(Green Energy and Technology) José A. Orosa, Armando C. Oliveira (Auth.) - Passive Methods As A Solution For Improving Indoor Environments-Springer-Verlag London (2012)

Green Energy and Technology
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José A. Orosa Armando C. Oliveira
•
Passive Methods as a
Solution for Improving
Indoor Environments
123
José A. Orosa Armando C. Oliveira
Departamento de Energía y P. M New Energy Tec. Unit
Escuela Técnica Superior de N. y M Faculdade de Engenharia
Universidade da Coruña Universidade do Porto
Paseo de Ronda 51 Rua Dr Roberto Frias
15011 La Coruña 4200-465 Porto
Spain Portugal
e-mail: jaorosa@udc.es e-mail: acoliv@fe.up.pt
ISSN 1865-3529 e-ISSN 1865-3537

ISBN 978-1-4471-2335-4 e-ISBN 978-1-4471-2336-1
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-2336-1
Springer London Dordrecht Heidelberg New York
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Foreword
This book was written to show the effect of passive methods, such as thermal
inertia and permeable coverings, to improve indoor environments in different
aspects, such as thermal comfort, energy saving, preservation of materials, hygiene
and health.
Specifically, the use of permeable coverings is a well known passive method
but its effects and ways to improve indoor environments have been rarely
analysed. Recent studies, developed by Orosa and Oliveira, revealed a new
procedure to define the real effect of permeable coverings and their working
periods in controlling indoor environments and their effects, such as energy saving
and local thermal comfort. This new procedure, of the real behaviour of internal
coverings, was covered in the PhD Thesis of José A. Orosa in 2003, under advice
of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in his Annex 41 entitled ‘‘Moist Eng’’.
Several related publications were made in the last three years in journals like
Energy and Buildings, Building and Environment and Renewable Energy, among
others.
Despite the fact that real buildings reflect the expected theoretical results, the
procedure was only employed in a few public buildings. In this regard, actual
standards of the International Organization for Standardization proposed modifi-
cations in accordance with real case studies and, hence, a closer approach to reality
was obtained.
This book reveals and discusses the methodology developed and its results and
future research works, such as patents and construction indications, in order to
improve indoor environmental conditions.
Finally, we express our appreciation to Hugo Hens and Carey C. Simonson for
their attention and care offered in the journey through the knowledge of passive
methods.
July 2011 José A. Orosa

Armando C. Oliveira
v
Preface
It is understood that indoor environments must be classified and analysed using

different criteria—work risk prevention, energy saving, thermal comfort, biolog-
ical sources, preservation of materials and therapeutical effect. The different indoor
environments may be defined as industrial environments, office and school
buildings, apartments, libraries and spas. To analyse these environments, data
loggers that measure indoor conditions for long periods of time were employed.
Results revealed different temperature limits and relative humidity in concurrence
with these criteria and, consequently, different procedures to control indoor
ambiences.
It is proposed to establish better behaviour habits in apartments and libraries: to
open windows for a few hours to prevent the generation of excess humidity and
improve the effect of passive methods, such as thermal inertia and permeable
internal coverings in offices and schools. Hot environments, especially, revealed
different control processes. On the one hand, a low level of air change is proposed
for energy saving and low air velocity to prevent local thermal discomfort over wet
skin surfaces in a spa. On the other hand, to prevent work risk increasing the
degree of air changes and enforce resting periods in a controlled industrial envi-
ronment are proposed. Research was carried out about general and local thermal
comfort to define better models to be employed as control algorithms in Heating
Ventilation and Air Conditioning Systems, in order to improve energy savings,
preservation of materials and work risk prevention.
vii
Contents
1 Thermal Comfort and Indoor Air Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.1 Thermal Comfort. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1 General Thermal Comfort Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.2 Local Thermal Comfort Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Indoor Air Quality Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.1 Chemical and Biological Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.2 Consumer Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.3 Other Pollutants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.2.4 Biological Contaminants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.2.5 Sensorial Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2 Indoor Air Standards and Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.1 Indoor Air Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.2 General Thermal Comfort Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.3 Local Thermal Comfort Standards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.1.4 Indoor Air Quality Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2 Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.2.2 Moist Air Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2.3 General Thermal Comfort Models. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.2.4 Local Thermal Comfort Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.3 Indoor Air Quality Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.3.1 Percentage of Dissatisfied with Indoor Air Quality . . . . . 35
2.4 Indoor Air Renovation Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.4.1 Techniques of Tracer Gas Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.5 Building Simulation Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.5.1 EN ISO 13790 Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.5.2 Heat, Air and Moisture Tools Simulation Models . . . . . . 40
ix
x Contents
2.5.3 Building Time Constant Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

2.5.4 Material Properties Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3 Real Indoor Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... 49

3.1 Indoor Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... 49
3.2 Temperature and Relative Humidity. . . . . . . . . . . . ......... 50
3.3 Equipments and Methods to Analyse
Indoor Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.3.1 Measuring Devices for Indoor Environments . . . . . . . . . 51
3.3.2 Measurement Process and Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.3.3 Statistical Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.4 Apartments: Indoor Air and Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.5 Offices and Schools: Indoor Air and Energy Saving . . . . . . . . . 57
3.6 Libraries: Indoor Air and Material Preservation. . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.7 Industrial Environments: Indoor Air and Work Risk . . . . . . . . . 61
3.8 Spas: Indoor Air and Sports Centres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
3.9 General Conclusions About Indoor Environments . . . . . . . . . . . 69
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
4 Passive Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.2 Natural Ventilation, Energy Saving and Comfort. . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4.3 Thermal Inertia and Passive Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
4.3.1 Thermal Inertia and Energy Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
4.3.2 Thermal Inertia and Thermal Comfort
Adaptive Models. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.3.3 Thermal Inertia and Whole Building Simulation . . . . . . . 84
4.4 HVAC Improvement by Passive Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.5 Passive Methods and Preservation of Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4.5.1 Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
5 Permeable Coverings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
5.1.1 Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
5.1.2 Ventilation Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
5.1.3 Data Loggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
5.1.4 Weather Stations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
5.1.5 Working Periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
5.2 New Method to Define Permeable Covering Effect . . . . . . . . . . 103
5.2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
5.2.2 Measuring Periods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
5.2.3 Statistical Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Contents xi
5.2.4 Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 105

5.3 Hourly Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 110
5.4 Improving PAQ with Permeable Coverings During
the First Hours of Occupation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
5.4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
5.4.2 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
5.4.3 Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
5.5 Implementation of a Method for Building Certification . . . . . . . 117
5.5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
5.5.2 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
5.5.3 Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
5.6 Permeable Coverings Methods and Sick Building Syndrome . . . 123
5.6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
5.6.2 Objective Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.6.3 Subjective Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
6 Future Research Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 131

6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 131
6.2 Energy Consumption, Thermal Comfort and Preservation
of Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
6.2.1 Thermal Inertia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
6.2.2 Advances in Natural Ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
6.2.3 HVAC Improvement by Passive Methods . . . . . . . . . . . 134
6.3 Extreme Indoor Environments: Relative Humidity . . . . . . . . . . . 140
6.4 Extreme Indoor Environments: Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
6.5 Indoor Environments and Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
6.6 Other Research Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
6.6.1 Indoor Environments and Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
6.6.2 Implementation of ISO Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Chapter 1
Thermal Comfort and Indoor Air Quality
1.1 Thermal Comfort
In this chapter, the general and local thermal comfort background is presented
with the aim of relating the thermal comfort with more recent research works [1–
3]. Thus, the first procedure is to review the definition of indices and models and
how they can be implemented in later works, adopted by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the American Society of Heating
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards, which are
presented in Chap. 2.
The information is centred in general procedure laboratory studies and defini-
tion of thermal comfort models. Most of these studies are based on the subjective
perception of indoor air by occupants. This is defined as a thermal sensation in
general thermal comfort, and as a percentage of dissatisfied people (PD) in local
thermal comfort.
1.1.1 General Thermal Comfort Background
Thermal comfort was analysed by Fanger in 1967 [4]. His work was based on the
thermoregulation of the human body and its related heat and mass transfer. From
this relationship, Fanger could define a thermal comfort equation. This equation
resulted in a new index of general thermal comfort, called predicted mean vote
(PMV).
To define this relationship, it was concluded that heat and mass transfer is
related to activity levels, sweat rate and skin temperature in a linear way. These
will be defined with six input parameters to lead to the PMV index.
The initial thermal comfort equation was validated with the studies of Nevins
et al. [5] and McNall et al. [6]. In these investigations, students rated their thermal
J. A. Orosa and A. C. Oliveira, Passive Methods as a Solution for Improving Indoor 1

Environments, Green Energy and Technology, DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4471-2336-1_1,
2 1 Thermal Comfort and Indoor Air Quality
sensation in response to specific thermal environments, and their neutral thermal

conditions were defined. Accordingly, this equation gives us the relationship
between the heat released by the body and the heat released by the same body for
the optimum comfort conditions during the same activity.
Finally, in some studies, this equation was related to the thermal sensation scale
of ASHRAE to define simplified models.
1.1.2 Local Thermal Comfort Background
Since the origin, humans have shown a special interest in controlling indoor
environments, but it was only in 1956 that the first serious study was conducted by
Kerka and Humphreys [7]. During these studies, Kerka and Humphreys employed
panels to assess the intensity of smell of three different fumes and smokes to snuff.
The results revealed that there is a high influence of relative humidity and
temperature in the intensity of odour. Furthermore, in 1979, Woods [8] concluded
that it is a function of the moist air enthalpy.
In 1972, Fanger expressed thermal comfort through the heat and mass transfer
between the human body and the thermal environment, as reflected in ISO 7730
and in the ASHRAE standard 55-2004 [9].
In 1974, the smell adaptation to air components, when the exposition time is
increased, was analysed. The same conclusions were obtained in all experiments:
1. There is no difference between air contaminants.
2. All contaminants experiment a reduction of 2.5%/sec, reaching a final value
equal to 40% of the initial value after some minutes.
In 1983, Cain et al. [10] investigated the effect of temperature and relative
humidity on the perception of indoor air quality (IAQ). From this work, it was
concluded that with an increment of temperature and relative humidity there is an
increment of odour problems; specifically, when temperature is higher than 25°C
and relative humidity higher than 70%.
Six years after this research, Berglund and Cain [11] discussed the adaptation to
pollutants over periods of time for different air humidity levels. It was concluded
that relative humidity and temperature are the more important parameters and,
secondly, the presence of pollutants in the air.
In 1992, Gunnarse et al. [12] studied the possibility of adapting the perception
of odour intensity. Four years later, Knudsen et al. [13] developed a research into
the air before accepting a full body and facial exposure under a constant
temperature of 22°C.
Two years after Knudsen’s studies, Fang et al. [14] developed an initial experi-
ment in a chamber (Fig. 1.1).
This chamber depicted temperature and relative humidity control systems.
Notably, in its experiments, 40 students were asked about the acceptability of an
1.1 Thermal Comfort 3
Fig. 1.1 First odour chamber

designed
Fig. 1.2 New experimental

chamber
indoor air chamber with 18°C and a relative humidity of 30%. For this experiment,
students were advised not to use any strong perfumes.
In these experiments, students were tested about their first impression on indoor
air, revealing that relative humidity and temperature exert a higher influence on
acceptability of indoor air than pollutants.
In the second set of statements, this research group developed a set of exper-
iments for a full body exposure under different levels of temperature and relative
humidity to reveal the thermal comfort and acceptability (Acc) (Fig. 1.2). The new
chamber depicted two zones, connected with a door.
During the experiment, the students, 25 men and 10 women, went from one
zone to the other, where a new temperature and relative humidity could be found,
to test thermal comfort and perception of indoor air (survey shown in Fig. 1.3).
During these experiments, the students wore thermal clothes to suit the envi-
ronment. The survey was completed in 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 min for each
experiment. After 20 min, conditions in the chamber were changed.
To define the perception of contaminants in a second group of experiments,
PVC under lower air changes (200 l/s from 420 l/s in the previous experiment)
was added. During these experiments, most of the contaminants were hidden in
the chamber, so its presence was defined as a consequence of indoor air temper-
ature and relative humidity during the first hours of occupation. However, reaching
the 20-minute level, the detection of pollutants was not as a function of temper-
ature and relative humidity and a new parameter, called adaptation, was defined.
Clearly acceptable 0 No odour

+3 Hot +1
+2 Warm 1 Slight odour
+1 Slightly warm
2 Moderate odour
Neutral 0 Just acceptable
0
3 Strong odour
-1 Slightly cool
4 Very strong odour

-2 Cool
-3 Cold -1 Clearly unacceptable 5 Overpowering odour
a. thermal sensation b. acceptability c. odour intensity
Fig. 1.3 Used survey [14]
Fig. 1.4 Influence of 1.5
temperature and relative 1

humidity on the acceptability
0.5
Acc
-0.5
-1
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
In conclusion, there is better Acc when the mucous membranes are cooled and,
additionally, when the temperature of the chamber is low.
Furthermore, despite the fact that temperature is the main parameter, relative
humidity exerts a big influence and, consequently, it is related to the Acc with
moist air enthalpy (Fig. 1.4).
These relations were obtained with clean and polluted indoor air, and the
conclusion reached was that the Acc does not depend on the temperature and
relative humidity in the other chamber zone.
On the other hand, experiments with odour revealed that there is no relation
between temperature, relative humidity and odour; in fact, the odour was adapted
in the chamber after a few minutes, as stated by Gunnarsen [12].
From earlier studies, we conclude that energy saving is related to indoor
acceptability owing to the detriment of temperature and enthalpy. For example,
polluted air with low temperature and humidity depicts the same number of PD
than clean air with high temperature and relative humidity. This conclusion is
complemented by the fact that when temperature and humidity are low, the
pollution emitted by the materials is low, as stated by Fang in 1998 [14].
1.2 Indoor Air Quality Background 5
Table 1.1 Pollution caused by occupants

Sensory pollution CO2 CO H2O
loads olf/person l/(h.p) l/(h.p) l/(h.p)
Sedentary, 1–1.2 met
0% smokers 1 19 50
20% smokers 2 19 11910–3 50
40% smokers 3 19 21910–3 50
100% smokers 6 19 53910–3 50
Physical exercise
Low level, three met 4 200
Half level, six met 10 430
High level (athletes), ten met 20 750
Children
Preschoolers, 3–6 years, 2.7 met 1.2 90
School, 14–16 years, 1–1.2 met 1.3 19 50
1.2 Indoor Air Quality Background
IAQ inside a building depends on the outside air quality, design of the air
conditioning system and its working conditions and the presence of pollution
sources and their magnitude. The risks related to bad IAQ are exposure to toxic
substances, radioactivity, infections or allergies, temperature and relative humidity
conditions and odour nuisance. At the same time, the risks can be detected with the
following symptoms: headache, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, dry skin, eye irritation,
sinus congestion and cough.
In the past few years, a European Collaborative Action was set up to identify
the main problems related to the lack of air quality in an indoor environment,
generally called sick building syndrome (SBS).
In 1986, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognised this syndrome and
defined the techniques to eliminate these pollutants, such as to control emission
sources and renovate indoor air. In this regard, the main technique to eliminate
these pollutants is based on an in-depth analysis of the building construction
materials. For example, of all construction materials that can be employed, only
those that can lower pollution emission should be selected.
A lower pollution emission will improve the indoor ambience and, hence, lower
the ventilation rate. There are different methods to quantify the pollution load.
Some of them are chemical, some are based on the sensory effect and others are
based on the biological effects.
A chemical method to quantify the pollution load is needed to summarise the
contamination load from each individual source. The sensory method is based
on the olf unit, which expresses the effect of many chemicals as perceived by
humans. Hence, one olf is defined as the pollution produced by a healthy adult in
an office and in neutral thermal environment. Different pollution loads are shown
in Table 1.1.
It is well known that airborne micro-organisms are related to infections or

allergic disorders, such as asthma and fever, in exposed people. For example,
earlier studies show the relation between dust mite exposure and asthma. However,
there is no clear relation between mould and asthma and between fungi growth and
its effects in children.
A lot of research works developed in the last few years revealed that the current
methods are difficult to relate mould and health risk and that there is a need to
improve actual standards. Particularly, it was observed that standards must imple-
ment a methodology to evaluate the exposure to fungi mould and metabolites.
In general, we summarise that there is a need for more research to clarify the
real effect of thermal environment on mould, fungi and mites development.
Little data were found for allergy avoidance, and only breast-feeding and child
growing up in smoke free environments were proposed. Furthermore, avoidance of
certain types of foods and having a pet during infancy was recommended.
However, it is well known that exposure to certain allergens is related to
asthma. For example, a lower prevalence of asthma was obtained in ambiences
without pets and mites; it was found that there were different effects from different
allergens.
Currently, the only way to reduce the level of mites in an indoor ambience is by
removing carpets and improving IAQ. There are three methods to improve IAQ:
the first consists in detecting construction failures that allow moisture to permeate
the walls of a building; the second is based on improving air change. Under indoor
air, the changes in relative humidity are low and gases are high. This method is
related to bad HVAC design and an improvement of its equipment.
Despite the fact that the data collected in household characteristics changed
between studies and that constructions are different, it can be concluded that there
are some common topics.
The reason why it was not possible to relate the growth of mites in an indoor
ambience is that we only considered weather conditions and indoor environments;
however, in spite of these conditions, mites obtain water from moist air. Conse-
quently, a relative humidity range to prevent the development of mites is proposed
by most of the standards. For example, a relative humidity range of 75–95% and a
temperature of 13–308C are the optimal conditions for mites’ growth and a relative
humidity over 70% is optimal for fungal growth.
Finally, despite the fact that there is a relationship between humidity and mites’
growth, this was not confirmed by most of the recent studies. For example, indoor
conditions not only depend on weather, there are also microclimates.
In conclusion, it is more complicated than a simple statistical study to obtain a
relationship with all the variables implicated in this problem.
To solve the problem, the IEA, in its Annex 41, developed a report for the
identification and characterisation of pollution sources and humidity in indoor
environments to be taken as reference. This report is based on real measured data
with the aim of defining new methods for energy saving and improving IAQ.
Table 1.2 Chemical contaminants in buildings

Combustion products Construction materials Consumer products Others
Carbon dioxide Fibres Particulate Ozone
Carbon monoxide VOCs Pesticides Metals
Smoke snuff Radon
VOCs Volatile organic compounds
1.2.1 Chemical and Biological Load
Despite the fact that building occupants are sources of pollution, other particles,
such as cleaning products, cooking and cigarette smoke, cause the presence of
contaminants in the building. To summarise, the main contaminants can be
classified as chemical pollutants, combustion products (carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide and smoke snuff), building materials (fibres, volatile organic compounds),
waste products through humans and other pollutants.
1.2.1.1 Chemical Pollutants
Table 1.2 shows the most common chemical contaminants in the air inside a
building, related to their possible source.
1.2.1.2 Combustion Products
The presence of different chemical contaminants in the interior of a building is

related to combustion from heaters, kitchens, etc. Furthermore, these contaminants
are responsible for an increment in indoor air due to low air change.
Carbon Dioxide
Carbon dioxide is usually related to the combustion of carbon substances, such as

industrial processes, human respiration and smoking. Its main effect is related to
suffocating effects.
Carbon Monoxide
Carbon monoxide is related to an incomplete combustion of carbon substances. It

happens, for example, in garages with combustion engines and its main effect is
related to the lack of oxygen.
1.2.1.3 Building Materials
In building materials used in general insulation, we find fibres, glasses, asbestos and
different types of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with related health effects.
Fibres
Fibreglass and asbestos are two different types of fibres that present a potential
contamination risk. They are composed of amorphous glassy materials and
employed to reinforce paper and plastic, for example, fabric thermal insulation and
air conditioning systems. This concept covers materials, such as asbestos, which
are currently forbidden in new buildings but present in old buildings. Conse-
quently, maintenance of the building can be a source of dangerous contamination.
Volatile Organic Compounds
This concept covers substances that evaporate at room temperature and a photo-
chemical reaction causes oxygen in the air to be converted into smog-promoting
ozone under favourable climatic conditions. Commonly found in household,
institutions, industrial cleaning and maintenance products and in building mate-
rials, VOCs are a significant contributor to SBS. In enclosed spaces, VOCs can
cause eye, nose and throat irritation, dizziness, headache, memory and visual
impairment; some are known or suspected of causing cancer. There are two VOCs
that are considered as important examples: formaldehyde and solvents.
Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is employed in obtaining different plastics, and its degradation or

inadequate design may cause the release of different contaminants indoors, causing
irritation and respiratory allergies.
Solvents
Solvents are present in furniture and wood decoration among others, and can also
release contaminants indoors, such as formaldehyde.
1.2.2 Consumer Products
Consumer products cover different materials employed in building construction,

such as paints, solvents, cleaning products, glues, etc. In this subsection, two big
groups must be highlighted: particulates and pesticides.
1.2.2.1 Particulates
Particulates are present at higher concentration in an indoor ambience than outside.

Most of the times, particulates are related to respiratory problems and irritant
effects. These particles can be classified in fine particles like those generated by
cigarette smoke and aerosols, and larger particles like those produced by carpet
fibres.
1.2.2.2 Pesticides
A pesticide is composed of different hydrocarbons employed against insects and

microbiological growth. In general, its effects over human health are unknown yet.
1.2.3 Other Pollutants
There are different pollutants, such as ozone, metal compound and radon, which
can be detected in an indoor ambience. The pollutants come from different
sources, such as indoor equipments, outdoor air and building construction mate-
rials. For example, ozone is related to photocopying machines, metal compounds
with external sources, and radon is related to the soil surrounding the building.
1.2.4 Biological Contaminants
In the same way as chemical contaminants, microorganisms in indoor air should

also be considered. The production of biological aerosols is related to two new
concepts: reservoir and disseminator. The reservoir is a medium that brings together
a number of conditions that allow organisms to survive in a certain environment and
a disseminator is that which introduces micro-organisms in the air.
Biological contaminants, on the other hand, are basically classified as infectious
agents, antigens and toxins.
1.2.4.1 Infectious Agents
Infectious diseases are higher when diluted in low air volumes and when there is a
higher surface contact with a human body during long periods of time. Hence,
infectious diseases are transmitted more easily indoors than outdoors. However,
although this general concept is true, there are other parameters to be considered to
prevent infectious diseases. For example, not all diseases require direct contact
with a human body, such as colds and tuberculosis, where micro-organisms can
live in ventilation systems.
Infectious diseases, usually transmitted through air, can affect the respiratory
system and are a general cause of health risk. Those susceptible to these diseases
are those with health problems and/or with a compromised immune system,
especially the children and the elderly. To prevent these infections, it is advisable
to take air samples regularly; however, this requires special equipment and
experienced staff, not always available.
1.2.4.2 Antigens
An Antigen is any substance which enters an animal’s organism with a mature

immune system and is capable of provoking a specific immune response. Most of
the antigens found in the air in enclosed environments are derived from micro-
organisms, arthropods or animals. These can cause diseases, such as hypersensitive
pneumonia, allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma among others.
The characteristic symptoms of pneumonitis hipersensitiva include fever, chills,
choking, malaise and cough. The symptoms of allergic rhinitis are mucus, itchy eyes
and nose and sinus congestion, whereas those of allergic asthma are shortness of
breath and tightness in the chest as a result of constriction of the bronchi.
Among the micro-reservoirs and multipliers for determining hypersensitivity
diseases are substrates from outside, such as soil, plant materials (live and artifi-
cial) and water, and wet substrates from internal environments. Micro-organisms
can grow in any stagnant water and air. Unclean surfaces are breeding grounds for
the growth of fungi, forming spores which are directly exposed to the air and
dispersed throughout the building.
1.2.4.3 Toxins
Toxins are substances produced by micro-organisms that have some adverse

effects on living organisms. Most of the microbial toxins in the air are made up of
bacterial endotoxins and mycotoxins (from fungi). When the endotoxin-producing
bacterium grows, it releases toxins into the water (humidifier, for example), from
which they are dispersed into the atmosphere. Endotoxins are associated with
some of the symptoms of pneumonia.
A distinctive smell of mould from the areas in which fungi are present is due to
production from these volatile substances.
1.2.5 Sensorial Load
Air quality can be perceived through the nose and by its general chemical effects,
related to the nose and eye membranes that appear like different agents of the air.
Fig. 1.5 Percentage of 91

dissatisfied persons for 81
different ventilation rates 71
61
51
PD
41
31
21
11
1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Air renovation (L/s)
Fig. 1.6 Relationship 121

between perceived air quality
and the percentage of 101
dissatisfied persons
81
PD
61
41
21
1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Odor intensity (Decipol)
Table 1.3 Examples of the Quality level Quality of the perceived air Req. Vent.*
three levels of perception (category) l/s olf
of air quality % of dissatisfied Decipol
A 10 0.6 16
B 20 1.4 7
C 30 2.5 4
*The ventilation examples are recounted exclusively to the
quality of perceived air
The combined effects of these two sensors reveal that the indoor air is fresh and
pleasant. Hence, we define the percentage of PD who feel dissatisfied in an indoor
environment. This index can be defined as a function of indoor air changes and
odour intensity (Figs. 1.5 and 1.6).
As a related index, we define olf as pollution due to human biofluents. Hence,
we express the maximum olf level to reach an inadequate indoor ambience. Once
olf is defined, it is time to define the decipol. Decipol is the perceived quality of an
indoor air with a contamination of one olf ventilated with 10 l/s of clean air
(Fig. 1.6). Figures 1.5 and 1.6 were obtained from the model of Eq. 1.2.5.1.
However, there are different contamination sources that lead researchers to classify
indoor ambience in types A, B and C that reveal the required ventilation levels into
different types of indoor ambience (Table 1.3).

PD ¼ 395 exp 1:83 q0:25 if q 0:32 l=s
ð1:2:5:1Þ
PD ¼ 100 exp 1:83 q0:25 if q 0:32 l=s olf
There are other indices that can be employed to define indoor ambiences, for
example, indoor acceptability. This index is revealed in Eq. 1.2.5.2 as a function
of indoor air enthalpy and can be related to the energy consumption to change
indoor air to better conditions.
Acc ¼ a h þ b ð1:2:5:2Þ
a and b are empirical coefficients whose values for clean air are a = -0.0033 and
b = 1.662.
From this equation, we deduce that indoor Acc increases with enthalpy. This is
a benefit to air conditioning because we can detect air changes and maintain indoor
air enthalpy. To do it, we need to drop relative humidity by 5% for each degree of
temperature rise.
However, temperature rise is limited to an indoor air enthalpy of 50 kJ/kg and a
relative humidity of 55%. This relative humidity limit is related to the proliferation
of fungi in accordance with ASTM 1994 and Viitanen [15]. On the other hand, this
acceptability exerts a stronger effect on our indoor air perception than on thermal
sensation.
References
1. Orosa JA, Oliveira A (2009) Hourly indoor thermal comfort and air quality acceptance with
passive climate control methods. Renew Energ 34(12):2735–2742
2. Liao CM, Luo WC, Chen SC, Chen JW, Liang HM (2004) Temporal/seasonal variation of
size-dependent airborne fungi indoor/outdoor relationship for a wind-induced naturally
ventilated airspace. Atmos Environ 38:4415–4419
3. Hargreaves M, Parappukkaran S, Morawska L, Hitchins J, He C, Gilbert D (2003) A pilot
investigation into associations between indoor airborne fungal and non-biological particle
concentrations in residential houses in Brisbane, Australia. Sci Total Environ 312:89–101
4. Fanger PO (1970) Thermal comfort. Analysis and applications in environmental engineering.
McGrawHill, New York
5. Nevins RG, Rohles FH, Springer W, Feyerherm AM (1966) A temperature-humidity chart for
thermal comfort of seated persons. ASHRAE Trans 72(1):283–291
6. McNall Jr PE, Jaax J, Rohles FH, Nevins RG, Springer W (1967) Thermal comfort (and
thermally neutral) conditions for three levels of activity. ASHRAE Trans 73:1–14
7. Kerka WF, Humphreys CM (1956) Temperature and humidity effect on odor perception.
ASHRAE Trans 61:531–552
8. Woods JE (1979) Ventilation, health and energy consumption: a status report. ASHRAE J
21:23–27
References 13
9. ASHRAE Standard 55-2004. (2004) Thermal environmental conditions for human

occupancy. ASHRAE
10. Cain WS, Leaderer BP, Isseroff R, Berglund LG, Huey RJ, Lipsitt ED, Perlman D (1983)
Ventilation requirements in buildings–I. Control of occupancy odour and tobacco smoke
odour. Atmos Environ 17:1183–1197
11. Berglund L, Cain WS (1989) Perceived air quality and the thermal environment.
In: Proceedings of IAQ’89: the human equation: health and comfort, San Diego, pp 93–99
12. Gunnarsen L, Fanger PO (1992) Adaptation to indoor air pollution. Environ Int 18:43–54
13. Knudsen HN, Kjaer UD, Nielsen PA (1996) Characterisation of emissions from building
products: long term sensory evaluation, the impact of concentration and air velocity.
In: Proceedings of Indoor Air’96, Nagoya. International conference on indoor air quality and
climate, vol 3, pp 551–556
14. Fang L, Clausen G, Fanger PO (1998) Impact of temperature and humidity on the perception
of indoor air quality. Indoor Air 8:80–90
15. Viitanen H (1996) Factors affecting the development of mould and brown rot decay in
wooden material and wooden structures. Effect of humidity, temperature and exposure time.
Dissertation, Uppsala, SLU
Chapter 2
Indoor Air Standards and Models
2.1 Indoor Air Standards
2.1.1 Introduction
This chapter aims to reveal the main standards applicable for indoor environments
at international level. Specifically, the mean values and limiting conditions and the
models for indoor environments are revealed as the main tools to be employed in
real case studies.
Following a methodic enumeration of standards, they are classified into general
thermal comfort, local thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ) standards.
2.1.2 General Thermal Comfort Standards
In this section, the main standards of the American Society of Heating Refriger-
ation and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and International Organization
for Standardization (ISO) for general thermal comfort are described. At the same
time, different sections divide thermal comfort in moderate environments and
work risk prevention in extreme environments. Their contents are described in the
ASHRAE 55 standards.
2.1.2.1 Moderate Indoor Environments
As described earlier, the main ISO [1, 2], NTP [3] and ASHRAE [4, 5] standards
that may be of interest to the ergonomics or thermal comfort researcher are enu-
merated in the following sections. Note that ISO 7730 describes the indices and
sampling procedures, in accordance with the previous chapter.

