scholarly journals Monitored Indoor Environmental Quality of a Mass Timber Office Building: A Case Study

Buildings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Stenson ◽  
Suzanne L. Ishaq ◽  
Aurélie Laguerre ◽  
Andrew Loia ◽  
Georgia MacCrone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Community ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Performance Monitoring ◽  
Bacterial Community Composition ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Exposure Limits ◽  
Floor Vibration ◽  
Mass Timber

A broad range of building performance monitoring, sampling, and evaluation was conducted periodically after construction and spanning more than a year, for an occupied office building constructed using mass timber elements such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) floor and roof panels, as well as glue-laminated timber (GLT) beams and columns. This case study contributes research on monitoring indoor environmental quality in buildings, describing one of the few studies of an occupied mass timber building, and analyzing data in three areas that impact occupant experience: indoor air quality, bacterial community composition, and floor vibration. As a whole, the building was found to perform well. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including formaldehyde, were analyzed using multiple methods. Formaldehyde was found to be present in the building, though levels were below most recommended exposure limits. The source of formaldehyde was not able to be identified in this study. The richness of the bacterial community was affected by the height of sampling with respect to the floor, and richness and composition was affected by the location within the building. Floor vibration was observed to be below recognized human comfort thresholds.

scholarly journals Indoor environmental quality evaluation in a hot and arid climate: a case study of a higher education office building

2020 ◽  
Vol 167 ◽  
pp. 04004
Author(s):  
Yasmin Abdou ◽  
Young Ki Kim ◽  
Lindita Bande
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Arid Climate ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality

Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) refers to the overall environmental quality within a building, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of the building’s occupants. It includes several factors such as lighting levels and indoor air quality (IAQ). As humans spend a significant amount of time indoors; particularly at the workplace for up to 12 hours a day, the IEQ of the office greatly affects one’s overall well-being, health with striking effects on productivity. As for IAQ, in severe cases, high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), particulate matter (PM), and humidity may cause headache, allergy, and asthma. A higher education (HE) office building located in United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) campus has been taken as a case study. Situated in the UAE, this is characterized by an extremely hot-arid climate. The HE building has been monitored using a set of advanced sensor devices to record indoor environmental data such as the measurements of temperature, relative humidity, lux level, particulate matter 2.5/10(PM 2.5/ 10), carbon dioxide (CO2), and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs). Results of this paper aim to use the onsite numerical assessment and future POE assessment to verify the building’s performance and discover where the operational gaps are. Better facility management strategies will be suggested to enhance the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) as well as more findings will be discussed in this paper.

ASSESSMENT OF INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND OCCURRENCE OF SICK BUILDING SYNDROME IN SMALL OFFICES IN PENANG, MALAYSIA

2015 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ang Qiu Mei ◽  
Md Azree Othuman Mydin
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Sick Building Syndrome ◽  
Quality Measurement ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Sick Building ◽  
The Difference

This study was done to investigate the relationship between indoor environmental quality and prevalence of Sick Building Syndrome in six small offices inPenangIsland. Indoor environmental quality measurement was conducted according to relevant standards. There are totally Sixty workers were selected to participate in an electronic questionnaire survey. Questionnaire was used to record the comfort level of respondents in the case studies and level of sick building syndrome faced by respondents. Through indoor environmental quality measurement, it is found that most of the offices facing the lighting and noise problem. The result from the questionnaire shows that in overall, the occupants satisfy with their working environment in term of indoor environmental quality although the result also shows the opinions of occupants on dissatisfaction on certain indoor environmental parameter according to case study. The study also found that most of the occupants feel drowsy and fatigue when they work within the offices. Besides, due to the difference of the indoor environmental quality of the buildings, the occupants are suffered from different symptoms of the sick building syndrome.

scholarly journals Establishment of Key Performance Indicators for Green Building Operations Monitoring—An Application to China Case Study

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 976 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinqiu Li ◽  
Qingqin Wang ◽  
Hao Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Key Performance Indicators ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Operational Performance ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Evaluation Standards

Released green building evaluation standards for operation stage include a huge number of indicators, which are very comprehensive and systematic. However, the indicators of these standards are very complicated and a large amount of time and manpower are consumed for their evaluation. To evaluate the operational performance of green buildings more practically and efficiently, some studies collect the operational data for part of the indicators (mainly focusing on building energy performance, indoor environmental quality or occupant satisfaction), which are too rough to evaluate the performance of green building. This paper proposed a total of 27 key performance indicators (KPIs) for green building operations monitoring. The number of proposed indicators is much fewer than the evaluation standards, as well as suitable for long-term monitoring, which can dramatically reduce evaluation time and cost. On the other hand, the indicators involving Outdoor environmental quality, Indoor environmental quality, HVAC system, P&D system, Renewable energy system, Total resource consumption and User behavior, which are more comprehensive and systematic than the conventional monitoring studies for operational performance of green building. Firstly, an indicators library for operations monitoring of green building was established based on relevant standards and literature review in this field. Secondly, “SMART” principle and Delphi method were adopted to select the key performance indicators for green building operations monitoring. Different background experts regarding green building industry were chosen to screen the most relevant, accessible and measurable indicators. Subsequently, two projects in China were selected for case study of key performance indicators proposed in this paper for green building operations monitoring to validate the feasibility and advancement.

