Indoor Air Quality Assessments of New Energy-Efficient Housing
The U.S. Department of Energy's Building America program is a private/public partnership that provides energy solutions for production housing. A systems engineering approach is used to produce homes on a community scale that use 30-50% less energy than conventionally built homes while substantially reducing construction time and waste. This approach increases the quality and performance of new houses and provides valuable information for change in the home building industry. To date, more than 9,000 houses have been constructed in numerous projects throughout the U.S. Research in the PSD&C group supports Building America's mission of promoting new energy-efficient housing by developing and demonstrating diagnostic tools and cost-effective techniques to achieve good indoor air quality without sacrificing energy performance.
Building and interior finish materials are sources of volatile organic air compounds (VOCs). Some of these are carcinogenic; many are odorous or have irritant effects at low levels. Occupants and their activities also generate air-borne pollutants indoors. Excessive levels of VOCs and other air pollutants can result in a variety of adverse health effects including headaches, nausea, sensory irritation, difficulty breathing and increased cancer risks. Acceptable levels of indoor air pollutants can best be achieved by eliminating or controlling the sources of these compounds and by maintaining adequate building ventilation.
This research is progressing in stages. We have developed diagnostic methods and have used these methods to measure indoor air quality in energy-efficient houses constructed using different advanced materials and techniques and in control houses. These studies conducted with our collaborators at the Florida Solar Energy Center identified several sources of objectionable VOCs, including engineered wood products. Based on these results, a laboratory study using small-scale environmental chambers was conducted to characterize the emissions of VOCs from selected indoor sources used to finish the interior of a new manufactured house. Whole-house VOC emission rates for combined materials were predicted based on measured emission factors and material quantities. These predicted rates then were compared to whole-house emission rates derived from measurements made at the house three months after its installation with good results. Cost-effective control strategies for the most significant VOC sources in manufactured houses are being developed and a project is planned to demonstrate the most promising of these strategies.
Link to the U.S. Department of Energy Building America web site
http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/building_america/
Link to the Building America Industrialized Housing Partnership web site
http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/bldg/baihp/
Contact: Al Hodgson