Springer-Verlag London Limited 2012
16 2 Indoor Air Standards and Models
Table 2.1 International and national standards for general thermal comfort in moderate
environments
ISO Standards ISO 11399:1995 Ergonomics of the thermal environment—principles
and application of relevant international standards
ISO 7730:2005 Ergonomics of the thermal environment—analytical
determination and interpretation of thermal comfort using
calculation of the PMV and PPD indices and local thermal
comfort criteria
ISO 9920:2007 Ergonomics of the thermal environment—estimation
of thermal insulation and water vapour resistance of a clothing
ensemble
ISO 8996:2004 Ergonomics of the thermal environment—
determination of metabolic rate
instruments for measuring physical quantities
assessment of the influence of the thermal environment using
subjective judgment scales
ASHRAE Standard ANSI/ASHRAE 55-2004 Thermal environmental conditions for
human occupancy
NTP 74: Thermal comfort
Spanish Thermal Comfort NTP 501: Thermal environment: local thermal discomfort
Standards NTP 242: Ergonomics: ergonomic office workplaces analysis
NTP 503: Acoustic comfort: noise in offices
NTP 358: Odours: a factor of indoor air quality and comfort
The first standard is ISO 11399. On the other hand, the main predicted mean
vote (PMV) and predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD) indices are described in
ISO 7730, in accordance with the heat that must be transferred from the whole
body into real environments, as described in ISO 9920 and ISO 8996 standards.
Furthermore, the general measuring methodology is described in ISO 7726 stan-
dard. We find that ASHRAE 55 is equivalent to the contents described in the ISO
standards.
Once the models are developed, they must be tested with respect to the real
questionnaires, as reflected in ISO 10551 standard.
It is interesting to define the application of these general standards to particular
conditions. It is the case of the national standards developed by the Spanish
ministry of work. Its standards are entitled NTP (technical standards for work risk
prevention).
Within the NTP standards, standards 74 and 501 are of special interest, related
to the general and local thermal comfort under working conditions. In some
working areas, such as office buildings, an in-depth analysis was made, reflected
by the standard 242.
Some new parameters to be considered at the time of evaluating IAQ and local
thermal comfort, such as noise and odours, were developed (503 and 358)
(Table 2.1).
2.1 Indoor Air Standards 17
Table 2.2 International and national standards for general thermal comfort in extreme
environments
Standard title
ISO ISO 9886:2004 Ergonomics—evaluation of thermal strain by physiological measurements
ISO 7933:2004 Ergonomics of the thermal environment—analytical determination and
interpretation of heat stress using calculation of the predicted heat strain
ISO 11079:2007 Ergonomics of the thermal environment—determination and
interpretation of cold stress when using required clothing insulation (IREQ) and local
cooling effects
NTP NTP 387: Working conditions analysis: the ergonomic workplace analysis
NTP 322: Estimation of the heat stress: WBGT
NTP 350: Heat stress evaluation. Required sweating index
NTP 462: Cold stress: occupational exposures evaluation
NTP 18: Heat stress evaluation of severe exposures
NTP 279: Thermal environmental and dehydration
NTP 534: Mental workload: factors
NTP 445: Mental workload: fatigue
NTP 179: Mental workload: definition and measurement
NTP 575: Mental workload: indicators
NTP 445: Mental workload: fatigue
NTP 275: Mental workload in health care workers: an assessment checklist
NTP 177: Physical work load: definition and measurement
NTP 295: Physical work load evaluation by continuous register of heart rate
NTP 405: Human factor and accident rates. Social aspects
As for general indoor moderate environments found in ISO and NTP standards,
there is an adaptation of these standards to extreme indoor environments
(Table 2.2). Notably, standard ISO 9886 shows the measuring methodology to
detect thermal strain. Heat and cold stress determination and interpretation are
described in ISO standards 7933 and 11079.
As seen in Table 2.2, there are a lot of standards at the national level to define
and analyse this situation. The first general standard is the NTP 387 that describes
the measuring methodology at the workplace. After that, indices for heat and cold
stress evaluation are described in the summer standards, such as NTP 322, 350,
462 and 18.
Notably, allegation and interpretation of mental work load is described in
standards NTP 279, 534, 445, 179, 575, 475 and 275, and allegation and inter-
pretation of physical work load in standards NTP 177 and 295.
Finally, new indices that show the percentage of accidents are described in
standard NTP 405 (Table 2.2).
2.1.3 Local Thermal Comfort Standards
ASHRAE 55 and ISO 7730 are the only standards that define the local thermal
comfort in an indoor environment, and its main indices and measuring procedures
are described in this section.
Fig. 2.1 Local thermal

comfort parameters
Most of the information that affects local thermal comfort is revealed in the
models’ section, and here we only show the main parameters. The first step is to
define local thermal comfort as that defined in some particular body zones, due to:
air velocity, asymmetric thermal radiation, vertical temperature difference and soil
temperature (Fig. 2.1).
2.1.3.1 Air Velocity Models
Air velocity is related to sensible heat released by convection and latent heat
released by evaporation and, hence, the feeling of thermal comfort is influenced by
draft. For example, one bares a higher indoor air temperature when indoor air
velocity is increased. So, during the summer season, ventilation helps to reduce
cooling energy consumption. The opposite effect is obtained during the winter,
when a higher air velocity also implies a higher heating energy consumption. To
control these effects, there are two air velocity limits: indoor air velocity must
never be over 0.9 m/s during the summer season and below 0.15 m/s during the
winter.
Another parameter to be considered, to define local thermal comfort, is the
influence of temperature fluctuation. For example, in two different conditions we
experience the same thermal loss, feeling higher dissatisfaction when the air
temperature experiments clear changes with time, called air turbulence.
2.1.3.2 Asymmetric Thermal Radiation
Asymmetric thermal radiation happens when an occupant of an indoor environ-

ment is exposed to a heat source on one side of his body during long periods of
time, and experiences a certain degree of dissatisfaction. This happens, for
example, in an indoor ambience with a warm roof and cold windows.
2.1.3.3 Vertical Temperature Difference
The vertical temperature difference can be defined as the temperature difference

that exists between the ankle and neck.
2.1.3.4 Soil Temperature
Soil temperature is related to the difference in temperature between feet and

ground temperature, depending on variables such as conductivity and the heat
capacity of ground materials.
2.1.4 Indoor Air Quality Standards
Various international organizations, such as the World Health Organization

(WHO) and the International Council of Building Research, the ASHRAE, some
countries, such as Sweden (the Swedish Council of Building Research), the United
States, Canada and Australia, have developed guidelines and standards of exposure
to indoor air pollutants.
The air conditioning system has to ensure that the air contains acceptable low
concentrations of pollutants. Hence, it must be properly designed and maintained
to reduce pollutants to acceptable levels by dilution with clean air or elimination of
foreign particles by filtration.
According to ASHRAE, an acceptable indoor air is one in which there are no
known contaminants in harmful concentrations, as determined by the competent
authorities and a substantial majority (80% or more) of staff are not exposed to
dissatisfaction. Obviously, the definition is vague, not only with regard to
acceptable levels, but also to the concept of dissatisfaction.
There are no standards to regulate the presence of microorganisms in the
environment. The Committee for Bioaerosols of the American Conference of
Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has recently published a guide for
the assessment of bioaerosols in an indoor environment that can be used as a
starting point.
For those chemicals that do not have a reference value, it is acceptable
(ASHRAE 62 [5, 6]) that a concentration of 1/10 TLV does not produce a sig-
nificant increase in the number of complaints from members of a group of
industrial workers.
Table 2.3 lists the maximum concentrations of pollutants that may be present in
an outdoor air and also a minimum that can be used for ventilation in an enclosed
building. Information for common air pollutant internal maximum exposure limits
of the Occupational Safety and Health administration (OSHA) and the ACGIH in
an industrial environment is included in Table 2.4.
Table 2.3 Reference values of external air quality by US EPA, Environmental Protection
Agency
Contaminant Long exposure Short exposure
Mean concentration Mean concentration
lg/m3 ppm Time lg/m3 ppm Time (h)
SO2 80 0.03 1 year 365 0.14 24
CO2 – – – 40,000 35 1
10,000 9 8
N2 100 0.053 1 year – – –
O3 – – – 235 0.12 1
Pb 1.5 – 3 months – – –
Particulates 75 – 1 year 260 – 24
Radon 0.2 Pico curies/l
Table 2.4 Reference values and concentrations recommended for some industrial pollutants by
OSHA and ACGIH
Contaminant Concentration Exposure time Origin
Asbestos 0.2–2.0 libres/cm3 8h TLV-TWA
SO2 2 ppm 8h PEL-TWA
5 ppm 15 min PEL-STEL
10,000 ppm 8h PEL-TWA
CO2 5,000 ppm 8h TLV-TWA
30,000 ppm 15 min PEL-STEL
NO2 3 ppm 8h TLV-TWA
Formaldehydes 1 ppm 8h PEL-TWA
2 ppm 15 min TLV-STEL
CO 35 ppm 8h PEL-TWA
200 ppm 15 min PEL-TECHO
50 ppm 8h TLV-TWA
400 ppm 15 min TLV-STEL
O3 0.1 ppm 8h PEL-TWA
0.2 ppm 15 min PEL-STEL
Pb 0.005 mg/m3 8h PEL-TWA
0.15 mg/m3 8h TLV-TWA
PEL permissible exposure limit; TLV threshold limit value; TWA time weighted average; STEL
short term exposure limit
As seen in the previous sections, the actual standards related to IAQ are
numbered (Table 2.5). To control IAQ, different standards were developed.
The first standards show the vocabulary and units for the measuring process, as
described in ISO 4225 and 4226. Once the basic concepts are developed, the
design process is described in standards 16813 and 16814.
After the design process, the measuring process in real indoor environ-
ments must be developed, as described in standards ISO 16000-1, 16000-5 and
16000-8.
We also need information on how to measure temperature, relative humidity
and how to relate it with mould and its corresponding health effects, as described
in standards ISO 8756, ISO 16000-16 and 7708.
As in general and local thermal comfort, the contents of ISO standards are
reflected in the corresponding ASHRAE standard. However, it is the ANSI/
ASHRAE 62.2-2004 that shows these contents.
The NTP describes the same contents as the ISO standards and adapt these to
the particular conditions of working environments. In this standard, we find the
general concepts shown in NTP 243 and different procedures for the character-
isation of IAQ 431. Within this characterisation, we find the detection of fungi and
microbiological hazards, as described in standards NTP 488, 299, 335 and 313,
among others.
On the other hand, to evaluate the exchange of indoor environments, we have
standards NTP 549 and 345.
Finally, to detect and control sick building syndrome (SBS), new standards
were developed as NTP 288, 289, 290 and 380; these standards show the new
criteria to develop future ventilation standards, as described in NTP 343
(Table 2.5).
2.2 Models
2.2.1 Introduction
According to ISO 7730 standard [1], thermal comfort is defined as the mental
condition that expresses satisfaction with the surrounding environment. Even
though it is easy to understand, it is at the same time difficult to define by equa-
tions. Equations of thermal comfort can be divided into local and general thermal
comfort. General thermal comfort aims to define the mean parameters that a
thermal environment must depict, so that a maximum number of persons experi-
ence a neutral thermal sensation.
The neutral thermal sensation is related to the fact that there are no hot or
cold sensors activated, and hence that there is no heat release, or received from
internal or external heat sources. In this regard, when defining general ther-
mal comfort we must consider that, under the same weather conditions, there
are other hot and cold sources that must be considered for different indoor
ambiences. Hence, we must define thermal comfort for each specific indoor
condition.
Table 2.5 Indoor air quality standards

ISO standard ISO 4225:1994 Air quality—general aspects—vocabulary
ISO 4226:2007 Air quality—general aspects—units of measurement
ISO 16813:2006 Building environment design—indoor environment—general
principles
ISO 16814:2008 Building environment design—indoor air quality—methods of
expressing the quality of indoor air for human occupancy
ISO 16000-1:2004 Indoor air Part 1: general aspects of sampling strategy
ISO 16000-5:2007 Indoor air Part 5: sampling strategy for volatile organic
compounds (VOCs)
ISO 16000-8:2007 Indoor air Part 8: determination of local mean ages of air in
buildings for characterizing ventilation conditions
ISO 8756:1994 Air quality—handling of temperature, pressure and humidity
data
ISO 16000-16:2008 Indoor air Part 16: detection and enumeration of moulds—
Sampling by filtration
ISO 7708:1995 Air quality—particle size fraction definitions for health-related
sampling
ASHRAE ANSI/ASHRAE 62.1-2004 Ventilation for acceptable indoor air quality
Standard ANSI/ASHRAE 62.2-2004 Ventilation and acceptable indoor air quality in
low-rise residential buildings
NTP [3] NTP 243: Indoor air quality
NTP 431: Characterisation of indoor air quality
NTP 488: Indoor air quality: identification of fungi
NTP 299: Method for airborne bacteria and fungi counting
NTP 335: Indoor air quality: pollen grains and fungi spores evaluation
NTP 313: Indoor air quality: microbiological hazards in air conditioning and
ventilation systems
NTP 347: Chemical contamination: Air concentration assessment
NTP 315: Air quality: indoor low concentration gases
NTP 521: Indoor air quality: emissions from building materials and cleaning
products
NTP 549: Carbon dioxide in evaluating indoor air quality
NTP 345: Ventilation assessment using tracer gases
NTP 289: Sick-building syndrome: risk factors
NTP 288: Sick-building syndrome and building related diseases: bioareosol
involvement
NTP 290: Sick-building syndrome: questionnaire for its detection
NTP 380: Sick-building syndrome: simplified questionnaire
NTP 343: New criterion for future indoors ventilation standards
2.2.2 Moist Air Models
This model is described by ASHRAE [6] and subsequently implemented by

Simonson [7] to determine the influence of coatings on indoor environments.
The basic equations that relate temperature and relative humidity are well
known and are based on the working assumptions of the moist air model. They
2.2 Models 23
consider that air is a mixture of ideal gases that can be defined as dry air and water
vapour. This water vapour presents an enthalpy equal to the enthalpy of saturated
steam at the same temperature, for temperatures ranging from -10 to 50C.
The relative humidity is defined after the relationship between partial pressure
of water vapour in the air (Pv) and partial pressure of water vapour in the saturated
air (Pvsat). Therefore, relative humidity is expressed as:
PV
RH ¼ ð2:2:2:1Þ
PVSAT
Furthermore, the partial water vapour pressure in the saturated condition is a
function of temperature (T):
Pvsat ¼ f ðT Þ ¼ eF ð2:2:2:2Þ
where the value of F is defined by ASHRAE:
C1
27 K\T\273 K F¼ þ C2 þ C3 T þ C4 T2 þ C5 T3 þ C6 T4 þ C7 ln T
T
C8
273 K\T\473 K F¼ þ C9 þ C10 T þ C11 T 2 þ C12 T 3 þ C13 ln T
T
The values of the constants are:
C1 ¼ 5674:5359C2 ¼ 6:3925247 C3 ¼ 9:677843 103
C4 ¼ 6:22115701 107 C5 ¼ 2:0747825 109 C6 ¼ 9:484024 1013
C7 ¼ 4:1635019 C8 ¼ 5800:2206 C9 ¼ 1:3914993
C10 ¼ 4:8640239 102 C11 ¼ 4:1764768 105 C12 ¼ 1:4452093 108
C13 ¼ 6:5459673
This equation shows that when temperature drops, the pressure of saturated
vapour also drops.
Another variable widely used is absolute humidity (w), defined as the ratio
between vapour and dry air mass. Absolute humidity is calculated from the rela-
tionship between the partial pressure of water vapour and of the air (Pa):
pv
w ¼ 0:62198 ð2:2:2:3Þ
pa
This equation describes the relationship between temperature, humidity ratio
and relative humidity, which can be graphically expressed through a psychro-
metric chart.
Finally, the ideal gas law shows that moist air enthalpy (h) represents the sum
of the energy of its components (dry air and water vapour). If the temperature and
humidity increase, the enthalpy of the air increases (see also Fig. 2.2):
h ¼ cpa t þ wðcpw t þ Lo Þ ð2:2:2:4Þ
Fig. 2.2 Psychometric chart
This equation has been used in a simplified form by Simonson, expressed as

h ¼ t þ wð2501:6 þ 1:865tÞ ð2:2:2:5Þ
2.2.3 General Thermal Comfort Models
Once the concept of general thermal comfort is defined, it is the moment to define
its two main indices: PMV and PPD.
PMV provides information about the thermal sensation of occupants in an
indoor environment, experienced on a scale of seven points. This scale goes from
minus three to plus three, passing through zero, which represents the neutral
thermal sensation.
PPD is related to the PMV model, owing to the fact that there are differences in
the perception of thermal comfort between persons. At the same time, it is related
to individual habits, such as food, different clothes and styles and, in general, all
the differences between individuals in their daily lives.
As a consequence of the earlier observation, PPD depicts a scale that goes from
0 to 100 in accordance with ASHRAE [8] and ISO 7730 [1] standards. The
relationship between PPD and PMV is related to the fact that, for a PMV value
of ±0.85, we find a PPD value of 20% (Fig. 2.3). Owing to these values, more
standards define a thermal comfort limit of ±0.5 of PMV associated with a PPD of
10% (Table 2.6). In Table 2.6, we see that there are three thermal environment
classes: A, B and C.
Finally, the general thermal comfort model depicts, in accordance with ASH-
RAE [8], an air velocity limit of 0.2 m/s. If air velocity is higher than this value,
different values of general thermal comfort indices are expected, due to the higher
ability to release heat.
2.2 Models 25
Fig. 2.3 Evolution of PPD 100

on the basis of PMV 90
80
70
60
PPD
50
40
30
20
10
0
-3 -2.5 -2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
PMV
Table 2.6 Predicted Comfort PPD PMV range

percentage of dissatisfied
based on the predicted mean A \6 -0.2 \ PMV \ 0.2
vote B \10 -0.5 \ PMV \ 0.5
C \15 -0.7 \ PMV \ 0.7
On the other hand, under this air velocity limit, local thermal comfort must be
estimated and new parameters, such as the occupants’ adaptability after some
minutes in an indoor environment, must be considered.
To define general thermal comfort, one needs to estimate metabolic rate and
clothes’ insulation. The metabolic rate (met) is defined as the amount of energy
released as a function of the level of muscular activity. It is defined as 58.15 W/m2
of body surface, in accordance with the values reflected in the ISO standard.
The clo index is employed to quantify clothes’ insulation. One clo is equal to
155 m2C/W. For example, a naked person shows a clo value of zero and a person
wearing typical street clothes depicts a clo value equal to one.
2.2.3.1 Sampled Parameters
To define thermal comfort in an indoor environment, the clo and the met values
should be defined, as observed earlier. Once these parameters are estimated, more
parameters must be considered, such as mean radiant temperature, operative
temperature, relative humidity and air velocity.
Mean radiant temperature (tr ) is defined as the uniform temperature in an
imaginary black enclosure in which a person experiences the same loss by radi-
ation than in the real situation.
The mean radiant temperature is that temperature contained in the walls and air
of the compound room, which experiences the same heat transfer to the
Fig. 2.4 Mean radiant

temperature
t1
t4
R R´
t2 tr
t3
Actual room Imaginary room
atmosphere by convection and radiation; in the case when such temperatures are
different, it is a real environment defined by ASHRAE. This standard proposed
different calculation methods of the operative temperature. Some methods employ
the equation that defines the sensitive heat loss from the body, per unit of time and
surface (Eq. 2.2.3.1.1). In other cases, this parameter can be defined as the
arithmetical mean of the mean radiant temperature and air temperature
(Eq. 2.2.3.1.2). This simplified equation can be only employed under the following
conditions: a metabolic rate from 1.0 to 1.3 met, air velocities not higher than
0.20 m/s and no direct sunlight exposition.
ðhrtr þ hc ta Þ
to ¼ ð2:2:3:1:1Þ
ðhr þ hc Þ
where ta, tr and to are the air, mean radiant and operative temperatures.
ðtr þ ta Þ
to ¼ ð2:2:3:1:2Þ
2
The importance of operative temperature is based on the fact that it allows to
define thermal comfort zones for some previously defined values of relative
humidity, air speed, metabolic rate and clothes’ insulation. This zone is repre-
sented in Fig. 2.4 for air velocities no greater than 0.2 m/s. Furthermore, two zones
are typically represented for 0.5 and 1.0 clo, which are related to the hot and cold
seasons. These two ranges are represented by Eqs. 2.2.3.1.3 and 2.2.3.1.4.
Top min;Icl ¼ ½ðIcl 0:5cloÞTmin;1:0clo þ ð1:0clo Icl ÞTmin;0:5clo =0:5clo ð2:2:3:1:3Þ
Top max;Icl ¼ ½ðIcl 0:5cloÞTmax;1:0clo þ ð1:0clo Icl ÞTmax;0:5clo =0:5clo ð2:2:3:1:4Þ
where Tmax;Icl is the upper operative temperature limit for clothing insulation Icl,
Tmin;Icl is the lower operative temperature limit for clothing insulation Icl and
Icl is the thermal insulation of the clothing in question (clo).
Recent research has revealed that, to evaluate an indoor environment, great
importance must be given to relative humidity. Relative humidity is related to
2.2 Models 27
Fig. 2.5 Comfort zone 0,050
0,045
0,040
Humidity Ratio (g/kg.)

0,035 0,8
0,030
0,6
0,025
0,020
0,4
0,015
0,010
0,2
0,005
PMV=+0,5
0,000
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Top. (°C)
thermal comfort (ASHRAE [8, 9]; Wargocki in 1999 [10]), perception of IAQ
[11], health of occupants [12] and energy consumption [7], as we can see in
Fig. 2.5.
Although it is well known that there is a relation between thermal comfort and
air velocity, it has not been reflected by in depth studies. To consider this effect,
ASHRAE depicts curves of higher temperature supported with different indoor air
velocities.
An analysis of the individual thermal balance will now be presented. Thermal
comfort is based on the thermal balance of the full body and empirical equations,
in accordance with ISO 7730 [1] and two conditions:
(1) The neutral thermal sensation on the skin temperature and full body
temperature.
(2) The heat produced by metabolism must be the same as the heat lost to the
atmosphere under steady state (Eqs. 2.2.3.1.5, 2.2.3.1.6).
M W ¼ qsk þ qres þ S ð2:2:3:1:5Þ
M W ¼ ðC þ R þ Esk Þ þ ðCres þ Eres Þ þ ðSsk þ Scr Þ ð2:2:3:1:6Þ
where M is the rate of metabolic heat production (W/m2), W is the rate of

mechanical work accomplished (W/m2), qsk is the total rate of heat loss from the
skin (W/m2) qres is the total rate of heat loss through respiration (W/m2), C ? R is
the sensible heat loss from the skin (W/m2),
Cres is the rate of convective heat loss from respiration (W/m2),
Eres is the rate of evaporative heat loss from respiration (W/m2),
Ssk is the rate of heat storage in the skin compartment (W/m2),
Scr is the rate of heat storage in the core compartment (W/m2).
The heat storage in the body is defined by Eqs. 2.2.3.1.7 and 2.2.3.1.8:
ð1 ask Þmcp;b dtcr

Scr ¼ ð2:2:3:1:7Þ
AD dh
ask mcp;b dtsk
Ssk ¼ ð2:2:3:1:8Þ
AD dh
where
ask is the fraction of body mass concentrated in the skin, m is the body mass (kg),
cp,b is the specific heat capacity of the body (kJ/kgK),
AD is the DuBois surface area (m2),
tcr is the temperature of the core node (8C),
tsk is the temperature of the skin node (8C),
h is the time (s).
To calculate thermal comfort indices, the following equations are typically
used:

PMV ¼ 0:303 e0:036M þ 0:028 L ð2:2:3:1:9Þ
PPD ¼ 100 95 eð0:03353 PMV þ0:2179 PMV2 Þ

4
ð2:2:3:1:10Þ
L is the thermal load on the body; L is the difference between the internal heat
production and heat loss to the actual environment.
Another parameter to be considered is the evaporative heat loss. This term
depends on the amount of moisture on the skin and the difference between water
pressure on the skin and in the environment (Eq. 2.2.3.1.11).
wðpsk pa Þ
Esk ¼ ð2:2:3:1:11Þ
Re þ 1=ðfcl he Þ
where
w is the wet skin area (m2),
psk is the water vapour pressure on the skin (kPa),
Pa is the water vapour pressure in the environment (kPa),
Re is the evaporative heat transfer resistance on a layer of clothing (m2 kPa)/W and
he is the evaporative heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 kPa),
fcl is the fraction of body area covered with clothing.
The exchange of heat by respiratory convection and evaporative heat is given
by:
Cres ¼ 0:0014 M ð34 tÞ ð2:2:3:1:12Þ
Eres ¼ 1:72 105 M ð5867 Pv Þ ð2:2:3:1:13Þ

2.2 Models 29
Table 2.7 Methods to calculate general thermal comfort indices

Method 1 Air velocity (va) Air temperature (ta) Mean radiant temperature ðtr Þ Humidity (w)
Measure Measure Calculate Measure
Method 2 Air velocity (va) Operative temperature (to) Humidity (w)
Measure Measure Measure
Method 3 Equivalent temperature (teq) Humidity (w)
Measure Measure
Method 4 Air velocity (va) Effective temperature (ET)
Measure Calculate
ðtsk to Þ
CþR¼ ð2:2:3:1:14Þ
Rcl þ 1=ðfcl hÞ
where
fcl is the clothing area factor,
Rcl is the thermal resistance of clothing (m2 K)/W,
tsk is the temperature of the skin (8C),
h is the sum of convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients (W/m2 K).
Equation 2.2.3.1.14 expresses the sensible heat loads from the skin.
The thermal comfort equation can be employed to define thermal comfort in an
indoor environment. However, studies show that it is too complicated to be solved
with manual procedures. Furthermore, to solve this equation we must consider the
need to measure indoor air temperature, relative humidity and air velocity or
related parameters (Table 2.7).
In Table 2.7, we find a new parameter called equivalent temperature (teq). This
teq is defined as the uniform temperature of a radiant black enclosure with zero air
velocity, in which an occupant has the same dry heat loss than in the actual non-
uniform environment.
2.2.3.2 Alternative General Thermal Comfort Models
As reflected in ASHRAE, there is a certain disagreement between the PMV model

and the thermal sensation, as demonstrated by De Dear [13] and Brager and De
Dear [14]. This difference, when defined with the neutral temperature, is about
1.4C. The reason is related to the fact that thermal sensation is obtained from the
survey of individuals located in an environment and the PMV method only
employs heat and mass transfer.
PMV ¼ at þ bpv c ð2:2:3:2:1Þ

Table 2.8 The coefficients a, b and c are a function of spent time and the sex of the subject
Time/sex a b c
1 h/man 0.220 0.233 5.673
Woman 0.272 0.248 7.245
Both 0.245 0.248 6.475
2 h/man 0.221 0.270 6.024
Woman 0.283 0.210 7.694
Both 0.252 0.240 6.859
3 h/man 0.212 0.293 5.949
Woman 0.275 0.255 8.620
Both 0.243 0.278 6.802
Specifically, the error in defining the neutral temperature was related to a PMV
problem in defining the metabolic rate and the clo value or taking into account the
insulation of the seat.
Under ASHRAE contract, the Institute for Environmental Research at the
Kansas State University developed a research work to define thermal comfort in
sedentary regime. The main objective of this research was to define a model that
expressed PMV in terms of easily measurable parameters.
An investigation to 1,600 students revealed a statistical correlation between the
level of comfort, temperature, humidity and exposure duration. The research was
developed in groups of five men and five women, with a temperature range
between 15.6 and 36.7C and relative humidity between 15 and 85%. Furthermore,
the experiments were developed under air speeds below 0.17 m/s. Finally, the
adaptation to a thermal environment was considered to happen when the thermal
sensation was repeated every half an hour for 3 h.
The result, described in Eq. 2.2.3.2.1, reveals the dependence on three con-
stants, a, b and c, for different periods of exposure (Table 2.8).
From these studies, a comfort zone close to 26C and 50% was found. How-
ever, these two indices employ a scale of seven points that goes from minus three
to plus three, with zero as the neutral thermal sensation (Table 2.9).
From these surveys, different regressions could be developed and, conse-
quently, the models obtained depend on the parameters selected to develop the
regression—for example, Eq. 2.2.3.2.2 [15].
Tsens ¼ 0:305 T þ 0:996 clo 8:08 ð2:2:3:2:2Þ
Another option to define general thermal comfort is the operative temperature
model. Operative temperature at different activity levels can be defined as a
function of operative temperature at sedentary conditions (Eq. 2.2.3.2.3.1).
Equation 2.2.3.2.3 can be employed between 1.2 and 3 met and for a minimum
operative temperature of 15C.
toac ¼ tosed 3ð1 þ cloÞðmet 1:2Þ ð2:2:3:2:3Þ
2.2 Models 31
Table 2.9 Thermal sensation Tsens Thermal sensation

values
3 Warm
2 Heat
1 Slightly hot
0 Neutral
-1 Slightly fresh
-2 Freshness
-3 Cold
Furthermore, there are two equations for winter and summer:

Terms of summer : tosed ¼ 24:5 1:6 C ð2:2:3:2:4Þ
Terms of winter : tosed ¼ 21:8 1:8 C ð2:2:3:2:5Þ

These models, applied to define general thermal comfort, are adaptive. Recent
research revealed that adaptive models can be employed to define the neutral
thermal conditions in indoor environments as a function of outside weather. These
models can be employed only when their occupants are in near sedentary activity
level (1–1.3 met) and must be able to freely adapt their clothing.
However, a mechanical cooling or heating system can work only on a condition
that there must not be any working mechanical ventilation system. Accordingly,
windows are the main way to control thermal conditions.
In this regard, Eq. 2.2.3.2.6 was proposed by Nicol and Roaf [16] for naturally
ventilated buildings. The other two models proposed by Humphrey [17] were
Eqs. 2.2.3.2.7 and 2.2.3.2.8, and three more by Auliciems and de Dear [13]
(Eqs. 2.2.3.2.9, 2.2.3.2.10). Finally, ASHRAE proposed Eq. 2.2.3.2.12 as the
model to define neutral temperature conditions.
Tn;o ¼ 17 þ 0:38To ð2:2:3:2:6Þ
Tn;1 ¼ 2:6 þ 0:831Ti ð2:2:3:2:7Þ
Tn;o ¼ 11:9 þ 0:534To ð2:2:3:2:8Þ
Tn;i ¼ 5:41 þ 0:731Ti ð2:2:3:2:9Þ
Tn;o ¼ 17:6 þ 0:31To ð2:2:3:2:10Þ
Tn; i; o ¼ 9:22 þ 0:48Ti þ 0:14To ð2:2:3:2:11Þ

ASHRAE:
Tc ¼ 17:8 þ 0:31To ð2:2:3:2:12Þ
Fig. 2.6 Average air 0.5

velocity depending on 0.45
Mean air velocity (m/s)

temperature and degree of 0.4
turbulence of thermal 0.35
environments for a 0.3
percentage of dissatisfied 0.25
persons below 20% 0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05 Tu=0 Tu=10 Tu=20 Tu=80
0
18 20 22 24 26 28 30
Air Temperature (°C)
where Tc is the comfort temperature, To is the outdoor air temperature, Ti is the

mean indoor air temperature, Tn,i is the neutral temperature based on mean indoor
air temperature and Tn,o is the neutral temperature based on mean outdoor air
temperature.
2.2.4 Local Thermal Comfort Models
Once the mean conditions that express general thermal comfort are defined, the
variables that define thermal comfort in special body zones must be considered:
local thermal comfort conditions.
2.2.4.1 Air Velocity Models
The percentage of PD owing to draft is obtained from Eq. 2.2.4.1.1 that is based on
a study of 150 subjects. This experiment was developed within a temperature
range of 20–26C, speed ranges between 0.05 and 0.4 m/s and turbulence inten-
sities from 0 to 70%. The draft risk (DR) is given by:
DR ¼ ð34 tÞðv 0:05Þ0:62 ð0:37vTu þ 3:14Þ ð2:2:4:1:1Þ

From this equation, Fig. 2.6 can be obtained. The figure shows the draft risk of
15% of PD for different indoor air temperature levels and turbulence levels.
2.2.4.2 Asymmetric Thermal Radiation
The effect of asymmetric thermal radiation is now considered. This effect can be
obtained by two methods: the first is to measure in two opposite directions,
employing a transducer to capture radiation that affects a small plane from the
corresponding hemisphere.
2.2 Models 33
Fig. 2.7 Percentage of PD as 100

a function of asymmetrical
radiant temperature, produced
by a roof or wall, cold or hot
PD
10
1
5 10 15 20 25 30
Asymmetrical Radiant Temperature (°C)
Hot Ceiling Cold Wall Cold Ceiling Hot Wall
The second method consists in measuring the temperature of the surrounding

surface in indoor environments, and calculate the increment of radiant temperature
Dtpr . Equations 2.2.4.2.1–2.2.4.2.4 show the percentage of PD due to hot and cold
ceiling, and hot and cold walls.

