Ventilation effect on indoor radon-thoron levels in dwellings and correlation with soil exhalation rates
This paper reports the measurements of indoor radon and thoron concentrations in selected Northern Indian dwellings (differing in ventilation rate). These were carried out using single entry pin hole based radon thoron dosimeters. In order to correlate the indoor levels with source term, the radon and thoron exhalation rates from soil samples collected from the same dwellings were also measured. Active measurement techniques with scintillation radon monitor and scintillation thoron monitor were used for exhalation measurements from soil sample. For thoron exhalation rate measurements, a small volume chamber was used. The i...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Chauhan, R. P., Kumar, A., Chauhan, N., Joshi, M., Aggarwal, P., Sahoo, B. K. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Evaluating the thermal comfort performance of heating systems using a thermal manikin with human thermoregulatory control
This study aimed at evaluating the thermal comfort performance of different heating systems using a newly developed thermal manikin with an enhanced thermal control. The heating systems for a workstation, included a conventional radiator (convector) mounted under the window, heated floor in the occupied zone and an infrared heater mounted to the ceiling. The experiments were conducted in a test room with a facade attached to a climate chamber to simulate outdoor winter conditions. In these experiments, the supplied power for the different systems was kept constant to independently quantify the differences in their thermal ...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Foda, E., Siren, K. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Effect of air flow rates on concurrent supply and exhaust kitchen ventilation system
The objective of this research was to investigate the performance variation of this system with respect to air flow rates. CSEV system can block the contaminated air from entering the inner space by supplying fresh air horizontally in the ceilings towards the hood where the overflowed contaminated gas tends to diffuse to inner part of the room. The system captures contaminated air in an area near the ceiling and this captured air is then exhausted through the ceiling outlet. For quantitative evaluation, heat and gas capture efficiencies were defined and calculated. Experiments were conducted to compute heat and gas capture...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Yi, K. W., Kim, Y. I., Bae, G.-N. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
A comparison of the estimated natural ventilation rates of four solid wall houses with the measured ventilation rates and the implications for low-energy retrofits
To reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in existing houses in heating-dominated climates, there is a drive to reduce ventilation heat loss by tightening the building envelope. Energy-efficient domestic retrofits, which neglect ventilation requirements or assume without enquiry that adequate ventilation rates have been met, have the potential to impact negatively on the health and well-being of occupants by creating unhealthy indoor environments. The natural ventilation rates of UK dwellings created by building envelope air leakage is commonly estimated by applying a rule-of-thumb to the air flow required ...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Keig, P., Hyde, T., McGill, G. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Moisture transport through asymmetric porous membranes with finger-like holes for indoor humidity control: A lattice Boltzmann simulation approach
Asymmetric porous membranes with finger-like holes are one sort of promising membrane materials for indoor humidity control. Moisture transport in these materials is the key factor influencing humidity control performance. To overcome the difficulties in modelling meso-scale mass transfer in these materials, a lattice Boltzmann simulation (LBM) methodology has been proposed to model the pore-scale gas flow and mass transfer in the asymmetric membranes with finger-like holes. A typical membrane is classified into three sub-layers: a porous support layer, a layer with finger holes, and a denser skin layer. Simulated annealin...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Zhang, L.-Z., Cai, R.-R., Xu, J.-C. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons collected from indoor built environments on heating, ventilation and air conditioning dust filters
In this study, ‘priority’ PAHs in 20 HVAC filter dust samples were measured using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The samples were taken in homes, schools and mosques in five provinces in Kuwait over a 2-month period in winter. The results showed that traffic and petrochemical refineries were the main outdoor sources of PAHs measured indoors in all of the locations. Benzo[b]fluoranthene and benzo[k]fluoranthene, which are classified as carcinogenic compounds, were present at the highest mean concentrations in most of the locations. The maximum total PAH concentration (PAHs is the sum of all target P...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Yassin, M. F., Alhajeri, N. S., Kassem, M. A. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
The acoustic characteristics of the Carsı Mosque in Trabzon, Turkey
This study aimed to investigate the objective parameters of sound in relation to the types of materials on wall surfaces and the density of people attending the main prayer hall of the Carsı Mosque that was built in 19th century in the city of Trabzon (Turkey). The numerical values of objective parameters of sound in the prayer hall were simulated using Odeon version 10 computer software. The prayer hall was modelled for two different scenarios. In the first scenario, the materials on all surfaces of the prayer hall were assigned as in their current state. In the second scenario, wood was used as the simulation mate...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Kavraz, M. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Variable air volume air-conditioning experiment system with advanced controls
A heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system is a multi-variable strongly coupled large-scale system that is composed of several sub-systems. Considerable research, simulations, and experiments have been conducted on HVAC control. The optimization control of an HVAC system is now the popular issue. The ultimate goal of this paper was to achieve minimum energy consumption and improve system efficiency. Multi-zone variable air volume and variable water volume air-conditioning systems were developed. The dynamic models of HVAC sub-systems were built by the adaptive directional forgetting method. Control strategi...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Meng, Q., Yan, X., Ren, Q., Adeli, H. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Polybrominated diphenyl ether levels in dust collected from cars in Kuwait: Implications for human exposure
This study supports the previous findings of photolytic debromination of BDE-209 to lower brominated congeners known to be more bioaccumulative and toxic. (Source: Indoor and Built Environment)
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Gevao, B., Shammari, F., Ali, L. N. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Residential ozone and lung function in the elderly
In this study, we were unable to detect significant changes in lung function in association with increased levels of residential ozone amongst healthy elderly non-smokers. (Source: Indoor and Built Environment)
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Bräuner, E. V., Karottki, D. G., Frederiksen, M., Kolarik, B., Spilak, M., Andersen, Z. J., Vibenholt, A., Ellermann, T., Gunnarsen, L., Loft, S. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
The home environment of junior high school students in Hyogo, Japan - Associations with asthma, respiratory health and reported allergies
In conclusion, in Japanese homes, the window condensation in winter, recent indoor painting and living in a wooden house could contribute to the increased risk of respiratory symptoms and allergies for young Japanese school children. (Source: Indoor and Built Environment)
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Takaoka, M., Suzuki, K., Norbäck, D. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Glare indicators: an analysis of ocular behaviour in an office equipped with venetian blinds
This article studies the ocular behaviour of office workers in the presence of glare. Additionally, the study seeks to obtain a new indicator for glare prediction that compensates the inaccuracies of glare predicted by the existing models of glare sensation vote (GSV), daylight glare probability (DGP) and daylight glare index. A laboratory experiment was carried out (n = 18) simulating an office space. The volunteers participated in four office tasks (reading from a screen and from a paper, writing and socializing). Two scenarios were evaluated: one with sunspots on the faces of the subjects and the other with sunspots on ...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Yamin Garreton, J. A., Rodriguez, R. G., Pattini, A. E. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
The application of analytic hierarchy process in daylighting performance assessment
Daylighting is beneficial to humans and the environment. Various indicators have been proposed to evaluate its attributes. Studies on the weighting factors of these attributes are, however, sparse. This paper aims to develop a new daylighting performance assessment method by collecting the perceived importance of the attributes from occupants using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based on two equally important criteria – visual comfort and electric lighting energy saving potential. The study has two parts. In the first part, a general survey was conducted to verify the attributes affecting occupants’ visua...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Chung, T., Ng, R. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Hexabromocyclododecanes in the indoor environment of two cities in South China: their occurrence and implications of human inhalation exposure
Indoor and outdoor air samples were collected from two industrialized cities (Guangzhou and Foshan) in Southern China to determine the concentrations and diastereoisomer profiles of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) in built environments. The mean concentrations of total HBCDs in air were 5.43 pg m–3 in homes, 8.21 pg m–3 in offices, 48.2 pg m–3 in other workplaces and 33.3 pg m–3 in the air outdoors. These HBCD levels are slightly higher than or comparable with those at the remote or urban sites in the United States, but are significantly lower than those in the European atmosphere. Diastereoisomer p...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Hong, J., Gao, S., Chen, L., Han, Q., Yu, Z., Peng, P., Fu, J. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
Efficacy of an air curtain system for local pit environmental control for relic preservation in archaeology museums
Indoor environmental control has been proven to be a critical consideration for preserving in situ unearthed relics in archaeology museum. An air curtain system has been proposed to separate the local environment of funerary pit from its large-space exhibition hall. The isolation efficiency of the air curtain is formulated by using stream function method in this study. The geometrical dimensions and jet flow parameters were investigated in this study through the theoretical formula, to determine their effects on the isolation efficiency and suitable operation mode, respectively. An experimental setup was constructed to inv...
Source: Indoor and Built Environment - February 8, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Luo, X., Gu, Z., Yu, C., Ma, T., Kase, K. Tags: Original Papers Source Type: research
