Indoor Ecosystem Services: Impacts of Plants on Air Quality

Summary Ecosystem services have been the focus of recent research on ecology, biodiversity and human health. As most of this research has placed emphasis on natural ecosystems, there is a lack of data on the effect of indoor and urban ecosystems on both human health and the quality of human life. One of the most common health issues associated with urban and indoor spaces is the quality of air. Considering that humans spend most of their time indoors, accompanied by a lack of fresh air due to industry growth and environmental degradation, there is an obvious need for a non-invasive and non-obtrusive air purification system. This paper presents the results of the indoor air quality monitoring under non-controlled conditions, i.e. the changes in air quality induced by the common indoor ornamental plant Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Laurentii’. The following air quality parameters were observed: the relative humidity and temperature of air, as well as the concentrations of carbon-dioxide, methane and overall VOCs. Measurements were performed using the commercial CO2 data logger Extech SD800 and the in-house developed Arduino Uno-based measuring device with different sensors. The results obtained show the changes in the indoor air quality relative to the presence or absence of the selected plants. A sudden increase in the overall VOC (NH3, NOx, benzene and smoke), methane and carbon-dioxide concentrations was recorded after the plants were removed from the indoor space. The purpose of this research is to form a basis for designing a biological purification system as a low-cost and environment-friendly method for the monitoring and purification of indoor air.

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Method for Estimation of CO2 Gains from Persons in Builidings

Proceedings ◽

10.3390/proceedings2201309 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (20) ◽

pp. 1309 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Antonio Rodero ◽

Dorota Anna Krawczyk

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Carbon Dioxide Concentration ◽

Co2 Concentration ◽

Males And Females ◽

Sources Of Co2

Carbon dioxide concentration is an important parameter to know Indoor Air Quality of a building. One of the most important sources of CO2 in poor ventilated building is human activity. This work presents a method for experimental determination of human CO2 generation rate based on measuring of time evolution of indoor CO2 concentration. The method is applied to 5 rooms of an educational building from Bialystok (Poland). Similar carbon dioxide gains were obtained in all rooms, around 0.0046 L/s, which correspond to theoretical CO2 generation rates of a sedentary activity for persons, males and females, between 21–30 years old, characteristics of occupants of analyzed rooms.

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The use of modern technologies in carbon dioxide monitoring

Selected Scientific Papers - Journal of Civil Engineering ◽

10.1515/sspjce-2017-0029 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 129-137

Author(s):

Petr Komínek ◽

Jan Weyr ◽

Jiří Hirš

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Web Application ◽

Indoor Environment ◽

Key Factors ◽

Smart Meters ◽

Air Supply

Abstract Indoor environment has huge influence on person’s health and overall comfort. It is of great importance that we realize how essential indoor air quality is, considering we spend on average as much as 90% of our time indoors. There are many factors that affect indoor air quality: specifically, inside air temperature, relative humidity, and odors to name the most important factors. One of the key factors indicating indoor air quality is carbon dioxide (CO2) level. The CO2 levels, measured in prefab apartment buildings, indicates substantial indoor air quality issues. Therefore, a proper education of the occupants is of utmost importance. Also, great care should be directed towards technical and technological solutions that would ensure meeting the normative indoor environment criteria, especially indoor air CO2 levels. Thanks to the implementation of new emerging autonomous technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT), monitoring in real-time is enhanced. An area where IoT plays a major role is in the monitoring of indoor environment. IoT technology (e.g. smart meters and sensors) provide awareness of information about the quality of indoor environment. There is a huge potential for influencing behaviour of the users. Through the web application, it is possible to educate people and ensure fresh air supply.

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DALY indicator as an assessment tool for indoor air quality impact on human health

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/20184900133 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 49 ◽

pp. 00133 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Monika Wysocka

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Human Health ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Indoor Environment ◽

World Health ◽

Artificial Environment ◽

Life Years ◽

The Impact

The quality of indoor environment is an extremely important issue, because people spend large parts of the day inside buildings. The quality of the indoor environment is largely dependent on the quality of indoor air. The parameters of the air we breathe affect our health and comfort of room use. Currently, when energy efficiency is a priority, it is difficult to maintain comfort and conditions appropriate for human health. The artificial environment in a room and related inadequate air quality cause many diseases, such as asthma, lung diseases, cardiovascular diseases, as well as poor well-being and reduced productivity. The Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) indicator means “loss of life corrected by disability” and is widely used by the World Health Organization to measure a disease burden on the population and identify the causes of a disease. The aim of the article is to present the structure of the DALY indicator and its suitability to assess the impact of indoor air quality on human health. The most frequent diseases caused by low quality of internal air were analysed based on statistical data. In addition, the possibilities of ventilation solutions have been presented, leading to the improvement of air quality in indoor environment.

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Test and Analysis on Thermal Environment of Commercial Kitchen in China

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.594-597.2154 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 594-597 ◽

pp. 2154-2157

Author(s):

Xiao Tan Hou ◽

Zhi Hua Wang ◽

An Gui Li

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Carbon Monoxide ◽

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Thermal Environment ◽

Test Results ◽

Health It ◽

Air Contaminant

This study intends to investigate indoor air quality of kitchen such as velocity, temperature, humidity and air contaminant (carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide). Test results show that workspace local temperature is up to 49.6°C at 12:50 due to the workload increased at the diner peak and the largest CO and CO2concentration were 14.8 ppm and 2145 ppm respectively after 2 hours cooking, which are above the acceptance criteria (CO<10ppm and CO2<1000ppm), and it gives serious impact on the staff's physical health. It is necessary to improve indoor air quality through kitchen ventilation.

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