Air change rates (ACRs) and interzonal flows are key determinants of indoor air quality (IAQ) and building energy use. This paper characterizes ACRs and interzonal flows in 126 houses, and evaluates effects of these parameters on IAQ. ACRs measured using weeklong tracer measurements in several seasons averaged 0.73 ± 0.76 h(-1) (median = 0.57 h(-1), n = 263) in the general living area, and much...

Primary schools mostly rely on natural ventilation but also have an interest in affordable technology to improve indoor air quality (IAQ). Laboratory tests show promising results for dust reducing carpets and compact air filtration systems but there is no information available on the performance of these interventions in actual operating classrooms. An exploratory study was performed to evaluat...

Indoor air quality (IAQ) was investigated in 19 open-plan offices and 30 office rooms in order to compare the differences in these two different types of office environments. No moisture or mold problems had been reported from the present buildings, but the employees had complained about the IAQ. The results revealed only slight differences in the IAQ of the two different types of office enviro...

The need of building occupants for ventilation has been recognized many centuries ago; however, since the early 1970s, ventilation systems for buildings and transport systems have considerably evolved. This was invigorated by researchers who demonstrated the requirements for buildings to provide comfort and good air quality indoors (e.g., Fanger, 1972; Fanger and Christensen, 1986; Fanger, 1988...

diseases in indoor environments remains a problem of indoor air quality (IAQ) with few engineering alternatives and for which performance goals and design parameters are unclear. The engineer who attempts to deal with microbial IAQ finds that pertinent microbiological information exists in abundance but not in easily digestible forms. This article summarizes the relevant literature of medical m...

This study aimed to determine the acceptability of the ACASI approach to risk assessment and the impact of personal preference regarding mode of interview on reporting risk behaviors among drug users entering treatment in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We assessed 268 substance users who completed the ACASI arm in a randomized trial comparing the ACASI with the Interviewer-Administered Questionnaire (...

BACKGROUND Scarce information is available about the relationships between indoor air quality (IAQ) at day care centers (DCC), the estimated predisposition for asthma, and the actual wheezing susceptibility. METHODS In the Phase II of ENVIRH study, 19 DCC were recruited after cluster analysis. Children were evaluated firstly using the ISAAC questionnaire and later by a follow-up questionnaire...

In this paper, a numerical model is presented to study the indoor air quality (IAQ) in a room with different emission sources, sinks, and ventilation methods. A computer program, ACCESS-IAQ, is developed to simulate the airflow pattern, the time history of the contaminant concentrations in the occupied zone, and the inhalation exposures. The program developed may be useful for IAQ professional ...

OBJECTIVES To examine whether audio computer assisted survey interviewing (ACASI) influenced responses to sensitive HIV risk behaviour questions, relative to interviewer administration of those questions (IAQ), among patients attending a sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinic and whether the impact of interview mode on reporting of risk behaviours was homogeneous across subgroups of patien...