(a) Hot ceiling Dtpr \23 C
100
PD ¼ 5:5 ð2:2:4:2:1Þ
1 þ expð2:84 0:174 Dtpr Þ

(b) Cold wall Dtpr \15 C
100
PD ¼ ð2:2:4:2:2Þ

(c) Cold ceiling Dtpr \15 C
100
PD ¼ ð2:2:4:2:3Þ

(d) Hot wall Dtpr \35 C
100
PD ¼ 3:5 ð2:2:4:2:4Þ
Finally, the curves obtained are shown in Fig. 2.7.
2.2.4.3 Vertical Temperature Differences
Recent research works (Eq. 2.2.4.3.1) reflect the general percentage of PD with
vertical temperature differences. For different increments of temperature, we find
different percentages of PD (Fig. 2.8).
Fig. 2.8 Percentage of PD, 100

depending on the vertical
temperature difference
PD
10
1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Vertical Temperature Difference (ºC)
100
PD ¼ ð2:2:4:3:1Þ
1 þ expð5:76 0:856 DtÞ
where Dt is the vertical temperature difference (8C).
2.2.4.4 Soil Temperature
Standards show the percentage of PD in accordance with Eq. 2.2.4.4.1 and

Fig. 2.9.
PD ¼ 100 94 expð1:387 þ 0:118 tf 0:0025 tf2 Þ ð2:2:4:4:1Þ
where tf is the floor temperature.
2.2.4.5 Percentage of Dissatisfied Persons with Local Thermal Comfort
New models can define local thermal comfort, thermal sensation and perception of
IAQ as a function of moist air temperature and relative humidity, under special
conditions and considerations.
The effect of relative humidity, under local thermal comfort, was investigated
by Toftum et al. (1998) [18]. In this research, 38 individuals were provided with
clean air between 20 and 29C and relative humidity between 45 and 70%.
The result of the percentage of PD is defined in Eq. 2.2.4.5.1. From this
equation, we conclude that the percentage of PD tends to decrease with temper-
ature. In accordance with the ASHRAE standard [5, 7, and 20], this percentage of
PD must be below 15%.
100
PD ¼ ð2:2:4:5:1Þ
1 þ eð3:58þ0:18ð30tÞþ0:14ð42:50:01pv Þ
These indices and models, used by different researchers in recent works, for
example, Simonson et al. [7], were employed to define the effect of internal
2.2 Models 35
Fig. 2.9 Percentage of PD, 100

depending on floor
temperature
PD
10
1
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Floor Temperature (°C)
coverings on indoor thermal comfort and the perception of IAQ, and also to define
better indoor conditions to reduce energy consumption.
2.3 Indoor Air Quality Models
2.3.1 Percentage of Dissatisfied with Indoor Air Quality
Fang et al. [20] obtained the index, appearing in Eq. 2.3.1.1, from the sensory
response of subjects exposed to different combinations of temperature and relative
humidity. The validity range of temperature and relative humidity is from 18 to
28C and relative humidity from 30 to 70%.
expð0:18 5:28 AccÞ
PDIAQ ¼ 100 ð2:3:1:1Þ
1 þ expð0:18 5:28 AccÞ
PDIAQ is a function of another index Acc (Eq. 2.3.1.2), with a scale ranging
from +1 (clearly acceptable) to -1 (clearly unacceptable).
AccIAQ ¼ 0:033 h þ 1:662 ð2:3:1:2Þ
where h is the indoor air enthalpy in kJ/kg.
2.4 Indoor Air Renovation Models
The largest number of complaints about air quality inside a building is within the
area of thermal comfort and ventilation. According to the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health, in more than 50% of the buildings studied,
problems are caused by inadequate ventilation.
Thermal comfort is based on a balance between physical activities and clothing
on one hand, and relative humidity, temperature, air velocity and radiant tem-
perature on the other hand. ASHRAE have developed standards for confined
spaces, which would ensure the comfort level of 90% of the population. In general,
the acceptable range of values is relatively narrow, given the relationship that
exists between variables. A slight increase in air velocity, for example, can trigger
a series of complaints while the temperature remains within acceptable limits.
Similarly, when ventilation is incorrect, as a result of an insufficient supply of
fresh air from outside, there may be a source of accumulation of various pollutants
to levels that can annoy the occupants. The contribution of outside air should be
sufficient enough to dilute the pollutants to levels that are below human perception,
and those obviously considered harmful to health.
References since the middle of the eighteenth century recommended a mini-
mum input of fresh air per person, to dilute the concentration of human and
bioeffluents to avoid inconveniences due to bad odours.
For 70 years, ASHRAE published several articles recommending an injection
of fresh air of at least 34 m3/h per person to prevent odours and an absolute
minimum of 8.5 m3/h per person to maintain the concentration of carbon dioxide
below 2,500 ppm, which is half the average permissible exposure in a work
environment. Recently, ASHRAE Standard 62-1989 recommended a minimum of
25.5 m3/h per person for classrooms, 34 m3/h for offices and 42.5 m3/h for hos-
pitals (diseased area). This standard also recommends an increase in the volume
when there are problems in the mixture of air breathing zones or unusual sources
of pollution. On the other hand, we must remember that the primary purpose of an
air conditioning system in an office building is to provide a good level of comfort.
Currently, there is a lot of interest in determining the ventilation rate in indoor
environments. In this regard, there have been various models to determine the air
change to link it with energy consumption (Cunningham [15]).
Research techniques using a tracer gas to detect flaws in the ventilation con-
ditions are widespread. The tracer gas used in ventilation is often colourless,
odourless and inert, and should normally not be present in the atmosphere. This
section describes the different models and measuring procedures for air renovation
in the indoor environments and their effects on local thermal comfort.
2.4.1 Techniques of Tracer Gas Monitoring
The techniques of tracer gas are the only ones that allow multiple types of
quantitative assessments of ventilation, which include measures of air infiltration
and renovation, the efficiency of extraction systems (foul air and smoke), as well as
the dispersal of pollutants. It can also measure air velocities in ventilation ducts.
Another advantage of tracer gas techniques is the ability to perform actions in
occupied environments. This is an effective and accurate method because it takes
into account the large effect of occupation to assess the conditions for air reno-
vation and the impact of opening and closing doors and windows. This will also
take into account the enormous impact of occupation on the conditions for air
renovation. The results of appropriate measures with tracer gas in a ventilation
system will provide information on the amount of air introduced in each
enclosure, the efficiency of heat recovery units, the amount of air taken from
2.4 Indoor Air Renovation Models 37
recycling, the ‘‘short circuit’’ effect of air related to outlet and inlet distribution.
Both the planning stage and the lack of regular checks can cause a great increase in
energy consumption and, in many buildings, one can see the effect of SBS by not
taking these factors into account.
The flow of air through a building or room can be assessed by one of the three
tracer gas methods: concentration decay method, constant concentration method
and constant emission method. These three methods are based on the continuity
equation, as seen in Eq. 2.4.1.1, and in its possible simplifications.
dC
V ¼ FðsÞ þ NðsÞ Coa N ðsÞ CðsÞ ð2:4:1:1Þ
ds
where
V is the volume of the air in the room (m3),
C is the tracer gas concentration in the room air (m3/m3),
s is the time (h),
F ðsÞ is the rate of introduction of tracer gas in the room (m3/h),
Coa is the concentration of tracer gas in outdoor air (m3/m3) and
N ðsÞ is the air flow through the room (m3/h):
F ðsÞ V dC
ds
N ð sÞ ¼ ð2:4:1:2Þ
C ðsÞ Coa
The air change rate, or number of renovations, N, is estimated by dividing the
flow rate through the compound by its volume, assuming that Coa = 0.
(a) Concentration decay method
The concentration decay method is the most basic method used to measure air
flow during renovations of discrete short periods. In this method, a small
amount of tracer gas is completely mixed with the air. To ensure uniformity of
the tracer gas concentration at all points in the environment, fans are
employed. After this, the tracer gas concentration drops, and the time needed
to reach a concentration value close to zero must be measured.
When there are no new issues of tracer gas and the air flow rate entry is
constant, the concentration of tracer gas falls exponentially with time. Using
the natural logarithm of gas concentrations over time, we get a line where the
gradient is the rate of air change N (Eq. 2.4.1.3). If a line cannot be obtained,
we must consider that the tracer gas does not mix well with the indoor
environment and that the results are not valid.
ln Cð0Þ ln Cðs1 Þ
N¼ ð2:4:1:3Þ
s1
Finally, the equipment needed is a gas monitor, a tracer gas source and fan(s) to
homogenise the mix.
(b) Constant emission method

The constant emission method is employed for long periods of continuous
measurement of air renovation in simple areas. Tracer gas is emitted at a
constant speed during the measuring period. Therefore, if the renovation and
the concentration of tracer gas are constant, the number of air changes per
hour, N, will be in accordance with:
F
N¼ ð2:4:1:4Þ
V C
The tracer gas concentration should be the same in all areas at any given
moment.
(c) Constant concentration method
The constant concentration method is used to assess the ongoing renovation in
occupied buildings. Using a gas monitor, tracer gas concentrations are mea-
sured in each zone. With this information, the dosage of tracer gas is con-
trolled to maintain a constant concentration. A small fan can be used to
facilitate the mixture. Air changes are also expressed in Eq. 2.4.1.4. The air
renovation is proportional to the tracer gas emission required to maintain
constant concentration. This approach has three advantages:
• It allows to get the exact average speed of change during long periods and
in situations where the air change varies over time.
• It can be used to assess changes in specific areas.
• It is particularly appropriate to evaluate the continuous outside air infiltration
in each individual zone; the exchange of unwanted air between different parts
of a building can also be assessed.
2.5 Building Simulation Models
2.5.1 EN ISO 13790 Models
Recently, ISO 13790 proposed some calculation procedures to certify the energy
consumption of buildings.
Currently, real energy consumption of buildings, with different levels of per-
meability of internal coverings, is used to obtain the main constants of the general
equation of energy certification of buildings, in accordance with EN ISO 13790.
Particularly, the simplified monthly method of EN ISO 13790 standard will be
presented. In this monthly method, the heat demand of the building QH is defined
for each calculation period through:
QH ¼ QL gQG ð2:5:1:1Þ
2.5 Building Simulation Models 39
where QL is the heat loss of the building, g is the utilisation factor of heat gains and
QG is the total heat gain. The annual heat demand is the sum of the heat demand
over the entire year and it is positive:
X
12
QHa ¼ QH;m ð2:5:1:2Þ
m¼1
ISO 13790 standard gives expressions to determine the utilisation factor for
heating:
1 caHH
gG;H ¼ ð2:5:1:3Þ
1 þ caHH
and for cooling :

1 caCC
gL;C ¼ ð2:5:1:4Þ
1 þ caCC
The heat gain and loss ratios for heating and cooling periods, respectively:
QG;H
cH ¼ ð2:5:1:5Þ
QL;H
QL;C
cC ¼ ð2:5:1:6Þ
QG;C
In accordance with [21], the utilisation factor represents the portion of gains
(during the heating season) or of losses (during the cooling season) that contribute
to the reduction in the heating demand (during the heating season) or cooling
demand (during the cooling season).
The non-utilised part of the gains (in winter) or the losses (in summer) depends
on the dynamic mismatch between the gains and losses, which may cause over-
heating (above set-point temperature) in winter or under-cooling in summer. This
utilisation factor depends on coefficients a0 and time constant [22]:
s
a ¼ a0 þ ð2:5:1:7Þ
s0
a0 is a numerical parameter and s0 is the reference time constant that depends
on the building category. For example, both for heating and cooling in office
buildings, the following equation is proposed by the standard [23]:
s
aH ¼ aC ¼ 0:8 þ ð2:5:1:8Þ
70
Therefore, aH and aC are linearly correlated to the time constant of the building
s (Eq. 2.5.1.8).
The EN ISO 13790 standard gives default values for the parameters a0 and s0 .
For example, for the monthly calculation of continuously heated buildings, the
values are a0 ¼ 1 and s0 ¼ 15 h. The value of these parameters can also be pro-
vided at national level; therefore, the suitability of the default values of a0 and s0
was studied under Finnish conditions [24]. Other researchers [21] revealed that the
differences between the buildings can be accounted by adding a parameter to
Eq. 2.5.1.8. For example, Eq. 2.5.1.9 depicts a parameter that depends on the
glazed area of the envelope, because highly glazed external envelopes yield a
wide-ranging hourly profile of heat losses, leading to a decrease in the internal
temperature below the cooling set-point, owing to the fact that this effect is not
duly taken into account through the time constant of the building.
s
aC ¼ 8 13n þ ð2:5:1:9Þ
17
where n is the ratio between the glazed area of the envelope and conditioned floor
area.
It should be noted that, owing to the fact that this formulation was obtained
through regional multiple-regression expressions, it is only suitable for Italian
national buildings with medium heat capacity (147 kJ/m2K), a time constant of
28 h and Italian climatic conditions. Hence, it must be adapted to each climate.
On the other hand, the time constant, referring to a mono-capacitor model of the
building, is the time required for the internal minus external temperature difference
to decrease in the absence of heat gains, considering a constant external temper-
ature. This parameter, usually expressed in hours, quantifies the change in building
internal temperature when submitted to a dynamic solicitation:
C
s¼ ð2:5:1:10Þ
H
where C is the internal heat capacity of the building and H is the total heat loss
coefficient of the building caused by transmission and ventilation heat losses.
2.5.2 Heat, Air and Moisture Tools Simulation Models
To solve the balance equations of room models, the balance equations were cre-
ated from the individual Building Physics Toolbox [25, 26]. Heat, air and moisture
(HAM) tools library is a Simulink model upgraded version of H-Tools with a
similar structure, and specially constructed for thermal system analysis in building
physics.
The library contains blocks for 1D calculation of HAM transfer through the
building envelope components and ventilated spaces. The library is a part of IBPT-
International Building Physics Toolbox and available for free downloading [27].
This library depicts two main blocks: a building envelope construction (walls
and windows) and thermal zone (ventilated spaces), which are enclosed by the
building envelope. Component models provide detailed calculations of the
hydrothermal state of each subcomponent in the structure, according to the sur-

rounding conditions to which it is exposed.
In Fig. 2.10, we see the main blocks employed for a building simulation, in
which we see a block that represents different exterior/interior walls, floor, roof
and windows components. These constructions are defined with respect to their
physical properties (density of dry material and open porosity), thermal properties
(specific heat capacity of the dry material and thermal conductivity) and moisture
properties (sorption isotherm, moisture capacity, water vapour permeability and
liquid water conductivity), in accordance with the BESTEST structure. Other
parameters, for example, internal gains (convective, radiative and moisture gains),
air changes and heating/cooling system are considered in the heat and moisture
building balance.
The mathematical model employed in these simulations is the result of whole
building HAM [28–30] balance, and depends on moisture generated from occupant
activities, moisture input or removal through ventilation, and moisture transported
and exchanged between indoor air and the envelope [31].
The mathematical model is based on the numerical resolution of the energy and
moisture balance through the building. In accordance with the following equations
[29], the heat flow depicts a conductive and a convective part:
q ¼ qconductive þ qconvective ð2:5:2:1Þ
oT
qconductive ¼ k ð2:5:2:2Þ
ox
qconvective ¼ ma cpa T þ hevap: ð2:5:2:3Þ
where k is the thermal conductivity (W/mK), T is the temperature (C), ma is the

density of moisture flow rate of dry air (kg/m2s), cpa is the specific heat capacity of
the dry air (J/kg K) and hevap: is the latent heat of evaporation (J/kg).
The moisture flow transfer was separated in liquid and vapour phases
(Eqs. 2.5.2.4, 2.5.2.5).
oPsuc
ml ¼ K ð2:5:2:4Þ
ox
where ml is the density of moisture flow rate of vapour phase (kg/m2\,s), K is the
hydraulic conductivity and Psuc is the suction pressure (Pa).
The vapour phase was divided into diffusion and convection:
op
mv ¼ dp þ m a xa ð2:5:2:5Þ
ox
where dp is the moisture permeability (s) and
xa is the water vapour content (kg/kg).
The mass airflow through the structure driven by air pressure differences is
described by:
Horiz Cat
Geometry Construction Constructions Geometry
Geometry BTweather
Zone BESTEST
Radiation S Zone Construction 1

Horiz Cat
System Zone Demux
EXTERIOR WALL Radiation
1 Selector
Double-pane window 2 Room
Variable solar transmittance
Geometry Construction IEA Common Excercise Horiz Cat
0
Zone Gains Radiation
Radiation S Geometry 3
Construction Room temperature and RH
Zone
Room air / CTH
EXTERIOR WALL
WAVO model
2 0
R -K-
Radiation
Clock
Gains Zone Days
Geometry Construction ROOF
Zone HEATING/COOLING SYSTEM 0
Radiation S Zone Construction

Out1
EXTERIOR WALL Heat supply
Radiation F
3 Internal gains
0
FLOOR
Geometry Construction
System Zone
Zone
Internal gains1
S Ventilation system
Radiation AIR IN
Vert Cat
EXTERIOR WALL
simout System Zone
4
To Workspace
Ventilation system
4 AIR OUT
In1 Out1
Zone out
Fig. 2.10 MATLAB blocks for building simulations
ma ¼ ra qa ð2:5:2:6Þ
where ra is the density of the air flow rate (m3/m2s) and

qa is the density of the material (kg/m3).
The final energy and moisture balance is revealed through:
o oT
q ¼ c q0 ð2:5:2:7Þ
ox ot
d ow
m¼ ð2:5:2:8Þ
ox ot
where qo is the density of the dry material (kg/m3),

c is the specific heat capacity of the material (J/kg K),
w is the moisture content mass by volume (kg/m3),
t is the time (s) and
x is the space coordinate (m).
Finally, the numerical model, based on a control volume method, lumps the
thermal capacity C in the middle of the total thickness d/2 and, consequently, the
thermal resistances for one half are:
d=2
R¼ ð2:5:2:9Þ
k
d=2
Rp ¼ ð2:5:2:10Þ
dp
d=2
Rsuc ¼ ð2:5:2:11Þ
Ksuc
The obtained heat and moisture balance equations are:

Tinþ1 1 ðTi1 Ti Þ ðTiþ1 Ti Þ ðpi1 pi Þ ðpiþ1 pi Þ
¼ n þ hevap þ ...
Dt C Ri1 þ Ri Riþ1 þ Ri Rp;i1 Rp;i Rp;iþ1 Rp;i

ma cpa ðTi1 Ti Þn ; ma [ 0
þ
ma cpa ðT1 Tiþ1 Þn ; ma \0
ð2:5:2:12Þ

wnþ1
i wni 1 ðpi1 pi Þ ðpiþ1 pi Þ psuc;i1 pisuc;i psuc;iþ1 psuc;i
¼ þ þ ...
Dt d Rp;i1 þ Rp;i Rp;iþ1 þ Rp;i Rsuc;i1 Rsuc;i Rsuc;iþ1 Rsuc;i
n
6:21:106 ma ðpi1 pi Þ ; ma [ 0
þ
6:21:106 ma ðpi piþ1 Þn ; ma \0
ð2:5:2:13Þ
where i is the objective node, i - 1 and i ? 1 are the preceding and following
nodes and n and n + 1 the previous and corresponding time steps.
2.5.3 Building Time Constant Models
As seen before, the time constant is normally found from a slow cooling period
with a constant low outdoor temperature such as heat capacity/heat loss factor
[32]. This method is based on a seasonal steady state energy balance on the
building as a whole or on a particular building zone. The thermal inertia is
introduced in terms of the utilisation factor that shows the part of energy gains
(solar irradiation and others) that can be stored in the building materials to be
transmitted into the zone when needed.
The utilisation factor g is a function of the periodic time constant of the
building and the ratio Qgain/Qloss. The time constant is defined in the standard, as it
was showed earlier in Eqs. 2.5.1.1 and 2.5.1.10.
As [32] recommended, when we want to work in a more precise way, the
logarithm of the temperature difference of indoors/outdoors is taken and matched
to a straight line by the method of least squares. The time constant is the inverse of
the coefficient for the independent variable (time) given by this curve fit.
2.5.4 Material Properties Models
2.5.4.1 Moisture Storage Capacity
Real moisture storage capacity, when the indoor air relative humidity changes, is a
new parameter that must be defined by researchers in order to obtain the adequate
building materials’ behavior prediction. In this sense, different authors [7, 33] have
developed new methods centred in Eq. 2.5.4.1.1.
qV1000
Cm ¼ ðu60% Rh u40% RH Þ ð2:5:4:1:1Þ
20
where;
Cm is the moisture capacity (g/%RH),
u is the moisture content (kg/kg),
q is the density of the material (k/m3) and
V is the volume of the material (m3).
On the other hand, the moisture diffusivity can be calculated in an analogous
manner to thermal diffusivity by Eq. 2.5.4.1.2.
kd
am ¼ ð2:5:4:1:2Þ
Cm=ð1000VÞ 100=P
where;
Pvsat is the saturation pressure for water vapour at 22C(Pa),
Kd is the water vapour permeability (kg/(s m Pa)),
Cm is the moisture capacity (g/%RH) and
am is the moisture diffusivity (m2/s).
Finally, we must consider that the definition of moisture diffusivity from
Eq. 2.5.4.1.3 neglects the moisture storage in the air within the porous material
[35, 36]. This effect is negligible for most hygroscopic materials.
kd
am ¼ ð2:5:4:1:3Þ
Cm=ð1000VÞ 100=Pvsat
where;
Pvsat is the saturation pressure for water vapour at 22C(Pa),
kd is the water vapour permeability (kg/(s m Pa)),
cm is the moisture capacity (g/%RH) and
am is the moisture diffusivity (m2/s).
Based on these methods, researchers showed that concrete moisture buffering
influenced the indoor air conditions with a moisture capacity that is half of the
wooden structures and more results will be showed in our case studies.
2.5.4.2 Vapour-Driving Potential
As a result of the vapour-driving potential, the second term of the model of

Eq. 2.5.4.2.1 includes another moisture source of indoor air. The reasons to ana-
lyse indoor air based on the partial vapour pressure were explained by [37]. They
concluded that the driving potential for vapour transport is the difference in vapour
pressure on the surfaces (Eq. 2.5.4.2.2).
They also concluded that as the moisture is transported through a finite volume
in a medium, and the amount of moisture retained by the volume is altered during
any transient stage of the transport process. The basic reason for this is a change in
local temperature or vapour pressure.
There is even doubt whether the vapour pressure is the driving force for dif-
fusion through walls when there is no air pressure difference. In the building
literature, it is often assumed that vapour pressure is the defining variable when
discussing water movement in walls; but there is evidence that it is the humidity
difference that drives diffusion through absorbent materials.
For these reasons, vapour partial pressure has been used for determining an
index that allows comparison of the effect of coverings by means of equations
defined by ASHRAE. The uncertainty of the calculated vapour pressure
was ±0.07 kPa. This index will be used to consider the excesses of the indoor
versus outdoor partial vapour pressure, following Hens’ work [38].
dcin
V ¼ G þ M þ nVðcout cin Þ ð2:5:4:2:1Þ
ds
where;
s is the time (s),
V is the volume of the room, m3
N is the air ventilation rate, s-1
c is the water vapour content, kg/m3
G is the moisture generation rate, kg/s
M is the sum of moisture quantities contributed by buildings components, kg/s.
Jv ¼ l gradp ð2:5:4:2:2Þ
where;
l is the water vapour permeability of the medium (kg/(s m Pa)),

J is the water vapour flux density (kg/m2 s)
Gradp is the driving potential (Pa/m).
References
1. ISO 7730 (2005) Ergonomics of the thermal environment—analytical determination and

interpretation of thermal comfort using calculation of the PMV and PPD indices and local
thermal comfort criteria
2. ISO 7726 (2002) Ergonomics of the thermal environment—instruments for measuring
physical quantities
3. Normativa Técnica de Prevención (NTP) (2011) Ministerio de Industria. http://www.insht.es.
Accessed 2 Feb 2011
4. ASHRAE Standard 55-2004 (2004) Thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy
5. ASHRAE Handbook (2007) HVAC applications SI units American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Washington DC
6. ASHRAE Handbook Fundamentals (2005) SI units American Society of Heating,
7. Simonson CJ, Salonvaara M, Ojanen T (2001) Improving indoor climate and comfort with
wooden structures. Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo
8. ASHRAE Standard 55-2004 (2004) Thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy.
SI Units American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers,
Washington DC
9. Fanger PO (1970) Thermal comfort. Doctoral thesis. Danish Technical, Copenhagen
10. Wargocki P, Wyon DP, Baik YK, Clausen G, Fanger PO (1999) Perceived air quality, sick
building syndrome (SBS) symptoms and productivity in an office with two different pollution
loads. Indoor Air 9:165–179
11. Fang L, Clausen G, Fanger PO (1998) Impact of temperature and humidity on perception of
indoor air quality during immediate and longer whole-body exposures. Indoor Air
8(4):276–284
12. Molina M (2000) Impacto de la temperatura y la humedad sobre la salud y el confort térmico,
climatización de ambientes interiores (Tesis doctoral). Universidad de A Coruña, Spain
13. De Dear RJ, Auliciems A (1985) Validation of the predicted mean vote model of thermal
comfort in six Australian field studies. ASHRAE Trans 91(2B):452–468
14. Brager GS, de Dear RJ (1998) Thermal adaptation in the built environment: a literature
review. Energy Build 27:83–96
15. Berglund L (1978) Mathematical models for predicting the thermal comfort response of
building occupants. ASHRAE Transactions, vol 84. American Society of Heating,
16. Nicol F, Roaf S (1996) Pioneering new indoor temperature standard: the Pakistan project.
Energy Build 23:169–174
17. Humphreys MA (1976) Comfortable indoor temperatures related to the outdoor air
temperature. Build Serv Eng 44:5–27
18. Toftum J, Jorgensen AS, Fanger PO (1998) Upper limits for indoor air humidity to avoid
uncomfortably humid skin. Energy Build 2:1–13
19. ASHRAE Handbook (2008) HVAC system and equipment. SI Units American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Washington DC, USA
20. Fang L, Clausen G, Fanger PO (1996) The impact of temperature and humidity on perception
and emission of indoor air pollutants. Proc Indoor Air 4:349–353
21. Corrado V, Mechri HE, Fabrizio E (2007) Building energy performance assessment through
simplified models: application of the ISO 13790 quasi-steady state method. In: Proceedings
of building simulation pp 79–86
22. Corrado V, Fabrizio E (2007) Assessment of buildings cooling energy need through a quasi-
steady state model: simplified correlation for gain-loss mismatch. Energy Build 39:569–579
23. ISO (2005) Thermal performance of buildings-calculation of energy use for space heating
and cooling. ISO/DIS 13790:2005, International Organization for Standardization, Geneva
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24. Jokisalo J, Kurnitski J (2007) Performance of EN ISO 13790 utilisation factor heat demand
calculation method in a cold climate. Energy Build 39:236–247
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Simulink. http://www.ibpt.org. Accessed 2 Feb 2011
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(2002). International building physics toolbox-general report. Department of Building
Physics. Chalmer Institute of Technology, Sweden. Report R-02: 2002. 4
27. International building physics toolbox in Simulink. http://www.ibpt.org. Accessed on 2 Feb
2011
28. Kalagasidis AS (2002) BFTools Building physics toolbox block documentation. Department
of Building Physics. Chalmer Institute of Technology, Sweden
29. Kalagasidis AS (2002) HAM-Tools. International building physics toolbox. Block
documentation. Department of Building Physics. Chalmer Institute of Technology, Sweden
30. Weitzmann P, Kalagasidis AS, Nielsen TR, Peuhkuri R, Hagentoft C (2003) Presentation of
the international building physics toolbox for simulink. Eight international IBPSA
conference, Netherlands, pp 1369–1376
31. International Energy Agency. http://www.iea.org. Accessed on 2 February 2011
32. Norén A, Akander J, Isfält E, Söderström O (1999). The effect of thermal inertia on energy
requirement in a Swedish building—results obtained with three calculation models. Int J Low
Energy Sustain Build 1:1–16
33. Yongling W, Ruilun Z, Zizhong D (2000) Primary research on moisture absorption and
desorption function of aerocrete as building element material for dehumidification. In:
Proceedings of healthy buildings p 3
34. Simonson CJ, Salonvaara M, Ojalen T (2001) Improving indoor climate and comfort with
wooden structures. Espoo. Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT Publications
431.200p. ? app 91 p
35. Olutimayin SO, Simonson CJ (2005) Measuring and modeling vapor boundary layer growth
during transient diffusion heat and moisture transfer in cellulose insulation. Int J Heat Mass
Transf 48:3319–3330
36. Talukdar P, Osanyintola OF, Olutimayin SO, Simonson CJ (2007) An experimental data set
for benchmarking 1-D, transient heat and moisture transfer models of hygroscopic building
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press). http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2007.03.025. Accessed 2 Feb 2011
37. Trechsel HR (ed) (1994) Moisture control in buildings. American Society for Testing and
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conservation in buildings and community systems annex 41 ‘‘Moist-Eng’’ Glasgow meeting.
http://www.kuleuven.be/bwf/projects/annex41/protected/data/
KUL%20Oct%202004%20Paper%20A41-T3-B-04-6.pdf. Accessed 2 Feb 2011
Chapter 3
Real Indoor Environments
3.1 Indoor Environments
It is well known that, in accordance with the International Energy Agency (IEA),
1/3 of energy from fossil fuels is employed in about equal parts in transport,
industry and indoor ambiences. In this regard, people spend year after year more
time in indoor environments and, hence, the energy consumption in an indoor
environment keeps increasing. In the European Union energy consumption in
buildings represents 40% of the total consumption. However, an increment in the
number of air conditioned buildings is not always related with better indoor
ambient conditions. This is related to the difficulties in controlling real indoor
environments.
Recent research tried to define better Heating, Ventilation and Air Condition-
ing (HVAC) control systems based on neural networks and important control
techniques. The results, most of the times, tend to recommend the natural adap-
tation of workers in accordance to each environmental change. Consequently,
more complex mechanical HVAC systems, to ensure thermal comfort and air
quality, are in competition and hardly ever better than natural ventilation con-
trolled by human activity, in accordance with the number and degree of opening
windows.
On the other hand, most of the times complex HVAC systems need expensive
maintenance, due to a high cost in working time and materials.
If passive methods only need an adequate consideration at the moment of
building design and construction and a nearly null maintenance during the lifetime
of the building, then mechanical HVAC systems are more expensive than passive
methods to control an indoor environment. Considering the uncertainty of duration
of fossil fuels, it is evident that the need for new methods is necessary to reduce
energy consumption and harmful emissions to the atmosphere.
Indoor air energy consumption, health effects and preservation of materials are
a consequence of the occupants’ activities and habits. Thus, we classify indoor

