Experiments were conducted to determine the photocatalytic degradation of three types of gas-phase compounds, NOX, VOCs, and chloramines, by TiO2 impregnated tiles. The oxides of nitrogen NO and NO2 (NOx) have a variety of negative impacts on human and environmental health ranging from serving as key precursors for the respiratory irritant ozone, to forming nitric acid, which is a primary component of acid rain. A flow tube reactor was designed for the experiments that allowed the UV illumination of the tiles under exposure to both NO and NO2 concentrations in simulated ambient air. The reactor was also used to assess NOx degradation for sampled ambient air. The PV values for NO and NO2 were 0.016 cm s-1 and 0.0015 cm s-1, respectively. For ambient experiments a decrease in ambient NOx of ~ 40% was observed over a period of roughly 5 days. The mean PV for NOx for ambient air was 0.016 cm s-1 and the maximum PV was .038 cm s-1. Overall, the results indicate that laboratory conditions generally simulate the efficiency of removing NOx by TiO2 impregnated tiles. Volatile organic compounds (VOC's) are formed in a variety of indoor environments, and can lead to respiratory problems (US EPA, 2010). The experiments determined the photocatalytic degradation of formaldehyde and methanol, two common VOCs, by TiO2 impregnated tiles. The same flow tube reactor used for the previous NOX experiments was used to test a standardized gas-phase concentration of formaldehyde and methanol. The extended UV illumination of the tiles resulted in a 50 % reduction in formaldehyde, and a 68% reduction in methanol. The deposition velocities (or the photocatalytic velocities, PV) were estimated for both VOC's. The PV for formaldehyde was 0.021 cm s-1, and the PV for methanol was 0.026 cm s-1. These PV values are slightly higher than the mean value determined for NO from the previous experiments which was 0.016 cm s-1. The results suggest that the TiO2 tiles could effectively reduce specific VOC levels in indoor environments. Chlorination is a widespread form of water disinfection. However, chlorine can produce unwanted disinfection byproducts when chlorine reacts with nitrogen containing compounds or other organics. The reaction of chlorine with ammonia produces one of three chloramines, (mono-, di-, and tri-chloramine). The production of chloramines compounds in indoor areas increases the likelihood of asthma in pool professionals, competitive swimmers, and children that frequently bath in indoor chlorinated swimming pools (Jacobs, 2007; Nemery, 2002; Zwiener, 2007). A modified flow tube reactor in conjunction with a standardized solution of monochloramine, NH2Cl, determined the photocatalytic reactions over the TiO2 tiles and seven concrete samples. The concrete samples included five different concrete types, and contained either 5 % or 15 % TiO2 by weight. The PV for the tiles was 0.045 cm s-1 for the tiles manufactured by TOTO Inc. The highest PV from the concrete samples was 0.054 cm s-1. Overall the commercial tiles were most efficient at reducing NH2Cl, compared to NOX and VOC compounds. However, the concrete samples had an even higher PV for NH2Cl than the tiles. The reason for this is unknown; however, distinct surface characteristics and a higher concentration of TiO2 in the concrete may have contributed to these findings.

