An Investigation into Indoor Radon Concentrations in Certified Passive House Homes

Barry Mc Carron, Xianhai Meng and Shane Colclough
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Barry Mc Carron: School of Natural and Built Environment, Faculty of Built Environment, Creative and Life Sciences, South West College, Enniskillen BT74 4EJ, UK
Xianhai Meng: School of Natural and Build Environment, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
Shane Colclough: School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) has introduced the concept of Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) specifying that by 31 December 2020 all new buildings must meet the nearly zero- energy standard, the Passive House standard has emerged as a key enabler for the Nearly Zero Energy Building standard. The combination of Passive House with renewables represents a suitable solution to move to low/zero carbon. The hypothesis in this study is that a certified passive house building with high levels of airtightness with a balanced mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) should yield lower indoor radon concentrations. This article presents results and analysis of measured radon levels in a total of 97 certified passive house dwellings using CR-39 3 alpha track diffusion radon gas detectors. The results support the hypothesis that certified passive house buildings present lower radon levels. A striking observation to emerge from the data shows a difference in radon distribution between upstairs and downstairs when compared against regular housing. The study is a first for Ireland and the United Kingdom and it has relevance to a much wider context with the significant growth of the passive house standard globally.

Keywords: indoor radon; certified passive house; mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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