Addressing Kitchen Contaminants for Healthy Low-Energy Homes

摘要

Cooking and cooking burners emit pollutants that can adversely affect indoor air qualityrnin residences and significantly impact occupant health. As building envelopes become tighter,rnmore of these pollutants remain in the living space. Effective kitchen exhaust ventilation canrnreduce exposure to cooking-related air pollutants as an enabling step to healthier, low-energyrnhomes. This report identifies barriers to the widespread adoption of kitchen exhaust ventilationrntechnologies and practice and proposes a suite of strategies to overcome these barriers. Thernrecommendations have been vetted by a group of industry, regulatory, health, and researchrnexperts and stakeholders who convened for two web-based meetings and provided input andrnfeedback to early drafts of this document. The most fundamental barriers are (1) the commonrnmisconception, based on a sensory perception of risk, that kitchen exhaust when cooking isrnunnecessary and (2) the lack of a code requirement for kitchen ventilation in most US locations.rnHighest priority objectives include the following: (1) Raise awareness among the public and thernbuilding industry of the need to install and routinely use kitchen ventilation; (2) Incorporaternkitchen exhaust ventilation as a requirement of building codes and improve the mechanisms forrncode enforcement; (3) Provide best practice product and use-behavior guidance to ventilationrnequipment purchasers and installers, and; (4) Develop test methods and performance targets tornadvance development of high performance products. A specific, urgent need is an over-the-rangernmicrowave that meets the airflow and sound requirements of ASHRAE Standard 62.2.