In the U.S. and other developed countries, humans spend the vast majority of their time within the built environment. As a result, a substantial portion of our collective exposure to airborne pollutants, even those of outdoor origin, occurs in indoor environments. In addition, building construction materials and operational practices are changing as we endeavor to reduce the energy burden of the built environment. These changes result in barriers and opportunities in mitigating exposure to indoor pollutants and the accompanying implications for human health. This dissertation advances knowledge regarding low-energy control of indoor ozone. Ozone is often considered a pollutant of outdoor concern. However, ozone in indoor environments presents important challenges regarding exposure, intake, and chemistry in the built environment. The investigations in this dissertation extend the state understanding of indoor transport and transformation of ozone, and the potential for using material-surface interactions in buildings to suppress concentrations of indoor ozone. The first objective relates to the determination of magnitudes of ozone removal and product emissions at room or building scales. This objective provides new data on reactive uptake and product generation in large-scale environments, develops Monte Carlo models describing indoor ozone removal by materials in homes, and compares active and passive methods of indoor ozone removal. The second objective addresses the need to develop improved air cleaning materials through experiments and modeling that address material-ozone reactions in porous materials. This objective advances the state of modeling heterogeneous reactive uptake of ozone by characterizing material physical properties and transport phenomena, determining their impact on ozone removal, and using these data to develop a more mechanistic model of material-ozone reactions. Ultimately, these investigations advance the engineering concepts that support the development of passive indoor pollutant controls, an important tool for reducing concentrations of indoor pollutants while supporting low-energy building initiatives. The combination of experimental characterization of ozone deposition velocities and product emission rates, whole-building Monte Carlo modeling, and mechanistic material/pollutant models provide important new data and approaches that expand the state of knowledge of the fate and transport of reactive pollutants in indoor environments. / text

Understanding the transport of particulate and gaseous indoor air pollutants from source to exposure is paramount to improve our understanding of the complexities of the built environments in which we spend the majority of our time. This dissertation offers new insights on particle resuspension from indoor surfaces, infant exposure to organic contaminants released from crib mattresses, and the dynamics of pollutant transport and human exposure while sleeping. Particle resuspension is the physical process by which settled particles detach from a surface and become airborne through application of various aerodynamic and mechanical removal forces. Resuspension is an important indoor source of coarse mode particles (> 1 µm in diameter) and can be a source mechanism for biological matter and organic contaminants that accumulate in house dust. Settled dust deposits on indoor surfaces can vary considerably in their structure and mass loading, yet little is known as to how these parameters affect resuspension. Through wind tunnel experiments, this research demonstrates that the deposit structure (monolayer or multilayer) can have a significant impact on the number of particles that aerodynamically resuspend. Furthermore, this dissertation presents the first full-scale experimental chamber study to show that human body movements in bed can resuspend settled mattress dust particles. An indoor aerosol model was utilized to provide a mechanistic understanding of the impact of movement intensity, surface vibrations, bedroom ventilation rate, and dust loading on the resuspension flux and intake fraction of resuspended particles. Infants spend most of their time sleeping and are likely to be exposed to elevated concentrations of chemicals released from their crib mattresses. Through a combination of chamber experiments and solvent extractions, this research shows that infant crib mattresses can emit a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and contain numerous chemical additives, including phthalate and alternative plasticizers, flame retardants, and unreacted isocyanates. Additionally, this study discovered that infants are exposed to approximately twice the concentrations of VOCs in their breathing zones as compared to the bulk bedroom air, due to their close proximity to the source.

Women living in rural Kenya rely on wood for cooking and are exposed to elevated amounts of wood smoke. The objective of this thesis was to assess the health and quality of life benefits of installing biogas digesters on rural Kenyan dairy farms. Thirty-one farms with biogas digesters and 31 farms without digesters (referent group) were assessed for wood utilization practices, basic respiratory and self-reported health, and exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Women with biogas digesters spent less time and money acquiring wood, and less time exposed to wood smoke (p<0.01). Multivariable linear regression showed associations between daily wood consumption and having a biogas digester, family size, and number of cows. Individual VOCs were lower in cookhouses on biogas farms (p<0.001) and women with biogas digesters reported fewer respiratory symptoms. Biogas digesters are one technology that can reduce reliance on wood fuel and reduce exposures to harmful wood smoke.

