Introduction to Environmental Quality

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Introduction toEnvironmental Quality

• Michael OBrien
• Green Building Specialist
• Portland Office of Sustainable Development
• Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center
• 721 NW Ninth Avenue Room 350
• Portland OR 97209
• 503-823-5494
• mobrien_at_ci.portland.or.us

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INDOORENVIRONMENTALQUALITY
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IEQ in commercial buildings

• Typical situation
• Sealed building dependent on central AC
• High solar gains
• Open plan/high density
• Work station design limits personal changes
• Limited ability to adjust for problems like
  screen glare or drafts
• Lack of control over air, heat, cooling

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IEQ Occupant Satisfaction

• A setup for
• Discomfort
• Lack of management awareness of comfort issues
  among employees
• Employees perception of lacking control
• Air distribution problems
• IAQ complaints
• Injury or illness

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IAQ health safety

• Health effects of air pollutants
• Diseases flu, colds, pneumonia, Legionnaires
  disease
• Cancer, cell and gene damage
• Asthma and allergies
• Central nervous system, skin, respiratory system,
  blood, gastrointestinal tract, muscles
• Sick building syndrome

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Productivity
Group productivity is affected by individual
performance

• Discomfort is inevitable in conventional
  buildings
• Most people have worked in a building that
• got in the way or made them ill

• Thermal discomfort
• Odors
• Stuffy air
• Noise

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Effects of air temperature
Thinking performance

• Comfort 21 C (70 F)
• Begins to drop at 21 C (72 F)
• Bottoms out around 27 C (81 F)
• Cooler temperatures affect thinking less

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Excellence in Indoor Air Quality
Five principles of design for excellence 1.
Better IAQ increases productivity, decreases
complaints 2. Indoor pollution sources should be
avoided 3. Air should be delivered cool and dry
to occupants 4. Personalized air", i.e. a small
amount of clean air, should be served gently,
close to the breathing zone of each individual 5.
Individual control of the thermal environment
should be provided These principles are
compatible with energy efficiency and
sustainability.
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Under-floor ventilation system Vancouver library
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Thermal comfort and IAQ

• Air temperature
• Air speed (feet/minute)
• Radiant temperature
• Relative humidity (RH)
• Activity level (metabolism)
• Clothing (clo)

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Air temperature

• Variables
• Clothing
• Tasks--thinking or manipulating
• Activity level
• Season (heating or cooling mode)

ASHRAE Standard 55
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Temperatures and activities
Temperature F C 78 25 Optimal for bathing,
showering. Sleep is disturbed 75 24 People
feel warm, lethargic and sleepy. Optimal for
unclothed people. 72 22 Most comfortable
year-round indoor temperature for sedentary
people. 70 21 Optimum for performance of
mental work. 64 18 Physically inactive people
begin to shiver. Active people are comfortable.
Canadian Center for Occupational Health and
Safety
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Air speed

• Zero air movement stuffiness, odors
• Too much perception of drafts
• Draft evaporative cooling of skin moisture
• Turbulence affects perception of drafts

Air velocity below 50 feet/minute does not create
any significant distraction.
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Relative humidity (RH)

• Changes heat content of air
• Dry air feels cooler
• Also increases perception of drafts
• Humid air feels warmer
• Affects perception of IAQ
• RH affected by ventilation rate

When relative humidity is kept at about 50,
office workers have fewer respiratory problems
(specifically in the winter) and generally feel
better.
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Radiant temperature

• Temperature of surfaces
• Radiant temperature asymmetry
• Temperature of body
• Dominant perceived effects
• Radiant heating perceived as comfortable even
  when air temperature lower than normal

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Radiant Temperature

• Not well understood by designers
• Humans sensitive to radiant
• Radiant dominant over air temperature
• Example discomfort near windows
• Perimeter heating/cooling to compensate

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Radiant comfort

• Control sun gain (radiant heat) with
• Shading devices
• Window area placement
• Glazing (low SHGC/high VT)
• Maintain radiant temperature symmetry
• Walls, floors, ceilings

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Standard 55 recommends temperature asymmetry in
the vertical plane be less than 5C (9F), and in
the horizontal plane, less than 10C (18F).
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Summary

