A Full-Scale Test Chamber for Material Emission Studies and Indoor Air Quality Modeling

Abstract Background Pediatric asthma is currently the most prevalent chronic disease in the United States, with children in lower income families disproportionately affected. This increased health burden is partly due to lower-quality and insufficient maintenance of affordable housing. A movement towards ‘green’ retrofits that improve energy efficiency and increase ventilation in existing affordable housing offers an opportunity to provide cost-effective interventions that can address these health disparities. Methods We combine indoor air quality modeling with a previously developed discrete event model for pediatric asthma exacerbation to simulate the effects of different types of energy retrofits implemented at an affordable housing site in Boston, MA. Results Simulation results show that retrofits lead to overall better health outcomes and healthcare cost savings if reduced air exchange due to energy-saving air tightening is compensated by mechanical ventilation. Especially when exposed to indoor tobacco smoke and intensive gas-stove cooking such retrofit would lead to an average annual cost saving of over USD 200, while without mechanical ventilation the same children would have experienced an increase of almost USD 200/year in health care utilization cost. Conclusion The combination of indoor air quality modeling and discrete event modeling applied in this paper can allow for the inclusion of health impacts in cost-benefit analyses of proposed affordable housing energy retrofits.

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Indoor air quality modeling :

10.6028/nbs.ir.85-3265 ◽

1985 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Preston McNall ◽

George Walton ◽

Samuel Silberstein ◽

James Axley ◽

Kunimichi Ishiguro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Air Quality Modeling ◽

Quality Modeling

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Numerical evaluation of contaminants mixing uniformity in a full-scale test chamber with mixing fan

Indoor and Built Environment ◽

10.1177/1420326x20979021 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1420326X2097902

Author(s):

Hai-Xia Xu ◽

Yu-Tong Mu ◽

Yin-Ping Zhang ◽

Wen-Quan Tao

Keyword(s):

Concentration Distribution ◽

Test Chamber ◽

Full Scale ◽

Numerical Results ◽

Test Method ◽

Test Accuracy ◽

Full Scale Test ◽

Concentration Region ◽

Airflow Field ◽

Scale Test

Most existing models and standards for volatile organic compounds emission assume that contaminants are uniform in the testing devices. In this study, a three-dimensional transient numerical model was proposed to simulate the mass transport process based on a full-scale test chamber with a mixing fan, and the airflow field and contaminants concentration distribution were obtained within the chamber under airtight and ventilated conditions. The model was validated by comparing the numerical results with experimental data. The numerical results show that the contaminant source position and the airflow field characteristics have significant impact on the contaminant mixing, and the fan rotation has an important role in accelerating mixing. In the initial mixing stage, the concentration distribution is obviously uneven; as the mixing progresses, it gradually reaches acceptable uniformity except for some sensitive regions, such as high concentration region at the injection point of the contaminants and low concentration region at the air inlet. To ensure test accuracy, the monitor should avoid above sensitive regions; and some special regions are recommended where contaminant concentration uniformity can be reached sooner. The ventilated chamber results indicate that the mixture of contaminants in the chamber is actually better than the results shown by conventional test method.

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