50 3 Real Indoor Environments
Fig. 3.1 Local thermal

comfort parameters
environments in accordance with these activities in industrial, public and domestic

buildings (Fig. 3.1). Examples of these environments are ships, offices, schools
and apartments, respectively.
Ships, offices, schools and apartments depict different temperature and relative
humidity limits and, hence, different control methods of thermodynamic prop-
erties of moist air that exist in the ambience. These indoor environments are
presented in this chapter as an introduction to the future on indoor environments
and the implementation of passive methods, such as the use of permeable
coverings.
3.2 Temperature and Relative Humidity
It is well known that temperature and relative humidity are intimately related
with general and local thermal comfort in indoor environments. Most of the
present control systems are based on the control of temperature and relative
humidity with the aim of reducing energy consumption, but at the same time
assuring thermal comfort, preservation of materials and health in accordance
with present standards.
Results reveal that the minimum energy consumption happens with minimum
air flow rates and a moist air relative humidity below the upper thermal comfort
limit. For example, when employing air renovation to control indoor relative
humidity, the lowest energy consumption happens when hybrid systems, with a
desiccant wheel, are employed.
As observed earlier, in accordance with temperature and relative humid-
ity conditions, indoor environments can be classified and analysed. Hence,
field studies in these different environments are reported in the next few
sections.
3.3 Equipments and Methods to Analyse Indoor Environments 51
3.3 Equipments and Methods to Analyse

Indoor Environments
3.3.1 Measuring Devices for Indoor Environments
The variable selected for most of this study was the excess of internal partial
vapour pressure related to outdoors, because this parameter allows to take into
account the real effect of coverings on indoor relative humidity, temperature, air
renovation and, indirectly, on the percentage of dissatisfaction and perception of
indoor air quality (IAQ).
Tinytag Plus 2 dual channel data loggers with thermistors and capacitive sen-
sors were installed to record temperature and relative humidity values with
accuracies of ± 0.2°C and ± 3% RH, respectively.
Ventilation rate was recorded with a Brüel and Kjaer multi-sampler, consisting
of a photo-acoustic infrared detection microprocessor-controlled gas analyser and
a multi-sampler for air with six sampling ports. The apparatus was equipped with
an SF6 filter U0988, with an accuracy of ± 0.01 ppm, which was single-point
calibrated using certified calibration gas with a concentration of 10 ppm. The same
device allows to define the temperature and relative humidity in different zones at
the same time and, hence, the heat and mass transfer related with indoor air in
different building zones is understood.
3.3.2 Measurement Process and Standards
The temperature and relative humidity measuring process was carried out in dif-
ferent buildings throughout the year, with a measurement frequency of 5–10 min,
in accordance with the objective of the different studies. When relating indoor
environment with different moisture sources, one needs to measure indoor tem-
perature and relative humidity with a frequency of 5 min to define humidity
release; the humidity source was the reason for short working periods, for
example, cooking time, taking a shower and different cleaning periods.
Once the moisture and temperature measuring frequency was defined, different
measuring points were selected, in accordance with the objective of the study. For
example, when trying to relate the effect of humidity release during cooking over
other building zones, a new measuring process or device must be developed; for
example, when trying to measure the effect of humidity release over other rooms
and, at the same time, considering air changes in each zone.
Another parameter to be considered at the time of measuring temperature and
relative humidity is the margin of error. For our case studies, we had temperature
and relative humidity accuracies of 0.2°C and ± 3%, respectively.
Data were measured in two zones of office buildings: one, where the clients are
usually located, known as the clients zone, and the other where the employers
work, called the workers zone. In apartments, each room was a measuring zone.
Finally, in ships, normal and extreme indoor environments were detected, such as
the engine room, engine control room and bridge. In school buildings, a measuring
process was developed with data loggers located in the center of gravity of each
room, in accordance with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
standards.
Particularly, heat sources, such as computers, were taken into account to obtain
a representative value of indoor temperature and relative humidity conditions.
Besides, special care was taken to obtain measurements near the centre of gravity
of the occupants because the values of temperature and relative humidity are used
to quantify local thermal comfort and IAQ indices. These indices were explained
in the model section.
Finally, as observed earlier, measurements were taken into account with the
American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers
(ASHRAE) [1] and ISO [2] recommendations, and were recorded in the occupied
zones of the buildings at locations where the occupants are known or are expected
to spend their time. In this regard, a sampling process was developed in work-
stations or seating areas, depending on the function developed or the available
space. When impossible to measure occupancy distribution, measurements were
taken in the centre of the room.
Once measured data were obtained and recorded, different statistical analyses
were carried out to define working periods. For example, one-way ANOVA
analysis was conducted to define the working periods of internal coverings.
3.3.3 Statistical Analysis
To define the working periods of coverings, some statistical analyses are needed.
To define the effect of internal coverings on indoor conditions, an hourly one-way
ANOVA analysis was conducted. This study allowed to define the similarity
between groups of indoor ambient conditions and define if their behaviour can be
considered equal or different. For example, it is the responsibility of indoor air
temperature and relative humidity to define which groups of internal coverings
depict the same working periods over indoor ambiences.
To develop these tasks, an adequate variable was selected: the moist air partial
vapour pressure because this variable expresses the combined effect of temperature
and relative humidity.
Once the measured variable was defined, the measuring frequency must be
defined too. This frequency must be selected in accordance with the effect that will
be analysed. The hourly mean values of partial vapour pressure excess were taken
into account as main variable to define the working periods.
Once the one-way ANOVA analysis was conducted, results must be interpreted
in accordance with the significance index. The significance is the square of vari-
ance and variance is the mean value of the square deviations about the mean
3.3 Equipments and Methods to Analyse Indoor Environments 53
square (MS) value, or the sum of the squared deviations about the mean (SS) value
divided by the degrees of freedom:
SS
s2 ¼ MS ¼ ð3:3:3:1Þ
df
If the critical level of significance is lower than 0.05, one must reject the
hypothesis of the same mean value and conclude that not all mean values are the
same and selected groups are clearly different. To determine if groups are well
defined, one must apply another test, called the Duncan post hoc analysis. To
obtain the significance value of the mean partial vapour pressure difference at each
hour of the year, the ANOVA and the post hoc analyses were applied using SPSS
software [3].
This statistical study was employed to define the effect of moisture sources in
different rooms of apartments. In these case studies, more statistical methods are
typically used. For example, multiple regression and least square methods are
employed to define new models based on real measured data.
3.4 Apartments: Indoor Air and Health
In these buildings, the typical health problems in humid regions of Northwestern

Spain and Portugal are related to indoor temperature and high relative humidity.
These variables were measured in accordance with the ASHRAE standard rec-
ommendations [4].
In this study, one occupant suffered or was suffering a respiratory ailment in the
25 selected apartments. To relate health problems with indoor conditions, some
parameters, such as air renovation, microbiological load and indoor air tempera-
ture and relative humidity, were measured at the same time.
The measuring procedure allowed to obtain the humidity ratio in different
apartment rooms in a particular period of time, in accordance with habits of the
occupants; for example, defining the humidity ratio in the kitchen during breakfast
(07:00–10:00), during lunch (12:00–15:00) and during dinner (20:00–21:00).
During these time periods, the main humidity sources are related to the humidity
released during cooking.
On the other hand, other periods related to humidity sources, such as human
activity, must be considered. In this regard, sleeping time, recorded in bedrooms
from 0:00 to 07:00, is a clear example of this humidity source. Results obtained are
summarised in Table 3.1 This table shows mean indoor conditions obtained in 25
apartments, in accordance with the previous time periods.
A first conclusion obtained from these results is that the humidity in the bed-
room was the highest and that indoor air temperature was about 20°C, with an
outdoor mean temperature of 12°C. This is the highest value reached in an indoor
environment, if we do not consider the peak humidity in the kitchen during meal
Table 3.1 Mean indoor conditions in apartments

Humidity ratio Outdoors Living room Bedroom Children Kitchen
(kg/kg)
Lunch 7.10 7.76 7.91 7.8 8.02
Night 7.00 7.84 8.25 8.08 7.89
Dinner 7.06 7.89 8.17 8.03 7.94
Breakfast 7.00 7.80 8.23 7.92 7.94
Fig. 3.2 Humidity ratio 40

during the night in the 35
bedroom 30
25
Time (%)
20
15
10
5
0
3-4 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 8-9 9-10 10-11 11-12 12-13
Humidity ratio (g/kg)

during breakfast in the 35
kitchen 30
25
Time (%)
20
15
10
5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
times. In particular, during half the resting time, the humidity ratio experiences a
value between 8 and 9 g/kg with an indoor air temperature of 20°C (Fig. 3.2).
If the humidity ratio in the kitchen during breakfast, Fig. 3.3, lunch, Fig. 3.4,
and dinner, Fig. 3.5, is taken into consideration, one can reach new conclusions.
For example, the humidity ratio experiences a lower maximum value of 6 g/kg
during a quarter of the measuring period during lunch. When comparing different
humidity ratios at different eating times, one can conclude that during dinner a
different distribution of humidity ratios is obtained: a maximum humidity range of
7 g/kg is reached during the maximum period of time.
From this humidity distribution, one may conclude that humidity during this
period peaks under low ventilation rate. This is a typical problem that is usually
solved with adequate air change related to opening of windows and extraction of
3.4 Apartments: Indoor Air and Health 55

during lunch in the kitchen 35
30
25
Time (%)
20
15
10
5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

during dinner in the kitchen 35
30
25
Time (%)
20
15
10
5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
humidity released during cooking. It can be done with adequate occupants’

habits.
Another conclusion obtained was that, once local thermal comfort was defined
as a function of the local percentage of dissatisfied persons (PD), it resulted within
the local thermal comfort limit of 15% in bedrooms and kitchens. Hence, it can be
considered as a comfortable environment.
An indoor environment can depict an adequate thermal comfort under inade-
quate air changes. This is the case of bedrooms, where air changes, estimated as a
function of CO2 concentration decrease, resulted in excessively low CO2 con-
centration values of 3,000 ppm and, consequently, below the lowest air changes
admitted for this environment. It is of special interest that these CO2 values can be
related to some health problems.
In this investigation, a statistical study about the relationship between an indoor
ambient concentration and source was developed. Specifically, a strong relation-
ship was obtained between the level of CO2 in the kitchen during dinnertime and
in the living room.
Other studies were developed for this type of apartment; for example, bacteria
and fungi growth owing to humidity problems. To reach this objective, measuring
processes of temperature and relative humidity were carried out, and question-
naires about perception of indoor ambiences and occupants’ habits were filled.
General characteristics of the apartments are summarised in Table 3.2.
Table 3.2 Apartment Apartment characteristics

description
A Pet
B Normal
C Normal
D Limited space
E Normal
F Humidity problems
G Humidity problems
H Limited space
I Normal
J Pet
K Humidity problems
L Limited space
M Normal
N Humidity problems
O Normal
P Normal
Q Pet
R Normal
S Normal
T Humidity problems
U Normal
V Normal
W Humidity problems
X Normal
Y Normal
Fig. 3.6 Total bacteria 1800

Total bacterial (CFU/m )
3
1600
measured 1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y
Flat
The results revealed (Figs. 3.6, 3.7) that there is no similar bacteria and fungi
growth in all apartments. Furthermore, it must be related to some of the param-
eters, reflected in the previous table. A statistical study was developed to relate
these parameters with bacteria and fungi growth. The results revealed that there
was a clear relationship between bacteria growth, the presence of pets and fungi
growth with humidity problems in walls and ceilings.
The conclusion reached is that occupants’ habits in these naturally ventilated
buildings are clearly related to indoor relative humidity and, hence, fungi growth.
3.4 Apartments: Indoor Air and Health 57
Fig. 3.7 Total fungi 400

350
measured
Fungi (CFU/m )
3
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y
Flat
So, to reduce humidity peaks during sleeping and cooking times, new habits, such
as opening windows, were recommended.
Finally, humidity problems cannot be detected only by measuring indoor air
temperature and relative humidity. Hence, filling questionnaires about indoor
conditions, such as that done with local thermal comfort, are important, because
these questionnaires are the only proven way to detect humidity problems in walls
and ceilings.
Examples of questionnaires are described by most of the standards. However,
questionnaires must be implemented by researchers to adapt them to their par-
ticular field of research work. Hence, an inadequate adaptation to a particular
situation will imply an incorrect analysis of results and future conclusions.
3.5 Offices and Schools: Indoor Air and Energy Saving
In this section, a few public indoor environments, such as schools and office
buildings, are reported, as well as their energy consumption characteristics. These
environments were selected because they depict high energy consumption during
classes and working hours.
On the other hand, during the period after classes or working hours, the energy
consumption is approximately constant and nearly null. Passive methods may lead
to long periods of working time and reveal advantages relatively to classic HVAC
systems. All passive methods, and the particular case of using internal coverings,
are analysed in Chap. 5. A new methodology to analyse the effects of passive
methods over real indoor environments is presented and developed in detail in the
next chapter.
As observed earlier, regardless of the fact that these characteristics are general
for public buildings, these are at the same time a function of climatic conditions
for each region. For example, our studies are centred in the Northwest of the
Iberian Peninsula with a mild climate throughout the year. In particular, the Spring
season can originate temperature peaks that must be compensated with HVAC
systems.
To reduce energy consumption in these situations, passive methods, such as
using permeable coverings, wall construction and thermal inertia, can be utilised
[5]. Permeable coverings and wall construction reduce the relative humidity peaks
0.80
0.75
0.70
Relative humidity (%)
0.65
0.60
0.55
0.50
0.45
0.40
New School Old School
0.35
17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00
Time (hours)
Fig. 3.8 Indoor air relative humidity in school buildings
during the first few hours of occupation and thermal inertia helps to store energy
and release it when indoor temperature drops and vice versa.
Passive methods have been considered in laboratory studies and simulations,
but real case studies must be analysed in new and old public buildings, such as
schools [6, 7]. These buildings were selected to analyse the thermal inertia effect
on indoor conditions.
As customary in Spanish regions, old schools are built of stone and concrete,
while new school buildings have thin walls composed of layers of insulation,
brick, concrete and plaster. Hence, higher thermal inertias are expected in old
buildings than in new ones.
Figures 3.8 and 3.9 show the mean indoor relative humidity and indoor tem-
perature found in school buildings during various hours of the winter weekends.
The related humidity reveals peak values during the morning hours, reaching 70%
and an indoor temperature of 20°C. This effect is clearer in new buildings. In the
old ones, this is reduced owing to the effect of thick walls and higher air
renovation.
The days represented in the charts correspond to weekends. During these days,
indoor relative humidity in new and old school buildings tend to have similar
values. On the other hand, we find a clear difference in indoor air temperatures
between the two buildings during weekends. The new buildings have an indoor air
temperature of about 21°C, whereas the old ones have a mean temperature of
19°C.
This result was not expected, but is in accordance with wall construction
characteristics. Notably, new buildings have thiner walls and lower air renovation.
However, the internal insulation of new buildings allows a lower indoor air
temperature reduction during the unoccupied period.
This implies a higher indoor air temperature after the weekend, estimated at
2°C and, consequently, a reduction in the peak energy load during the first hours of
occupation for the HVAC system.
3.5 Offices and School: Indoor Air and Energy Saving 59
22.5
22.0
21.5
21.0
Temperature (ºC)
20.5
20.0
19.5
19.0
18.5
18.0
17.5
New School Old School
17.0
17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00
Time (hours)
Fig. 3.9 Indoor air temperature in school buildings
0.60
0.50
0.40
Acceptability
0.30
0.20
0.10
New School OldSchool

0.00
17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00
Time (hours)
Fig. 3.10 Indoor air acceptability in school buildings
22
21
20
PD (%)
19
18
17
NewSchool OldSchool
16
17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00
Time (hours)
Fig. 3.11 Indoor air percentage of dissatisfied persons in school buildings

Once indoor air conditions were defined, it is time to define local thermal
comfort (Figs. 3.10, 3.11). For example, the percentage of PD is about 20% during
daylight hours in new and old buildings. However, new school buildings experi-
ence peaks of percentage of PD, related to peaks of relative humidity under an
indoor air temperature 2°C higher than in old buildings.
As observed earlier, these peaks of relative humidity are related to more her-
metic buildings, with a lower number of air changes. Old buildings depict a higher
level of air renovation, with higher infiltrations through windows and doors.
In Chap. 4, different passive methods are analysed, as well as a new method-
ology to validate software resources employed to simulate these parameters in real
buildings.
3.6 Libraries: Indoor Air and Material Preservation
The Northwest Iberian Peninsula depicts a high relative humidity throughout the
year, reaching values of 88% and temperatures of 17°C during the summer
months. Specifically, June and July, months of maximum library occupation with
expected high indoor air temperature and relative humidity, were selected to carry
out the real case study.
ASHRAE standard recommendations for the storage of books and archival
material for libraries were employed. In this study, the specifications revealed that
library indoor conditions must be between 20 and 22°C and 40 and 55% relative
humidity.
Just like in apartments, ships, etc., libraries also have two zones. The first one is
where students read books, where air renovation is controlled by opening/closing
windows. The other one is the archive section, for the preservation of books. In
this zone, the preserved books are placed on shelves, so that they are far away from
the influence of occupants and heat sources, such as the sun and computers. Air
renovation in libraries is only due to communication through the stairs and
between floors.
Results revealed that indoor temperatures in a Spanish university library were
about 22°C (zone 1) and 25°C (archive section) during the measuring period
(Figs. 3.12, 3.13). Furthermore, the archive section depicts temperature fluctua-
tions due to library occupation with daily amplitudes of 1.5°C, whereas in the main
library these variations were about 0.2°C.
On the other hand, relative humidity reached values of 58% in the archive
section, as a consequence of moisture sources (occupants of the library). However,
this relative humidity is low when compared with the relative humidity values
obtained in the main library, where the mean values are 70% (Fig. 3.14).
As a consequence of the indoor air temperature and relative humidity, values of
indoor conditions in the archive section resulted in book conservation being out of
limits. Furthermore, mould growth in books and walls is expected, due to the high
3.6 Libraries: Indoor Air and Material Preservation 61
Fig. 3.12 Example of a

Spanish library
temperature, despite the fact that relative humidity is lower than in the main
library.
The high temperature was related to the effect of solar radiation on the walls,
but also due to the moisture. Employment of doors separating each zone must be
proposed to reduce this humidity transfer.
Once thermal comfort and local perception of IAQ were analysed, it was
revealed that the percentage of PD is higher in the archive section than in the main
library, by about 10% (Figs. 3.14, 3.15).
The peaks of PD are related to temperate peaks, despite the fact that indoor air
relative humidity is lower than in the main library zone.
Finally, during weekends it was found that the temperature does not rise due to
indoor occupation and, hence, the percentage of PD experiences a reduction.
3.7 Industrial Environments: Indoor Air and Work Risk
Examples of industrial environments are present in power stations and in ships.

Specifically, ships depict different indoor environments that change frequently. For
example, inside the bridge of a ship, indoor conditions are related to weather,
depending on the sea path.
These environments depict heat sources that provide high temperature incre-
ments in clear weather conditions. These heat sources are related to the presence of
the engines and/or boilers that can increase the surrounding air temperature,
reaching a point where it becomes hazardous for engineers. Specifically, this
temperature increment may cause, in accordance with the work risk prevention
law, low productivity rates, health hazards and increase in the number of accidents.
(Fig. 3.16).
Real measured data give some insights on this rather unknown indoor envi-
ronment. For example, the sea lane from Barcelona to the Canary Islands and back,
from December to February, revealed the values presented in Table 3.3.
The measured data must be analysed, once the mean values are known. As seen
in Figs. 3.17 and 3.18, indoor air temperature and relative humidity inside the
bridge are a clear function of weather conditions. However, indoor variations are
27
26
25
Temperature (ºC)
24
23
22
Library Archive
21
23-6 24-6 25-6 26-6 27-6 28-6 29-6 30-6 1-7 2-7 3-7 4-7 5-7 6-7 7-7
Time (days)
Fig. 3.13 Indoor air temperature in a Spanish library
75
70
65
60
55
50
Library Archive
45
23-6 24-6 25-6 26-6 27-6 28-6 29-6 30-6 1-7 2-7 3-7 4-7 5-7 6-7 7-7
Time (hours)
Fig. 3.14 Indoor air relative humidity in a Spanish library
Fig. 3.15 Indoor air 45
40
percentage of dissatisfied 35
persons in a Spanish library 30
25
PD (%)
20
15
10
5
Library Archive
0
23-6 24-6 25-6 26-6 27-6 28-6 29-6 30-6 1-7 2-7 3-7 4-7 5-7 6-7 7-7
Time (hours)
similar to outdoor ones, without any extreme variations, due to an adequate control
of indoor environments with HVAC systems.
From those graphs, one may conclude that indoor conditions in this zone are
adequate especially for watch keeping. For some sea lanes, a minimum HVAC
system and energy consumption are needed.
Once the moderate indoor environments were analysed, it is time to analyse the
extreme indoor environment found in the engine room. This extreme hot envi-
ronment depicts mean values of indoor temperature of 32°C, implying a hazard for
marine engineers.
3.7 Industrial Environments: Indoor Air and Work Risk 63
Fig. 3.16 Relationship

between temperature and heat
disorders
Table 3.3 Ship indoor Outdoor temperature 23°C

conditions on a sea lane
Outdoor relative humidity 60%
Bridge 22°C
Dining room 22°C
Engine room 32.5°C
Fig. 3.17 Indoor air

temperature in the bridge 25
Temperature (ºC)
20
15
10
Bridge Outdoors
5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Days
Fig. 3.18 Indoor air relative 100
humidity in the bridge

80
Relative humidity(%)
60
40
Bridge Outdoors
20
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Day

temperature in the engine
room and engine control 36
Temperature (ºC)
room
32
28
24
20
Engine control room Engine room
16
0 1 2 3 4 5
Days
The engine room has higher temperature values due to the heat released by the
main engine. To get away from this heat source, marine engineers retreat to an
engine control room nearby, conditioned with lower temperature values.
A problem occurs when the operators do not know the mean temperature
adequate for the engine control room. Typical values for these indoor environ-
ments are around 18°C, which is too low, leading to thermal shock for workers
coming from the engine room (Fig. 3.19).
Currently, there are a lot of standards for work risk prevention that show some
solutions to prevent heat stress, such as drinking water and resting times. However,
there are no clear standards and methodologies that show the maximum and
minimum time that a worker is required to be in this extreme environment to
release the accumulated heat.
In accordance with current standards, some prevention measures are typically
proposed for this environment. For example, drinking water to improve the heat
transfer to the environment by sweat and perspiration. Another consideration is the
acclimatisation of workers in the engine control room, before beginning the work
in the engine room. For resting periods, one may propose an increment in the
workers surveillance by co-workers who are in a position to detect initial symp-
toms of heat strain (Fig. 3.20).
On the other hand, to prevent these extreme conditions, design conditions for
HVAC systems may be proposed. For example, an increment in the number of air
changes per hour employed to cool the engine room.
However, these solutions are not enough. Residential works revealed new
solutions to be implemented in future standards [8]. For example, defining the heat
released by the human body in the engine control room and, consequently, the
maximum time that an engineer must be in the engine room and the minimum time
in the engine control room to release the accumulated heat.
In this regard, a new parameter, the lowest indoor temperature in the engine
control room, was considered. Measured data revealed values below 18°C, which
are too low and can be related to the thermal shock of a marine engineer coming
from the engine room, with average temperatures of 32.5°C and peaking at 38°C.
3.7 Industrial Environments: Indoor Air and Work Risk 65
Fig. 3.20 Work risk

prevention measures in
extreme environments
Fig. 3.21 Maximum period

of time in the engine room, as
a function of its temperature
Fig. 3.22 Resting time in the

engine control room
As a function of these parameters and in accordance with the Spanish National

Work Risk Prevention Standards, two charts were obtained (Figs. 3.21, 3.22). The
first chart represents the maximum time that a marine engineer should be in the
engine room with a metabolic rate of 1.2, clo of 1.0 and air velocity of 0.5 m/s.
The other chart reveals the time that a marine engineer must be in the engine
control room to release the cumulative heat, as a function of its temperature.
Table 3.4 Water Competition 24°C

temperatures S/RITE 10.2.1.2
Training 26°C
Education and recreation 25°C
Physically handicapped 29°C
Children’s pool 30°C
Children 3–6 years and seniors 32°C
Pregnant women 30–32°C
For the case under study, working periods of 27 min in the engine room and
resting periods of 10 min in the engine control room are obtained through these
charts.
Similar solutions may be obtained for power station environments, as they also
use engines that release heat to the working environment.
3.8 Spas: Indoor Air and Sports Centres
A spa is a special environment employed as a health centre. In this environment,

pools at different temperatures are used for training or relaxation. Hence, different
water temperatures are reached with typical values of 26–27°C, with some health
treatments requiring temperatures of 30°C Table 3.4.
In this regard, general standards show general recommendations to be
employed for the reduction of energy consumption and moist air condensation.
This moist air condensation is of special interest, as it is related to material
preservation and health problems.
It is important to highlight some of these recommendations. For example, it is
recommended that the surrounding air is kept between 2 and 3°C over the water
temperature, to reduce evaporation and energy consumption. Furthermore, Spanish
national standards state that indoor air relative humidity must be between 60 and
65% to prevent condensation on the cold surface in contact with the outdoor air.
In our case studies on spas, different zones were analysed. Within these zones,
we found general zones in the commercial areas called low level, level one and
level two. Gyms and pools present a temperature in accordance with the expected
effect (Table 3.5).
Within these pool areas, we found pools designed for Thalasso therapy. This
therapy is conducted in pools with seawater [9] and temperature over the normal
values. This therapy aims at absorbing the elements found in seawater in high
concentration, which can be absorbed in a 20 min bath, with a water temperature
of 37°C.
Experimental results from real case studies were obtained and compared with
the data of present standards.
3.8 Spas: Indoor Air and Sports Centres 67
Table 3.5 Water Temperature Effect

temperature bearable to
humans Very cold (0–12°C) Pain sensation
Cold (12–18°C) Sensation of cold, poor tolerance
Slightly chilled (18–27°C) Feels nice, short exposures
Neutral (27–32°C) Feels nice
Temperate (32–36.5°C) Feels comfortable
Heat (37–40°C) Heat sensation
Very warm (40–43°C) Tolerable in short exposures
temperature in different zones 32

Temperature (ºC)
of a spa 30
28
26
24
22
20
Low Level 1 Level 2 Gym Pool Thalasso
Sampling zone
Fig. 3.24 Indoor air relative 75
humidity in different zones of

Relative Humidity (%)
70
a spa 65
60
55
50
45
40
Sampling zone
The measured indoor air temperature revealed that Thalasso pools depict a
more extreme situation (Fig. 3.23). In Thalasso pools, the surrounding indoor air
temperature was 31.5°C and the relative humidity was 74.9% (Fig. 3.24), whereas
standards recommend relative humidity values between 50 and 70%.
Another parameter to be considered when analysing these indoor environments
is the number of air changes. In this regard, the standards propose a minimum
ventilation rate of 12.5 l/s per person, 1.2 decipols and a maximum CO2 con-
centration of 500 ppm. Also, these standards propose a minimum air flow of 2.5 l/
s m2 on the pool surface, which adds an air flow to control the relative humidity.
Finally, to reduce the moist air release, a pressure of 20–40 Pa with respect to the
surrounding environment is recommended.
In the last few years, new standards have forbidden the use of conventional
energy sources to heat pools. In this regard, they recommend employing between

