Indoor air pollution has become a broad problem due to various indoor or outdoor pollutant sources and limited ventilation. A performance-based approach, which is built upon accurate modelling and simulation of indoor air pollutant characteristics, has obvious advantages over the prescription-based method to achieve better indoor environment. Moreover, the simulation could play a key role in actively preventing indoor air pollution from happening in the first place. In this study, a mechanistic air quality simulation tool was introduced. To verify the reliability of simulation results, two actual field cases with different levels of complexity and time duration were discussed. One was performed in a full-scale experimental room with a single formaldehyde source of a medium density board, in which indoor formaldehyde concentrations varied naturally. Long-term (more than three years) comparison between the simulation results and measurement were conducted. Another occurred during the decoration process in an actual apartment. The formaldehyde concentration levels were well predicted at the design stage and later verified by the field data. Nevertheless, a lot more efforts are required to make indoor air quality (IAQ) simulation tools readily useful in actual engineering applications.
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