Venting for health: indoor air quality improvements from upgraded ventilation systems in multifamily high-rise housing
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Venting for health: indoor air quality improvements from upgraded ventilation systems in multifamily high-rise housing Jonathan Wilson & Sherry L. Dixon & Marc Zuluaga & David E. Jacobs & Jill Breysse & David Berger
Received: 30 August 2019 / Accepted: 14 September 2020 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The impact of sealing ventilation shafts, installing self-balancing dampers and larger capacity exhaust fans on indoor air quality has not yet been thoroughly investigated. We examined IAQ outcomes in two groups of high-rise multifamily public housing. Both study and control group dwellings received ventilation shaft cleaning. The study group also received higher horsepower rooftop fans and ventilation shaft sealing to prevent leakage, and self-balancing dampers. We conducted interviews with residents 1 year before ventilation work and again 1 year after ventilation work completion (n = 96 households; 45 in the study group and 51 in the control group) that asked about housing conditions. In some dwellings, we also tested airflow and indoor air quality, including volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide (CO2), and formaldehyde. Ventilation improved in the study group and decreased in the control group. Across both groups, dwellings had statistically significant decreases in musty odors and presence of cockroaches. The study group’s ventilation upgrades increased airflow inside those dwellings, and Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-020-09902-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. J. Wilson (*) : S. L. Dixon : D. E. Jacobs : J. Breysse National Center for Healthy Housing, 10320 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Suite 500, Columbia, MD 21044, USA e-mail: [email protected] M. Zuluaga : D. Berger Steven Winter Associates, 307 7th Ave, Suite 1701, New York, NY 10001, USA
the airflow in study group bathrooms was significantly better than that of control group bathrooms. These increased ventilation rates were associated with statistically significant improvements in relative humidity, CO2, and formaldehyde in the study group. Enhanced ventilation should be implemented in multifamily housing to improve indoor air quality. Keywords Ventilation . Healthy housing . Allergy . Indoor air quality . Shaft sealing
Introduction With well-balanced exhaust ventilation, sealed shafts, and compartmentalization of apartments in multifamily buildings, each apartment is equally depressurized with respect to the outdoors. Pressure differences between dwellings are minimized, and make-up air in any apartment is most likely to come from the outside, through cracks or leakage in the exterior walls or from the corridor, not from adjacent apartments. A previous study showed that sealing ventilation shafts and using self-balancing dampers at each exhaust vent can improve ventilation across dwellings in a building, but that study did not examine occupant health or indoor air quality (IAQ) (Steven Winters Associates 2011). This new st
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