Information on Indoor Air Quality and Building Energy-Efficient Homes

摘要

Concurrent with the effort to conserve energy in the Pacific Northwest, concerns have emerged about those conservation measures which reduce natural air infiltration in buildings. The reduction of air infiltration can lead to increased levels of whatever air pollutants might be present in a building, and therefore can increase risks to the health of building occupants. As yet, not all questions about relationships between air infiltration, sources of indoor air pollutants, indoor air quality, human health, and mitigation strategies have been answered. Nonetheless, decisions which affect energy consumption have to be made. The following information in indoor air quality is being given to those entities with responsibility for adopting building codes or service requirements for achieving the Northwest Power Council's Model Conservation Standards. This booklet tries to place the issue in perspective by discussing ventilation, the Model Conservation Standards, possible methods of compensating for reductions in natural infiltration, and the characteristics of indoor air pollutants. 77 references. (ERA citation 10:018559)