It is reported that cooking can generate many kinds of airborne pollutants,which pose serious threats to human health. Kitchen range-hood is themost effective and popular equipment to exhaust the airborne pollutants,including smoke and oil particle in people’s daily life. The lack of astandardized and overall approach to test and evaluate range-hood makesboth consumer and some manufacturers confused. For these reasons,Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory published a report, whichshowed the results of their elaborate experiment and some conclusion.However, they also pointed out that due to the limitation of the apparatus,some of the results are not reliable.Therefore, this project established a numerical model in Fluent toinvestigate the pollutant removal performance. Many attempts had beenmade before a validated numerical model was accomplished because aproper model needs the balance between iteration time and resultaccuracy. The validation part is presented in the literature. The captureefficiency curve of the numerical model and one of experiments show agood agreement at the low power input. Some conclusions are drawn onhow power inputs and height affect the capture efficiency, respectively.Dimensionless analysis is done to find a general characteristic curve forevaluating the removal performance of a particular range-hood. / Det rapporteras att matlagning kan generera många typer av luftburnaföroreningar, vilket utgör allvarliga hot mot människors hälsa.Köksfläkten är den mest effektiva och populära utrustningen för attventilera ut luftburna föroreningar, inklusive rök och oljepartiklar imänniskors dagliga liv. Bristen på ett standardiserat och övergripandetillvägagångssätt för att testa och utvärdera köksfläktar ställer bådekonsumenten och vissa tillverkare i okunskap. Av dessa skäl publiceradeLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory en rapport, som visade resultatenav deras utarbetade experiment och en slutsats. Men de påpekade ocksåatt på grund av begränsningen av utrustningen är några av resultaten intehelt tillförlitliga.Därför fastställde detta projekt en numerisk modell i Fluent för attundersöka avlägsnandet av föroreningar. Många försök hade gjorts innanen validerad numerisk modell uppnåddes, eftersom en riktig modellbehöver balansen mellan iterationstid och resultatnoggrannhet.Valideringsdelen presenteras i litteraturen. Effektkurvan för dennumeriska modellen och ett av experimenten visar en godöverensstämmelse vid låg effektinmatning. Några slutsatser dras av hurkraftingångar och höjd påverkar upptagningseffektiviteten.Dimensionslös analys görs för att hitta en generell karaktäristisk kurvaför att utvärdera avlägsnande av prestanda för ett viss köksfläkt.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T13:57:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JulianaMSC.pdf: 2960475 bytes, checksum: ff925978b7f6c5c27eed0072ef0251db (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-05-13 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The recent tendency to utilize parking lots for other purposes has demonstrated that more time has been spent by visitors, mainly in great cities. Therefore, this paper investigates the thermal comfort and the air quality indoors in areas specifically used as parking lots by analyzing the direct relation between such environments and vehicular pollution. The thermal comfort and the quality of air indoors in parking lots with different architectonic typology (ground-floor and underground) are also studied, aiming to contribute to the proposition of suitable new areas designated to human usage. Field research was done, in two distinct periods within different weather conditions (January and July) in, two naturally cooled, parking lots located in Natal - RN. The internal environment agents were measured by using tools for air temperature, humidity, speed and direction; interviews with employees and visitors and chemical analysis through appropriate tools to analyze specific material, carbon monoxide and ozone. The results showed that chemical agents densely concentrate mostly in the closed parking space, aggravated by weather conditions, which dissatisfied the visitors. Still, it was shown that architectonic typology, alongside topographical aspects compromise internal environmental conditions, which increases the retention of pollution, leading to dissatisfactory thermal comfort levels and becoming less suitable for usage by visitors considering air and thermal comfort aspects. Consequently, they are not suitable for human stay due to the poor quality of the indoor air / A atual tend?ncia de utiliza??o dos espa?os destinados a estacionamento veicular para outras finalidades tem resultado num tempo maior de perman?ncia dos usu?rios nestes espa?os, principalmente nas grandes cidades. Por esta raz?o, o presente trabalho investiga a qualidade do ar interior e o conforto t?rmico em ?reas reservadas a estacionamentos, atrav?s da rela??o direta destes ambientes com a polui??o veicular. Para realiza??o deste estudo, optou-se por estacionamentos com tipologias arquitet?nicas diferenciadas, sendo um estacionamento aberto e um estacionamento fechado, ambos ventilados naturalmente, situados em Natal/RN, com o intuito de contribuir para a proposi??o de novos espa?os desta natureza adequados ? perman?ncia humana. Para tal, realizou-se pesquisa de campo nos dois estacionamentos em per?odos distintos (janeiro e julho), espa?o de tempo condizente com os per?odos clim?ticos caracter?sticos (ver?o e inverno, respectivamente) da referida cidade. As condicionantes ambientais internas foram mensuradas atrav?s de instrumentos de medi??es da temperatura do ar, umidade relativa do ar, velocidade do ar e dire??o dos ventos; as humanas, atrav?s de entrevistas aplicadas com usu?rios dos locais (visitantes e funcion?rios); e as qu?micas, atrav?s de instrumentos de medi??o apropriados para material particulado, mon?xido de carbono e oz?nio. Na an?lise dos resultados, constatou-se que as condicionantes qu?micas atingiram maiores concentra??es no estacionamento fechado. Este quadro foi agravado pelas condi??es clim?ticas do local (maiores temperaturas do ar), resultando num maior registro de usu?rios insatisfeitos. Constatou-se que a tipologia arquitet?nica de estacionamentos fechados, com contribui??o tamb?m de seu aspecto topogr?fico, compromete as condi??es ambientais internas, potencializando a reten??o de poluentes, acarretando espa?os com baixo ?ndice de conforto t?rmico para seus usu?rios, sendo, assim, menos adequados do ponto de vista da qualidade do ar interior e do conforto t?rmico

The first part of the thesis deals with the issue of indoor climate in school buildings. The second part deals with the design of the heating system in the extension of the primary school, including the design of the source and the reconstruction of the source for the existing building in a variant solution. The last part of the thesis is devoted to experimental measurement of indoor air quality in elementary school.

