Problems of contemporary buildings performance and potential ways of reducing indoor air pollution
Session
Civil Engineering, Infrastructure and Environment
Description
Every citizen has a right to indoor air quality that does not endanger his health. We spend on average over 90% of their time indoors – at home, in the office, in school, in kindergarten, etc. This paper is designed to point out potential problems related to indoor air quality, review steps that building owners and managers can take to investigate and correct problems, and assist in obtaining additional help with indoor air quality issues. In order to assure a healthy and comfortable indoor environment and quality for all citizens as building occupants, the key parameters must be controlled and take into account air pollutants, thermal environment, and acoustic environment. The building structure and materials as well as other sources in buildings contaminate the indoor air. Besides that, 20 to 100% of the concentrations of outdoor air pollutants are transferred to the inside of the building, adding to the pollution generated by the building itself. Considering the amount of time people spent inside and the concentrations of indoor pollutants, the buildings are the most important factor in air pollution exposure and associated health effects.
Sick Building Syndrome is wide spread and may occur in offices, apartment houses, nurseries and schools, resulting in substantial costs to the community. Even though the cause effect relations are unclear it is possible to remedy buildings with SBS problems, and for new buildings the chances of avoiding SBS problems are also good. Modern people spend most of their time indoors in houses, day-care centers, schools, offices and other building facilities. . In order to achieve a sufficiently comfortable thermal environment in buildings, the following main physical parameters influence a person’s sensation of warmth: air temperature, mean radiant temperature, relative air speed, and humidity. Ventilation is used to bring outdoor air to the occupied indoor zone and to remove or dilute indoor-generated pollutants. Ventilation rate, as the flow of outdoor air to a space, is one of the most important factors affecting indoor air quality. The building sector requires low cost, energy efficient building design and construction methods that utilize more renewable energy and produce higher quality of buildings. Building Information Modeling (BIM) can offer an important potential in fulfilling this need; it accommodates a rich data model that contains both graphic and alpha-numeric data, supports all phases of building life cycle and allows efficient information exchange between project participants using an integrated data model.
Keywords:
Indoor air pollutants, buildings performance analysis, sick building syndrome and reducing indoor air pollution
Proceedings Editor
Edmond Hajrizi
ISBN
978-9951-550-50-5
Location
UBT Kampus, Lipjan
Start Date
29-10-2022 12:00 AM
End Date
30-10-2022 12:00 AM
DOI
10.33107/ubt-ic.2022.205
Recommended Citation
Syla, Afrim, "Problems of contemporary buildings performance and potential ways of reducing indoor air pollution" (2022). UBT International Conference. 208.
https://knowledgecenter.ubt-uni.net/conference/2022/all-events/208
Problems of contemporary buildings performance and potential ways of reducing indoor air pollution
UBT Kampus, Lipjan
Every citizen has a right to indoor air quality that does not endanger his health. We spend on average over 90% of their time indoors – at home, in the office, in school, in kindergarten, etc. This paper is designed to point out potential problems related to indoor air quality, review steps that building owners and managers can take to investigate and correct problems, and assist in obtaining additional help with indoor air quality issues. In order to assure a healthy and comfortable indoor environment and quality for all citizens as building occupants, the key parameters must be controlled and take into account air pollutants, thermal environment, and acoustic environment. The building structure and materials as well as other sources in buildings contaminate the indoor air. Besides that, 20 to 100% of the concentrations of outdoor air pollutants are transferred to the inside of the building, adding to the pollution generated by the building itself. Considering the amount of time people spent inside and the concentrations of indoor pollutants, the buildings are the most important factor in air pollution exposure and associated health effects.
Sick Building Syndrome is wide spread and may occur in offices, apartment houses, nurseries and schools, resulting in substantial costs to the community. Even though the cause effect relations are unclear it is possible to remedy buildings with SBS problems, and for new buildings the chances of avoiding SBS problems are also good. Modern people spend most of their time indoors in houses, day-care centers, schools, offices and other building facilities. . In order to achieve a sufficiently comfortable thermal environment in buildings, the following main physical parameters influence a person’s sensation of warmth: air temperature, mean radiant temperature, relative air speed, and humidity. Ventilation is used to bring outdoor air to the occupied indoor zone and to remove or dilute indoor-generated pollutants. Ventilation rate, as the flow of outdoor air to a space, is one of the most important factors affecting indoor air quality. The building sector requires low cost, energy efficient building design and construction methods that utilize more renewable energy and produce higher quality of buildings. Building Information Modeling (BIM) can offer an important potential in fulfilling this need; it accommodates a rich data model that contains both graphic and alpha-numeric data, supports all phases of building life cycle and allows efficient information exchange between project participants using an integrated data model.