Presentation to DoD/EPA

1
Indoor Environmental Science Engineering
Richard Corsi, Kerry Kinney, Jeffrey Siegel,
Atila Novoselac, Ying Xu
2
When did indoor air quality problems begin?
3
Situation Persists in Developing World

• ½ worlds population (gt 3 B) relies on coal and
  biomass for domestic energy, and number is
  increasing!
• Simple stoves
• Incomplete combustion
• Often not vented

• 2 2.8 million deaths/year
• 4 of global mortality
• 1 million childhood deaths/year
• Women 2/3 w/ lung cancer are non-smokers!

4
Indoor Air Quality in U.S. - Evolution

• Start End of World War II

5
Demand for Ease of Life

• Wall-to-wall carpet
• Cleaners
• Air fresheners
• Pesticides
• Personal care products
• Much more

6
Air Conditioning
7
Americans Indoor Creatures

• Indoors 89
• 2/3 of time in home
• Transit 6
• Outdoors 5
• 18 hours indoors for every 1 outdoors

8
USEPA Risk Rankings

• 1. (tie) Worker exposure to chemicals
• 1. (tie) Indoor radon
• 3. Pesticide residue on foods
• 4. (tie) Indoor air pollutants (non-radon)
• 4. (tie) Consumer exposure to chemicals
• (includes cleaning fluids, etc.)
• 6. Hazardous/toxic air pollutants
• 7. Depletion of stratospheric ozone
• 8. Hazardous waste sites (inactive)
• 9. Drinking water (radon and THMs)
• 10. Application of pesticides
• 16 others .. (including groundwater
  contamination at 21, criteria air pollutants at
  22, etc.)

9
Faculty and Specific Expertise in Indoor
Environmental Research
Ying Xu

• Emission

Richard Corsi
Kerry Kinney

• Gases

• Microorganisms

Jeffrey Siegel
Atila Novoselac

• Particles

• Modeling

Neil Crain

• Chemistry

10
Features of Our Program

• Diverse curriculum
• Interdisciplinary student community
• NSF-funded IGERT program
• IGERT trainees and affiliates
• State-of-the art laboratories and test house

11
Siegel Team Research Themes

• Primary and secondary impacts of particle control
  technologies and strategies
• Aerosol transport in indoor environments
• Connections between energy and indoor air quality

12
Recent/Ongoing Projects

• Ozone emission from in-duct air cleaners
• Passive removal of pollutants
• HVAC filters as passive samplers
• Energy implications of filtration

X
Clogged, dirty filters block normal air flow and
reduce a system's efficiency significantly.
Keeping the filter clean can lower your air
conditioner's energy consumption by 515.
13
New Project

• Indoor air quality and ventilation in retail
  stores
• Fundamental problem
• Huge energy expenditure from ventilation (50 of
  total)
• Very diverse types of buildings/sources
• Stores want to diminish energy use
• Research will explore connection between building
  ventilation rate, store type, climate, season,
  occupant perception, and several indoor air
  quality measures
• Microbioogy, SVOCs, VOCs, aldehydes, particles,
  ozone, CO2, etc
• Largest study ever funded by ASHRAE

14
Positions

• Looking for 1-3 students
• Qualifications
• Interested in indoor environments and energy
  measurements
• Enjoy fieldwork
• Detail-oriented
• Creative
• Will be in EWRE until 12/31/2012 or later

15
Position Ozone Air Cleaners

• Looking for 1 student
• Qualifications
• Interested in indoor environments and
• Enjoy laboratory work
• Detail-oriented
• M.S. project

16
Contact Information

• jasiegel_at_mail.utexas.edu
• [phone]
• ECJ 5.2

17
Faculty
18
Laboratories
HVAC simulator
GC/MS and small chambers
Large environmental chamber
Full scale test house (UTest)
19
Courses

• CE 389T Indoor Air Quality Trans. and Control -
  Siegel
• CE 396L.4 Indoor Air Quality Physics and Chem.
  Corsi
• CE 397 Sources Indoor Air Pollution Xu
• CE 397 Air and Pollutant Flows in Buildings -
  Novoselac
• CE 381E Energy Efficient Healthy Buildings -
  Siegel
• CE 397 Energy Simulation in Building Design -
  Novoselac
• CE 389H HVAC Design Novoselac/Siegel
• CE 397 Human Exposure Assessment Corsi
• CE 397 Renewable Energy and Envir.
  Sustainability - Xu
• CE397 Indoor Air Quality Field Measurements -
  Siegel
• CE 397 IGERT Technical Exchange A/B Corsi/Hart

20
Students

• 37 IGERT Students
• Trainees 21 (including 6 alumni)
• Affiliates 16 (including 8 alumni)
• Multidisciplinary Environment
• Departments represented
• CAEE, Economics, ME, Toxicology, Community
  and Regional Planning, Advertising
• 13 faculty advisors (seven from CAEE)
• 13 CAEE Students
• In broader area of architectural and
  environmental engineering

20
21
Novoselac Research Themes

• Human exposure to pollutants in indoor
  environments
• Heat and mass transfer at indoor surfaces
• Transport between indoor and outdoor environment
• Use of phase change materials as building thermal
  storage systems

22
Pollutant Transport Human Exposure Research
Approach
2) Experiments
1) Modeling (CFD)
O3
- Person to person exposure in public spaces -
Ventilation systems for nurseries
23
Heat and Mass Transfer at Indoor Surfaces
hheat f ( ACH, ?T)
hmass f ( ACH, ?T,)
use in air quality analyses
24
Transport Between Indoor and Outdoor Environment
Wind fluctuation
Wind direction
Defines natural ventilation, infiltration,
pollutant transport,
25
Phase Change Materials as Building Thermal
Storage Systems
Energy cost
Low thermal mass
Large thermal mass
Saving 5
Same saving like integrating photovoltaic cells
on south-east and south-west façades
26
Ying Xu Research Themes

• Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds (SVOC) Emissions
  from Building Materials
• Modeling emission characteristics
• Chamber study on emission process
• Directly measure emission control parameters
• Investigate SVOC interaction with other surfaces
• SVOC transport and human exposure
• Environmentally Benign Materials

27
SVOC Emissions from Building Materials

• Phthalate plasticizers
• High conc., 40 by weight

• Adverse effects

• Reproductive tract
• Asthma and allergic symptoms

28
SVOC Emissions from Building Materials
Mass Transfer Based Model
Chamber Study
Measure Control Parameters
Human Exposure
29
Environmentally Benign Materials
Alternatives
30
Positions

• Indoor air quality and ventilation in retail
  stores
• Looking for 1-3 students
• Ozone Air Cleaners
• Looking for 1 student
• Contact Information
• Jeffrey Siegel
• jasiegel_at_mail.utexas.edu
• [phone]
• ECJ 5.2