Evaluating energy consumption, indoor air quality, and student productivity

Smart energy conservation research is gaining traction in a variety of industries throughout the world. The current research is projected to cut energy consumption in the construction sector, which has already reached 49% globally and is expected to rise by 2% annually, costing millions of dollars per month. Balancing energy savings with thermal satisfaction is a current difficulty, as most researchers have concentrated on attaining energy savings without reaching the thermal contentment of the occupant, which could pose a health risk to both young and old occupants. To address the problem, we conducted empirical studies with 193 participants in the Northern part of Nigeria, where they were exposed to an indoor temperature of 22°C to determine their thermal environment, choice and comfort votes, viewed and favored control, and overall thermal satisfaction, which will help calculate and define the unused thermal satisfaction thermostat and later.

Indoor Air Quality in Healthcare Units—A Systematic Literature Review Focusing Recent Research

The adequate assessment and management of indoor air quality in healthcare facilities is of utmost importance for patient safety and occupational health purposes. This study aims to identify the recent trends of research on the topic through a systematic literature review following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) methodology. A total of 171 articles published in the period 2015–2020 were selected and analyzed. Results show that there is a worldwide growing research interest in this subject, dispersed in a wide variety of scientific journals. A textometric analysis using the IRaMuTeQ software revealed four clusters of topics in the sampled articles: physicochemical pollutants, design and management of infrastructures, environmental control measures, and microbiological contamination. The studies focus mainly on hospital facilities, but there is also research interest in primary care centers and dental clinics. The majority of the analyzed articles (85%) report experimental data, with the most frequently measured parameters being related to environmental quality (temperature and relative humidity), microbiological load, CO2 and particulate matter. Non-compliance with the WHO guidelines for indoor air quality is frequently reported. This study provides an overview of the recent literature on this topic, identifying promising lines of research to improve indoor air quality in healthcare facilities.

Impact of Air-Purifying Plants on the Reduction of Volatile Organic Compounds in the Indoor Hot Desert Climate

Due to hot desert weather, residents of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) spend 90% of their time indoors, and the interior environment of the newly built apartments with inappropriate material and ventilation is causing sick building syndrome (SBS), faster than in any other country. NASA studies on indoor air pollutants indicate that the usage of 15–18 air-purifying plants in 18–24 cm diameter containers can clean the air in an average 167.2 m2 house (approximately one plant per 9.2 m2). This study investigates the effect of three different types of air-purifying plants, Pachira aquatica, Ficus benjamina, and Aglaonema commutatum, in reducing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and formaldehyde (CH2O) in hot desert climate. An experiment is performed in which the CH2O and VOCs concentrations are measured in two laboratory spaces (Room 1 and Room 2). Different volumes (5 and 10% of the laboratory volume) of target plants are installed in Room 1, whereas Room 2 is measured under the same conditions without plants for comparison. The results show that the greater the planting volume (10%), the greater is the reduction effect of each VOCs. In summer in hot desert climate, the initial concentration (800 µg/cm3) of CH2O and VOCs is higher, and the reduction amount is higher (534.5 µg/cm3) as well. The reduction amount of CH2O and toluene (C7H8) is particularly high. In the case of C7H8, the reduction amount (45.9 µg/cm3) is higher in summer with Aglaonema commutatum and Ficus benjamina. It is statistically proven that Ficus benjamina is most effective in reducing CH2O and C7H8 in an indoor space in hot desert climate. The findings of this study can serve as basic data for further improving the indoor air quality using only air-purifying plants in hot desert climate of the United Arab Emirates.

Indoor Air Quality Intervention in Schools; Effectiveness of a Portable HEPA Filter Deployment in Five Schools Impacted by Roadway and Aircraft Pollution Sources

The Healthy Air, Healthy Schools Study was established in January 2020 to better understand the impact of ultrafine particles (UFP) on indoor air quality in communities surrounding Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport. The study team took multipollutant measurements indoor and outdoor air pollution at five participating school locations to infiltration indoors. The schools participating in this project were located within a 7-mile radius of Sea-Tac Airport and within 0.5 miles of an active flight path. Based on experimental measures in an unoccupied classroom, infiltration rates of a) Ultrafine particles of aircraft origin b) Ultrafine particles of traffic origin and c) Wildfire smoke or other outdoor pollutants were characterized before and after the introduction of a classroom based portable HEPA filter intervention. The portable HEPA cleaners were an effective short-term intervention to improve the air quality in classroom environments, reducing the ultrafine particles to approximately 1/10th of that measured outside. Before the HEPA filter deployment, approximately one-half of all outdoor UFPs were measured indoors. This study is unique in focusing on UFP in school settings and demonstrating through multivariate methods that the UFP measured in the classroom space is primarily of outdoor origin. Although existing research suggests that improvements to indoor air quality in homes can significantly improve asthma outcomes, further research is necessary to establish the benefit to student health and academic performance of improved air quality in schools.