90
percentage of dissatisfied 80
persons in different zones of a 70
spa 60
PD (%)
50
40
30
20
10
0
Sampling zone
30 and 70% of annual heat needs from solar energy. Furthermore, new proposals
of operation are recommended in these new standards, like for example using an
insulating water cover when the pools are not in use, to prevent evaporation losses.
In general, present standards reveal different ways to reduce energy con-
sumption. For example, an increase in relative humidity to reduce evaporation and
condensation in walls is proposed for these environments. At the same time, air
velocities and air changes must be reduced to improve general and local thermal
comfort and reduce energy consumption.
More research is required to analyse and help define which parameters can
reduce energy consumption with passive methods, such as thermal inertia. Ther-
mal inertia did not reveal a clear influence on the indoor environment of pools.
When thermal comfort was analysed, values of 80% of PD were obtained in
pools (Fig. 3.25) and in the Thalasso therapy areas. They were related to the high
relative humidity and temperature and, hence, one can only stay in this indoor
environment for reduced periods of time.
Despite the fact that indoor temperature and relative humidity are the most
important parameters to be considered in thermal comfort studies, local thermal
comfort must be analysed too. In this regard, local thermal comfort revealed a
certain discomfort related to temperature changes between environments. Spe-
cifically, discomfort was obtained between the pool and the corridor. In these
corridors, indoor air temperature was very low and, consequently, a slight thermal
shock was experienced by the occupants.
For future research, the definition of new charts that reveal the maximum time
that a swimmer should spend in pools is proposed. In the meantime, one has to use
the corridors or dressing rooms to release the accumulated heat, as in the case of
extremely hot environments of industrial areas.
Besides local thermal comfort, other parameters, such as noise level, must be
considered. In this regard, present standards do not define what the particular
conditions of spa areas are. Therefore, some measured values were obtained
(Fig. 3.26).
Figure 3.26 reveals the different noise levels in different areas of a spa. Sixty-
five decibels is the lower value in the commercial areas. An intermediate value of
70 dB was obtained in the Gyms and the maximum noise levels were obtained in
the Thalasso therapy pools, with values of more than 76 dB. This high value of
noise level is related to the noise generated by the water that falls into the pool.
3.8 Spas: Indoor Air and Sports Centres 69
Fig. 3.26 Noise levels in 78

76
different zones of a spa
74
72
70
dB
68
66
64
62
60
Sampling zone
Like with the earlier parameters, future standards must be based in deep
analyses of real situations and realistic solutions for spas.
3.9 General Conclusions About Indoor Environments
From the review on different indoor environments, it was possible to conclude that,
in accordance with the activity to be developed, new temperature and relative
humidity limits must be developed for inclusion in standards. For example, dif-
ferent temperature limits must be defined for an industrial environment with
extreme temperature values, and spas or sport centres, with extreme relative
humidity values, and for libraries and office buildings.
In accordance with these conditions for indoor environments, recent research
has revealed the feasibility of passive methods as one of the important resources to
control indoor environments. These methods are classified as passive methods to
control thermal and hygroscopic inertia. Also, these two parameters depend on air
changes, wall construction, weather and indoor activities. In this regard, when the
origin of a moisture source occurs only for determined periods of time, natural or
mechanical ventilation is the most economical method to control indoor
conditions.
On the other hand, when the humidity source is present for long periods of time,
only thermal considerations can help reduce condensation and energy consump-
tion. Finally, industrial environments, such as the engine room in a ship, need air
renovation and resting periods in the engine control room for work risk prevention.
At the end of each type of indoor environment studied, new research topics
were proposed in accordance with the results obtained. For example, when trying
to analyse humidity problems in apartments, it was found that most are related to
local humidity problems in walls and ceilings. These could only be detected with
questionnaires adapted to the specific conditions. Furthermore, measured data of
temperature and relative humidity could not be related to fungi and bacteria
growth. As a consequence of these results, a new procedure for fungi detection
based on questionnaires, designed in accordance with the particular conditions of
the indoor environment, must be employed. These questionnaires must be
validated in real case studies and implemented in most of the current standards, to
help architects and engineers to design, operate and control indoor environments.
When analysing extreme indoor environments, we found two cases: indoor
environments with extreme temperature, such as industrial complexes, and indoor
environments with high relative humidity, such as sport centres and spas.
In the first case, the extreme temperature values can be related to some of the
work risk situations, such as dehydration and possibly thermal shock. Just like in
the case of the engine control room and the engine room, that revealed temperature
differences of 20°C. Charts that help defining the maximum time that can be spent
in the engine room, and the minimum time in the engine control room, were
proposed. These charts were developed as a function of the global temperature
found in those indoor environments.
A similar situation can be found in sports centres. There, we found extreme
relative humidities and related work risk situations. Hence, new charts like those
developed for industrial environments must be developed and adopted by the most
common standards.
On the other hand, sports centres depict a high energy consumption, just like
offices and school buildings. In these environments, the main solution to improve
energy consumption is to employ passive methods. These passive methods can be
related to building thermal inertia, wall construction, air renovation and occupants’
habits, among others.
References
1. Talukdar P, Olutmayin S, Osanyintola OF, Simonson CJ (2007) An experimental data set for
benchmarking 1-D, transient heat and moisture transfer models of hygroscopic building
materials. Part I: Experimental facility and material property data. Int J Heat Mass Transf
50:4527–4539
2. ISO 7730-2005. (2005) Ergonomics of the thermal environment. Analytical determination and
interpretation of the thermal comfort using calculating of PMV and PPD indices and local
thermal comfort criteria. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland
3. Keppel G, Wickens TD (2004) Design and Analysis: A Researcher’s Handbook, 4th edn.
Prentice Hall, California
4. Orosa JA (2011) A new modelling methodology to control HVAC systems. Expert Syst Appl
38(4):4505–4513
5. UNE-EN ISO 13790 (2005) Thermal performance of buildings—Calculation of energy use for
space heating, 2004. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva
6. Rodriguez E, Orosa JA, Saiz JM (2006) Moisture sources evaluation in schools from northwest
of Spain, IEA-Annex 41 MOIST-ENG, Working Meeting, Lyon. http://www.iea.org. Accessed
2 Feb 2011
7. Annex 41. Whole Building Heat, Air and Moisture Response (MOIST-EN). http://www.ecbcs.
org/annexes/annex41.htm. Accessed 2 Feb 2011
8. Orosa JA, Iradi G, Oliveira A (2010) Thermal comfort conditions in ships. J ship production
26(1):60–65
9. Routh, IB, Bhowmik, KR (1996) Basic tenets of mineral water. A glossary of concepts relating
to balneology, mineral water, and the spa. Clin Dermatol 4(6):549–550
Chapter 4
Passive Methods
4.1 Introduction
In the past few years, passive methods were considered as a better solution to
reduce energy consumption for conditioning an indoor environment. However, to
improve these methods, concepts must be considered while designing the building
and only a few can be employed once the building has been constructed.
Passive methods use building design parameters, such as the shape of the
building and orientation, which reduce energy consumption of air conditioning
systems. Passive methods can be classified into two main groups: passive energy
reception and control. The first group consists of energy reception from solar
radiation and the second group consists of thermal inertia and hygroscopic inertia
of building envelopes (Fig. 4.1).
To improve a passive method, the designer must consider the building
orientation and the presence of buildings and/or trees that may interfere in solar
reception. To improve an energy control method, we have thermal and hygro-
scopic inertia; thermal inertia depends on the wall structure, accumulating heat
when there is an excess and releasing it when needed.
Air renovation and indoor habits can alter the control of energy consumption,
natural or mechanical, and hence, must be considered at the time of designing the
building. Natural ventilation can improve indoor environments with nearly null
energy consumption if there is an adequate building design.
In this chapter, the results obtained during the past few years using passive
methods to improve indoor environments are presented. Specifically, the thermal
inertia concept, natural ventilation, permeable coverings and the general effect of
these methods to improve the ventilation and air conditioning system will be
discussed.
These concepts must be understood before reading Chap. 5. This next chapter is
about permeable coverings as passive methods to control indoor air relative
humidity and temperature.

72 4 Passive Methods
Fig. 4.1 Passive methods
4.2 Natural Ventilation, Energy Saving and Comfort
Research on natural ventilation can be classified into three approaches or stages:

laboratory, field measurements and simulation. Once all stages are developed, a
comparison between simulation and field measurements allows to obtain a vali-
dated tool for building design.
To define indoor air change, differences between indoor environments must be
considered. For example, in a residential building, where occupants spend most of
their time, the number of air changes must be defined in relation to the heating,
ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system used. On the other hand, in
industrial settings, the number of air changes presents a clear relation with work
risk prevention measures, as observed in the earlier chapter.
There are more indoor environments with some characteristics that must be
considered at the time of defining the number of air changes: hospitals, schools and
offices. In hospitals, the main problem is related to the risk of infection between
patients. The main solution for this risk is related to the reduction or suppression
and adequate treatment of indoor air recirculation. In schools and offices, the
problem is related to the experimental control of two parameters: CO2 emission
and a reduction of energy consumption with air changes. To improve this situation,
HVAC control systems were developed based on neural networks. The results are
equivalent to those obtained with occupants’ self-adjustment of air changes
through windows.
As observed earlier, despite the fact that most indoor environments present
similar problems, there are some that reveal different needs. For instance, different
ventilation methods must be defined for different situations (Fig. 4.2).
Once an in-depth analysis of indoor ambiences is carried out, we find that
humidity sources in bathrooms of residential buildings are higher. To solve this
problem, recent research revealed that the ventilation arrangement of forced-
ceiling supply and wall exhaust systems presents the best method to extract odours
from bathrooms.
4.2 Natural Ventilation, Energy Saving and Comfort 73
Fig. 4.2 Air changes in

different environments
In residential buildings, we find that bedrooms are sources of CO2 and

humidity. To control these two sources, recent research has proposed different
night ventilation methodologies. Furthermore, other parameters of air exchange
between rooms must be considered while designing the ventilation system.
For ventilation in industrial ambiences, different ventilation methods, such as
mixing ventilation systems, are installed to control contaminants. Injection of cold
air in the upper regions of the room, and mixing with the ambient air, determines
the cooling of the whole volume, and establishes a uniform temperature level with
a very small vertical temperature gradient. The results revealed in [1] were ade-
quate for industrial ambiences.
In schools and offices, a high HVAC energy consumption is verified throughout
the year. In these environments, Demand Control combined with Displacement
Ventilation reduces ventilation air volumes to about 65–75% compared to Con-
stant Air Volume and, consequently, the energy demand. These ventilation
methods are summarised in Fig. 4.3.
After analysing the number of air changes and ventilation methodology
employed in an indoor environment, there are other issues that may improve its
characteristics. For example, to reduce energy consumption in natural ventilation
buildings, some models are proposed [2] to predict this ventilation and energy
saving with respect to the mixing ventilation procedure. The results revealed that
there is energy saving when significant heat gains are detected. Another study
compared two different natural ventilation models [3]—passive displacement and
passive mixing in transient conditions—which revealed the interest of displace-
ment ventilation.
In recent years, new parameters for infection risks, between hospital environ-
ments, were investigated and simulated with Computational Fluid Dynamics
techniques [4], also with the aim of improving building design and energy demand
[5, 6]. In this regard, to develop and validate these numerical models, field mea-
surements must be considered [7–9] and analysed.
Fig. 4.3 Recommended ventilation methods for different environments
In these numerical models, new models for buoyancy forces are proposed [10],
revealing that the hourly air wind and temperature differences between indoor and
outdoor are important parameters for the natural driving forces. Another model
reveals the expected natural ventilation cooling potential in some cities, predicting
the effect of climate change [11].
Finally, the number of air changes and ventilation methods are not the only way
to improve indoor environments. For example, to reduce energy consumption
related to air changes, new heating, ventilation and air conditioning control sys-
tems have been proposed [12].
4.3 Thermal Inertia and Passive Methods
Thermal inertia parameters for buildings are of special interest for designers and
researchers due to their relation to passive methods and energy saving.
The system with the highest thermal inertia has the lowest energy require-
ments, due to the fact that, in times of energy abundance from solar irradiation,
energy can be stored in building structures. When there is no energy abundance,
energy reception and indoor temperature decreases and the energy stored is
sent indoors, reducing the energy consumption to reach an adequate thermal
comfort [13].
4.3 Thermal Inertia and Passive Methods 75
There is a need for further research, related to thermal inertia, for night-time
ventilation [14] and other passive solar methods [15–17]. However, lack of models
and software resources hinders any research to be conducted extensively.
In this chapter, a new procedure to define real building thermal inertia, based on
real measured data and tested with different procedures, is discussed. To reach this
objective, new software resources, like Heat, Air and Moisture (HAM) Tools [18–
20], are employed, as this software offers clear advantages for engineers.
We developed a simulation of the real dynamic conditions of indoor ambiences,
with some software data modification. MATLAB is an open code programme,
easy to understand and, specifically, if different block diagrams, present in a
MATLAB toolbox entitled Simulink, are used. This represents a clear advantage
over other common computer programs, due to the visual item available for
solving problems.
For example, modifications to building internal coverings and its buffering
effect are not available in most of the general programs employed in building
energy certification. Hence, this software is adequate enough for technical tasks
but of no use to researchers.
The Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems Programme, in
partnership with the International Energy Agency (IEA), launched Annexes 17 and
41 [21]. Researchers from more than 20 different countries, in the University of A
Coruña and Porto [22], conducted an in-depth study of building HAM response.
This research lead to the development of H-tools and HAM tools software
applications. These tools, which are a more interesting version of software
resources for moist air and buffering effect studies, were developed by the Chal-
mers Institute of Technology. Different subgroups developed real case studies to
test the software resource.
This software resource is of special interest as its code source is easy to
understand and, based on visual resolution of block diagrams, a non-specialised
researcher can develop the first simulations only with MATLAB.
On the other hand, modifications for permeable coverings and building thermal
inertia effects were difficult to analyse when using software resources such as
TRNSYS [23] and Energy plus [24]. Hence, it was confirmed that HAM tools with
structure modifications are easier to use by researchers in building analysis.
As equipment, Gemini data loggers were employed to measure indoor air
temperature and relative humidity. Air changes were assessed with the tracer gas
decay method, based on CF6 tracer gas.
Based on MATLAB Simulink, HAM tools software solves the balance equa-
tions of a room and, specifically, in a new toolbox developed by the Chalmers
Institute of Technology called Individual Building Physics Toolbox [25, 26] that
upgrades H-Tools. It is a one-dimensional model for calculating heat, air and
moisture transfer through the building envelope and freely downloadable from the
Web [27].
HAM tools are composed of two tool boxes: one for the building envelope
construction and the other for the thermal zones, to simulate everything related to
the HVAC system and its heat and moisture sources (Fig. 4.4). Most of these
Horiz Cat
Geometry Constructions Geometry
Construction BTweather
Geometry
Zone BESTEST
Radiation S Zone Construction 1

Horiz Cat
Radiation System Zone
EXTERIOR WALL
1 Selector
Double-pane window 2 Room
Geometry Variable solar transmittance
Construction IEA Common Excercise Horiz Cat
Gains Radiation 0
Zone
Radiation S Geometry 3
Construction Room temperature and RH
Zone Room air / CTH
EXTERIOR WALL WAVO model
2 -K- 0
R
Radiation
Clock
Geometry Gains Zone Days
Construction ROOF
Zone HEATING/COOLING SYSTEM 0
Radiation S Zone Construction

Out1
EXTERIOR WALL
Radiation F Heat supply
3 Internal gains
0
FLOOR
Geometry
Construction System Zone
Zone
Ventilation system Internal gains1
Radiation S
AIR IN
Vert Cat
EXTERIOR WALL
simout System Zone
4
To Workspace Ventilation system
4 AIR OUT
In1 Out1
Zone out
Fig. 4.4 MATLAB blocks for building simulations
building structure components were defined in accordance with the BESTEST

structure, to be uploaded by MATLAB.
4.3.1 Thermal Inertia and Energy Saving
Thermal inertia is defined as a property of materials, accumulating and releasing

heat to the surrounding environment when needed. Hence, this concept is applied
to all materials currently found in the construction industry.
Thermal inertia is proposed as one of the most interesting passive methods for
energy saving in indoor environments. Researchers concluded that buildings and
their inertia must be considered as another component in the HVAC system. Its
main advantages were revealed by Dornelles and Roriz [28], where it was shown
that construction systems with a high thermal inertia provide more comfortable
environments and lower energy consumption.
Under the same air changes and indoor habits of occupants, a building with a
thicker wall structure depicts lower temperature variations. Hence, assuming that
the mean temperature value corresponds to comfortable conditions, less extreme
conditions occur and, therefore, better thermal comfort conditions are likely to
occur. At the same time, energy consumption for heating, ventilation and air
conditioning is reduced due to the same fact.
This thermal inertia effect was employed in research works [13]. In this work,
the effect of changing wall construction and increasing building thermal inertia of
a house in a northern climate has reduced specific energy requirements.
Other works developed in the past few years tried to analyse the effect of phase
change materials employed as internal coverings of walls, as a means for changing
indoor air temperature [29]. In these works, most software resources employ
energy models that ignore moisture phase change effect. Hence, the first objective
of this work was to develop new software tools for HVAC systems and building
simulation. Specifically, the recent HAM tools, with open code sources, could be
used to simulate those processes.
These concepts are represented in HAM tools with two MATLAB Simulink
Blocks. The first block consists of building envelope elements: windows, floor,
walls and roofs, among others. In this block, physical properties are described, for
example, density and porosity; thermal and moisture properties, in accordance
with the BESTEST structure, are considered; room orientation, area and tilt of
each wall are added; internal gains, air changes and heating system parameters are
added in the ventilation block. These parameters were adjusted in accordance with
the real measured data.
However, the first step in research was to validate the software. To do it, field
measurements of indoor and outdoor air temperature and relative humidity were
used [30]. In accordance with the International Organization for Standardi-
zation (ISO) and ASHRAE Standards, measuring devices had adequate margins
of error.
In accordance with ASHRAE standards, measurements were developed where
the occupants are known to, or are expected to, spend their time. Furthermore, in
unoccupied rooms, the evaluator makes a guess of the future occupant locations
within the room and takes appropriate measurements.
When occupancy distribution cannot be estimated, the measurement locations
were in the centre of the room and 1.0 m inward from the centre of walls. In
exterior walls, measurements were taken 1.0 m inward from the centre of the
largest window. Finally, as general consideration proposed by the standard, all
measurements were taken in locations where extreme values of the thermal
parameters are estimated or observed to occur, but allowing a proper air circulation
around measurement sensors.
Once the measured values were obtained, it was possible to define the thermal
inertia of two buildings with different wall structures but similar indoor conditions.
In this regard, two schools, one new and the other old, were selected [30]. Finally,
in accordance with the real measurements, it was possible to define their thermal
inertia.
The other method to define a building’s thermal inertia is based on simulation
processes. A more in-depth definition of the building structure was needed as input
data for this software resource. In this regard, the old school depicted 0.90 m thick
walls with no insulation; the classroom had a volume of 210 m3, with three painted
wooden single pane windows and pine floor. The scheduled occupation was 26
students and 1 teacher between 08:30 and 14:10 hours, and 20 students and 1
Table 4.1 External wall properties of the new and old school buildings
Layer Dry conductivity Dry density Specific
(kg/m3) heat (J/kgK)
Old school
0.5 cm plaster 0.1600 950 840
0.5 cm concrete 0.5100 1,400 1,000
0.43 m stone 1.1300 2,300 840
New school
0.5 cm plaster 0.1600 950 840
0.5 cm concrete 0.5100 1,400 1,000
12 cm brick 0.8940 1,222 795
4 cm insulation 0.0289 42.45 1,214
12 cm brick 0.8940 1,222 795
0.5 cm concrete 0.5100 1,400 1,000
0.5 cm plaster 0.1600 950 840
teacher between 16:30 and 19:30 hours, from Monday to Friday. The building
central heating system operated from 08:00 to 10:30 hours and 16:30 to
18.30 hours, from February to March.
On the other hand, the new school is located on the first floor and walls are
thermally insulated by air space. The volume of the classroom is 150 m3, with
three double glazed aluminium windows and terrazzo floor. The scheduled
occupation is 25 students and 1 teacher from 08:30 to 14.10 hours from Monday to
Friday, and from 16:00 to 19:00 hours on Tuesdays. The building has central
heating from 08:00 to 10:30 hours, from February to April. Table 4.1 presents
characteristics of both school buildings (old and new).
The main results are shown in Tables 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5. From these tables we
can conclude that the old building presents the lower effective thermal inertia
because of lower solar heat gains. Parameters like air change rate and permeable
coverings interact with time constants and energy saving. In particular, permeable
coverings provide better insulation and enable an improved effective thermal
inertia and hence a greater energy saving. Furthermore, old buildings showed a
distinct reduction in indoor humidity when simulated under the buffering effect of
permeable coverings.
Despite these improvements in thermal inertia and, at the same time, in energy
consumption and thermal comfort, in an old building, an uncontrolled air
parameter changes due to air infiltration, which causes a big decrease in temper-
ature during the weekend.
HAM tools are an adequate software resource to control and simulate HVAC
systems and passive methods. However, new tool boxes to simulate the behaviour
of new control systems based on passive methods are needed.
Table 4.2 Outdoor/indoor dry bulb temperature (8C) statistics

Outdoor Indoor new school Indoor old school
Average 11.5 19.2 20.1
RMS deviation 5.5 2.5 2.1
Maximum 26.46 26.9 26.9
Minimum -4.15 13.7 14.0
Table 4.3 Outdoor/indoor relative humidity (%) statistics

Average 85.85 59.1 53.2
RMS deviation 15.13 7.5 6.2
Maximum 100.0 78.9 73.8
Minimum 28.9 33.9 29.7
Table 4.4 Outdoor/indoor partial vapour pressure (Pa) statistics

Average 1186.40 1327.9 1266.8
RMS deviation 332.8 225.9 243.3
Maximum 2191.6 2086.9 2158.3
Minimum 432.22 752.9 590.3
Table 4.5 Time constants for different conditions

Initial Without heat With reduced With permeable
conditions gains air changes coverings
New school 178 37 185 188
Old school 111 67 112 115
4.3.2 Thermal Inertia and Thermal Comfort Adaptive Models
As described earlier, thermal inertia is an interesting parameter to analyse indoor

environments. For example, in the previous section, it was related to building
energy consumption. In this section, its relationship with thermal comfort will be
analysed and implemented in accordance with adaptive models.
Thermal inertia must be taken into consideration when building design is taking
place. In conclusion, the higher the thermal inertia, the higher the time lag in
extreme temperatures between the inner and outer surface of the building enve-
lope. Hence, a heavy-weight (high inertia) building can, during short periods of
cold weather, release or receive heat and, consequently, reduce heating system
operating time.
Another advantage of thermal inertia is that the room air temperature is often
lower in the lightweight building. Furthermore, the amplitude of temperature
fluctuation in the inner surface of buildings with thick walls is lower than in
buildings with light walls.
After discussing those concepts, it is the moment to analyse the different
methods to define thermal inertia values. There are different methods used in the
design and application of HVAC systems [14, 31]. Some of these methods depict a
general procedure based on real measured data, to define the main building heat
load as a function of weather and indoor conditions.
As observed earlier, recent software resources were focused on the study of heat
and mass transfer through building envelopes, to allow a more accurate simulation
of indoor environments [15, 16]; for example, the effect of permeable coverings on
indoor environment. This effect has been recently analysed as a possible tool to
improve indoor environments [21, 22, 32–35].
Earlier results revealed that school buildings depict the highest energy con-
sumption for air conditioning during the winter season; during the spring season,
the heating system is employed only if it is really needed. These indoor ambiences
are those where thermal inertia exerts a clear difference in building design for
energy saving.
As revealed earlier, HAM tools are an interesting research tool in analysing
different energy-saving methods and, particularly, the effect of thermal inertia.
Hence, analysing the expected thermal inertia effect in different buildings under
the same weather conditions will be interesting.
In the last years, thermal comfort models revealed a great accuracy and capa-
bility in defining thermal comfort conditions in indoor environments. As described
in Chap. 2, thermal comfort models are a function of weather conditions.
HAM tools [36, 37] represent a clear methodology to validate thermal comfort.
Specifically, it is an interesting tool for defining the relationship between indoor
and outdoor mean, minimum and maximum conditions related to building thermal
inertia. As in the earlier work, data loggers and air renovation methods were
employed. Air renovation was measured with a multi-gas monitor. The ventilation
rate was assessed using the concentration decay method, using CF6 as tracer gas.
The building structure description is seen in Table 4.1.
The research work was divided into two experiments. The first was related to
weather conditions and indoor measured values, to define the effect of minimum
outdoor temperature over the minimum indoor temperature, without the influence
of occasional heat loads. These results are of special interest because they relate
weather conditions with building wall construction—an interesting tool for
designers.
The second experiment was the simulation of the two previously described
buildings with HAM tools, once these buildings were tested with real measured
data during 3 days of unoccupied periods. After this, both buildings were simu-
lated under constant weather conditions, to define building time constant.
This process is a new methodology employed to obtain building time constants,

without the need to measure them directly. The main disadvantage of this is that
we need long periods of time with constant weather conditions, which is some-
thing difficult to be obtained in real situations.
Once the simulation was validated, a new tool was developed, which depicts
very interesting applications. Between the main applications, it is possible to
define indoor temperature and relative humidity conditions in a constructed
building. From these data, different models to relate indoor conditions with
weather were defined, in accordance with adaptive models.
In this case, formulae were generated by multiple regressions for the indoor
minimum temperature of the classrooms in the two schools, to contrast the weather
model with the measured data; the indoor minimum temperature was related to the
energy consumption and HVAC control system. Currently, minimum temperature
and temperature drop during the day represent the rate of nocturnal radiant cooling
[17].
Results revealed the prediction of indoor minimum temperature. The equation
defined by Krüger et al. [17] predicts indoor conditions with respect to the outdoor
minimum temperature:
Tmin in ¼ 13:12 þ 0:3028 Tmin out þ 0:2659 ðTdrop Þ ð4:3:2:1Þ
where Tmin in is the minimum indoor temperature for the period under analysis
(8C),
Tmin out is the minimum outdoor temperature for the period (8C),
Tmin out is the maximum outdoor temperature for the period (8C) and
Tdrop is the temperature drop from the previous outdoor maximum Tmax out ðn 1Þ
to the minimum Tmin out
Various other parameters were employed to define this winter equation, such as
Swing, Tdrop and RNAvg;
RNAvg is the average outdoor temperatures during the previous 3 days;
GT is the average temperature for each study period;
Swing is the diurnal swing ðTmax out Tmin in Þ; and
Tavg is the outdoor daily average temperature (8C).
Results of the first experiment revealed the relationship between indoor and
outdoor conditions by means of Eqs. 4.3.2.2 and 4.3.2.3. These equations reveal a
similar weather model to that obtained by other authors in Eq. 4.3.2.1
T minin new ¼ 13:7740 1:1679 T maxout þ0:9417 T minout þ0:3541 Tavgt

þ 0:1895 RNaver þ 1:0234 Swing þ 0:1041 Tdrop
ð4:3:2:2Þ
with R2 = 0.77
T minin old ¼ 13:5134 0:5538 T maxout þ0:6676 T minout 0:3133 Tavg

þ 0:4591 RNaver þ 0:6272 Swing þ 0:0118 Tdrop
ð4:3:2:3Þ
with R2 = 0.76
The main conclusion is that HAM tools is an interesting software resource to be
easily employed by researchers to define indoor environmental conditions.
A second experiment was carried out to define building thermal characteristics.
As observed in earlier experiments, the building constants are obtained with real
measured data, and they will be calculated with a software resource, once
validated.
Specifically, the proposed methodology employed in this work is based on
HAM tools that contain 1D calculation of HAM transfer through the building
envelope. With HAM tools, we employed the same general methodology to define
building thermal inertia. This general procedure to define building thermal inertia
and its time constants is described below.
The time constant is normally found in a cooling down period with constant low
levels of temperature, as heat capacity/heat loss factor [13]. This method is based
on a seasonal steady state energy balance on a building as a whole, or on a
particular building zone. Thermal inertia is related to the heat received from
energy gains, such as solar, stored in the building mass and released when needed:
Qheat ¼ Qloss gQgain ð4:3:2:4Þ
where Qheat is the heat requirement (W),

Qloss is the heat loss (W),
Qgain is the heat gain (W) and
g is the utilisation factor, having a value between 0 and 1.
The utilisation factor g is a function of the building time constant and the ratio
Qgain/Qloss. The time constant is defined in the standard by Eq. 4.3.2.5.
P
Ci
C i
s¼ ¼ P ð4:3:2:5Þ
H Hi
i
where C is the sum of thermal capacities Ci for each construction element i, based
on a 24-h periodic response, and H is the sum of heat loss factors for each
construction element, including ventilation and air leakage.
First, an outdoor temperature of 10°C and 80% relative humidity were selected
to simulate and define the building time constant. A linear regression of the log-
arithm of temperature difference with respect to outdoor was carried out. The aim
of this experiment was to depict the same weather conditions in the two buildings,
and simulate them to obtain an equation relating indoor conditions at different
initial values.
Fig. 4.5 Time constant 2.2

determination for the new
school building
2
ln(Temperature difference)
1.8
1.6
1.4
y = -0.0056x + 2.1501
2
R = 0.9364
1.2
New School Linear (New School)

1
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time (hours)
Also, thermal inertia was estimated based on the traditional method, based on
real measured data. It consists of an adequate curve fit by the least squares method
[13]. This time constant is the inverse of the constants related to time, obtained in
the previous regression.
For the second experiment, a linear regression was developed revealing a time
constant of 178 and 111 in the new and old schools, respectively (Fig. 4.5).
After HAM tools were validated in accordance with real measured data, new
simulations were developed. These simulations tried to define indoor ambience
evolution at different initial conditions, under the same weather climate. Results
revealed the following correlation:
Tin new ¼ 10:30 0:01764 t þ 0:7348 Tout þ 4 ðTinitial 18Þ

