Prevalence of respiratory symptoms among children in rural Myanmar-disease burden assessment attributable to household biomass smoke
More than three billion people continue to rely on solid fuels as their primary source of domestic energy which is associated with elevated concentrations of indoor air pollutants and increased morbidity and mortality both in adults and children. In Myanmar, solid fuel including coal and biomass (such as dung, crop and charcoal) is the main source of energy used in households. A community-based pilot study was conducted in rural Myanmar with the aim to determine the prevalence of childhood respiratory symptoms in association with the use of biomass for cooking. A total of eighty households were recruited and monitored for ...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - July 18, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Rumchev, K., Win, T., Bertolatti, D., Dhaliwal, S. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Air quality in aircraft: A continuing debate
(Source: Indoor and Built Environment)
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - July 18, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Crump, D. Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
Indoor environmental quality of high occupancy dormitory buildings in winter in Shanghai, China
Maintaining acceptable air quality and providing adequate thermal comfort are conflicting goals for ventilation requirements in crowded, unheated rooms in winter. The former requires a maximal ventilation rate for indoor pollutant removal, but the latter prefers a minimal rate. To understand the indoor thermal environment in winter in the climatic zone that features hot summer and cold winter, the indoor environmental quality in three selected rooms of university dormitory buildings with high occupancy density in Shanghai, China was monitored simultaneously and continuously from December 2010 to January 2011. The results s...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - June 5, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Zhang, N., Kang, Y., Zhong, K., Liu, J. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Analysis of vertical sky components under various CIE standard general skies
Vertical sky diffuse illuminance data are important for architecture and daylighting designs. In 2003, the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) adopted a range of 15 standard skies representing the actual sky conditions in the world. This paper studies an approach to computing the vertical sky component (VSC) under the 15 CIE Standard Skies. Regression equations for calculating the VSC under various CIE skies based on the scattering angles () were developed to estimate the vertical daylight illuminance on building facades. The performance of the proposed numerical approach and the regression equation are assessed...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - June 5, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Li, D. H. W., Li, C., Lou, S. W., Tsang, E. K. W., Lam, J. C. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
An east-facing anidolic daylighting system on a tropical urban house
Sustainable core daylighting is expected to provide comfortable and healthy daylight in dense urban areas. One system, an anidolic daylighting system is a promising solution, however, it is still not widespread because of several complications. This paper presents an application of an affordable anidolic daylighting system on a tropical urban house designed with a simple edge-ray approach. This approach has created a parabolic collector for east-facing (azimuth 85°) anidolic daylighting system to improve the daylighting level of a room with high external obstruction. Simulation results and short-term monitoring before ...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - June 5, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Binarti, F., Satwiko, P. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Simulation of the influence of an attic on the building energy efficiency in the Portuguese climate
The thermal performance of the building envelope is of critical importance to the overall building performance. This paper presents an investigation of the influence of most common attic typologies used in Portuguese housing stock on heating/cooling loads of conditioned spaces under different weather conditions. Unused attics are part of the building envelope, which provide protection from the external environment acting as a buffer space. To improve this protective ability, some scenarios such as insulation, low emissivity, ventilation and the slant of the roof are considered. The aim of this study is to assess the influe...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - June 5, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Carlos, J. S. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
The impact of paintings hung on lecture room walls on the speech intelligibility and perception of background noise
The most important parameter for rooms designed for speech (classroom or lecture room) is speech intelligibility. Speech intelligibility depends on the reverberation time, speech-to-noise ratio and geometry of the room, among others. At the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, the reverberation times in lecture rooms observed exceed the optimal value from 0.31 to 0.87 s and in some of them, speech intelligibility is below the threshold of good or even satisfactory. For reducing reverberation time and improving speech intelligibility, an alternative method was proposed, by hanging art paintings on the...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - June 5, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Cudina, M., Prezelj, J., Puslar-Cudina, M. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Performance of a dry cooling and dedicated ventilation system under different operating conditions
