Modelling VOC Emissions from Building Materials for Healthy Building Design

Alessandro D’Amico, Agnese Pini, Simone Zazzini, Daniela D’Alessandro, Giovanni Leuzzi and Edoardo Currà
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Alessandro D’Amico: Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy
Agnese Pini: Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy
Simone Zazzini: Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy
Daniela D’Alessandro: Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy
Giovanni Leuzzi: Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy
Edoardo Currà: Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-26

Abstract: The profound qualitative changes of indoor air and the progressive increase in the absolute number of pollutants, combined with the scientific awareness of the health impacts deriving from spending more than 90% of one’s time inside confined spaces, have increased the attention onto the needs of well-being, hygiene, and the health of users. This scientific attention has produced studies and analyses useful for evidence-based insights into building performance. Among the main pollutants in the indoor environment, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) play a central role, and the use of box-models using the mass balance approach and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models are now consolidated to study their concentrations in an indoor environment. This paper presents the use of both types of modelling for the prediction of the VOC concentration in the indoor environment and the proposal of a guide value for the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)-oriented building design, specifically related to the indoor VOC concentration due to building materials. Methodologically, the topic is addressed through environmental sampling, the definition of the parameters necessary for the numerical models, the simulations with the box-model and the CFD, and the comparison between the results. They show a good correspondence between the modelling tools used, highlighting the central role of ventilation and allowing a discussion of the relationship between regulatory limits of emissivity of materials and Indoor Air Guide Values for the concentration of pollutants.

Keywords: design and health; materials; interior design; VOC; wellbeing; health; IAQ; box-model; CFD; building design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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