48 ðTinitial 18Þ t
ð4:3:2:6Þ
100000
This correlation allows a prediction of indoor conditions from earlier outdoor
mean values, with correlation factors over 0.9, it is, with great accuracy.
Recent research revealed the most interesting conclusion obtained in the past
few years about thermal inertia. This conclusion revealed the origin of adaptive
models. This origin is related to the fact that Eq. 4.3.2.2 is a simplification of
Eq. 4.3.2.6. This was confirmed when real instantaneous values of weather con-
ditions were integrated and the results compared the indoor minimum temperature
with the real measured data. More conclusions could be obtained. For example, the
general idea was that old buildings present a higher thermal inertia than new ones.
This was related to the fact that old buildings usually employ a high wall thickness
and, in theory, must depict a higher thermal inertia. However, new buildings have
lower air changes, with lower infiltration through walls and windows, and this
changes the thermal inertia value (see Eq. 4.3.2.5)
From this analysis, we may conclude that building construction affects thermal
inertia, but the general parameter to be analysed with respect to energy con-
sumption and thermal comfort is what we may call the indoor air thermal inertia.
This parameter depends on the construction and other parameters, such as air
renovation.
These effects are expressed by some real measured data, for example, old
buildings depict a slightly low weekly mean indoor temperature than new build-
ings. During weekends, old ones present a faster heat loss. These effects were
related to a lower solar gain.
Future research should concentrate on this new methodology. For example,
once HAM tools building simulations with real measured data have been defined
and validated, new possible modifications can be proposed. For example, different
indoor air changes due to the air conditioning system could be proposed, to lead to
a better IAQ, with lower energy consumption.
Finally, one important simulation is to assess the effect of internal coverings in
indoor environments. Consequently, the software must simulate heat and mass
transfer through the building envelope and the buffering effect. These effects are
described in Chap. 5.
4.3.3 Thermal Inertia and Whole Building Simulation
The methodology was centred in two school buildings, as described earlier, with
different seasons analysed to relate indoor ambiences, HVAC system and building
construction. ASHRAE Standard 1992 [38] and Burch [37, 39], revealed that thick
exterior walls reduce heating and cooling requirements of buildings. Noteworthy is
the aim of substituting the HVAC system with passive methods, during the spring
season in mild climates.
To reach this objective, a steady period of 3 days, a weekend and a holiday,
were employed to measure and simulate indoor conditions under low ventilation
rates, and testing at the same time the HAM tools software with real data. Par-
ticularly, solar heat gains and heat storage in walls under natural ventilation [40]
were considered.
Once the software was tested, building thermal inertia, air renovation and
internal coverings were simulated to define the best indoor conditions and indices,
such as the percentage of PD with local thermal comfort and IAQ. These indices
were defined in accordance with equations depicted earlier in Chap. 2.
The problem in defining an accurate building thermal inertia is that the real
measured data need constant weather conditions for long periods of time, and this
hardly ever happens in real weather conditions. Hence, a simulation software
resource, once tested with the earlier data, allows to predict the real evolution of
indoor ambiences under constant weather and, hence, define the real building time
constant.
Relative humidity
0.80
0.75
0.70
0.65
0.60
0.55
0.50
0.45
0.40
New School Covering in New Old School Covering in Old
0.35
17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00
Time (hours)
Fig. 4.6 Indoor air relative humidity when air renovations were reduced
The aim of this study is to develop a test methodology to obtain building time
constants with HAM tools simulation, in accordance with real data methodology.
The time constant is obtained by a curve fit of the logarithm of temperature
difference between indoor and outdoor versus time. The linear regression constants
give us the time constant of each building.
Another simulation process was developed with the aim of analysing the effect
of reducing air changes during the occupied period (Figs. 4.6, 4.7). Specifically, a
reduction from 0.6 and 0.7 to 0.4 air changes per hour was simulated (Figs. 4.8,
4.9).
A final group of simulations was carried out with a change in internal covering
permeability and, hence, heat and mass transfer conditions through the building
envelope (Figs. 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, 4.13, 4.14).
Results obtained revealed time constant values of 111 and 178 for the old and
new buildings, respectively. This value revealed a higher thermal inertia in the
new school than in the old one, due to the heat solar gain in the new building. This
solar gain is related to building room orientation and the absence of other buildings
near this one, which reduces solar radiation gains.
In this regard, when solar irradiation was avoided in the simulation process,
new time constants of 36.9 and 66.6, for the new and old building were obtained.
In this case, the old school presents a higher thermal inertia, due to its wall
thickness.
Another simulation was developed under lower air changes in the two build-
ings. Its results revealed an indoor air relative humidity reduction towards 60%,
due to heat and moisture transfer through the stone walls. Indoor air temperature in
the new building revealed higher minimum values than under normal conditions of
air renovation. This effect can influence the indoor air enthalpy and percentage
of PD.
Temperature
22.5
22.0
21.5
21.0
Temperature (ºC)
20.5
20.0
19.5
19.0
18.5
18.0
17.5 New School Covering in New Old School Covering in Old"
17.0
17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00
Time (hours)
Fig. 4.7 Indoor air temperature when air renovations were reduced
Enthalpy
50
49
48
47
46
45
Enthalpy (kJ/kg)
44
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
36
35 New School Covering in New School Old School Covering in Old School
34
17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00
Time (hours)
Fig. 4.8 Indoor air enthalpy when air renovations were reduced
When other internal coverings, such as wood panels, were considered, more
results were obtained. These results revealed that permeable coverings can reduce
peaks of relative humidity. However, there was no intense effect of permeable
coverings on indoor ambience due to a reduced surface of permeable coverings
that represent only the surfaces of the rooms interacting with the outdoor.
A general conclusion obtained is that new buildings depict an increment of
indoor temperature due to a reduction of air renovation, and also related to the fact
that solar heat gain is more intense. When permeable coverings are used, new
buildings reveal an indoor air temperature decrease and a reduction of relative
humidity.
PD
22
21
20
PD (%)
19
18
17
New School Covering in New School Old School Covering in Old School
16
17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00
Time (hours)
Fig. 4.9 Indoor air PD when air renovations were reduced
Relative humidity
0.75
0.70
0.65
0.60
0.55
0.50
0.45
0.40
New School Covering in New Old School Covering in Old
0.35
17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00
Time (hours)
Fig. 4.10 Indoor air relative humidity with and without internal coverings
In general, we confirm that the importance of time constants is related to the

fact that buildings with a lower time constant react faster to weather changes,
internal heat and moisture changes. Consequently, during short cold periods, a
lightweight building will need a heating system working to get adequate indoor
conditions. On the other hand, a building with thick walls does not need energy
release, due to the fact that heat has been previously stored in the structure [13].
However, the amplitude of temperature fluctuation of inner surfaces of walls in
low time constant buildings is 1°C higher, in accordance with previous results
[40]. These variations are summarised in Table 4.6. According to the table, the
conclusion reached is that, apart from meteorological data and general procedures,
Temperature
22.5
22.0
21.5
21.0
Temperature (ºC)
20.5
20.0
19.5
19.0
18.5
18.0
17.5 New School Covering in New Old School Covering in Old"
17.0
17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00
Time (hours)
Fig. 4.11 Indoor air temperature with and without internal coverings
Enthalpy
50
49
48
47
46
45
Enthalpy (kJ/kg)
44
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
36
35 New School Covering in New School Old School Covering in Old School
34
17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00
Time (hours)
Fig. 4.12 Indoor and enthalpy with and without internal coverings
energy saving in HVAC system design must be done in accordance with the
individual characteristics of the building.
4.4 HVAC Improvement by Passive Methods
During the past few years, different indoor ambiences were analysed and results
revealed that different ambiences present different problems and, hence, different
needs to be met. For example, when analysing apartments, it was found that the
4.4 HVAC Improvement by Passive Methods 89
0.60
0.50
0.40
Acceptability
0.30
0.20
0.10
New School Covering in New School

0.00
17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00
Time (hours)
Fig. 4.13 Indoor air acceptability with and without internal coverings in new schools
0.60
0.50
0.40
Acceptability
0.30
0.20
0.10
Old School Covering in Old School

0.00
17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00 23:00 5:00 11:00 17:00
Time (hours)
Fig. 4.14 Indoor air acceptability with and without internal coverings in old schools
important objective was to improve thermal comfort, IAQ and reduce different
health problems found indoors [34].
At the same time, bad habits can generate different problems in these indoor
environments. For example, a bad indoor air renovation is related to moisture
accumulation from kitchens and bathrooms, which can affect other rooms and the
related fungi growth and allergies.
In office buildings and schools, local thermal comfort, IAQ, workers produc-
tivity and energy saving is considered. The main solution to improve the envi-
ronment is related to air changes during unoccupied periods [35]. To improve the
Table 4.6 Time constant for different modifications

Without Initial Air renovation Permeable
heat gain conditions reduction coverings
New 37 178 185 188
Old 67 111 112 115
HVAC system and reduce its energy consumption, natural ventilation is being
developed as the best solution for this application.
In museums and libraries, the main objective is conservation [30]. What is
more, if possible indoor conditions must be reached with the lowest energy con-
sumption. In this regard, the HVAC system can be improved with the building
thermal inertia and room orientation, to be employed in the archive sections of
libraries.
Finally, in extreme temperature indoor ambiences, work risk prevention is the
main objective and, in extreme relative humidity indoor ambiences, the lowest
energy consumption and prevention of condensation risk are the main objectives.
To reduce the effect of these extreme environments, the HVAC system must be
designed accordingly. Other solutions are related to the control of indoor habits,
such as opening windows. Humidity generation periods and adequate passive
methods help in reducing energy consumption, and, in some cases, replacing the
HVAC system.
As described earlier, for an adequate understanding of indoor ambiences, it is
not enough to define the general process of air change and building construction
characteristics to simulate its behaviour. Other factors, such as occupant’s habits,
local weather and preservation of materials, require real measured data to be
defined and employed software to be validated.
Laboratory experiments of parameters, for example material properties, and
questionnaires on IAQ perception, occupants habits and health problems, give a
more adequate indoor ambience information and, consequently, help improving
HVAC system design and operation.
4.5 Passive Methods and Preservation of Materials
Currently, there is a great interest in naturally ventilated buildings and passive

control methods that can be improved to achieve local microclimates with low
energy costs. Despite the fact that indoor conditions can be related to the HVAC
system, it is difficult to get adequate indoor conditions in a humid climate.
For humid climates, coolers and dehumidifiers must be employed, despite the
fact that it is difficult to have any control over these ambiences. Specifically, in
libraries the problem is that the HVAC system is not continuously working
because it is controlled in accordance with occupants’ thermal comfort conditions
4.5 Passive Methods and Preservation of Materials 91
and not in accordance with preservation of materials. Hence, there are moist air
condensation periods related to mould growth [41].
Another parameter to be considered at the time of designing indoor environ-
ments in libraries is the material exchange. When a book is transported from the
archive to the reading room, it depicts a low temperature that suddenly changes to
a new temperature usually found in libraries.
The solution for this problem is related to natural ventilation. This natural
ventilation depicts lower energy consumption and thermal comfort is obtained
when controlled by occupants. This low energy consumption is related to a better
employment of parameters, such as solar illumination, and when there is no energy
consumption in the HVAC system by fans, chillers and pumps.
In this regard, naturally ventilated libraries tend to employ passive cooling
methods [42–44], and a mechanical ventilation system is only employed to control
thermal loads and ensure air quality during the day, and cooling the building
during the night. The main objective is to reach an adequate indoor air temperature
during the first hours of occupation and during peak thermal loads.
When a centralised HVAC system is employed, it can be implemented with
control algorithms and software resources. In some cases, this is based on software
resources to predict indoor real ambiences, for example, ESP-r [44–46]. TRNSYS
15 is the other software employed to simulate building and HVAC system
behaviour. TRNSYS 15 can consider nocturnal mechanical ventilation and win-
dow surface factor of special interest to define energy consumption.
In naturally ventilated buildings, the thermal ambience is controlled by the
occupants that control the opening level of windows and doors, in accordance with
ASHRAE 55-2004. Of interest is that the occupants’ demands are different in an
indoor ambience with natural and mechanical ventilation. The same happens under
different weather conditions, in accordance with ASHRAE standard 55-2004, and
is related to different thermal situations, clothing, and occupant expectations. To
define the type of neutral indoor air temperature to be employed in an indoor
ambience, ASHRAE proposed to employ adaptive thermal models. These models
can be proposed at building design stage [44] to define design conditions.
Also, other indications about natural ventilated buildings are oriented towards
prevention of material deterioration [47]. In this regard, researchers concluded that
material deterioration can be classified as change in size, change in the rate of
deterioration by chemical reactions and change in biological deterioration sources,
which are related to the three main indoor air parameters—temperature, relative
humidity and indoor pollution. To control these indoor ambiences, the limit of
these indoor air parameters needs to be defined in accordance with ASHRAE
Handbook 2003 HVAC Applications [48].
If the relative humidity on the surface is above a critical value of 70%, espe-
cially in hot environments with static air, fungal growth is expected. This growth is
related to material moisture content, local surface temperature and humidity
condition in the ambience.
To prevent fungi growth, the IEA has established a surface relative humidity
upper limit of 80% and a lower limit of 30% [49] and the Canada Mortgage and
Housing Corporation’s stringent rules requires a relative humidity upper limit of

65%. But, in general, these limit conditions are strict with porous materials, though
they are, most of the times, clean.
In libraries, the effect is not only related to the aesthetic aspect, but also to paper
degradation. To detect fungi growth, electronic noses are developed [50] as an
algorithm of the HVAC control system.
The second parameter to be considered is the weekly temperature variation, as a
reaction of the chemical processes for material deterioration. Examples of these
reactions are those developed by cellulose corrosion under temperatures of more
than 20°C and paper fragility due to moist air irregular relative humidity cycles
[47].
However, storage zones present lower temperature limits than common zones
for reading and storage. In this regard, the general temperature limits for these two
activities are between 20 and 21°C.
The last parameter to be considered is indoor air pollution. In libraries and
museums this parameter is related to health problems and material conservation
[51]. Specifically, investigations revealed that most of Volatil Organic Compounds
(VOCs) are related to furniture and material packaging; so, the presence of the
materials must be reduced in that specific environment.
4.5.1 Case Study
In this section, a real case study is presented to characterise a real situation in

libraries, improving preservation of materials with passive methods and an ade-
quate control of natural ventilation.
The library in this study was mainly occupied by university students. But,
besides the fact that no relics were stored, the goal was to maintain the specified
ranges of temperature and humidity, and minimise daily and weekly variations.
The building depicts two zones: the first corresponds to the library and the other is
where books are stored when not in use—the archive section.
The library has a gross floor area of 300 m2, located in the front of the building
with a porch that reduces solar incidence. Books are stored in wooden and metal
bookcases (Figs. 4.15, 4.16).
The archive section is located in an annex, with three parts and its only access is
from stairs located at the end of the library. This section does not have open
windows, except a little one to supply a slight air renovation when the librarian
considers it as necessary. The archive section consists of only metal bookcases
where books are stored for future use. No human heat sources were detected in this
room.
In both rooms, main walls are external walls and its construction has a layer of
concrete, brick, air barrier, insulation, brick and painted plaster (Fig. 4.16).
4.5 Passive Methods and Preservation of Materials 93
Up
Up
ARCHIVE Up Down
LIBRARY
To second floor
To archive
Fig. 4.15 Library
Fig. 4.16 Building envelope

characteristics 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 Outdoor 3 Brick 5 Insulation 7 Plaster

2 Concrete 4 Air Barrier 6 Brick 8 Indoor
During the year, the library presents a level of occupation of about 20 students;
but during exams, from June to July, the seats are all occupied reaching the triple
of occupants.
The HVAC system consists in a water heating system whose exchangers are
located in both zones and only operative during the winter season. There is no
cooling system for the summer and no mechanical air renovation. All the air
renovation is obtained by opening windows. As one of the adaptive model con-
ditions, students can open or close windows when they consider it necessary.
As observed earlier, this is an ASHRAE Standard 55-2004 condition to employ
adaptive models for predicting indoor thermal comfort temperature. Furthermore,
this standard indicates that occupants may freely adapt their clothing to the indoor
and/or outdoor thermal comfort (Figs. 4.17, 4.18).
Methodology was centred in adaptive and local thermal comfort models,
observed earlier in Chap. 2.
Main results revealed that indoor relative humidity in the library has a mean
value of 65% and a maximum of 70%. In the archive section, indoor relative
humidity has a lower mean value of 55%. These data reveal that, despite the fact
that natural ventilation can reduce temperature peaks related to occupants and heat
moisture gains, the cumulative heat and moisture sources are transported to the
archive section through stairs, and as a result book preservation is affected. This
Fig. 4.17 Library stairs
Fig. 4.18 Library archive
effect is especially clear during the occupied period and, specifically, during exam
months.
Indoor temperature in the library reaches extreme values between 20 and 24°C
in December and August, respectively. However, temperature in the library did not
show a significant daily swing, reaching values of 22°C during these two months.
On the other hand, in the archive section we find that indoor temperature reveals a
higher mean value of 25°C during summer and a clear influence of library
occupation was observed.
At the same time, acceptability depicts values out of limits in these two
ambiences. For example, an Acc of -0.2 was observed, related to bad Acc in the
archive section and with its mean temperature values and higher relative humidity.
References 95
When preservation of materials was analysed, the result revealed that relative
humidity depicts a mean value of 58% and temperature of 25°C. Despite the fact
that the indoor air relative humidity is adequate, it depicts an excessively high
temperature of more than 25°C, allowing mould growth and the worst Acc index.
According to the real case study, the importance of natural ventilation is easily
understood and new passive methods that let us control indoor conditions are taken
into consideration; for example, night cooling by mechanical ventilation to reduce
peaks of temperature, relative humidity and Acc.
Another proposed research related to this work is a new control system design
based on passive control methods or Acc models [52].
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Chapter 5
Permeable Coverings
5.1 Introduction
As observed earlier, plastic emulsion paints are typically employed for preventing
moist air transfer from indoor environments. These nearly always depict higher
moisture content due to the presence of different moisture sources located indoors
[1–8].
Also, the buffering effect must be considered. The buffering effect is related to
the local moist air condensation in some building zones, causing damage and loss
of energy in the buildings. However, recent research demonstrated the feasibility
of permeable coverings as a complimentary tool of the HVAC system to control
indoor environments and excess partial vapour pressure [9–11].
Furthermore, despite the fact that it is not the more important effect of the
permeable coverings, it was observed that this same effect can influence indoor air
temperature in ranges from 2 to 3C, as observed by Gaur [12].
To characterise this effect in laboratory studies, sorption isotherm curves were
developed, revealing new constants for the materials employed [13, 14]. For
example, the first constant to be defined is the constant of proportionality of
moisture transfer between air and materials, and the difference in moisture content.
The second constant is the material time parameter, which relates moisture
content with the history of humidity evolution in indoor air, revealing the concept
of memory of a material, as observed earlier about material models.
In an attempt to predict indoor conditions by simulation [15, 16], laboratory
studies are usually employed. Simulations results are tested against real indoor
environment results. Only a few studies have tried to understand how to adapt this
simulation to real situations [15, 16].
An hourly study was carried out in this work, a continuation of previous works
on the effect of permeable internal coverings Also, the methodology to calculate
this effect in real buildings will be developed.

100 5 Permeable Coverings
Earlier, passive methods were revealed as the best solution to reduce energy
consumption in new buildings, with low cost and reaching adequate levels of
thermal comfort. In this regard, we found that permeable coverings are one of the
passive methods that are currently being considered as one of the best solutions for
buildings construction. Passive solar methods must be considered and applied
during the building design process and there are only a few opportunities to correct
the design once building construction is finished.
On the other hand, different ventilation methods can be improved upon during
the design process and implemented once the building is constructed. In this case,
natural ventilation is expected to be an adequate method to improve IAQ and
complement the building characteristics to reach an adequate thermal inertia. Most
of these passive methods have been analysed in previous research works, clearly
revealing their hourly behaviour and their design conditions and operation.
However, this is not well defined for all passive methods, such as in the case of
permeable coverings. These internal coverings have been analysed in laboratory
studies, where their effects and characteristic curves were developed. Some of
these results were applied in buildings. The methodology was only developed for
wooden structures in cold regions, where the results revealed to be adequate.
However, internal coverings have not been analysed in climates with buildings
using different construction materials, such as those employed in Spain, Portugal,
France and Italy, among others. In these countries, we find different wall structures
composed of concrete, bricks, and barrier and vapour barrier.
From an earlier research developed in laboratory studies, the effect of different
internal coverings relates not only to indoor temperature or relative humidity, but
also to local thermal comfort and energy consumption. Moist air and local thermal
comfort models revealed how to define energy consumption and perception of
IAQ.
The study of these parameters based on statistical studies and in an adequate
selection of the data to be employed must the developed. For example, we
employed mean data obtained during the occupied and unoccupied period and also
the hourly data obtained during the first hours of occupation. Some of these studies
are related to the perception of indoor quality when clients and workers arrive at
the offices. Other studies revealed the mean reduction of the expected energy
consumption.
When local thermal comfort, perception of IAQ and energy consumption is
analysed every hour, new conclusions are obtained. The first initial moist air
parameter to be analysed is enthalpy because it is related to Acc and energy
consumption, to reach the temperature and relative humidity values. Results
revealed that during the occupation period in the summer, the percentage values of
dissatisfaction with warm respiratory comfort with impermeable coverings is
nearly 40%, whereas 15% are obtained with permeable coverings.
Also, permeable coverings revealed Acc between 0.1 and 0.2, which are related
to a good perception of IAQ. During the unoccupied period, impermeable cov-
erings depicted values of -0.1 and the perception of indoor air at 14:00 h with
-0.2. Hence, during the occupied period, the percentage of PD was higher with
5.1 Introduction 101
Fig. 5.1 Office building

distribution
External wall
Internal wall
Employees’ Clients’ zone

zone
permeable coverings. This is due to a higher partial vapour pressure at the same
indoor air temperature than with impermeable ones and, hence, higher enthalpy.
This unexpected result can be expressed in another way: if we reduce indoor air
temperature and enthalpy, we reach the same Acc as with impermeable coverings
but with lower energy consumption.
Finally, new parameters, such as productivity, must be taken into account in
future research. Recent works revealed that 10% PD implies a productivity
increase of 1.5%. In our case study, it reached values of 7.5% of worker pro-
ductivity, which is a high value.
In conclusion, despite the fact that impermeable coverings reveal higher
acceptability in the occupied period during the winter season, they present serious
disadvantages, for example, peaks of energy consumption to reach adequate indoor
air conditions and a higher percentage of PD during the summer.
5.1.1 Buildings
Office buildings, as an object of study, depict a heating system that controls indoor
temperature during the winter season and operate with free floating temperature
during the summer. Also, relative humidity is not controlled in any season, except
by the expected effect of permeable coverings.
The office buildings analysed have walls in brick and concrete, with two main
zones (Figs. 5.1, 5.2).
Building wall construction is not the only parameter that influences the buf-
fering effect. There are other parameters, such as internal coverings, which can
influence this effect. In this regard, different internal coverings were considered in
these studies. Examples of internal coverings are found in building construction
(Table 5.1), such as paper, plaster, wood, paint or plastic covering. As seen in
Table 5.1, these internal coverings present different permeability levels that
influence the wall buffering effect. Despite the fact that glass is not usually con-
sidered as an internal covering, it exerts a more clear impermeable effect and must
be considered as influencing the buffering effect. Glazed areas are related to the
number of windows and doors and the surface of the wall.
Fig. 5.2 Building wall

construction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 Outdoor 3 Brick 5 Insulation 7 Plaster

2 Concrete 4 Air Barrier 6 Brick 8 Indoor
Table 5.1 Types of Type Covering Permeability (kg/m s Pa)

coverings and permeability
P Paper and plaster 1.44e-10
SP Wood 2.55e-12
E Paint 1.75e-12
SI Plastic 0.8e-12
I Glass 1e-50
P permeable; I impermeable; SI/SP semi-permeable; E no effect
for a relative humidity interval of 0.8–0.95
5.1.2 Ventilation Rate
Ventilation rate was determined in accordance with the tracer gas decay method, in
this case using CF6 as tracer gas with a Brüel and Kjaer multi-sampler. The air
exchange rates depend on the number of infiltrations and the degree of air changes
due to the ventilation system. To measure this, a multi-gas 1302 monitor was used,
with an uncertainty less than ±0.002 h-1.
5.1.3 Data Loggers
Measurements of indoor temperature and relative humidity in 25 office buildings

were done by means of Tynitag data loggers (Meaco Europe), which can register
indoor environments for months, with sampling periods lasting from minutes to
hours with accuracies of +0.2C and +3% HR, respectively. These data loggers
were located in accordance with Hens’ method [2] and International Organisation
for Standardization (ISO) 7730 [17], and considering the different characteristics
in office buildings, such as heat sources from computers, that may alter measured
values.
At the same time, temperature and humidity were also measured using an Innova
1221 data logger equipped with a temperature transducer MM0034, based on
thermistor technology, and a humidity transducer MM0037 with a light-emitting
diode, a light sensitive transistor, a mirror, a cooling element and a thermistor. The
accuracies were +0.2 and +0.3C (dew-point temperature), respectively.
5.1 Introduction 103
5.1.4 Weather Stations
Outdoor climatic conditions were analysed after indoor conditions were measured.
In this case, values were obtained from weather stations, located next to the city,
belonging to the Environmental Information System of Galicia (SIAM) [18, 19].
This organisation has 23 weather stations located in the region, where important
parameters of weather conditions are measured with a frequency of 10 min and
sent, in real time, to the Web.
5.1.5 Working Periods
Commonly, working periods in office buildings are from 08:30 to 15:00 h and
clients are attended to from 09:00 to 14:00 h. The first and last hours of occupation
are of special interest, due to the fact that they are related to the first impression of
IAQ. Hence, an adequate indoor air perception implies a reduction in the HVAC
system energy consumption. This energy consumption is related to the effect of
permeable coverings in the real indoor environments.
5.2 New Method to Define Permeable Covering Effect
5.2.1 Introduction
The effect of permeable coverings was analysed in real case studies. For example,
in office buildings all located in the same area with the same wall construction and
indoor activities, permeable covering effect was analysed—the only difference
between buildings is the type of covering used.
The buildings depict different internal coverings that were classified, in
accordance with their expected permeability level, as: impermeable, semi-per-
meable and permeable. However, their real effect must be analysed in real con-
ditions, to include the effect of superficial treatments, such as paints, which can
reduce or, in some cases, annihilate material permeability.
In this regard, the real behaviour of construction materials is not well known as
yet. Laboratory studies revealed that concrete can absorb moisture and volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) from the surrounding air, and thus we may consider
this effect to be incorporated in real buildings.
Recent research tried to simulate and predict this effect as a combination of
sorption isotherms, as observed by Simonson [20].With this prediction; it was
possible to obtain a laboratory relationship between indoor environments when a
weather change is expected.
In this section, a new methodology to predict internal covering working peri-

ods, based on statistical analyses of real measured data in buildings, is developed.
5.2.2 Measuring Periods
Measuring periods are affiliated to indoor activities. As observed earlier, these

offices depict the same number of working hours and moisture sources. The
working period lasts five hours, from 9:00 to 14:00 h, with the remaining hours
being considered as unoccupied. The unoccupied period is of special interest
because, under low ventilation rates, internal coverings clearly depict the stronger
effects.
In this regard, coverings and wall material moisture contents depend on the
building indoor ambient history, in accordance with the time constant parameter.
This parameter is related to the memory of its materials. It expresses the period of
time that has to elapse, to ensure that indoor ambient conditions do not affect
actual material sorption behaviour [21].
During the measuring period, indoor air temperature and relative humidity were
recorded by means of data loggers. Also, the outdoor air temperature and related
humidity was obtained from weather stations located near the buildings.
5.2.3 Statistical Analysis
The methodology employed in this study was developed to define internal cov-
ering working periods in real environments. Consequently, it must relate simul-
taneous and complicated parameters that typically occur in those environments.
Also, these represent more complicated conditions than laboratory studies.
As observed earlier, a statistical analysis allows us to define the most important
internal covering working periods and their real effect in buildings. The first step in
this methodology was to define the main variables that reveal a moisture buffering
effect to be employed in the statistical analysis.
In this case, vapour pressure differential between indoor/outdoor conditions was
selected because it combines indoor air temperature and relative humidity in a
single parameter. Once the main variable was defined, statistical analyses must be
selected. During statistical studies, one-way ANOVA was selected. Hence, the
average comparison was based on the analysis of variance of a factor for a level of
significance of 0.05.
For this study, daily average values for summer and winter seasons, during
occupied and unoccupied periods, were calculated, to define groups of indoor
ambiences with identical behaviour. To develop these statistical analyses, SPSS
and Microsoft Excel software resources were employed.
5.2 New Method to Define Permeable Covering Effect 105
Outdoor temperature
20
18
16
Temperature (ºC)
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
December January February March April May June July August Sept October November
Month
Fig. 5.3 Monthly average outdoor temperature
5.2.4 Results and Discussion
Results revealed a mild climate with a humid summer and winter season. Spe-
cifically, a mean outdoor temperature between 18 and 20C during the summer
season and temperatures between 4 and 7C during the winter season were
recorded (Fig. 5.3).
At the same time, mean outdoor relative humidities between 65 and 80% can be
found throughout the year. Finally, outdoor wind velocity depicts values between
1.7 and 2.5 m/s throughout the year. However, some peaks of wind speed velocity
can be obtained in March, reaching a mean value of 3.5 m/s (Fig. 5.3).
An average ventilation rate of 1 h-1 was recorded. On the other hand, during
unoccupied periods an air change rate of 0.5 h-1 was measured (Figs. 5.3, 5.4, 5.5).
In an initial study on the mean value of partial vapour pressure during these
periods, it was observed that indoor partial vapour pressure is higher than out-
doors. This is due to the fact that indoor humidity is the sum of that obtained from
outdoor air and generated by different indoor moisture sources. Permeable cov-
erings tend to revert these situations [2], as revealed in laboratory studies.
The studied offices have an internal coating (Table 5.2), sorted as permeable
(P), impermeable (I), semi-permeable (SP) or semi-impermeable (SI). The com-
ponents of the walls’ structure are concrete and bricks. This buffer effect of the
building envelope on IAQ may be beneficial, since peak concentrations are
reduced and compounds may be stored in the walls of a house.
In Table 5.2, paper plaster coverings and plastic impermeable coverings are
listed. In accordance with the expected permeability level of internal coverings,
different coverings were classified into three groups, as revealed earlier.
Specifically, internal coverings typically employed in office buildings were
subjects of this study; for example: plastic, paper and wood. In research, plastic is
employed and associated with no permeable covering; it depicts the main
advantages for an easy cleaning process due to the fact that it supports water
effects. We find that paper and wood are typically defined as permeable coverings.
Wind velocity
4.00
3.50
Wind velocity (m/s)
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
DecemberJanuary February March April May June July August Sept OctoberNovember
Month
Fig. 5.4 Monthly average outdoor wind velocity
Outdoor relative humidity