Exposure to aerosol particles can cause health issues such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Nevertheless, aerosol particle exposure with size-resolved information was seldom investigated in real-life European houses in the long term, especially for the ultrafine size range. In this work, indoor and outdoor measurements were conducted from December 2016 to March 2019. A standard of high-quality indoor and outdoor particle measurements in multi-homes was established for the first time. For more than 500 days, measurement data were collected in 40 German homes, including particle mass concentrations (PMC) of PM10, PM2.5, and PM1, particle number concentration (PNC) and size distribution, equivalent black carbon (eBC) mass concentration, CO2 concentration, and the residents’ activity log. With such novel dataset, representative patterns of diurnal and seasonal variation of particle concentration and size distribution as well as eBC mass concentration have been captured. In the warm season, diurnal cycles of indoor PMC and PNC showed weaker variation and less intense peaks (around the time of breakfast, lunch and dinner) than in the cold season, due to ventilation reducing the effect of indoor sources. To better understand the key dynamic processes of indoor particles (i.e. ventilation, building shell penetration, particle losses and emission), two commonly used quantitation methods, single parameter approach (SPA) and Indoor Aerosol Model approach (IAM), were compared and evaluated for the first time. Correction factors were derived to adjust the emission rates calculated from the simplified SPA approach, making emission rates derived from different levels of analysis mutually comparable. Results show that indoor source was the major contributor (56%) to indoor particle number exposure in investigated German residences. For the contribution of outdoors, penetration through the building envelope (26%) was higher than infiltration through open windows (15%). Burning candles and opening of window(s) led to seasonal differences in the contributions of indoor sources to residential exposure (70% and 40% in the cold and warm season, respectively). Indoor sources should be taken into consideration in future epidemiological studies and risk assessment of exposure to particle air pollution. / Aerosolpartikel können gesundheitliche Probleme wie Atemwegs- und Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankungen verursachen. Jedoch wurde die Aerosolpartikelexposition, insbesondere für ultrafeine Partikel, in realen Europäischen Haushalten bisher nicht langfristig untersucht. Für diese Arbeit wurden Messungen im Innen- und Außenbereich von Dezember 2016 bis März 2019 durchgeführt. Erstmals wurde ein Standard für qualitativ hochwertige Innen- und Außenmessungen von Aerosolpartikeln in Wohnhäusern etabliert. An mehr als 500 Tagen wurden Messdaten verteilt über 40 deutsche Haushalte gesammelt, darunter die Partikelmassekonzentration (PMC) von PM10, PM2,5 und PM1, die Partikelanzahlkonzentration (PNC) und deren Größenverteilung, die Massekonzentration des äquivalenter schwarzer Kohlenstoff (eBC – equivalent Black Carbon) und ein Aktivitätsprotokoll der Bewohner. Mit diesem neuartigen Datensatz wurden repräsentative Muster der tages- und jahreszeitlichen Variation der Partikelkonzentration und Partikelgrößenverteilung sowie der eBC-Konzentration erstellt. Im Sommerhalbjahr zeigen sich schwächere Variationen und weniger intensive Spitzen (während der Frühstücks-, Mittags- und Abendessenszeit) in den Tageszyklen von PMC und PNC als im Winterhalbjahr. Dies ist auf die die Belüftung zurückzuführen, die den Effekt von Innenraumquellen reduziert. Zwei häufig verwendete Quantifizierungsmethoden der Schlüsselprozesse, der Single-Parameter-Ansatz (SPA) und der Indoor-Aerosol-Modellansatz (IAM), wurden zum ersten Mal quantitativ verglichen und bewertet. Es wurden Korrekturfaktoren abgeleitet, um die mit dem vereinfachten SPA-Ansatz berechneten Emissionsraten anzupassen, so dass die aus verschiedenen Analyseebenen abgeleiteten Emissionsraten miteinander vergleichbar sind. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Quellen in Innenräumen den größten Beitrag (56%) zur Partikelanzahlexposition der Bewohner der untersuchten deutschen Haushalte leisten. Der Beitrag des Außenbereichs durch das Eindringen durch die Gebäudehülle (26%) ist höher als der durch offene Fenster (15%). Brennende Kerzen und das Öffnen von Fenster(n) hatten den größten Einfluss auf die saisonalen Unterschiede in der Partikelexposition. Innenraumquellen sollten in zukünftigen epidemiologischen Studien und bei der Risikobewertung Aerosolpartikelexposition berücksichtigt werden.