Airborne Environmental Threats to Health & Wellness-An Integrated Overview

Background: The environmental pollution is a growing world problem specifically in developed & developing countries. In these areas G.I.T disorders & diarrheal diseases have replaced by airborne environmental disorders.Methods: Literatures was reviewed on the subject to find out the knowledge regarding Environmental threats of air pollution & its effects on the health of human body. Data and details have been located, selected, extracted and synthesized from different national & international Journals, websites, Proceedings, books, google scholar etc.Result & Conclusion: Changes are taking place in air regularly. Different pollutants are being created from different sources. Indoor air pollution is common among underdeveloped & developing nations. To improve health situation different professional, have to play their roles. Effects of air pollution are sometimes general in nature otherwise may be immediate or delayed. Leading causes of death is cardiovascular diseases like IHD are now being declared as airborne. Emergent airborne diseases are more than 30 like COVID 19 only result in 43.6 lakhs death so far. Toxic & hazardous chemicals are present in air in the form of allergens, neurotoxin, mutagen, carcinogen etc. Air pollutants are carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, Benzene, Ozone, Lead, sulphates, SPM etc. Meteorological effects on health are also related with air including season, atmospheric pressure, heat, cold etc. Indoor air pollutants have also specific health effects.

Strengthening Taiwan’s Green Building Certification System from Aspects of Productivity and Energy Costs to Provide a Healthier Workplace

This study estimates the relationship between poor indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and the increasing labor costs in green buildings in Taiwan. Specifically, poor performance of IEQ including HVAC, lighting, and indoor air quality, influences the health and well-being of occupants and leads to worse productivity, ultimately causing increased personnel cost. In Taiwan’s green building certification (GBC) system, the energy-savings category is mandatory while the IEQ category is only optional. It means that certified building cases may not reach the expected level in IEQ. Thus, this study reviews the thermal environment, indoor air quality (IAQ), and illumination performances of IEQ-certified and non-IEQ-certified buildings in 20 green buildings. Building energy and IEQ simulations were conducted to analyze the relationships between indoor comfort, energy cost, and personnel cost in green buildings. The results show that IEQ-certified green buildings averagely perform better than non-IEQ-certified ones in the aspects of IEQ and building costs. Besides, 3 of 13 non-IEQ-certified green buildings undertake extremely high additional expenditure for the poor IEQ. The results correspond to some previous findings that green-certified buildings do not necessarily guarantee good building performance. This study further inspects the pros and cons of Taiwan’s GBC system and proposes recommendations against its insufficient IEQ evaluation category. As the trade-off of energy-saving benefits with health and well-being in green buildings has always been a concern, this study aims to stimulate more quantitative research and promote a more comprehensive green building certification system in Taiwan.

Detection of Suspended SARS-CoV-2 in Indoor Air Using an Electrostatic Sampler

A prototype virus sampler using electrostatic precipitation has been developed to investigate aerosol infection by SARS-CoV-2. The sampler consists of a discharge electrode placed inside a vial, and a thin layer of viral lysis buffer at the bottom, working as a collection electrode. The sampler was operated with the sampling air flow rate of 40 L/min. Collection efficiency of the sampler is about 80% for 25nm to 5.0µm diameter particles. We sampled the air of a food court of a commercial facility, a connecting corridor of a clouded train station, and two office rooms (A and B) in September 2021, just after the 5th peak of COVID-19 in Japan. The analysis using a RT-qPCR detected the virus RNA in the air of the office A, B and the food court. Estimated concentration of the virus in the air determined by calibration curve was 2.0 x 102, 7.8 x 102, and 0.6 - 2.4 x 102 copies/m3, in the office A, B, and the food court, respectively. These results indicate that the sampler using electrostatic precipitation can detect SARS-CoV-2 in indoor air. It could be developed as a risk assessment method for aerosol infection.