Feasibility Study of an Indoor Air Quality Measurement Protocol on 12 Parameters in Mechanically Ventilated and Air-Conditioned Buildings

Abstract

The Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department has recently launched a set of guidance notes on indoor air quality (IAQ) management for offices and public places. An IAQ Certification Programme will be conducted on a self-regulatory basis that is intended to divide IAQ in mechanically ventilated buildings into three classes. Due to the large number of buildings in Hong Kong and the associated cost implications, a simplified, operationally feasible and scientifically sound assessment has been developed. Twenty-five government buildings covering eight different types of premises were examined in a trial-run programme to verify the validity of the proposed methodology. Among these 25 premises, only 1 (4%) achieved level 1 while 11 (44%) achieved the level 2 objective. The remaining 13 premises (52%) met the level 3 objective. High concentrations of volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide were found to be the dominating parameters that made a building unable to meet class level 2. This measurement study has also illustrated the very different nature of IAQ found in different types of buildings where the pattern of air conditioning operation and indoor air pollutant sources can influence it substantially.

Influence of indoor air quality (IAQ) objectives on air-conditioned offices in Hong Kong

“…The schedule of air-conditioning operation was well defined and sufficient for the study to be focused on the indoor air contaminant parameters. All instruments were calibrated prior to the measurements (Chao et al 2001). …”

“…With growing concern in the last decade over complaints attributed to Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), environmental parameters were suggested and adopted for IAQ assessments by researchers, building owners, facility managers, etc (Chao et al 2001;Cheong and Chong 2001;Kraenzmer 1999;Lee et al 2002;Möhle et al 2003;Jokl 2000). The rationale behind the selection of relevant measuring parameters is the significance of their adverse effects on human health and/or IAQ.…”

An energy impact assessment of ventilation for indoor airborne bacteria exposure risk in air-conditioned offices

“…The validity of the correlations was examined with the measurements of some other air-conditioned offices in Hong Kong [29,30]. The expected indoor airborne bacteria exposure levels were predicted by the corresponding CO 2 exposure concentrations.…”

Evaluation of professional choice of sampling locations for indoor air quality assessment

“…Areas like technical difficulties encountered in the scheme implementation; amount of resources and manpower in terms of the sophisticated knowledge of application, calibration and regular maintenance of the appliances, interpretation of the data, on-site operation of the equipment; and numbers of sampling methods with various sampling periods and sampling point densities were all explored [17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. The sampling location selection in a large indoor space would contribute to the assessment results of the spatial average pollutant concentration [23].…”

“…The sampling location selection in a large indoor space would contribute to the assessment results of the spatial average pollutant concentration [23]. Although selection of the 'representative' locations for an assessment would rely on professional judgment of the assessors, uncertainties of the assessment results due to the assessors were not fully addressed in some IAQ assessments [9,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23].…”