Indoor air quality risk assessment on the Canadian campus by a multilevel integrated weighted average method

摘要

Increasing incidents of indoor air quality(IAQ) related complaints lead us to the fact that IAQ has become a significant occupational health and environmental issue. However, how to effectively evaluate IAQ under different scale of multiple indicators is still a challenge. The traditional single-indicator method is subjected to uncertainties in assessing IAQ due to different subjectivity on good or bad quality and scalar differences of data set. In this study, a multilevel integrated weighted average IAQ method including initial walking through assessment(IWA) and two-layers weighted average method are developed and applied to evaluate IAQ of the laboratory building at the University of Regina in Canada. Some important chemical parameters related to IAQ in terms of volatile organic compounds(VOCs), methanol(HCHO), carbon dioxide(CO2), and carbon monoxide(CO) are evaluated based on 5 months continuous monitoring data. The new integrated assessment result can not only indicates the risk of an individual parameter, but also able to quantify the overall IAQ risk on the sampling site. Finally, some recommendations based on the result are proposed to address sustainable IAQ practices in the sampling area.