Low-Carbon Housings and Indoor Air Quality

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the background information regarding low-carbon housings in the United Kingdom and to raise the concern of the possible high indoor pollution load due to the emissions from building materials and combustion products which would adversely affect the indoor air quality in air-tight buildings, especially homes. The standard guidelines given by the Building Regulations in the UK are reviewed especially in relation to mechanical ventilation with heat recovery systems. Also research literatures in relation to heat recovery ventilators and the use of air-cleaners from Korea, Hong Kong and China and from Europe are also included to illustrate the various possibilities to conserve energy and to achieve adequate ventilation with an improvement of indoor air quality. The effectiveness of using a heat recovery ventilator system and trickle ventilators in unoccupied super-energy-efficient test houses is illustrated by reviewing the long-term indoor volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations in these test houses. The awareness of the issue is important for the future design and indoor air management of buildings, so as to provide adequate ventilation for living spaces without costing too much on energy efficiency.

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