• Air flow causes evaporation from skin, sensed as
  cooling
• Humidity affects heat content of air
• Higher humidity feels warmer, dry air feels
  cooler
• Radiant temperature more important than air
  temperature

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Human responses

• Adapt clothing
• Change activity level
• Adjust diet and liquids
• Interact with building
• Open/close windows
• Raise/lower shades
• Adjust lighting
• Adjust thermostat

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INDOOR AIRPOLLUTANTSand EFFECTIVECONTROL
STRATEGIES
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Pollutants of concern

• Chemicals
• VOCs, formaldehyde
• Endocrine disrupters (e.g., DEHP, PFOA, PBDE)
• Combustion gases CO2, CO, NOx
• Respirable particles
• Dust, soot, lead, asbestos, smoke
• Pathogens
• Bacteria, viruses, fungi (mold)
• Radiation
• Radon gas, Electromagnetic fields

Precautionary Principle
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Occupants and IAQ

• Occupants can sense
• Stuffiness--high CO2 levels
• Odorslike mold smell
• Humidity-- clammy, too dry
• Occupants cannot sense
• Most VOCs--odorless
• Pathogens
• Particulates--respirable size range
• CO

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What about IAQ standards?

• No federal IAQ standards for residential or
  commercial buildings
• OSHA covers industrial workplaces
• State IAQ standardsWashington Dept of Ecology
• 0.05 ppm or 61 µg/m3 of formaldehyde
• 500 µg/m3 total volatile organic compounds (TVOC)
• 50 µg/m3 of particles
• Carpet only, 0.001 ppm (1 ppb or 6 µg/m3) of
  4-phenylcyclohexene (4-PC)
• Ventilation standardsASHRAE 62-2001, 62.2-2004

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Effective IAQ strategies

• 1. Source control
• Eliminate from the building
• Reduce the amount
• Isolate so cant emit
• 2. Ventilation
• Dilute with outside air
• 3. Filtration
• Trap particulates and gases
• 4. Humidity control
• Maintain 3555 RH

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• The best strategy
• will be different
• for each pollutant

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Fresh air ventilation

• Ventilation can control
• Excess moisture
• CO2
• Odors
• Ventilation can dilute other pollutants
• VOCs
• People like fresh air

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VOCs volatile organic compounds

• What are VOCs?
• Carbon-based, evaporate readily
• Hundreds in buildingsinteractions?
• Many VOCs are known carcinogens
• Few workplace exposure standards

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Effects of VOCs

• Easily cross cell membranes
• Can be stored in fat
• Eye, respiratory irritants
• Nerve irritants
• Headache, attention deficit, memory loss,
  coordination or motor control loss
• Toxic to liver

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Eliminate or reduce VOCs

• Consider VOCs from large surface areas
• Flooring/floor finishes
• Wall coverings
• Primer paint
• Furnishings
• Adhesives
• Sealants
• Select materials and finishes with Low VOCs

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VOC emissions in Canadian home test
Product
Average TVOC (mm/m2/hr)
Carpet Pad Sheet vinyl Particleboard Comp.
assemblies MDF Plywood Paint Low-VOC paint
14,896 445 3,425 114 737 340 228 276 26
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Rodda Horizon And Miller Solvent-free have
received Green Seal certification
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• Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
• DAP VOC-compliant adhesive

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Third-party certifications

• Scientific Certification Systems Green Seal
• California Section 01350
• Carpet and Rug Institute IAQ Plus
• GreenGuard IAQ Certified
• Note that some chemicals of concern are not
  included, e.g., DEHP

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Carpet Rug Institute tests for some
chemicals (e.g., 4-PC, styrene) in carpet and
cushion Also tests carpet adhesives CRI PLUS
meets California Section 01350 test requirements
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Section 01350 Methodology

• Special Environmental Requirements
• Specifications for testing building materials for
  VOCs toxics
• Includes recycled-content EPP criteria
• Requires testing emissions modeling of product
  emissions in buildings

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Section 01350 Targeted VOCs

• Non-Cancer Chronic Reference Exposure Levels
• Probable or Known Human Carcinogens
• Proposition 65 Chemicals
• Toxic Air Contaminants (TAC)
• Reproductive Toxicants - Prop 65
• 10 Most Abundant Compounds

www.scorecard.org/chemical-groups/ one-list.tcl?sh
ort_list_namep65
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Carpeting 14 Samples
Example of Section 01350 Test Results
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Carpet Guidelines

