In naturally ventilated buildings, occupants play a key role in the performance and energy efficiency of the building operation, mainly through the opening and closing of windows. To include the effects of building occupants within building performance simulation, several useful models describing building occupants and their window opening/closing behaviour have been generated in the past 20 years. However, in these models, the occupants are classified based on the whole population or on sub-groups within a building, whilst the behavioural difference between individuals is commonly ignored. This research project addresses this latter issue by evaluating the importance of the modelling and prediction of occupants window behaviour individually, rather than putting them into a larger population group. The analysis is based on field-measured data collected from a case study building containing a number of single-occupied cellular offices. The study focuses on the final position of windows at the end of the working day. In the survey, 36 offices and their occupants were monitored, with respect to the occupants presence and window use behaviour, in three main periods of a year: summer, winter and transitional. From the behaviour analysis, several non-environmental factors, namely, season, floor level, gender and personal preference, are identified to have a statistically significant effect on the end-of-day window position in the building examined. Using these factors, occupants window behaviour is modelled by three different classification methods of building occupants, namely, whole population, sub-groups and personal preference. The preference-based model is found to perform much better predictive ability on window state when compared with those developed based on whole population and sub-groups. When used in a realistic building simulation problem, the preference-based prediction of window behaviour can reflect well the different energy performance among individual rooms, caused by different window use patterns. This cannot be demonstrated by the other two models. The findings from this research project will help both building designers and building managers to obtain a more accurate prediction of building performance and a better understanding of what is happening in actual buildings. Additionally, if the habits and behavioural preferences of occupants are well understood, this knowledge can be potentially used to increase the efficiency of building operation, by either relocating occupants within the building or by educating them to be more energy efficient.

Intensive care units (ICU) and Surgical Center are noteworthy environments, because patients with poor health that frequent these places are subjected to acquire infections from the air of these environments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the air quality during the dry and rainy seasons of air-conditioned rooms of the NICU, neonatal intensive care unit, (A, B and C) , surgical center and exterior area at the University Hospital HUPAA/UFAL, Maceió-AL, for parameters recommended by ANVISA, and identify the mycoflora found and quantify the bacteria in the air. A number of 22 points of collects were performed, totaling 220 samples of air taken through the methodology specified by ANVISA s No. 9 Resolution, which consists in the definition of the parameters of bioaerosol, CO2, temperature, relative humidity, air velocity and aerialdispersoids. Macro and microscopic features were compared in order to identify the mycoflora and yeasts were identified by PCR with species-specific primers. From the 3.839 fungal colony forming units (CFU) isolated, 1.085 CFU were identified as belonging to 21 genera distributed among 63 species. Mycelia Sterilia with 121 CFU (11.1%) and Cladosporium cladosporioides with 78 CFU (7.2%) were the most frequent species in rainy season. Among the yeast species, Candida parapsilosis and C. tropicalis had the biggest frequency, both with four isolates corresponding to 4.7% each. The means were statistically significant for the parameters CO2, temperature, humidity and aerialdispersoids, not being significant for the air speed parameter. The observed values shows that the environments tested in the hospital were out of compliance for most of the parameters recommended by health surveillance in relation to the indoor air quality. Corrective measures are needed to remedy the possible sources of contamination in hospitals in order to comply with the four technical standards recommended by the National Agency for Sanitary Vigilance, contributing to the reduction of the levels of hospital infection, and the number of deaths related to it. / Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Alagoas / As UTI s e o centro cirúrgico são ambientes hospitalares que merecem destaque, pois os pacientes nestes locais estão sujeitos a adquirir infecções provenientes do ar desses ambientes por apresentarem a saúde debilitada. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a qualidade do ar durante os períodos seco e chuvoso dos ambientes internos climatizados A, B e C da UTN, do centro cirúrgico e do ponto externo do Hospital Universitário HUPAA/UFAL, Maceió-AL, com relação aos parâmetros recomendados pela ANVISA, além de identificar a microbiota fúngica e quantificar as bactérias presentes no ar. Foram realizadas 22 coletas, totalizando 220 amostragens de ar realizadas através da metodologia indicada pela Resolução nº 9 da ANVISA que consiste na determinação dos parâmetros de bioaerossóis, CO2, temperatura, umidade relativa, velocidade do ar e aerodispersóides. Para identificação dos fungos filamentosos foram comparadas as características macro e microscópicas e as leveduras foram identificadas através da técnica de PCR com iniciadores espécie-específicos. Das 3.839 UFC fúngicas isoladas foram identificadas 1.085 UFC pertencentes a 21 gêneros distribuídos em 63 espécies, sendo Mycelia Sterilia com 121 (11,1%) UFC e Cladosporium cladosporioides com 78 (7,2%) UFC as espécies mais freqüentes no período chuvoso. Entre as leveduras, Candida parapsilosis e C. tropicalis foram as mais ocorrentes, ambas com quatro isolados correspondendo a 4,7% cada. As médias foram estatisticamente significativas para os parâmetros CO2, temperatura, umidade relativa, aerodispersóides e bioaerossóis, não sendo significativas para o parâmetro velocidade do ar. Os valores observados demonstram que os ambientes hospitalares estudados estavam fora de conformidade para maioria dos parâmetros recomendados pela vigilância sanitária em relação à qualidade do ar de interiores. Medidas corretivas são necessárias para remediar as possíveis fontes de contaminação nas unidades hospitalares de forma a atender as quatro normas técnicas preconizadas pela Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, contribuindo para minimizar os níveis de infecção hospitalar e o número de óbitos a esta relacionados.