Lecture

Indoor Air Quality Modeling

Introduction to Indoor Air

Quality Modeling
 Objectives of the lecture

• Introduce IAQ modeling approaches and techniques.

• Discuss commercially available IAQ models (CONTAM,
advanced numerical models, CFD)
• Present case studies.
 Indoor air quality (IAQ)
Total exposure

Peoples are and 10%

90% indoors outdoors

 It refers to the quality of the air inside buildings as represented by

concentrations of pollutants and thermal conditions that affect the health and
performance of occupants.

 Increasing complaints about indoor environment demands measurements of

indoor air quality.
Estimated burden of disease (DALYs) in India for selected major risk factors and
diseases compared with that from IAP
World deaths attributed to household air pollution from using solid fuels
 Burden of disease due to indoor and outdoor air pollution for various countries
Countries Population (000) Indoor Air Pollution Outdoor Air Pollution
Population using Deaths per year Annual PM10 Deaths per year
solid fuel (%) (μg/m3)

Bangladesh 143,809 89 46,000 157 8,200

Cambodia 13,810 >95 1,600 51 200
China 1,302,307 80 380,700 80 275,600
India 1,049,550 82 407,100 84 120,600
Indonesia 217,131 72 15,300 114 28,800
Malaysia 23,965 <5 <100 28 500
Myanmar 48,852 >95 14,700 75 3,900
Nepal 24,609 81 7,500 161 700
Pakistan 149,911 81 70,700 165 28,700
Philippines 78,580 45 6,900 34 3,900
Republic of Korea 47,430 <5 - 43 6,800

Singapore 4,183 <5 - 48 1,000

Sri Lanka 18,910 67 3,100 93 1,000
Thailand 62,193 72 4,600 77 2,800
Vietnam 80,278 70 10,600 66 6,300
Asia - - 971,200 - 517,700
World 6,213,869 52 1,497,000 61 865,000
 Urban built environments

 Residential buildings
 Commercial buildings
 Office buildings
 Institutional complexes
 Health care centre’s/hospitals
 Reasons for IAQ problems

 Inadequate ventilation and air tightness

 Variations in temperature and humidity levels
 Indoor sources including combustion
 Infiltration of outdoor air contaminants
 Use of cleaning chemicals and building products
 What causes indoor air pollution??

 Air tightness of buildings

 Poorly designed air conditioning and ventilation
systems
 Indoor sources of pollution
 Outdoor sources of pollution
Sources of indoor air pollutants
Sources of Indoor Air Pollution in a Typical
Office Building
Sources of Indoor Air Pollution in a Typical Household
Poor IAQ results
 WHO Standards
Pollutants Concentration Concentrations Concentration Remarks
reported of limited or no of concern
concern
Respirable 0.05 – 0.7 <0.1 >0.015 Japanese standard 0.15
particulates mg/m3
CO 1-1.5 <2 >5 Indicator for eye
irritation(only from
passive smoking)
NO2 0.05 – 1 <0.19 >0.32 ----
---- 2% COHb 3%COHb 99.9%
CO 1-100 <11 >30 Continuous exposure
Formaldehyde 0.05 – 2 <0.06 >0.12 Long- and Short- term

SO2 0.02 – 1 <0.5 >1.35 SO2 alone, short-term

CO2 500 – 5000 ppm <1000 ppm >1000 ppm Occupancy indicator
O3 600-9000 <1800 >12000 Japanese standard 1800
mg/m3
Asbestos <10 fibres/m3 0 105 fibre/m For long Exposure

* typical ranges of concentration is given in mg/m3, unless otherwise indicated

 Parameters affecting IAQ

• Rate of exchange of air from outdoors (ventilation)

• Concentration of pollutants in outdoor air
• Rate of emission from sources indoors
• Rate of removal of pollutants (Sinks)
• Indoor temperature
• Indoor humidity
• Age of indoor structure
• Type of foundation soil
 Strategies for investigating IAQ problem
The following strategies for investigating IAQ problems is used to
evaluate building-related indoor environment problems, consists
of the following stages:

 Initial assessment
 Assessment of health and comfort concerns
 IAQ and thermal comfort monitoring
 Follow-up IAQ measurements
 Ventilation measurements
 Monitoring of indoor pollutants and other environmental
parameters and development of IAQ model
 Develop a plan for reducing and eliminating the IAQ
problem

Thank you!