90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
DecemberJanuary February March April May June July August Sept October November
Month
Fig. 5.5 Monthly average outdoor relative humidity
Table 5.2 Examples of wall Office Coating

coatings in some of the
studied offices P3 Paper
P4 Plaster
P5 Plastic
SP8 Plastic
E2 Paint
SI1 Wood
SI2 Plastic
I3 Glass
However, to prevent heat and mass transfer from the indoor air to building
structures, most of these coverings are externally treated with paints. Hence,
permeability of these external coverings is not always found.
200
100
P1 P2 SP1 P3 P4 P5 SP2 SP3 SI1 E1 SP4 SI2 SP5 E2 SP6 SP7 E3 SP8 E4 E5 I1 E6 I2 I3 I4
Partial vapor pressure excess
-100
-200
-300
-400
-500
-600
-700
-800
Internal covering
Fig. 5.6 Partial vapour pressure excess during the summer season
According to the initial classification (Table 5.2), plaster and paper are per-
meable coverings, plastic is semi-impermeable and glass is the best example of
impermeable covering.
After an ANOVA analysis, three groups of buildings with the same indoor air
behaviour were defined as A, B and C. As expected, these groups are similar to the
classification of buildings according to the expected internal covering permeability
level.
To understand internal covering behaviour, Fig. 5.6 must be understood. This
figure reveals the partial vapour pressure excess in an indoor ambience of an office
with respect to the outdoor air, during the summer season. ‘‘x’’ axis represents
office buildings, analysed and ordered in accordance with internal covering, from
permeable to impermeable. For example, P1 is the office building with the most
permeable internal covering. The degree of permeability for each office is in
agreement.
The partial vapour pressure excess was calculated as a mean value for the office
building during an unoccupied period. All of them were harmony with the value of
this difference, as seen in the ‘‘x’’ axis.
From Fig. 5.6, we can conclude that during summer three groups of internal
coverings could be defined in accordance with the partial vapour pressure differ-
ence. For example, permeable coverings 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are located on the left side
of the chart. Semi-permeable coverings are located in the middle of the figure, and
impermeable on the right.
Once the indoor ambience during summer was analysed, it was time to analyse
winter conditions (Fig. 5.7).
In Fig. 5.7, semi-permeable coverings are located on the left side and perme-
able coverings are located on the right. These results are not in accordance with the
500
400
300
200
Partial vapor pressure excess
100
0
SP4 SP1 SP2 SP5 SP3 I1 SP7 I2 SP8 I3 SP6 E1 I4 E6 E2 E3 SI1 E5 E4 P2 P5 SI2 P1 P3 P4
-100
-200
-300
-400
-500
Internal covering
Fig. 5.7 Partial vapour pressure excess during the winter season
expected values. However, during winter, permeable covering effect is clearer than
impermeable one; impermeable coverings cannot act as in the summer season.
Consequently, impermeable coverings are located in the middle of the figure.
To compare real indoor ambient evolution with time for different internal
coverings and to find groups of offices that reveal the same behaviour, a one-way
ANOVA study was employed.
Specifically, this statistical study must employ the significance index. This
index reveals if the work of each internal covering is the same as the others or not.
Once the possible evolution of each index in each different office building has
been analysed, the time is right to apply statistical analyses. In this regard,
Tables 5.3 and 5.4 reveal the statistical analyses of significance. The study also
revealed the office buildings experiences the same evolution with time and the
same behaviour.
To understand the effect of each group of internal coverings [6, 22], the sig-
nificance index of mean, maximum and minimum values was analysed.
Once the tables were analysed, we found three groups—A, B and C—that
depend on season. For example, during the summer season, the permeable
behaviour of group A was composed of P1, P2, P3 and SP1; group C was com-
posed of I1 and group B, was composed of other office buildings.
However, in the winter, three groups A, B and C are composed of different
office buildings. For example, the permeable behaviour of group C was formed by
P1, P3 and P4; the impermeable group is formed by SP1, SP2 and SP4 and the
semi-permeable group is formed by other office buildings.
From this study, we understand that the behaviour of the same internal covering
is not the same during the two seasons. Specifically, we concluded that permeable
coverings P1 and P3 experience the same permeable behaviour for the two
seasons.
Table 5.3 Internal–external partial vapour pressure difference in summer

Summer Mean
Group A P1 -665.2
P2 -609.0
SP1 -592.3
P3 -587.9
Group B P4 -491.1
P5 -430.5
SP2 -402.9
SP3 -384.2
SI1 -324.1
E1 -296.3
SP4 -243.5
SI2 -236.0
SP5 -195.5
E2 -174.4
SP6 -170.2
SP7 -166.9
E3 -148.3
SP8 -135.9
E4 -62.4
E5 -49.7
I1 -38.8
E6 -9.0
I2 7.6
I3 50.5
Group C I4 65.4
I impermeable; P permeable; SI semi-impermeable; SP semi-permeable; E no effect
An in-depth analysis revealed that the internal covering that experiences the
same behaviour during the two seasons is the paper; this internal covering should
be analysed in future research.
Finally, despite the fact that groups are defined in accordance with the statistical
index, we note some tendencies in the indoor air evolution. For example, as was
the case of impermeable coverings I4, I2 and I3 during the summer season and,
during the winter season, it was not so intense as to define a new group. However,
for the summer, we note the impermeable covering effect in Table 5.3.
Once the groups were defined in accordance with their behaviour during the
occupied and unoccupied periods, it was time to analyse the instantaneous evo-
lution. For this, the hourly evolution of the building was analysed and conclusions
can be obtained.
Specifically, permeable coverings revealed the lower maximum humidity in
summer and higher minimum humidity in winter, than the impermeable case;
internal coverings tend to reduce indoor air relative humidity variation (Figs. 5.8,
5.9, 5.10, 5.11).
Table 5.4 Internal–external partial vapour pressure difference in winter

Winter Mean
SP4 -379.4 Group A
SP1 -322.5
SP2 -236.5
SP5 -179.5 Group B
SP3 -166.4
I1 -149.5
SP7 -138.3
I2 -135.5
SP8 -84.4
I3 -56.6
SP6 -54.7
E1 -50.1
I4 -43.9
E6 -8.1
E2 9.7
E3 27.3
SI1 28.2
E5 34.7
E4 70.4
P2 72.8
P5 81.5
SI2 100.1
P1 105.2 Group C
P3 167.3
P4 454.2
I impermeable; P permeable; SI semi-impermeable; SP semi-permeable; E no effect
In conclusion, we confirmed that permeable coverings improve indoor condi-

tions, in spite of the use of a barriers and less permeable coverings. The conclu-
sions are in clear accordance with the conclusion obtained for wooden structures
under different weather conditions.
5.3 Hourly Study
In the previous section, the mean effect of permeable coverings in office buildings
during their unoccupied periods was assessed, revealing main groups of indoor
environments that depict the same behaviour, due to the same permeability effect
of wall internal coverings. This study was developed with the mean value of partial
vapour pressure difference between indoor and outdoors, during the unoccupied
period.
In this section, an instantaneous study of indoor partial vapour pressure excess
is carried out, with the aim of defining real hourly working periods of internal
5.3 Hourly Study 111
1600
1400
Partial vapour pressure (Pa)
1200
1000
800
600
Permeable Outdoor
400
0:00 6:00 12:00 18:00 0:00
Time (days)
Fig. 5.8 Effect of permeable coverings during the winter season
2200
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
Permeable Outdoor
1000
0:00 6:00 12:00 18:00 0:00
Time (Hours)
Fig. 5.9 Effect of permeable coverings during the summer season
coverings, despite the fact that occupancy level may be the parameter that controls
these effects.
In conclusion, from the measured data, we noted that the partial vapour dif-
ference between ambiences with permeable and impermeable coverings is more
intense in summer than in winter.
To define the working periods of different internal coverings for 24 h, the same
procedure was developed. Hence, the hourly statistical study with one-way
ANOVA was developed and the hourly significance index was obtained
(Figs. 5.12, 5.13).
2000
Partial vapour pressure (Pa) 1900
1800
1700
1600
1500
Impermeable Outdoor
1400
0:00 6:00 12:00 18:00 0:00
Time (Hours)
Fig. 5.10 Effect of impermeable coverings during the summer season
1400
1350
1300
1250
1200
1150
Impermeable Outdoor
1100
12:00 18:00 0:00 6:00 12:00
Time (days)
Fig. 5.11 Effect of impermeable coverings during the winter season
To define what the hourly working periods are, one must understand the sig-
nificance index before analysing the charts. When the data of a group of indoor
ambiences reveals a significance index under 0.05, the groups are considered
different, the internal coverings working in different ways.
This procedure allowed us to define what are the real working periods of
different internal coverings, and understand which coverings experience the same
behaviour with respect to its buffering effect. In this regard, if we analyse the
significance index, we find that there is a clear difference in internal covering
behaviour between summer and winter. For example, the significance index
0.3
Winter
0.25
0.2
Significance
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Hour
Fig. 5.12 Significance value during the winter season
depicts, during the winter season, a value of 0.05 for nearly 24 h. Only from 14:00
to 18:00 h does this value experience a decrement value below 0.05 (Fig. 5.12).
The meaning of this evolution is related with the fact that office buildings
experience, during the winter season, a different evolution and only after closing,
at 14:00, all offices tend to present the same behaviour.
If we now analyse the hourly evolution of the significance index during the
summer season, we find that there is a clear difference between the behaviours of
the office along time, as can be seen in Fig. 5.13.
When the hourly statistical analysis was done, it was concluded that indoor and
outdoor ambiences experiment a minimum partial vapour pressure difference value
at 5:00. Furthermore, this value is maintained in indoor ambiences till the opening
moment.
In this regard, we can see that during only one hour all the offices present a
different behaviour. This is related with the effect of permeable coverings at first
hours of occupation, and it will be analysed in the next section.
The first conclusion that we obtain from the hourly study of the significance
index is that all the offices have periods of common behaviour. Specifically, these
periods are the summer season, and a few hours during winter.
This effect is of interest during the summer season in milder climates because it
is related to the temperature peaks that occur with the increment of occupation and
summer heat.
With this new procedure, working periods of coverings could be defined. For
example, during the summer season, three working periods could be recognised:
the first is the occupation period from 9:00 to 14:00 h; the second is from 14:00 to
19:00 h and the third is from 19:00 to 9:00 h.
During the winter season, there were only two different periods—12:00–
19:00 h and 19:00–12:00 h. Despite the fact that these working periods are not the
same in winter and summer, summer periods can be employed as references, due
Significance
0.09
0.08 Summer
0.07
0.06
Significance
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Hour
Fig. 5.13 Significance value during the summer season
to the fact that covering effects are more intense and that working periods are
clearly revealed.
During the summer season, it was concluded that indoor conditions in the first
hours of occupation are defined by internal covering behaviour during unoccupied
periods. This is directly related to a low ventilation rate during this same period
(lower than 0.5 ach). During the occupied period, ventilation rate is about 1 ach
and its evolution depends on initial conditions, indoor moisture sources and
outdoor conditions.
On the other hand, another conclusion reached was that this internal covering
effect is maintained during the occupation period (09:00–14:00 h), as it was
reflected by statistical studies.
Once the permeable effect was defined, the energy consumption was calculated
in accordance with the internal covering permeability. Results obtained revealed a
clear reduction of the energy consumption for the cooling and heating seasons
(Table 5.5).
The main conclusions are;
• in accordance with earlier research, permeable coverings depict clear advanta-
ges with respect to impermeable coverings; for example, it was concluded that
permeable coverings reveal the lower maximum humidity in summer and higher
minimum humidity in winter; internal coverings tend to reduce indoor air rel-
ative humidity variation, as seen in Figs. 5.12 and 5.13
• ventilation rate is one of the most important parameters to control permeable
covering behaviour; in this regard, during the occupied period, ventilation rate
increases indoor relative humidity during winter, reaching bad conditions in
buildings with impermeable coverings;
Table 5.5 Mean energy consumption in offices with different internal coverings
Permeable Semi-permeable Impermeable
Cooling kWh/m2 year 0.83 1.71 2.4
% 35.0 71.2 100
Heating kWh/m2 year 0.25 0.91 1.4
% 18.4 65.0 100
• during the unoccupied period, internal coverings begin to exert a buffering effect
that control indoor ambiences in a dynamic response with air humidity changes;
hence, the simultaneous effect of storage capacity and sorption speed, which
determines the usefulness of a material as internal covering, is employed;
• in our real case study, after the offices were closed for the night, the offices
maintained their indoor conditions for about 4 h, in accordance with the results
of [23] under low ventilation rate and the Moisture Admittance Model suggested
by [14].
Finally, it is important to not only know which mean effect for internal cov-
ering, but also which working periods for each covering occur. In this regard, we
found that internal coverings experience this effect for some periods, sometimes
reaching 4 h after the excessive indoor humidity.
5.4 Improving PAQ with Permeable Coverings During

the First Hours of Occupation
5.4.1 Introduction
As observed in the previous section, hourly statistical analyses revealed that

permeable coverings exert a clear effect during the first hours of occupation.
Hence, they are important regarding energy saving and improving the perception
of IAQ during the first hours of occupation.
Once the statistical study was concluded, new indices for this interpretation
must be employed; the same as PD and Acc described in detail in Chap. 2. These
models were employed in important research works to analyse the effect in real
environments. For example, Simonson [6, 11] and Hameury [3, 4] observed the
buffering effect of a huge amount of wood, and concluded that moisture storage
has a market effect on the indoor humidity for about 2 weeks, after a change in
weather conditions. Hence, these materials control indoor relative humidity [7,
11], complementing or substituting the HVAC system and providing energy
savings [8].
Moreover, this effect improves the perception of IAQ [11]. The aim of this
research is to define the real effect of permeable coverings on indoor air perception
[24] and warm respiratory comfort [25], during the first hours of occupation of the
office buildings analysed in a previous work [26], in accordance with models
revealed in earlier chapters.
5.4.2 Methodology
Measurements [26] were centred in data loggers that recorded indoor temperature
and relative humidity with a time frequency of 5–10 min in each zone. Later, data
of occupied and unoccupied periods were separated to apply local thermal comfort
and IAQ models and define internal covering effect.
An ANOVA was developed to define groups of indoor environments with the
same behaviour due to internal covering effect. However, in this research, we
developed this statistical analysis during the first hours of occupation, to define the
real effect of internal coverings during the night and how it influences the per-
ception of IAQ and local thermal comfort. On the other hand, indoor air tem-
perature and relative humidity for the few hours of the unoccupied period
(08:00 h) were averaged and indices were calculated in accordance with [24, 25,
27]. This period is important because of its relation to the real initial perception of
indoor ambience during the first hours of occupation, and also because it is related
to factors, such as adaptation to perception of indoor air, that must be analysed.
The initial results obtained from the indoor measured data were that the office
buildings, analysed in earlier works [26], present an average air change rate of
1 h-1. Mechanical ventilation does not work during the unoccupied period, and
ventilation rate is lower during these periods.
As a result, the same tendencies, as in an earlier work, were obtained for this
initial period. For example, impermeable coverings presented a high indoor partial
vapour pressure during the summer and lowest during the winter. As expected,
permeable coverings depict the opposite behaviour. Also, indoor air temperature
was nearly the same in the offices, with a mean value of 23C in summer and 19C
in winter.
When local thermal comfort was analysed, PDIAQ, PDWRC and indoor air
AccIAQ and AccWRC parameters were calculated. The results revealed no clear
differences between office buildings with permeable and impermeable coverings.
There are differences between seasons. For example, Acc was nearly null
(acceptable) during the summer, whereas this perception was improved during the
winter, with value of 0.5.
During winter, the percentage of PD with respect to the warm respiratory
thermal comfort was slightly higher with permeable than impermeable coverings,
5.4 Improving PAQ with Permeable Coverings During the First Hours of Occupation 117
2000
1800
1600
Pv (Pa)
1400
1200
1000
800
p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6 s1 s2 s3 s4 s5 s6 s7 s8 s9 s10 s11 s12 s13 s14 i1 i2 i3 i4 i5
Office
8:00 Winter 8:00 Summer
Fig. 5.14 Indoor air partial vapour pressure during the first hours of occupation
reaching values of 5% of PD. These values reach 10% in summer, due to the
indoor partial vapour pressure values (Figs. 5.14–5.18).
As expected, internal permeable coverings not only improved indoor air tem-
perature and relative humidity during the first hours of occupation, but the per-
centage of PD also improved. Specifically, the percentage of PD, due to the
perception of IAQ, revealed a clear difference between permeable and imperme-
able coverings, reaching a differential value of 25% during the summer season.
Finally, despite the fact that our office buildings depict different wall con-
structions than earlier laboratory and case studies [2, 11], their results revealed the
same tendencies.
5.5 Implementation of a Method for Building Certification
5.5.1 Introduction
The present European standard on the calculation methodology of energy use for
space heating and cooling was developed by the European Committee for Stan-
dardization and the ISO [28–31].
The aim is to define a procedure for building energy use qualification. This
method can be employed in a quasi-steady state methodology and in an hourly
method, which is a more complex calculation procedure. For example, ISO
13790:2008 [32] reveals the calculation methodology of the annual energy use for
heating and cooling applicable at building design or maintenance stage. These two
calculation procedures for building energetic certification are observed in the
chapter on models.
On the other hand, the Energy Performance Building Directive states that the
energy efficiency of buildings has to be determined in the member states in
accordance with their particular climate conditions [33, 34]. Examples of this
28
26
24
Temperature (°C)
22
20
18
16
14
Office
Fig. 5.15 Indoor air temperature during the first hours of occupation
35
30
25
PD (%)
20
15
10
0
Office
Fig. 5.16 Indoor air percentage of dissatisfied persons with warm respiratory thermal comfort
adaptation were observed in research by Jokisalo and Kurnitski [35]. In these

works, Finland’s conditions were adjusted in this model. In other works, glazed
areas were adjusted [36] and now employed in new software resources [37].
These parameters try to affect the utilisation factor of energy, obtained from
passive methods and represented by the ratio Qgain/Qloss, and thermal inertia in
buildings. However, there is another parameter to be considered, which is the
permeability of internal coverings.
5.5.2 Methodology
5.5.2.1 Office Buildings
In this case study, offices in a seven-storey 120 m2 building in the northwest of

Spain were analysed. Their construction materials were concrete, with two brick
5.5 Implementation of a Method for Building Certification 119
0.5
Acc
0
p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6 s1 s2 s3 s4 s5 s6 s7 s8 s9 s10s11s12s13s14 i1 i2 i3 i4 i5
-0.5
-1
Office
Fig. 5.17 Indoor air acceptability with indoor air quality
35
30
25
PD (%)
20
15
10
0
p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6 s1 s2 s3 s4 s5 s6 s7 s8 s9 s10s11s12s13s14 i1 i2 i3 i4 i5
Office
Fig. 5.18 Indoor air percentage of dissatisfied persons with indoor air quality
layers and an internal barrier. The floor, due to its contact with the soil, has no
insulation.
5.5.2.2 Energy Calculation Procedure
The methodology employed in this work is described earlier in the book. After a
clear differentiation of indoor ambiences, based on their buffering effect, their
internal covering real activity was classified as permeable, semi-permeable and
impermeable [26, 38]. Also, the number of air changes and climatic conditions
were obtained every 10 min. On the other hand, the energy consumption was
defined in accordance with the set-point temperature [39]. Finally, the effect of
permeable coverings over perception on local thermal comfort during the first and
last hours of occupation is described in the previous section.
The aim of this work was to implement the certification model, in accordance
with the earlier results obtained on permeable covering effect, as done with glazed
areas.
The general procedure is based on the curve fit of the real measured data and
energy consumption, with respect to the certification model to be defined. If found
adequate, then there are new model constants for each internal covering. The first
step consists of automating the calculation procedure of the building energy cer-
tification model, in accordance with ISO standards.
Software resources such as MATLAB, C, Visual Basic and Microsoft Excel are
utilised to develop the task. The software needed follows a closed loop to solve, by
iteration, the mean constants adjusted to the energy certification model, for dif-
ferent building energy consumptions during the summer and winter seasons.
We must keep in mind that ISO standards depict different certification models.
Some are simplified methods that need less information than the other cases and
depict a lower accuracy. For our case study, we selected the simplified method
because the iteration process can easily be improved.
Once the certification model has been implemented into a software resource,
different input data to obtain the main model constants are needed. In this regard,
we related the input data with real measured data. Also, we need to assess energy
consumption during different weather conditions, indoor temperature, relative
humidity and the description of building structure.
As observed earlier, the office buildings were selected because different studies
and building structure characteristics were developed earlier. Furthermore, the
simulation to define constants and utilisation factor was developed for permeable,
semi-permeable and impermeable internal coverings.
Once the energy certification model was employed, an adequate curve fit
between energy consumption, a0 and partial vapour pressure, for the winter and
summer seasons, must be obtained under an adequate correlation factor.
Table 5.6 shows software input data needed to simulate the case studies, in
accordance with present standards. These data were classified in different groups—
building constructive characteristics, the real annual heat gain, thermal zones, set-
point temperatures, the ventilation rate and different constants in accordance with
standards.
As observed earlier, each simulation to define constants and utilisation factor was
developed for each internal covering. For example, the relationship between
energy consumption and a0 and permeability during summer and winter was
defined (Tables 5.7, 5.8, 5.9).
The simplified method was selected because less input data are required and
also easier for iteration process and data analysis. And, these simplified models are
less sensitive than the complete model to errors [40, 41].
Table 5.6 Simulation data for the building energetic certification

Simulation parameters data for software
Building constructive characteristics Internal heat capacity: 150 kJ/m2K (medium
heavy structure)
U-value for windows 1.8 W/m2K
Residential buildings 4 W/m2
The real annual heat gain Office buildings 5.7 W/m2
From people: 10 kWh/m2 year
From lighting: 8 kWh/m2
From equipment: 26 kWh/m2
Total annual heat gain: 44 kWh/m2 year
Thermal zones Due to temperature difference between indoor
ambiences is lower than 4C, the office can be
simulated as only one indoor environment
Set-point temperatures Heating was 18C
Cooling was 23C. We must remember that there
is no cooling system and the ventilation rate
to reduce indoor temperature was employed
Ventilation rate From 09:00 to 14:00 h 1 volume/hour
From 14:00 to 09:00 h 0.5 volume/hour
Constants: in accordance with standards, two Building heated only some hours of the day
constants were selected for these buildings s0 = 70
A set of values of a0 from 0.1 to 10 were
proposed
As can be seen in Tables 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, results revealed that permeable coverings
depict the highest utilisation factor and impermeable coverings depict the lowest
values for gain/loss ratios between 0.5 and 2.
On the other hand, an adequate curve fit between energy consumption a0 and
partial vapour pressure difference for the winter was obtained with a correlation
factor of r2 = 0.98 (Eqs. 5.5.3.1, 5.5.3.2).
1:978 9:718
Ewinter ¼ 0:220 þ þ 2 ð5:5:3:1Þ
pv a0
where Ewinter denotes energy consumption in the winter (kWh/m2 year), pv is the
partial vapour pressure difference between indoors and outdoors (Pa) and a0 is the
certification equation constant.
Esummer ¼ 0:8258 þ 0:00594 lnða0 Þ þ 3:3759 eða0 Þ ð5:5:3:2Þ

2
where Esummer denotes energy consumption in the summer (kWh/m year).
From these two equations, there is no clear influence of partial vapour pressure
(pv) on energy consumption in the summer, whereas the opposite occurs in the
winter.
This effect is indirectly related with model constants a0 and s0 that are related to
energy consumption and utilisation factor.
Table 5.7 Average energy consumption in offices with different types of internal coverings
Impermeable Semi-permeable Permeable
Cooling (kWh/m2 year) 2.4 1.71 0.83
Heating (kWh/m2 year) 1.4 0.91 0.25
Table 5.8 Calculated constants for energy consumption in accordance with the permeability
level of internal coverings—heating season
Heating energy (kWh/m2 year) 1.4 0.91 0.25
a0 1.5 2.6 10
t0 70 70 70
gH (Heating) 0.65 0.78 0.96
Table 5.9 Calculated constants for energy consumption in accordance with the permeability
level of internal coverings—cooling season
Cooling energy 2.4 1.71 0.83
(kWh/m2 year)
a0 0.7 1.2 10
t0 70 70 70
gC (Cooling) 0.54 0.71 1.00
From this equation, new certification model constants were defined for different
permeability levels of internal coverings, in accordance with Eq. 5.5.3.3
s
aH ¼ aC ¼ a0 þ ð5:5:3:3Þ
70
As seen in Tables 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, winter values of a0 from 4.9 for permeable
coverings and 2.2 for impermeable coverings are defined, respectively. During the
summer, we find values of 1.95–1.2 for permeable and impermeable coverings,
respectively.
The effect of these new constants on the previous model equation allows us to
predict new utilisation models (Eqs. 5.5.3.4, 5.5.3.5), for different seasons and
taking into consideration the internal covering permeability level of the employed
constants.
Defining this model for summer and winter, correlation factors of r2 = 0.92 and
r2 = 0.95 were found, respectively.
For the cooling season:
gC ¼ 0:2267 lnða0 Þ þ 0:6373 ð5:5:3:4Þ
For the heating season:
Fig. 5.19 Utilisation factor 1

during the summer season
0.8
Utilisation factor (h C)
0.6
0.4
0.2
permeable semi-permeable impermeable

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Gain/loss ratio
gH ¼ 0:1259 lnða0 Þ þ 0:4038 ð5:5:3:5Þ

These two equations, as it done by most of the standards, may be represented in
charts like those in Figs. 5.19 and 5.20.
The main conclusion obtained from these equations is that, due to a low per-
meability constant a0 when impermeable coverings are employed during summer
and winter seasons, a lower value of utilisation factor was obtained. Hence, actual
standards for building certification must consider this. Specifically, values of 0.5
and 0.65 for winter and summer seasons were found. From these results, we expect
a reduction of 15% in the utilisation factor, which must be taken into consideration
for the certification processes.
Finally, a research on the effect of internal coverings in an indoor ambience
must be developed. Specifically, a new procedure to combine this effect with the
heating, ventilation and air conditioning system must be improved, to obtain a
better indoor thermal comfort, perception of IAQ and higher certification level in
future buildings.
This improvement includes new design methods for an initial stage. Also, some
methods are employed in buildings to be constructed and, hence, can be employed
during the design process and corrective methods employed once the building is
finished.
5.6 Permeable Coverings Methods and Sick

Building Syndrome
5.6.1 Introduction
The main objective of this book is to reveal the feasibility of permeable coverings
as a tool for improving IAQ, energy saving and reducing health problems with
Fig. 5.20 Utilisation factor 1

during the winter season
0.8
Utilisation factor (h H)
0.6
0.4
0.2
permeable semi-permeable impermeable

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Gain/loss ratio
passive methods [26, 42–44], due to the fact that little information was obtained.
Furthermore, examples of new procedures to employ these passive control
methods are revealed as the basis for future research.
As observed earlier, permeable coverings can improve indoor ambiences’
partial vapour pressure, improve Acc and local thermal comfort during the first
hours of occupation in buildings.
However, permeable coverings depict other applications, for example VOC
control. In this regard, recent studies [45] revealed that ventilation rate and per-
meable coverings are the two adequate tools to reduce VOC concentrations. The
last method is related to the sorption/desorption rates of walls surfaces. During the
building occupation period, temperature is high and VOC emission rate increases.
At the same time, ventilation rate is higher during this same period and VOCs
are usually released out of the indoor ambient. During the unoccupied period,
ventilation rate is reduced which is when the permeable covering begins to work,
reducing VOCs in indoor air. In conclusion, permeable coverings can improve
IAQ in different ways.
As a result of these two effects, developed by permeable coverings, we relate it
to an improvement of subjective parameters, such as the local thermal comfort and
perception of IAQ.
Also, permeable coverings improve IAQ, with VOC concentration reduction
indoors. The result is that we can control the energy consumption with a reduction
in ventilation rates and set-point temperature of the HVAC system, to obtain the
same perception of IAQ, thermal comfort, Acc and a general reduction of SBS
symptoms.
SBS was defined by the WHO [46] in 1983 as the occurrence of an increased
prevalence of non-specific symptoms among pollutants in determined buildings
[26]. It is difficult to detect SBS, and its exact definition depends on the method
employed to detect it [42, 43].
5.6 Permeable Coverings Methods and Sick Building Syndrome 125
Fig. 5.21 SBS detection

methods
SBS is related to symptoms, such as irritation of eyes and nose, nausea, mental
fatigue and lack of concentration, with the occupancy of some indoor ambiences
[47]; for example, fleece factor, air temperature, total suspended particles, job
stress, mechanical ventilation, illumination [48], dust and noise [49] are related
with SBS.
In conclusion, SBS is related to a conjunction of symptoms that affect occu-
pants of indoor ambiences and its prevalence over normal values. SBS diagnosis is
based on the whole building and not in individuals [47] that occupy the building.
To detect the SBS, we employ objective and subjective parameters, see
Fig. 5.21, as with most health problems. In this regard, objective parameters, such
as air temperature, global temperature, air velocity, carbon monoxide and ozone
concentration, were not adequate enough to detect SBS in a whole building.
However, a clear relation between CO2 concentration and SBS was obtained [50].
Hence, it must be related to air changes in an indoor ambience and the presence of
pollutants due to this low ventilation level.
On the other hand, subjective methods, for example questionnaires about
health state in accordance with the WHO, 1989, revealed better results for SBS
detection.
5.6.2 Objective Parameters
The objective of most research works is to control objective parameters to prevent