Effectiveness of dry cooling and dedicated ventilation (DCDV) system for decoupling dehumidification from cooling to achieve the desired indoor condition and condensate-free objectives for air-conditioning of office environments in Hong Kong has been confirmed in previous simulation and experimental studies by the authors. However, our previous studies assumed a constant outdoor air and chilled water flow rates, and this is not always the case in practice. Whether this assumption could affect the effectiveness of DCDV system is the subject of present investigation. A prototype that could enable the variation of outdoor air...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - June 5, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Chen, H., Lee, W. L., Wu, A.-X. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Laboratory study of PCB transport from primary sources to building materials
This study could fill some of the data gaps associated with the characterization of PCB sinks in contaminated buildings. (Source: Indoor and Built Environment)
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - June 5, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Liu, X., Guo, Z., Krebs, K. A., Greenwell, D. J., Roache, N. F., Stinson, R. A., Nardin, J. A., Pope, R. H. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Natural radioactivity, radon exhalation rate and radiation dose of fly ash used as building materials in Xiangyang, China
Natural radioactivity level, radon exhalation rate and radiation hazard of fly ash used as building materials in Xiangyang, China were determined. The activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in the investigated fly ash samples range from 90.3 to 1799.4, 59.9 to 145.6 and 309.0 to 906.3 Bq kg–1 with an average of 440.5, 110.3 and 510.1 Bq kg–1, respectively. 226Ra and 40K are the main contributors of total activity concentration in red fly ash and grey fly ash, respectively. Radon exhalation rates of the studied fly ash samples vary from 4.7 to 74.2 Bq m–2 h–1 with the mean of 21.1 Bq m&ndash...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - June 5, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Feng, T., Lu, X. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Investigation of the differences between factors affecting vandalism in urban green areas
This study aimed to identify the factors that have an effect on a variety of vandalism incidents involving urban equipment located in urban green areas in the city of Antalya. For this aim, the urban equipment (benches, lighting fixtures, picnic tables, and waste bins) were observed in situ on a monthly basis for 12 months, and the vandalism incidents were photographed 2028 times and recorded in the information forms. Data obtained through observation and photography were evaluated using nonlinear canonical correlation analysis. The results showed that the variables examined within the content of this study were the factor...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - June 5, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Yilmaz, T., Olgun, R. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
The effect of vegetation on indoor and outdoor thermal comfort conditions: Evidence from a microscale study of two similar urban buildings in Akure, Nigeria
This study assessed thermal conditions in and around two typical buildings on a university campus in Akure, Nigeria. One of the buildings was shaded by trees, while the other was unshaded. The aim is to evaluate the effect of vegetation (tree shading) on indoor and outdoor thermal comfort. Air temperature and relative humidity were measured simultaneously inside and outside both buildings for six months (September 2010 to February 2011). Results show that the unshaded building is generally less comfortable in comparison with the tree-shaded one, especially during the daytime. The unshaded building becomes less comfortable ...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - June 5, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Morakinyo, T. E., Adegun, O. B., Balogun, A. A. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Assessment on acoustical performance of green office buildings in Malaysia
Green building rating system outlines many requirements to be considered in order for a building to be certified as one. However, the rating tools failed at truly addressing the acoustical aspect which in turn deteriorates the acoustical quality in green buildings. As preliminary stage of this study, the objective is to assess the acoustical performance of three green office buildings in Malaysia in comparison to selected standard acceptability criteria. Four spaces containing meeting rooms and open-plan offices were selected from each green building as subjects. Assessments were limited to selected acoustical parameters o...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - June 5, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Abd Jalil, N. A., Che Din, N. b., Keumala, N. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Human settlement, civil engineering and silk road - Xian Jiaotong University, 120-year anniversary
(Source: Indoor and Built Environment)
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - June 5, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Yu, C. Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
Airborne bacteria levels in indoor urban environments: The influence of season and prevalence of sick building syndrome (SBS)
In conclusion, there is a need to conduct more studies in larger populations to find the links between air pollutants and SBS symptoms. (Source: Indoor and Built Environment)
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - April 10, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Mentese, S., Tasdibi, D. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
