scholarly journals Improving the Indoor Air Quality in Nursery Buildings in United Arab Emirates

Author(s):  
Mohammad Arar ◽  
Chuloh Jung

Children inhale indoor air at 400 mL/min∙kg per body weight, 2.76 times more than adults. They have weaker immunity than adults and are more exposed to asthma, allergies, and atopic diseases. The objective of this paper is to suggest effective management and improvement measures for indoor air quality for nurseries. As a methodology, 16 nurseries (total of 35 classrooms) were selected to measure the indoor air quality compared with WHO IAQ Standard, and identify the daily concentration change of the pollutants. Based on the measurements, IAQ improvements for selected facilities are carried out to compare the results before and after improvement. The result has shown that the concentration of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC), Total Suspended Particles (TSP) and formaldehyde (CH2O) exceeds WHO IAQ standards. The concentration of CO2 and TSP is changed mainly by physical activity of children and that of CH2O and TVOC is changed mainly by ventilation after school start. TVOC decreased by 46.4% and the TSP decreased by 21.7% after air purifier, but CH2O and TVOC increased 1.8–3.8 times after interior renovation with low-emission finishing materials. After new ventilation installation, the CH2O and TVOC reduced half and the TSP reduced one third. It is proven that the most effective way to reduce the concentration of air pollutants in nurseries is the installation of a new ventilation system, followed by an air purifier. The renovation with low-emission finishing materials cannot improve IAQ in a short period of time.

Author(s):  
Camilla Vornanen-Winqvist ◽  
Kati Järvi ◽  
Maria A. Andersson ◽  
Kaiser Ahmed ◽  
Sander Toomla ◽  
...  

This paper describes a case study of ventilation as well as measured and perceived indoor air quality (IAQ) in a Finnish comprehensive school with a hybrid ventilation system and reported IAQ problems. An operational error was found when investigating the ventilation system that prevented air from coming into classrooms, except for short periods of high carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. However, results indicated that hybrid ventilation system was able to provide adequate ventilation and sufficient IAQ once properly designed and maintained. After ventilation operation was improved, occupants reported less unpleasant odors and stuffy air. The amount of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) and some single volatile organic compounds (VOCs) decreased. Indoor mycobiota was observed in settled dust in the classrooms, from which ventilation improvement eliminated the dominant, opportunistic human pathogen species Trichoderma citrinoviride found before improvement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (9A) ◽  
pp. 1257-1275
Author(s):  
Wisam M. Mareed ◽  
Hasanen M. Hussen

 Elevated CO2 rates in a building affect the health of the occupant. This paper deals with an experimental and numerical analysis conducted in a full-scale test room located in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Technology. The experiments and CFD were conducted for analyzing ventilation performance. It is a study on the effect of the discharge airflow rate of the ceiling type air-conditioner on ventilation performance in the lecture room with the mixing ventilation. Most obtained findings show that database and questionnaires analyzed prefer heights between 0.2 m to 1.2 m in the middle of an occupied zone and breathing zone height of between 0.75 m to 1.8 given in the literature surveyed. It is noticed the mismatch of internal conditions with thermal comfort, and indoor air quality recommended by [ASHRAE Standard 62, ANSI / ASHRAE Standard 55-2010]. CFD simulations have been carried to provide insights on the indoor air quality and comfort conditions throughout the classroom. Particle concentrations, thermal conditions, and modified ventilation system solutions are reported.


Author(s):  
Seyed Ali Keshavarz ◽  
Mazyar Salmanzadeh ◽  
Goodarz Ahmadi

Recently, attention has been given to indoor air quality due to its serious health concerns. Clearly the dispersion of pollutant is directly affected by the airflow patterns. The airflow in indoor environment is the results of a combination of several factors. In the present study, the effects of thermal plume and respiration on the indoor air quality in a ventilated cubicle were investigated using an unsteady computational modeling approach. The person-to-person contaminant transports in a ventilated room with mixing and displacement ventilation systems were studied. The effects of rotational motion of the heated manikins were also analyzed. Simulation results showed that in the cases which rotational motion was included, the human thermal plume and associated particle transport were significantly distorted. The distortion was more noticeable for the displacement ventilation system. Also it was found that the displacement ventilation system lowered the risk of person-to-person transmission in an office space in comparison with the mixing ventilation system. On the other hand the mixing system was shown to be more effective compared to the displacement ventilation in removing the particles and pollutant that entered the room through the inlet air diffuser.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun Chul Park ◽  
Young Hoon Kim ◽  
Jeong Eun Kim ◽  
Joo Yeon Ko ◽  
Sun Ju Nam Goung ◽  
...  

Sensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 3798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Zanni ◽  
Francesco Lalli ◽  
Eleonora Foschi ◽  
Alessandra Bonoli ◽  
Luca Mantecchini

Indoor air quality (IAQ) management in public spaces is assuming a remarkable importance. Busy environments, like airport terminals, are currently regarded as possible hotspots and IAQ is a crucial element for passengers and staff protection, as well as a key aspect of airport passenger experience. A one-month monitoring period has been performed on IAQ in the airport of Bologna (Italy), as prototypal example of large regional airport. Four strategic areas within the airport have been equipped with electronic monitoring platforms, including different contaminants and two microclimatic sensors. Data suggest that daily variation in IAQ parameters typically follow the activity pattern of the different environments under study (i.e., passengers’ flows) for gaseous contaminants, where particulate matter counts oscillate in a definite range, with a significant role played by ventilation system. Gaseous contaminants show a correlation between indoor and outdoor concentrations, mainly due to airside activities. Micro-climatic comfort parameters have been tested to match with standards for commercial environments. As results appears in line with typical households IAQ values, the current air ventilation system appears to be adequate. Nevertheless, an integrated air management system, based on real-time monitoring, would lead to optimization and improvement in environmental and economical sustainability.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamrie Sarnosky ◽  
Mark Benden ◽  
Leslie Cizmas ◽  
Annette Regan ◽  
Garett Sansom

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated an already existing trend of individuals increasingly working remotely. With the growing popularity of remote working, specifically in a home office, there is a critical need to better understand and characterize the potential environmental differences between these two spaces. Indoor air pollution can have adverse health effects and impair cognitive functioning. Methods: This small pilot cohort study (N=22) recruited home and office workers to better understand the indoor air quality between these spaces. Air contaminants collected and assessed included PM10 and PM2.5, carbon dioxide (CO2), and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs). Results: Findings showed a strong statistically significant increase in all measured variables within homes in comparison to traditional offices (p<0.001). For instance, The mean PM2.5 level in the traditional office space was 1.93 µg/m3 whereas it was more than twice this amount (5.97 µg/m3) in home offices.Conclusion: These results indicate that those who work from home are at increased risk due to longer exposures to higher levels of certain contaminants, the importance to better develop interventions to mitigate this reality is underscored by the fact that many workers will be moving to home-based offices in the coming years.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1606
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Basińska ◽  
Michał Michałkiewicz ◽  
Katarzyna Ratajczak

Dissatisfaction with indoor air quality is common even in relatively new or renovated Polish school buildings. To improve air quality in educational buildings, portable devices have seen increased use, for which manufacturers guarantee a high level of indoor air purification. However, their optimized operation largely depends on their correct use. The aim of this article was to determine the effectiveness of air purification in a primary school using an air purification device with an analysis of the classroom indoor air quality (IAQ). Two criteria were used, microbiological and particulate matter concentration. Measurements were made before device installation and during its continuous operation, and before and after lessons on chosen days. Measurements related to IAQ did not detect clear differences in the analyzed measurement periods. For microbiological contamination, in the morning before lessons, the total count for all bacteria and microscopic fungi was definitely lower than after lessons. Comparing the periods before and after device installation, no clear tendency for reducing the bacteria count or microscopic fungi occurred during air purifier operation, nor was there any noticeable trend in the reduction of particulate matter. There was no improvement in air quality in the classrooms during the operation of the purification devices.


Author(s):  
Edgar C. Ambos ◽  
Evan Neil V. Ambos ◽  
Lanndon A. Ocampo

Due to its significant role in improving indoor air quality, displacement ventilation system is widely adopted in current literature. This paper proposes a displacement ventilation system for room conditions with ceilings that are relatively low, internal heat load could be high, walls could be sunlit, and occupants doing the low physical activity. These conditions are prevalent in the Philippines, being a tropical country. Input parameters to the design process such as heat load, the height of the ceiling, comfort, and indoor air quality requirements were generated, and the main output parameters are the stratification height and ventilation airflow rate. To demonstrate the proposed displacement ventilation system, four cases were generated. Results show that the ventilation airflow rates obtained from the four cases were greater than the minimum outdoor air requirements for health in conference rooms and large assembly areas which are 17.5 and 3.5 liters/sec*person respectively, for smoking and no smoking rooms.


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