Role of the US Department of Energy in indoor air quality and building ventilation policy development.

摘要

Building ventilation consumes about 5.8 exajoules of energy each year in the US The annual cost of this energy, used for commercial building fans (1.6 exajoules) and the heating and cooling of outside air (4.2 exajoules), is about $US 33 billion per year. Energy conservation measures that reduce heating and cooling season ventilation rates 15 to 35% in commercial and residential buildings can result in a national savings of about 0.6 to 1.5 exajoules ($US 3-8 billion) per year assuming no reduction of commercial building fan energy use. The most significant adverse environmental impact of reduced ventilation and infiltration is the potential degradation of the buildings indoor air quality. Potential benefits to the US from the implementation of sound indoor air quality and building ventilation reduction policies include reduced building-sector energy consumption; reduced indoor, outdoor, and global air pollution; reduced product costs; reduced worker absenteeism; reduced health care costs; reduced litigation; increased worker well-being and productivity; and increased product quality and competitiveness.