scholarly journals Indoor Environmental Quality Analysis for Optimizing Energy Consumptions Varying Air Ventilation Rates

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Mancini ◽  
Fabio Nardecchia ◽  
Daniele Groppi ◽  
Francesco Ruperto ◽  
Carlo Romeo
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
In Situ Monitoring ◽  
Quality Analysis ◽  
Airflow Rate ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Hvac System ◽  
Energy Consumptions

The energy refurbishment of the existing building heritage is one of the pillars of Italian energy policy. Aiming for energy efficiency and energy saving in end uses, there are wide and diversified improvement strategies, which include interventions on the building envelope and Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, with the introduction of renewable energy sources. The research aims at evaluating the building energy consumptions and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), varying the airflow rates handled by the HVAC system. A Case Study (the Aula Magna of a university building) is analysed; an in-situ monitoring campaign was carried out to evaluate the trend of some environmental parameters that are considered to be significant when varying the external airflow rates handled by the HVAC system. Additionally, dynamic simulations were carried out, with the aim of evaluating the energy savings coming from the airflow rates reduction. The results of this case study highlight the opportunity to achieve significant energy savings, with only slight variations in IEQ; a 50% reduction in airflow rate would decrease energy consumption by up to 45.2%, while increasing the carbon dioxide concentration from 545 ppm to 655 ppm, while the Particulate Matter and Total Volatile Organic Compounds increase is insignificant.

scholarly journals The Comfort Map—A Possible Tool for Increasing Personal Comfort in Office Workplaces

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 233
Author(s):  
Ágnes Borsos ◽  
Erzsébet Szeréna Zoltán ◽  
Éva Pozsgai ◽  
Balázs Cakó ◽  
Gabriella Medvegy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Considerable Effect ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Visual Comfort ◽  
Acoustic Comfort ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Office Employees

Previous studies have shown that indoor environmental quality (IEQ) parameters may have a considerable effect on office employees’ comfort, health and performance. Therefore, we initiated a research program to help occupants identify IEQ parameters they perceive as risk factors for their health in an office and enhance their comfort levels in an office environment. Since we assumed that office employees might have different indoor environmental quality expectations related to their work area and that these differences could be measured, our objective was to develop an office ‘comfort map’ based on occupants’ individual IEQ preferences. Thus, the goal of the comfort map would be to help tailor office spaces to their occupants’ health and comfort expectations. The comfort survey was developed to assess the comfort-related opinions of the occupants, based on IEQ parameters (visual comfort, acoustic comfort, air quality and thermal comfort) of a chosen open-plan office building. The survey also assessed the degree to which the given IEQ parameter was considered a health risk factor by occupants or caused a negative comfort sensation for them. The survey was filled in by 216 occupants. The answers were then analyzed with the help of a frequency table depicting relative frequency. The measurements of IEQ parameters took place in an open-plan office in the chosen office building (a Hungarian subsidiary’s office building belonging to an international company in Budapest). The occupants had different opinions regarding the perceived effects of the IEQ parameters on their health and comfort. Almost two-thirds of the respondents (64.8%) were dissatisfied with the adjustability of the noises and sounds IEQ parameter at their workstation. Furthermore, half of the respondents (50.1%) were dissatisfied with the adjustability of ventilation. Most of the occupants (45.8%) considered noises and sounds as the IEQ parameter that had a negative effect on their health. There were also IEQ differences between different areas of the office space. Based on these results, a comfort map was developed for the office. The comfort map contains information about the IEQ characteristics of each workstation by depicting the thermal comfort, carbon dioxide, visual comfort and acoustic comfort characteristics of a given workstation on a relative scale. Based on the thermal, air, acoustic, and lighting differences between the workstations, occupants can select their preferred workstations when a desk-sharing system works. Although still in its pilot phase, the comfort map could increase the chances for office employees to find the workstation best suited to their IEQ expectations. This could improve occupants’ overall comfort level, which could in turn enhance occupants’ productivity and mental as well as physical health.

scholarly journals Performance Evaluation of LEED-certified Affordable Homes: Case Study of LEED-certified Habitat for Humanity

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 120
Author(s):  
Eunsil Lee
Keyword(s):  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Habitat For Humanity ◽  
Positive Effects

Despite the rapid growth in the number of LEED-certified homes, little data is currently available about the actual effects of LEED-certified affordable homes. The purpose of present study is to conduct a comprehensive performance evaluation for LEED-certified Habitat for Humanity residences in terms of (1) energy efficiency, (2) indoor environmental quality, (3) health impact, (4) residential satisfaction, (5) quality of life, and (6) environmental attitudes and behaviors. A case study was conducted with 15 households living in LEED-certified Habitat for Humanity homes in Kent County, Michigan using observation, in-depth interviews, and surveys. Findings revealed overall housing satisfaction was very high although some residents indicated lower satisfaction with their neighborhood. Most of case study homes had 30-50% lower electricity and natural gas bills. Most participants were satisfied with indoor environmental quality (IEQ) including thermal comfort, indoor air quality, amount daylight, quality of artificial lighting, and acoustical condition. Most participants agreed that since moving into their current homes they have experienced improved family relationships, better health conditions, more positive attitudes, and better performance of their children. The major findings of this case study support the positive effects of LEED-certified low-income homes on residents’ behavioral, social, and psychological aspects of well-being.

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