Business dynamics have generally been driven by the ability to create and provide value to customers. Value has evolved over time having meanings from merely price to something that actually creates a competitive advantage. Nevertheless, with the fast change in market conditions, it has become relevant to understand value, how it is originated, how customers perceive it and strategies to delineate it in order to fulfil customer needs in frontier technology environments. This thesis aims to research on how value is perceived in indoor air quality and heating, ventilating and air conditioning technologies, what customers look for and what the drivers are to originate value. The study is supported in empirical data obtained through four semi-structured interviews from customers with experience in these fields working in companies in Europe. After the research, the findings in terms of value entail several factors. Customers approach value by means of performance, however, at the same time this represents a constraint since it is important to balance performance over price. The value promise is also key to comply with customer expectations and current regulations in place. Moreover, due to the fact that locations are different and the type of buildings too, flexibility is another way to adopt value especially because these technologies are expected to have long lifespans and hence, it is important to consider changes in the future. The results also suggest that sustainable value can be found, improving people’s health, reducing environmental impacts and creating key partnerships corresponding to the triple bottom line of sustainability. Finally, some discussions are given in terms of barriers to create value such as the lack of incentives or low capital to invest, followed by a trend of energy saving systems to optimize and improve current conditions in this market.

Ce travail permet d'approfondir les connaissances sur l'exposition des voyageurs aux polluants de l'air dans les autobus via des mesures représentatives en fonction du matériel roulant (Agora Long, Agora Standard), le taux de renouvellement de l'air, de la qualité de l'air extérieur et des paramètres du trafic routier. Les expériences ont été réalisées en étudiant la répartition des polluants dans l'habitacle, un sujet peu abordé jusqu'à présent dans la littérature. Sont quantifiées certaines sources de pollution comme le relargage des nouveaux matériaux et le transfert des effluents du bus vers sa cabine (auto-pollution). Dans le cadre de cette démarche, une campagne inédite a été créée pour quantifier l'auto-pollution minimum et maximum pour ces deux types de bus. Dans des conditions réelles de circulation, les concentrations en polluants (NO2, PM2.5, concentration en nombre des particules entre 0,02-1µm) ont été plus élevées dans les habitacles des bus par rapport au fond urbain. De plus il a été constaté des concentrations en NO2 plus faibles à l'avant par rapport à l'arrière du bus, position du pot d'échappement et du moteur. Cette surexposition a été expliquée par une auto-pollution plus importante à l'arrière par rapport à l'avant (0,13% contre 0,05% dans des conditions défavorables). Enfin l'influence du relargage des matériaux, du trafic routier, des ouvertures des portes, de la vitesse du vent sur les concentrations des polluants dans les habitacles des bus a été démontrée / This study can increase knowledge about the travelers' exposure to air pollution inside buses through measures based representative of rolling stock (Agora Long, Agora Standard), the air change rate, air outdoor quality and traffic parameters. The experiments were performed by studying the distribution of pollutants in the cabin, a subject little discussed in the literature. Some sources of pollution such as the material emissions and the transfer of bus exhaust in the cabin are quantified (self-pollution). As part of this approach, an unprecedented campaign was conducted to quantify the maximum and minimum self-pollution for both types of bus. In real traffic conditions, the pollutant concentrations (NO2, PM2.5, particle number concentration between 0.02-1µm) are higher in the instrumented buses compared to outdoors. Moreover the lowest concentrations of NO2 have been measured in the front of the cabin compared to the rear, the localization of exhaust pipe and the engine. This overexposure was explained by a self-pollution higher in the rear of the cabin compared to the front (0.13% against 0.05% in adverse conditions). Finally the influence of the material emissions, traffic, door openings, the wind speed on the pollutant concentrations inside buses have been demonstrated