A Pilot Study Evaluating Indoor Environment Quality in Energy Efficient Irish Dwellings: The VALIDate Project

摘要

Previous studies evaluating energy-efficient dwellings have highlighted the practical challenges of maintaining good indoor environmental quality. Measures that increase air tightness have been shown to have both positive and negative influences on thermal comfort, and thus on health and well-being. Currently, there is a knowledge gap regarding the effectiveness of ventilation required to maintain a healthy and comfortable environment within energy efficient residential dwellings. Recent advancements in the development of low-cost sensors offer the capability for remotely transmitting information means that there is now a unique opportunity to gather large-scale monitoring data without the traditional constrictions. The current longitudinal study uses low-cost sensors to continuously monitor the thermal comfort and indoor environmental quality in energy efficient Irish residential dwellings. Sensors are placed in four rooms per dwelling; two habitable rooms (living room and bedroom) and two wet rooms (kitchen and bathroom) due to varying ventilation characteristics. Environmental (temperature, humidity) and air quality data (C02, radon and VOCs) is remotely collected. The advantages of continuous monitoring in four separate rooms within a dwelling identifies temporal and spatial variations in indoor environmental quality accounting for factors including occupants' activities, housing characteristics, seasonal variations, and the effectiveness and durability of the ventilation system. In addition, continuous monitoring reduces the uncertainties associated with short-term monitoring, and reliable air pollution exposure estimates can be made. Detailed contextual information is also collected to accompany sensor data, which documents the presence of ventilation and extraction systems and their accompanying switches. The initial data from the first ten homes monitored will be presented at the conference. These results will include the thermal comfort survey data and the analysis of the indoor environmental quality, including pollutant concentration data. This will provide an accurate representation of the effectiveness of whole-house ventilation as opposed to snapshots of individual rooms and periods.