Sensing a Historic Low-CO2 Future

Porteous, Colin

doi:10.5772/16918

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…There is a general acceptance that CO 2 can keep “bad company” and that absolute levels above 1000 ppm (>500–600 above ambient) are indicative of poor ventilation rates as originally identified by Pettenkoffer [ 18 ]. The provenance of this is well evidenced [ 19 ] and corresponds in standard situations with the generally recommended ventilation rate of 8 L/s per person [ 20 ]. Associations between health and CO 2 levels have been found in office buildings [ 21 , 22 ] and a study by Batterman and Peng [ 23 ] identified associations between CO 2 levels and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Occupant Interactions and Effectiveness of Natural Ventilation Strategies in Contemporary New Housing in Scotland, UK

Sharpe

Farren²,

Howieson

et al. 2015

IJERPH

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The need to reduce carbon emissions and fuel poverty has led to increased building envelope air tightness, intended to reduce uncontrolled ventilation heat losses. Ventilation strategies in dwellings still allow the use of trickle ventilators in window frames for background ventilation. The extent to which this results in “healthy” Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in recently constructed dwellings was a concern of regulators in Scotland. This paper describes research to explore this. First a review of literature was conducted, then data on occupant interactions with ventilation provisions (windows, doors, trickle vents) gathered through an interview-based survey of 200 recently constructed dwellings, and measurements made on a sample of 40 of these. The main measured parameter discussed here is CO2 concentration. It was concluded after the literature review that 1000 ppm absolute was a reasonable threshold to use for “adequate” ventilation. The occupant survey found that there was very little occupant interaction with the trickle ventilators e.g., in bedrooms 63% were always closed, 28% always open, and in only 9% of cases occupants intervened to make occasional adjustments. In the measured dwellings average bedroom CO2 levels of 1520 ppm during occupied (night time) hours were observed. Where windows were open the average bedroom CO2 levels were 972 ppm. With windows closed, the combination of “trickle ventilators open plus doors open” gave an average of 1021 ppm. “Trickle ventilators open” gave an average of 1571 ppm. All other combinations gave averages of 1550 to 2000 ppm. Ventilation rates and air change rates were estimated from measured CO2 levels, for all dwellings calculated ventilation rate was less than 8 L/s/p, in 42% of cases calculated air change rate was less than 0.5 ach. It was concluded that trickle ventilation as installed and used is ineffective in meeting desired ventilation rates, evidenced by high CO2 levels reported across the sampled dwellings. Potential implications of the results are discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Occupant Interactions and Effectiveness of Natural Ventilation Strategies in Contemporary New Housing in Scotland, UK

Sharpe

Farren²,

Howieson

et al. 2015

IJERPH

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“…Many indoor air quality (IAQ) studies adopt CO 2 concentration as an indicator of actual ventilation rates and as IAQ-index. It is generally accepted that CO 2 keeps 'bad company' and that levels above 1000 ppm are indicative of poor ventilation rates [54]-which corresponds to a ventilation rate of 8 l/s per person. This standard continues to be relevant, with a threshold referenced in many national and international guidelines [55], which will be the reference value adopted in this work.…”

Section: Co 2 Concentrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

TVOCs and PM 2.5 in Naturally Ventilated Homes: Three Case Studies in a Mild Climate

et al. 2019

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In southern Europe, the present stock of social housing is ventilated naturally, with practice varying in the different seasons of the year. In winter, windows are kept closed most of the day with the exception of short periods for ventilation, whereas the rest of the year the windows are almost permanently open. In cold weather, air changes depend primarily on the air infiltrating across the envelope and when the temperature is warm, on the air flowing in through open windows. CO2, PM2.5, and TVOC concentration patterns were gathered over a year’s time in three social housing developments in southern Europe with different airtightness conditions and analyzed to determine possible relationships between environmental parameters and occupants’ use profiles. Correlations were found between TVOC and CO2 concentrations, for human activity was identified as the primary source of indoor contaminants: peak TVOC concentrations were related to specific household activities such as cooking or leisure. Indoor and outdoor PM2.5 concentrations were likewise observed to be correlated, although not linearly due to the presence of indoor sources. Ventilation as presently practiced in winter appears to be insufficient to dilute indoor contaminants in all three buildings, nor does summertime behavior guarantee air quality.

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“…Levels of CO2 correlate well with human occupancy and levels above 1000 ppm are indicative of poor ventilation rates. The provenance of this is well evidenced [12] and corresponds to a ventilation rate of 8 L/s per person [13,14]. This figure is also cited in a review of literature looking at the associations between ventilation rates and CO2 levels with health outcomes, which concluded: "Almost all studies found that ventilation rates below 10 L/s per person in all building types were associated with statistically significant worsening in one or more health or perceived air quality outcomes" [15].…”

Section: Ventilationmentioning

confidence: 88%

Scenario Testing of the Energy and Environmental Performance of “The Glasgow House”

Sharpe

Shearer

2014

Buildings

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This paper describes the results from a 12-month study of two prototype low energy dwellings built for Glasgow Housing Association (GHA). The houses are intended for mainstream and social tenure within Glasgow and contain a range of energy reducing features including one house with a thermally heavy clay block wall and one house using a conventional timber frame and both houses have sunspaces, Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR), solar thermal system and low energy lighting. The dwellings have been subject to an innovative monitoring strategy by MEARU, whereby test occupants (students recruited from the School of Architecture) have been asked to inhabit the buildings for six two-week periods using occupancy 'scripts' that determine their internal behaviour. The scenarios thus simulate varying patterns of occupancy in both houses simultaneously and the performance of the houses can then been compared. Indications are that although the clay block house had a poorer thermal performance, it did have other qualitative advantages, and consumption differences could be eliminated by exploiting the thermal mass. The performance of the active systems, including the MVHR system, was found to be problematic, and specific scenarios were undertaken to explore the implications of this.

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Sensing a Historic Low-CO2 Future

Cited by 13 publications

References 30 publications

Occupant Interactions and Effectiveness of Natural Ventilation Strategies in Contemporary New Housing in Scotland, UK

Occupant Interactions and Effectiveness of Natural Ventilation Strategies in Contemporary New Housing in Scotland, UK

TVOCs and PM 2.5 in Naturally Ventilated Homes: Three Case Studies in a Mild Climate

Scenario Testing of the Energy and Environmental Performance of “The Glasgow House”

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