Kaiser Ahmed

Ventilation Positive Pressure Intervention Effect on Indoor Air Quality in a School Building with Moisture Problems

This case study investigates the effects of ventilation intervention on measured and perceived indoor air quality (IAQ) in a repaired school where occupants reported IAQ problems. Occupants’ symptoms were suspected to be related to the impurities leaked indoors through the building envelope. The study’s aim was to determine whether a positive pressure of 5–7 Pa prevents the infiltration of harmful chemical and microbiological agents from structures, thus decreasing symptoms and discomfort. Ventilation intervention was conducted in a building section comprising 12 classrooms and was completed with IAQ measurements and occupants’ questionnaires. After intervention, the concentration of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) decreased, and occupants’ negative perceptions became more moderate compared to those for other parts of the building. The indoor mycobiota differed in species composition from the outdoor mycobiota, and changed remarkably with the intervention, indicating that some species may have emanated from an indoor source before the intervention.

Data for Occupancy Internal Heat Gain Calculation in Main Building Categories

Heat losses from occupant body by means of convection, radiation, vapor, and sweat are essential data for indoor climate and energy simulations. Heat losses depend on the metabolic activity and body surface area. Higher variations of body surface area of occupants are observed in day care centers, kinder gardens and schools compared to other building categories (Tables 2 and 3) and these variations need to be accounted, otherwise in these building categories heat gains, CO2 and humidity generation are overestimated. Indoor temperature, humidity level, air velocity, and clothing insulation have significant influences on dry and total heat losses from occupant body leading to typical values for summer and winter. The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled Occupancy schedules for energy simulation in new prEN16798-1 and ISO/FDIS 17772-1 standards (Ahmed et al., 2017) [1].