• If carpet is installed--
• Select tested and certified
• Residential--wool, nylon or PET
• Specify waffle or fiber pad
• Tack down instead of glue down
• Low-VOC seam-sealer
• Avoid laying carpet directly over concrete
• slab-on-grade floors

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Formaldehyde

• Major interior sources
• Particleboard in cabinets, underlayment
• Alternatives
• Plywood
• Medium density fiberboard (Medite II)
• Strawboard
• Cement board

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Respirable particles

• Small size under 10 microns
• Behave like a gas
• Go deep into lungs
• Lungs absorb contaminants on surface of particles

100 microns
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Common Particulates

• Tobacco smoke
• Soot
• Diesel vehicles, open fires, candles
• Insects and animals
• Dust mites, roaches, rats
• Pollens
• Skin flakes (ca. 50,000 per day)
• Cooking effluent

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Particulate allergens

• Molds
• Dust mite feces
• Insect parts, especially roaches
• Animal and bird dander
• Cat saliva
• Pollens
• Animal urine, especially rats

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Controlling particulates

• Smoke EPA/DEQ wood stoves
• Soot Better quality candles
• Mites Reduce humidity below 50
• Cooking Range hood
• Other HEPA-type or central vacuum

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• The only safe fireplace!

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Pathogens

• Bacteria
• Viruses
• Molds

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Mold toxins

• Molds make mycotoxins to compete for resources
• Mycotoxins may be volatile
• Also adhere to mold spores
• Toxins are poisonous in themselves and may be
  converted into toxic
• substances in the body

Penicillium mold
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Low-level effects of mycotoxins

• Headache, malaise
• Attention deficit
• Dizziness
• Memory loss
• Sleep disturbance
• Nausea
• Skin rash
• Increased susceptibility to disease

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Mold

• What molds need to thrive
• 1. Oxygen Air
• 2. Moisture Over 70 RH, or wet
• 3. Carbon Sugars
• 4. Nitrogen Human skin flakes
• 5. Temperature 50F
• We can only affect in No. 2--moisture

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What is Mold?

• A fungus
• 1000s of species
• Most are beneficial
• Medicines
• Food
• A few cause problems

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OK Mold
Not OK Mold
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Toxic mold Stachybotrys chartarum
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Household moisture sources

• Typical familys daily moisture
• showers
• cooking meals
• breathing perspiration
• washing dishes
• clothes washing
• refrigerator defrost, pilot lights, gas range
• 2 to 3 gallons

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Why is mold growing on these walls?
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Radon

• Natural soil gas
• One element in decay sequence
• Uranium Lead
• Radon daughters emit alpha particles
• EPA standard 4 pC/L

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• Uranium-238
• Thorium-234
• Protactinium-234
• Thorium-230
• Radium-226
• Radon-222
• Polonium-218
• Lead-214
• Bismuth-214
• Polonium-214
• Thallium-210
• Lead-210
• Bismuth-210
• Polonium-210
• Lead-206

Radon is the number one cause of lung cancer
among non-smokers, according to EPA estimates. 
Overall, radon is the second leading cause of
lung cancer.  Radon is responsible for about
21,000 lung cancer deaths every year.  About
2,900 of these deaths occur among people who have
never smoked. 
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Controlling Radon

• Moisture barrier on exposed soil
• Seal air leaks in subfloor over crawl
• Seal penetrations in basements and concrete slab
  floors

Inexpensive Radon test kits
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Combustion Products

• Carbon monoxide
• Carbon dioxide
• Respirable particles
• Polynucleated aromatic hydrocarbons
• Nitrogen oxides
• Aldehydes

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Combustion Byproducts

• Carbon dioxide
• Normal combustion
• Limit 800 ppm offices (350 ambient)
• 1000 ppm schools
• Carbon monoxide
• Incomplete combustion
• No standard
• Not to exceed 70 ppm

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Carbon monoxide

• Binds to hemoglobin 240 times more than oxygen
  does
• Affects high-demand organs the most brain and
  heart

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Carbon monoxideThe great imitator

• Symptoms
• Headache, malaise, nausea, fever
• Memory loss, sleep deficits
• Irritabilty, decreased attention
• Increased aggresiveness
• Occult carbon monoxide poisoning

