Impact of material emissions and sorption of volatile organic compounds on indoor air quality in a low energy building: Field measurements and modeling

摘要

The assessment of VOC emission rates and sorption coefficients was performed forten surfaces present within a classroom, using field and laboratory emission cells(FLEC) coupled to online and off-line VOC quantification techniques. A total of 21identified VOCs were emitted by the different surfaces. VOC emission rates measuredusing PTR-ToF- MS were compared to gas chromatographic measurements. Theresults showed that the two methods are complementary to one another. Sorptionparameters were also successfully measured for a mixture of 14 VOCs within a fewhours (<17 hours per surface). A study of the spatial and temporal variability of themeasured parameters was also carried out on the two surfaces that presented themost potential for interaction with VOCs, accounting for the largest surface areaswithin the room. The dataset of emission rates and sorption parameters was used inthe INCA-Indoor model to predict indoor air concentrations of VOCs that are comparedto experimental values measured in the room. Modeling results showed thatsorption processes had a limited effect on indoor concentrations of VOCs for thesefield campaigns. Modeled daily profiles show good agreement with the experimentalobservations for VOCs such as toluene (indoor source) and xylenes (outdoor source)but underestimate concentrations of methanol (both indoor and outdoor sources).