errors An unambiguous term that describes ventilation opening performance is proposed This will help to mitigate against design errors in ventilation strategies KEYWORDS Natural Ventilation; Design; Standards; Effective area; Equivalent area; Free area; Policy.
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INTRODUCTIONOpenings located in the thermal envelope of a building comprise those that are intentional, known as purposeprovided openings (PPOs), and those that are unintentional, known as adventitious openings (Etheridge, 2012).It is desirable to minimize adventitious openings to minimize a building's energy demand and to ensure the satisfactory operation of a system of PPOs (Jones et al., 2015). When designing a ventilation strategy that comprises a system of PPOs, a fundamental objective is to establish their location and size. Both factors depend on the airflow rates required through each PPO for a given pressure drop in order to maintain adequate indoor air quality (IAQ) and to dissipate heat gains under limiting conditions (CIBSE, 2005). Accordingly, a description of the geometry of each PPO and its resistance to airflow are required in order to enable a designer to establish the performance of a system using envelope flow models (CIBSE, 2005;Etheridge, 2012). The same information can also be used when working with more complex simulation tools to ensure that a building meets relevant energy and indoor environment quality (IEQ) criteria, such as indoor air quality (IAQ), thermal comfort, overheating, and noise levels. The geometrical information and resistance to airflow of a specific P...
A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t Highlights We measure and record internal temperatures in a variety of Hospital ward types We develop a distributed lag model (DLM) to predict internal temperature Predictions based on exogenous inputs: external temperature and solar irradiation DLM shown to be good predictor of internal temperature & determiner of overheating Wards of heavyweight construction shown to be more resilient to overheating
Cellular cholesterol homoeostasis is regulated through proteolysis of the membrane-bound precursor sterol-regulatory-element-binding protein (SREBP) that releases the mature transcription factor form, which regulates gene expression. Our aim was to identify the nature and intracellular site of the putative sterol-regulatory pool which regulates SREBP proteolysis in hamster liver. Cholesterol metabolism was modulated by feeding hamsters control chow, or a cholesterol-enriched diet, or by treatment with simvastatin or with the oral acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase inhibitor C1-1011 plus cholesterol. The effects of the different treatments on SREBP activation were confirmed by determination of the mRNAs for the low-density lipoprotein receptor and hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase and by measurement of HMG-CoA reductase activity. The endoplasmic reticulum was isolated from livers and separated into subfractions by centrifugation in self-generating iodixanol gradients. Immunodetectable SREBP-2 accumulated in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum of cholesterol-fed animals. Cholesterol ester levels of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum membrane (but not the cholesterol levels) increased after cholesterol feeding and fell after treatment with simvastatin or C1-1011. The results suggest that an increased cellular cholesterol load causes accumulation of SREBP-2 in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum and, therefore, that membrane cholesterol ester may be one signal allowing exit of the SREBP-2/SREBP-cleavage-regulating protein complex to the Golgi.
To assess risk factors for COVID-19 transmission and address the closure of mass gathering events since March 2020, the UK Government ran the Events Research Programme (ERP), following which it reopened live events in sports, music, and culture in July 2021. We report the rapid post-occupancy evaluation of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and associated long-range airborne transmission risk conducted in the Environmental Study of the ERP. Ten large venues around the UK were monitored with CO2 sensors at a high spatial and temporal resolution during 90 events. An IAQ Index based on CO2 concentration was developed, and all monitored spaces were classified in bands from A to G based on their average and maximum CO2 concentrations from all events. High resolution monitoring and the IAQ Index depicted the overall state of ventilation at live events, and allowed identification of issues with ventilation effectiveness and distribution, and of spaces with poor ventilation and the settings in which long-range airborne transmission risk may be increased. In numerous settings, CO2 concentrations were found to follow patterns relating to event management and specific occupancy of spaces around the venues. Good ventilation was observed in 90% of spaces monitored for given occupancies. Practical applications: High-resolution monitoring of indoor CO2 concentrations is necessary to detect the spatial variation of indoor air quality (IAQ) in large mass gathering event venues. The paper summarises COVID-19 ventilation guidance for buildings and defines a methodology for measurement and rapid assessment of IAQ during occupancy at live events that can be implemented by venue managers. Comparisons of the CO2 concentrations measured during the events identified the spaces at high risk of long-range transmission of airborne pathogens. Building operators should be mindful of the ventilation strategies used relative to the total occupancy in different spaces and the occupant’s activities.
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