SBS symptoms. In this regard, some questions, such as if we must employ natural
or mechanical ventilation, and if we must improve the HVAC system designed to
reduce its operating period, are looked into.
5.6.2.1 Natural or Mechanical Ventilation
It is commonly accepted that occupants of buildings with mechanical ventilation

depict higher SBS symptoms than in naturally ventilated buildings [51]. For
example, a clear relationship between this effect and lack of ducts, chillers and
humidifiers maintenance [47] (increment in dust in the HVAC system due to lack
of maintenance) were detected.
5.6.2.2 HVAC System and Building Design
In conclusion, we employed natural ventilation or, in the case of mechanical

ventilation, we considered an adequate HVAC system maintenance to prevent SBS
symptoms [52] with duct cleaning.
In this case study, a real reduction of TVOC, CO2 and fungal spore concen-
tration were below its typical values, when a duct cleaning was done periodically.
Duct cleaning relates to IAQ and air displacement in an indoor environment [53].
However, these are not the only parameters to be considered during building
construction and HVAC system design and operation of IAQ. Pollution sources,
indoor activity and occupants’ habits are factors related to energy saving.
For example, recent studies [54, 55] revealed that an adequate IAQ can reach a
reduction of 2.5 times, implying a reduction of nearly three times the ventilation
rate to reach the same IAQ.
5.6.3 Subjective Parameters
Within subjective parameters, we find aspects, such as job stress and perception of
IAQ. Job stress resulted in a direct relationship to SBS symptoms for people
working in different environmental conditions, as observed by Hedge [47]. For
example, the number of hours that a computer is used by workers resulted in direct
relation to the SBS symptoms [50].
When job satisfaction was analysed in recent studies, it revealed that air quality,
ventilation and working area temperature parameters are related to a better sat-
isfaction level [53], improving workers concentration and productivity [47].
To obtain this job satisfaction, questionnaires are the typical tool to obtain real
data about this subjective state, as was revealed with the local thermal comfort and
perception of IAQ in Chap. 2. In this regard, a questionnaire must depict the
following elements:
1. A questionnaire zone related to symptoms.
2. Another zone that relates these symptoms with building construction and
region.
3. Take special care to reveal a clear difference between symptoms to get an
adequate conclusion.
4. The last part of questionnaire must depict indication about the frequency scale
to record the occurrence of symptoms and discomfort [56].
5. Questionnaire must be redundant in its questions to improve the time spent by
an occupant for symptom description.
6. To define perception of IAQ and Acc, PD and Acc models can be employed.
In general, we conclude that SBS is still an unsolved problem due to the
importance of subjective parameters that make it difficult to detect, locate each
cause and employ corrective actions to reduce or eliminate SBS presence.
5.6 Permeable Coverings Methods and Sick Building Syndrome 127
Like in local thermal comfort studies, this subjective perception of indoor

environments is of interest when we try to detect and analyse the SBS.
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Chapter 6
Future Research Work
6.1 Introduction
In this chapter, future research works for different indoor environments are dis-
cussed. It is interesting to recall the previously presented classification of indoor
environments (Fig. 6.1).
In accordance with Fig. 6.1, structure, results and future research must be
developed for these indoor environments. Specifically, two groups can be joined as
one—material preservation and energy consumption. These two groups are a clear
function of building constructive parameters, and how it was designed to improve
HVAC system operation. The final section analyses another research in the area of
passive methods and environments.
6.2 Energy Consumption, Thermal Comfort and Preservation

of Materials
As stated before, indoor air, energy consumption, thermal comfort and preserva-
tion of materials can be analysed as a function of some general terms; hence, we
find thermal inertia, ventilation rate and HVAC system improvement.
6.2.1 Thermal Inertia
As stated earlier, thermal inertia is a passive method employed for energy saving
in indoor environments. Furthermore, recent research includes the same thermal
inertia as another parameter to be considered while designing and operating
132 6 Future Research Work
Fig. 6.1 Indoor environment

classification
HVAC systems, due to its clear advantages. For example, a few authors suggested
that buildings with higher thermal inertia can experience better indoor environ-
ments, due to lower temperature and relative humidity variations [1]. Hence, an
improvement in thermal comfort and perception of indoor environments are
achieved with the same energy consumption [2].
On the other hand, thermal inertia can be modified by the effect of parameters
such as building construction materials and other materials that are present in the
same environment. Specifically, the effect of phase changes on moisture content in
building materials can modify the thermal inertia [3].
As stated earlier, a key parameter that changes building thermal inertia is air
ventilation. In this regard, in a building with higher air exchange rates thermal and
moisture inertia can be significantly changed.
Finally, software resources, such as Ham tools, are currently the only way to
reach a clear understanding of building indoor environment. Recent research
revealed that this open source software can be validated with real case studies and
propose little modifications to begin designing and/or operating HVAC systems.
When thermal inertia was analysed in old buildings, several conclusions could
be obtained. For example, lower energy consumption in old buildings with thick
walls, during the heating season, for the same thermal comfort conditions. These
old buildings depict the lower maximum and the higher mean temperature in the
indoor environment. Old buildings with thick walls depict a higher thermal inertia.
However, this thermal inertia can be influenced by solar heat gains and ventilation.
Specifically, air infiltration through cracks can alter this inertia. Hence, adequate
maintenance of these buildings is needed to obtain the expected energy saving [4].
Currently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) is working on different topics
related to heat and mass transfer through building envelopes, HVAC systems and
ventilation, and developing new software resources based on real case studies, as a
continuation of Annexes 41 and 17.
Once thermal inertia was simulated with different software resources, new
research works on how to improve indoor thermal comfort based on the thermal
inertia effect were proposed. In this regard, relationship between weather, thermal
inertia, people and sound are some new parameters for analysis.
6.2 Energy Consumption, Thermal Comfort and Preservation of Materials 133
Recent research revealed that models of indoor minimum temperature with

respect to outdoor weather conditions can be obtained by multiple regression of
simulated measured data. Furthermore, a time-dependent thermal inertia model is
obtained and employed by HAM tools to predict indoor conditions as a function of
outdoor air temperature [5].
The more surprising conclusion was that this thermal inertia model can be
simplified for a period, becoming the weather model. Furthermore, when the initial
indoor temperature is 18.5C, it becomes an adaptive thermal comfort model. This
result must be improved on future research, with an in-depth analysis on the
optimal wall thickness to obtain the best thermal comfort conditions, in accordance
with local weather conditions. This new building design methodology, based on
local weather conditions to define the best indoor environments, implies a
reduction in HVAC energy consumption.
Hence, we conclude that HAM tools are defined as the best software tool to
predict the effect of thermal inertia and its relationship with weather and thermal
comfort.
6.2.2 Advances in Natural Ventilation
In the past few years, based on natural and mechanical ventilation procedures, a
new ventilation method named hybrid ventilation was proposed. In this regard,
recent research was developed by the IEA in its Annex 35 entitled ‘‘hybrid
ventilation in new and retrofitted buildings’’ with the aim of defining the venti-
lation level needed to improve energy consumption with a better thermal comfort
and an adequate IAQ.
During this research process, two models were developed: HYBCELL1.0 and
SPARK. In accordance with the general methodology to validate software
resources, it was evaluated with respect to real case studies. From this research on
hybrid ventilation, different conclusions were obtained:
• First, during winter, despite the fact that hybrid ventilation depicts higher energy
consumption, it depicts lower mean and maximum carbon dioxide concentration
values.
• Second, during spring, it depicts a higher energy consumption with a lower
difference than in winter.
• Third, during summer, hybrid ventilation depicts lower energy consumption
than others. However, it depicts a little higher carbon dioxide concentration in
measured indoor environments and the worst air renovation process.
To summarise, recent research [6] revealed that hybrid and mixing ventilation
methods are adequate enough to remove indoor contaminants. Furthermore, actual
models to simulate ventilation resulted in clear agreement with real case studies.
Hence, it is possible to simulate with an adequate accuracy the effect of different
ventilation methods in indoor environments.
Fig. 6.2 HVAC

improvement by passive
methods
6.2.3 HVAC Improvement by Passive Methods
To improve HVAC system operation, different actuation methods can be

employed, for instance, building constructive characteristics, ventilation methods
and HVAC control systems (Fig. 6.2).
6.2.3.1 Building Constructive Characteristics
In the past few years, research revealed new methodologies to improve indoor
environments, using passive methods. However, it is a recent concept that dem-
onstrated its effects but without a clear definition of working periods and main
parameters, as well as adjustment principles.
Specifically, it is important to develop a methodology that allows to define, at
the design stage, the type of internal covering materials (permeability degree,
thickness, superficial treatment…) and the area needed to control indoor envi-
ronment. In this regard, heat and mass transfer through the building envelope and
HVAC system parameters must be considered.
To define this methodology, new computer design tools are being developed by
the designer [7]. Some points to be considered at the software development stage
are:
• The software should be simple and easy to use.
• It should suggest default values when variables are unknown.
• Its learning time must be reduced
• Its calculation time must be reduced as much as possible.
• Output data must be simple and informatively employed and, if possible, by
means of some charts and figures.
• Software must employ technical concepts with an adequate language.
• Once the tool is developed, it must be tested by designers and engineers based
on real case studies, as it was done with HAM tools.
• The software resource must be compatible with input (such as meteorological
data format) and output data (such as MS Word, MS Excel…)
Finally, these software tools are of special interest as energy saving and local
and thermal comfort improvements, as well as teaching methods about building
design improvement [8, 9].
6.2.3.2 Ventilation
Different standards were considered, such as the ASHRAE [10] standard and the
environmental specification for the storage of library and archival materials [11].
These standards recommend temperature values between 20 and 22C and a
relative humidity between 40 and 55% for stack and branch libraries. Finally, this
standard recommends lower fluctuations of indoor conditions to prevent damage of
books.
In earlier works, a practical case study of indoor conditions in libraries located
in the northwest of Spain and Portugal was carried out. The aim of the research
was to relate indoor conditions with indoor thermal comfort and preservation of
materials in naturally ventilated buildings. Natural ventilation must be in accor-
dance with occupants’ behaviour through opening/closing windows. However,
ventilation needs to depend on building constructive characteristics. Hence, future
research must take this into consideration.
After the measurement of temperature and relative humidity, values were
analysed and the conclusion reached was that despite the fact that natural venti-
lation reduces peaks of temperature in an indoor environment, occupants release
moisture. Furthermore, this humidity level affects the archive section, affecting
book preservation. Hence, this real effect cannot be expected in laboratory studies
and must be investigated in future research works, to optimise building charac-
teristics and HVAC working periods.
For future research, design corrections are proposed to improve indoor envi-
ronments. Some of these corrections are based in the HVAC system, for example,
night cooling mechanical ventilation and others based on constructive character-
istics and passive methods, such as permeable coverings [12] or solar heat gains.
These passive methods work during the unoccupied period and allow an
improvement of indoor conditions all the time.
6.2.3.3 A New Modeling Methodology to Control HVAC Systems
In the past few years, new methodologies to control HVAC systems were devel-
oped, due to the fact that HVAC systems are related to indoor thermal comfort and
energy savings, among other factors. For example, recent research revealed that
HVAC control systems can be improved with new control algorithms.
It is important that models related to thermal comfort should be treated as equal
to the important HVAC system control models. This is due to the fact that an
adequate control of the HVAC system allows us to reach an adequate thermal
comfort with the minimum energy consumption [2, 3].
Fig. 6.3 Thermal comfort Human activity level
e
tur
parameters
er a
Air
mp
t te
ve
loc
ian
ity
r ad
an
Thermal
Me
comfort
Te
y
dit
mp
mi
era
hu
tur
ive
e
lat
Re
Clothing insulation
The problem is related to the fact that thermal comfort depends on an indi-
vidual’s psychology and physiology [1], being a difficult parameter to be modelled
with mathematical equations. Within this area of thermal comfort, the PMV index
was developed and defined in the past few years. This index depends on six
thermal variables: human activity level, clothing insulation, mean radiant tem-
perature, relative humidity, temperature and velocity of the indoor air (Fig. 6.3).
Specifically, indoor air temperature and velocity are the most employed variables
to control indoor conditions within thermal comfort limits.
Different control methodologies are currently employed to achieve a better
approach to the ideal conditions. These methodologies are classified as adaptive
models, neural networks and regression methods. For example, neural networks
are employed to get a better approach to the adjustment developed by building
occupants.
However, this methodology must be trained, during long periods of time, with
specific data to be measured from specific environments. Hence, the network
obtained can only be employed in this particular environment under the training
conditions. Also, if some of the parameters considered constant during the training
process experience some change, the network will not work in an adequate
manner. Furthermore, once trained, this neural network needs complex mathe-
matical calculations that must be done to define the set-point temperature to be
employed in this process during long periods of time. These problems make neural
networks, currently, a non-adequate method of HVAC control, to be employed in
general environments.
We conclude that an easier thermal comfort model to define set-point
temperature must be defined and employed in HVAC systems. Thus, a linear PMV
model defined by ASHRAE, and presented in Sect. 2.2.3.2.1, presents a special
interest.
These models are defined by regression methods as typically done with thermal
sensation models [7, 8, 13]. Specifically, the selected model depicts two variables,
such as temperature and partial vapour pressure, and three constants a, b and c
(Eq. 6.2.3.3.1, Table 6.1).
PMV ¼ at þ bpv c ð6:2:3:3:1Þ
Table 6.1 The coefficients a, b and c are a function of exposure time and sex of the subject
Time/sex A B C
1 h/man 0.220 0.233 5.673
Woman 0.272 0.248 7.245
Both 0.245 0.248 6.475
2 h/man 0.221 0.270 6.024
Woman 0.283 0.210 7.694
Both 0.252 0.240 6.859
3 h/man 0.212 0.293 5.949
Woman 0.275 0.255 8.620
Both 0.243 0.278 6.802
These constants are general for all indoor environments, considering the time of
exposure and the sex. For example, an exposure of 1 h of a man will have
constants a, b and c of 0.220, 0.233 and 5.673.
New modelling methods are based on trying to adapt this general model to
particular indoor environments. To do it, a new patented system based on a
measuring process with the more accurate thermal comfort measuring devices, and
a later regression in accordance with the previous model, was developed. This
regression process must consider the fact that the data employed must be separated
in groups of exposure time.
Once the particular PMV model for each indoor environment is obtained,
related simulations were developed with MATLAB Simulink. Hence, moist air
models and thermal comfort models were defined in accordance with the block
diagrams method (Fig. 6.4).
This same model was translated to MATLAB Simulink (Fig. 6.5).
Once this model was developed, it was tested with real measured data.
Specifically, two different indoor environments were tested. The first is a moderate
thermal environment and the second an extreme thermal environment, such as
those found in industry.
When employing this modeling procedure to moderate indoor environments,
the general method was used. Furthermore, the HVAC control system, once
defined in accordance with the model, was inserted into HAM tools. As stated in
earlier chapters, HAM tools are an open code software resource developed to
simulate the building constructive characteristics and evolution of indoor envi-
ronments with time.
This software is a MATLAB Simulink tool developed for researchers. It was
tested in Annex 41 of the IEA (Figs. 6.6 and 6.7).
The main advantages of HAM tools are that our control system can be
implemented to simulate a whole building. For example, air changes, building
construction and, specifically, heat and mass transfer through building envelope
can be included. Hence, the building model reveals a closer approach to real
conditions.
Once the number of occupants and solar irradiation values were included, the
control system was improved and tested. In this experiment, during the winter
TEMPERATURE
SENSOR
RH SENSOR
PMV Model
PMV=At+Bpv+C
NEW SET POINT TEMPERATURE INDOOR AMBIENCE
MOIST AIR TEMPERATURE CONTROL SYSTEM
MODEL
1 2 3 4
Fig. 6.4 Moist air equations with Simulink
T
pmv PMVin
PV
To Workspace2
PMV
In1 Out1 -K-
2 In1 Saturation3 Gain Saturation1

T (PMVlimit) Cold
Indoor T
Out1
3 In2 1 U U(E)
Indoor RH Zone 1
pvl Selector Heat Gain
In1 Out1 -K-
T (PMVlimit) Hot Saturation2 Gain1 Saturation4
Fig. 6.5 Moist air equations with Simulink
season, a PMV value equal to -0.5 implied a thermal comfort within the limits
and lower energy consumption. On the other hand, during the summer season, a
PMV value of 0.5 implied a lower cooling energy consumption to be within
comfort limits.
The results obtained revealed that the lower set-point temperature must be near
18C during the winter and 23C in the summer, as we can see in Fig. 6.6. These
results are in accordance with the institutes of Spain and Portugal, which indicate
an indoor temperature-core energy conservation of 18C. On the other hand,
during the summer season, despite the fact that in milder climates the cooling
system does not employ a set-point temperature of 23C, it is a value proposed by
most of the standards during the warmer seasons.
Fig. 6.6 Indoor temperature 21.5

with fixed and variable set- 21
point during the winter
Indoor Temperature (°C)

20.5
season
20
19.5
19
18.5
18
17.5
Variable set-point Fixed set-pointe"
17
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (hours)
Fig. 6.7 Economic cost with 70

fixed and variable set-point 60
50
Cost (Euros)
40
30
20
10
Variable set-point Fixed set-point
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Time (hours)
With energy consumption calculated in accordance with the change in indoor

air enthalpy, a new graph was obtained (Fig. 6.7). The values of energy
consumption expressed as economic cost are valid for a long period of time. A
comparison of energy of economic cost with a variable and a fixed set-point
temperature is made during the winter season.
The conclusion is that, after these long periods of time, the difference in energy
cost between the two control methods was about one-third of the total energy cost.
For an extreme environment case study, a ship indoor environment was
selected. Specifically, ships depict indoor environments that change after short
intervals of time. Furthermore, these changes in temperature present a health risk
in the extreme environment of the engine room in contrast to the cold environment
of the engine control room. For example, in the engine room temperature values of
28C are found, while in the engine control room set-point temperatures of 18C
are commonly adjusted. Consequently, thermal shock is expected in these envi-
ronments and a self-adjusted set-point temperature for the HVAC control system is
needed.
An example of the layout of these indoor spaces in a ship (engine room and
engine control room) is shown in Fig. 6.8.
Fig. 6.8 Extreme indoor

environment of a ship
MAIN
ENGINE
ENGINE ROOM
ENGINE CONTROL ROOM
In this environment, it was proposed that a new model was adjusted to the
indoor environment and, after the measuring process, simulations of the HVAC
control system were carried out.
Real measured data for 5 days can be seen in Fig. 6.9. During the 5 days, indoor
temperature in the engine control room varied between 18 and 208C.
Once the thermal comfort model was adjusted in the HVAC control system, in
accordance with the ambience of the engine room with temperatures of 30C, a
variable set-point temperature was defined (Fig. 6.9).
As observed earlier, this extreme environment is due to the heat released by the
main engine. Typically, in this and other industrial environments, the only way to
control the indoor environment is by increasing air exchange with outdoor air.
The resulting temperature was between 27 and 22C for the variable set-point
temperature. Coming in from the engine room, the new indoor temperature in the
engine control room implies a reduction in the health risk for heat stress and
thermal shock of marine engineers.
On the other hand, the temperature allows marine engineers to release accu-
mulated heat and take all considerations needed for this extreme environment, for
example, drinking water and surveying the engine room.
Future research will reveal the main advantages of different models. Specifi-
cally, the heat stress index must be applied and for general moderate indoor
environments the PMV model must be employed for work risk prevention. On the
other hand, HAM tools are the correct tools to implement new control methods and
obtain a closer approach to real indoor environments.
Once adequate results are obtained, a prototype will be developed to be tested
in laboratory and real field studies.
6.3 Extreme Indoor Environments: Relative Humidity
Spas have particular indoor air relative humidity control methods that need to cope
with an adequate thermal comfort and energy conservation. In this regard, the
Spanish standards proposed pool water temperatures between 24 and 30C [14].
6.3 Extreme Indoor Environments: Relative Humidity 141
Fig. 6.9 Temperature in the 30
engine control room with the 28
Temperature (°C)
26
present and the new control
24
22
20
18
16
0 1 2 3 4 5
Time (Days)
Actual New control
Fig. 6.10 Temperature in 34
different zones of the spa 32
30
28
26
24
22
20
Sampling zone
Fig. 6.11 Relative humidity 75
in different zones of the spa 70

Relative Humidity (%)
65
60
55
50
45
40
Sampling zone
The temperature depends on the activity developed in the pool. For example, in
pools used for sports, water temperature must be between 24 and 25C. More
conditions are proposed by the standard, for example, the temperature must be
homogeneously distributed in the pool with a margin of error of +/-1.5C.
Another proposal by the Spanish standard is that air temperature surrounding
the pool must be 2–3C higher than the water, to reach a maximum relative
humidity of 65%. However, it was observed in real case studies that therapeutical
effect for a medical treatment ‘‘Thalasso therapy’’ needs temperatures of for
surrounding air 31.5C and a relative humidity of 74.9% (Figs. 6.10, 6.11, 6.12
and 6.13) (Table 6.2)
The new Spanish standard (RITE [15]) proposed that water temperature must be
obtained by renewable energy with a share of 30–70% of the annual heat
requirement, and that the water layer must be protected with an insulating cover
when the pool is not in use. Another conclusion related to indoor air exchange in
these pools is that the indoor ambience must have a temperature lower than
outdoors.
Fig. 6.12 Percentage of 100

90
dissatisfied persons in 80
different zones of the spa 70
PD (%)
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Sampling zone
Fig. 6.13 Indoor air 0.4

acceptability in different 0.2
zones of the spa 0
-0.2
Acc
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1
Sampling zone
Table 6.2 Water Activity Temperature (C)

temperature S/RITE 10.2.1.2
Training 26
Competition 24
Education and recreation 25
Physically handicapped 29
Children’s pool 30
Children 3–6 years and adults 32
Pregnant women 30–32
When energy consumption was analysed, the conclusion reached was that if air
exchange is increased, the energy consumption increases too. Furthermore, air
changes are not the only parameter to be considered; there are other parameters,
such as air velocity, related to the evaporation rate and local thermal comfort.
As in the earlier case, there is a need for further research in the relationship
between indoor air temperature and relative humidity, thermal comfort (depending
on the air velocity and previous parameters), building constructive characteristics
(preventing moist air condensation and its health-related effects) and energy saving
(related to air exchange). Future research must define a new HVAC control system
that controls and optimises the mean parameters of indoor environments.
6.4 Extreme Indoor Environments: Temperature
Sometimes, thermal comfort is not the most important parameter to analyse indoor
environments. It is the case, for example, of preservation of materials and work
risk prevention in industrial environments. Between different indoor environments
6.4 Extreme Indoor Environments: Temperature 143
Fig. 6.14 Measured and

simulated temperature 25
in the bridge
20
15
10
Bridge Simulation Outdoors
5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Days
Fig. 6.15 Measured and 100

simulated humidity in the
Relative humidity(%)
bridge 80
60
40
Bridge Simulation Outdoors

20
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Day
analyses, ships depict indoor environments that change in short intervals of time
and, hence, are sources of stress-related diseases.
Particularly, only neutral thermal comfort temperatures were obtained in the
bridge and dining room. On the other hand, the engine room and the engine control
room depict a range of temperatures related to heat stress and thermal shock of
marine engineers (Figs. 6.14 and 6.15).
Some of the work risk preventing measures are:
• Drinking water. Sources for water must be available and workers should be
made aware of the importance of drinking water.
• Acclimatisation of workers to this extreme environment before starting the
work.
• Metabolic heat can be controlled by adjusting length and frequency of breaks.
• Workers must be kept under constant watch.
The engine room reveals air conditions not within any recommendations from
standards, namely:
• The engine control room revealed limiting conditions of thermal comfort with
temperature values too low related to health problems.
• The engine control room has an undersized air conditioning system with a low
temperature set-point.
• As the outdoor air conditions are suitable, an increase in renovations with
outdoor air can be proposed as preventive measure against work risks. [16–18].
Current research revealed that the indoor environment depends on the heat
sources located on board and the weather condition on the sea lane. Hence, future
research must be developed for an in-depth analysis of the heat accumulated and
released by the workers, and a general procedure to adapt thermal comfort
conditions and work risk prevention measures for each sea lane. Finally, these
conclusions must be summarised in future standards [19].
6.5 Indoor Environments and Health
It is well known that indoor air and health are intimately related. In previous works,
we revealed the relationship between indoor relative humidity and fungi growth,
pets’ presence and bacterial growth and HVAC system maintenance. Finally, there
are new effects related to health, such as the sick building syndrome (SBS).
As stated in earlier chapters, there is not much information on how to recognise
the SBS in a real environment. Hence, the SBS definition, control methods and
general considerations must be developed in future research, taking into consid-
eration the main results obtained until now.
Other indoor health problems must be analysed, such as in the case of fungi
growth. In this regard, the growth was related to humidity problems in walls and
ceiling. Our research revealed that fungi growth and humidity problems can be
detected with the local version of IAQ models. Hence, new research on the
presence of humidity problems as a function of the local perception of the IAQ
models must be applied for new electronic detection systems.
Also, humidity problems are related to occupants’ indoor habits. In this regard,
occupants of indoor environments have a general idea about which is the most
important parameter to be controlled in those indoor spaces. However, the general
understanding of indoor environments is not enough and description of which must
be the habits in each particular indoor ambience must be revealed. Furthermore,
this information must be reflected in future general standards.
6.6 Other Research Works
6.6.1 Indoor Environments and Noise
Once the different indoor environments have been analysed and its future research
and tendencies are revealed, there are new ideas related with one or more of these
concepts that must be introduced. It is the case of noise level in general and
industrial environments and development of future standards.
When trying to analyse noise levels in different indoor environments, see
Fig. 6.16, there are different standards to be considered. It is the case of, for
6.6 Other Research Works 145
Nuisance
Fig. 6.16 Health effects
Fatigue
Danger
of noise levels
Rest
Pain
Isolated rooms 10
Whisper 50
Quiet office
90
Crowded shop
Intense traffic 110
Discotheque 130
Motorcycle
170
Launch of a missile
Decibels dB (A)
example, apartments’ indoor environments. In this environment, there are only

some indications about the relationship between noise level and health effects.
Also, few indications about the measuring procedure for these parameters are
given. On the other hand, most standards reveal the peak noise value as reference,
but the noise wave must be understood and analysed, to reach new research
objectives that define the noise in rooms through composite walls. In accordance
with these results, it will be possible to define which noise levels can be released
by radios and musical instruments. Furthermore, a clear description about where
the noise source can be located within apartments to cause the lowest possible
damage in surrounding building environments, must be investigated. As a final
task, the results obtained must be summarised in future standards.
When analysing noise levels in industrial environments, we must remember that
these environments will present extremely high noise levels during long periods of
time. In the case of ships, the noise levels are related to the main engine and, as in the
case of heat stress, the engine control room is the only way to reduce exposure time to
this hazard. However, work risk prevention standards about these environments do
not predict the maximum time of exposure and the noise levels that can be reached.
For this indoor environment, it was proposed, as in the case of thermal stress, to
develop new charts that reveal the maximum time a worker can stay in the engine
room and the minimum time in the engine control room to prevent this hazard.
6.6.2 Implementation of ISO Standards
As stated in the different chapters of this book, there are some parameters that must
be considered at the time of developing future standards. Most of these modifi-
cations were revealed earlier, and the modifications related to internal coverings
are described in this chapter.
The first concept stated in a previous chapter was that the effect of internal
coverings on energy consumption, once demonstrated, must be implemented in the
certification equation to develop adequate building certifications adapted to
peculiarities of different climatic regions. In this regard, values of a0 can consider
parameters such as permeability level and glazed area.
12 Acc=0.2 PD=10% PD=15% Acc=0 HR=70% HR=60% HR=50%

PD=5%
11
10
HR=40%
9
8 Acc=0.6
7 HR=30%
4
Acc=1
3
2
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Fig. 6.17 Future charts that must be developed by standards
In our case study [17], after demonstrating the effect of internal coverings on
energy savings, new constants for the general certification equation were obtained,
in accordance with EN ISO 13790. From these results, we could conclude that
impermeable coverings depict the lowest utilisation factor of 0.65 and 0.5, for
summer and winter, respectively, which represent 15% of the utilization factor on
energy simulation.
For future research, it is proposed to adapt the general certification equation to
other construction scenarios, such as residential buildings and industrial environ-
ments. As a result, a simple constant, such as glazed area, could include the effect
of permeability, with a clear difference between each permeability level.
Finally, in accordance with previous sections, more information about which
are the most interesting internal covering materials, surface treatment, active
thickness and its clear working periods, between other parameters, must be
revealed.
Once the general standards consider the effect of permeable coverings in an
indoor environment, new charts designed for these applications must be devel-
oped. The charts must consider local thermal comfort, related to the perception of
IAQ and including moisture problems and fungi development (Fig. 6.17).
Acknowledgments We thank the University of a Coruña for the sponsorship through its V
Contract Programme.
References
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A Coruña, Spain

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Green Energy and Technology

For further volumes:

ISSN 1865-3529 e-ISSN 1865-3537

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011940780

Ó Springer-Verlag London Limited 2012

Printed on acid-free paper

Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

July 2011 José A. Orosa

It is understood that indoor environments must be classified and analysed using

1 Thermal Comfort and Indoor Air Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Indoor Air Standards and Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.5.3 Building Time Constant Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

3 Real Indoor Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... 49

5.2.4 Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 105

6 Future Research Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 131

1.1 Thermal Comfort

1.1.1 General Thermal Comfort Background

J. A. Orosa and A. C. Oliveira, Passive Methods as a Solution for Improving Indoor 1

sensation in response to specific thermal environments, and their neutral thermal

1.1.2 Local Thermal Comfort Background

Fig. 1.1 First odour chamber

Fig. 1.2 New experimental

Clearly acceptable 0 No odour

+2 Warm 1 Slight odour

4 Very strong odour

-3 Cold -1 Clearly unacceptable 5 Overpowering odour

a. thermal sensation b. acceptability c. odour intensity

Fig. 1.3 Used survey [14]

Fig. 1.4 Influence of 1.5

temperature and relative 1

30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Table 1.1 Pollution caused by occupants

1.2 Indoor Air Quality Background

It is well known that airborne micro-organisms are related to infections or

Table 1.2 Chemical contaminants in buildings

1.2.1 Chemical and Biological Load

1.2.1.1 Chemical Pollutants

1.2.1.2 Combustion Products

The presence of different chemical contaminants in the interior of a building is

Carbon dioxide is usually related to the combustion of carbon substances, such as

Carbon monoxide is related to an incomplete combustion of carbon substances. It

1.2.1.3 Building Materials

Volatile Organic Compounds

Formaldehyde is employed in obtaining different plastics, and its degradation or

1.2.2 Consumer Products

Consumer products cover different materials employed in building construction,

Particulates are present at higher concentration in an indoor ambience than outside.

A pesticide is composed of different hydrocarbons employed against insects and

1.2.3 Other Pollutants

1.2.4 Biological Contaminants

In the same way as chemical contaminants, microorganisms in indoor air should

1.2.4.1 Infectious Agents

An Antigen is any substance which enters an animal’s organism with a mature

Toxins are substances produced by micro-organisms that have some adverse

1.2.5 Sensorial Load

Fig. 1.5 Percentage of 91

Fig. 1.6 Relationship 121

9. ASHRAE Standard 55-2004. (2004) Thermal environmental conditions for human

2.1 Indoor Air Standards

2.1.2 General Thermal Comfort Standards

2.1.2.1 Moderate Indoor Environments

J. A. Orosa and A. C. Oliveira, Passive Methods as a Solution for Improving Indoor 15

PPD ¼ 100 95 eð0:03353 PMV þ0:2179 PMV2 Þ

Eres ¼ 1:72 105 M ð5867 Pv Þ ð2:2:3:1:13Þ

Terms of winter : tosed ¼ 21:8 1:8 C ð2:2:3:2:5Þ

PD ¼ 100 94 expð1:387 þ 0:118 tf 0:0025 tf2 Þ ð2:2:4:4:1Þ