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Combustion Byproducts

• Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
• Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
• Nitric oxide (NO)
• No standard (outdoors 0.05 ppm)

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Nitrogen dioxide

• High-temperature combustion
• Open-flame natural gas appliances
• Irritates and inflames respiratory tract
• Asthmatic children especially susceptible
• Even low concentrations over short time have
  significant effects

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Nitrogen dioxide

• Install gas range with overhead vent or kitchen
  exhaust fan

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Preventing exposure tocombustion products

• Do not install combustion equipment, or
• Avoid open flame equipment
• Select sealed-combustion type, or
• (for example, 92 gas furnace)
• Select forced-draft type
• to prevent backdrafting or leaks
• Isolate auto garage from occupied space

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Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

• Found in smoke, soot, char
• Some are carcinogenic
• Adhere to small particles
• Benzo(a)pyrene one of the most carcinogenic
  substances in Ames test

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Are buildings too tight?
Todays buildings are tightened up for energy
efficiency so they trap more pollutants indoors.

• So we should build loose to let it breathe!
• How tight is the building? How do you know?
• Only a pressure test with a blower door can
  determine tightness
• What drives natural ventilation?
• Wind pressure
• Stack effect, or temperature difference

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Sample 139 commercial buildings
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Air Filtration
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Filtration particulates

• Filters can trap particles effectively
• Respirable particles of concern
• (lt2.5 microns in size)
• Particulate filter types
• Mechanical
• Electrostatic (aka electronic)
• Mechanical plus electrostatic

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Filtration gases

• Gases and odors
• Activated carbon removes most VOCs
• Controls odors, a common source of IAQ complaints
• Formaldehyde
• Specialized filter
• (potassium permanganate)

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ASHRAE filter test standard

• ASHRAE 52.2 test standard
• MERV report
• Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value
• Tells efficiency from 0.3 to 10 microns
• Groups results E1, E2, E3
• Initial and final pressure drop
• Allows selection of filter to fit need

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Test Ranges-- from smallest to largest particles
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VENTILATION
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Why mechanical ventilation?

• Spot--remove moisture odors at
  source--bathrooms and kitchens
• Whole-house--dilute pollutants
• Allow occupant control
• Avoid drafts, discomfort
• Prevent mold
• Save energy
• Improve durability
• Reduce risk

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Ventilation standard for houses
and multifamily buildings
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Residential whole-house ventilation requirement
by size and occupancy
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Residential exhaust airflow rates
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Prescriptive duct sizing Flex and smooth
duct Fans rated at 0.25 wg (not 0.1 wg)
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Whole-House Ventilation

• Integrated with forced air furnace
• Inexpensive add-on
• Washington IAQ code requires
• Portland heating contractors familiar with it
• Allows filtration of all air
• MERV 6 to 8 or 30 Dust Spot Efficiency
• Flexible--set run times

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• Integrated
• with furnace--
• Washington
• IAQ
• Code

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• Outdoor air
• intake on
• furnace

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Balanced ventilation with HRV
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Good spot Ventilation

• 80-100 CFM fan
• Quiet 1 sone or less
• Rated at 0.25 inches of water grade (wg)
• Smooth duct or metal flex
• Ducted outside (not into attic)

• Automatic control
• Timed operation

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Exhaust fans for spot ventilation
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Low-cost bath fans may not really work!
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Broan Solitaire UltraSilent Series Nutone
QuieTTest Series Panasonic WhisperCeiling
Series Electronic timer control
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Control Options

• Crank timer
• Low-cost, easy to use
• Noisy
• Electronic timer
• Flexible--set run time
• Quiet
• Moderate cost
• Clock timer
• Allows daily operation

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Make-up air for exhaust ventilation
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Continuous ventilation

• Runs all the time at low speed
• Not subject to occupant control
• Maintains constant flow
• Eliminates cross-contamination
• Multiport fan can ventilate up to 6 units

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Control excess humidity with a dehumidifier

• Connect to drain
• Any location OK

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Why doesnt IAQ happen?

• IAQ is mostly unregulated
• ASHRAE focus on ventilation air and thermal
  comfort
• Sources--industrial standards
• Complex process
• Not well integrated into design and construction
  practice
• Roles not clear