Arch 432

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Arch 432

• Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

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Attendance

• The dust mite creates the second most allergic
  reactions, second only to pollen. What part of
  the dust mite is the cause of the reaction?

1. Shed skins
2. Corpses
3. Droppings
4. Regurgitated food
5. Eggs

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Good Morning Arch 432 students How are you
this fine morning.
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Respirable Particles

• 1 allergen in homes is the dust mite
• How best to mitigate dust mites in your bed?

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Respirable Particles

• Dust mite (insect) populations decrease below 50
  RH
• Dust mites die below 40 RH

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Terms

• Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
• Bioeffluents
• Dilution
• Filtration
• Source capture/elimination
• Friable
• Allergen
• Pathogen

• Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)
• Building Related Illness (BRI)
• Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS)
• Volatile Organic Compound (VOC)
• Formaldehyde

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What You Need to Know

• Be conversant in the various codes and standards
  relative to healthy indoor environments
• Know how to design and construct healthy buildings

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What You Need To Be Able To Do

• Identify and avoid dangerous conditions
• Select the appropriate strategy to ensure a
  healthy environment

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Filters

• When it comes to HVAC systems found in
  residential construction, they are sized mostly
  by a rule-of-thumb calculation based on outdated
  information and performance specification using
  high, medium, and low guesses (LaLiberte, 2011.)

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Filters

• Central air system where a filter system is used,
  most filters are designed to filter the air
  entering the furnace chamber and protect it from
  dust (EPA, 2008 EPA, 2009).
• Their purpose is not solely to benefit human
  health. The minimum efficiency reporting value
  (MERV) for these flat filters is 1 to 4.

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Filters

• ASHRAE Standard 62.1 2010 requires a minimum
  filter requirement of a MERV 6.
• The International Mechanical Code IMC-2009 does
  not state a minimum MERV value for filters
  (Mudarri, 2010).

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Filters

• MERV ratings (from 11 to 16), pre-filters and
  their effectiveness on dust, pollens, emission
  particles before entering a ventilation system
• Higher MERV rated filters would increase air
  volume and air pressure

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Sick Building Syndrome

• Exists when a significant percentage (e.g.,
  more than 20) of the occupants complain during a
  two week period of a set of symptoms, including
  headaches, fatigue, nausea, eye irritation, and
  throat irritation, that are alleviated by leaving
  the building, and are not known to be caused by
  specific contaminants.
• ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2004

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Sources of IAQ Problems

• Vapors and gases
• Chemicals
• Respirable particles
• Mold, fungus and viruses

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Vapors and Gasses

• VOCs
• Formaldehyde
• Cleaning supplies
• Chlorine
• Bio-effluents
• Human odors
• Organic odors
• ETS
• CO2
• CO
• Ozone/smog

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Chemicals

• IAQ and health is a very new area of scientific
  exploration
• Flame retardants Electronic devices
• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
  (PAHs)
• Polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs)

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Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH)

• PAHs are found naturally can also be man-made.
  In their purest form, PAHs are solid and range in
  appearance from colorless to white or pale
  yellow/green. PAHs are created when products like
  coal, oil, gas, and garbage are burned but the
  burning process is not complete.

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Polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs)

• PCBs were used in hundreds of industrial and
  commercial applications including electrical,
  heat transfer, and hydraulic equipment as
  plasticizers in paints, plastics, and rubber
  products in pigments, dyes, and carbonless copy
  paper and many other industrial applications.

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Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers

• PBDEs are not chemically bound to plastics, foam,
  fabrics, or other products in which they are
  used, making them more likely to leach out of
  these products. Despite the United States having
  phased out the manufacture and import of penta-
  and octaBDE in 2004, their component congeners
  are being detected in humans and the environment.
  

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PBDEs (cont.)

• Some reports indicate that levels are increasing.
  One potential source is imported articles to
  which these compounds have been added. Another is
  the possible breakdown of decaBDE in the
  environment to more toxic and bioaccumulative
  PBDE congeners.

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Respirable Particles

• Asbestos
• Cyanide
• Dust mite droppings
• Others?

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One Example
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Bacteria, Viruses Mold

• Legionella
• Viruses
• High or low RH
• Mold

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Mold

• Over 64,000 different types of fungi
• A few are toxic
• Considered a growth industry for both
  remediation contractors and the legal profession

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Conditions Needed for Mold Growth

• One viable spore
• An acceptable temperature range
• A usable food source
• Adequate moisture in the food source

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Failure Analysis

• Prof. Kirks one-of-a-kind, surefire process
  guaranteed to result in a mind-numbing law suit.

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More Mold
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More Mold
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More Mold
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Strategies Addressing IAQ Concerns

• Source Elimination/ Capture
• Filtration
• Dilution

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Source Elimination Strategy

• If there is a pile of manure in a space, do not
  try to remove the odor by ventilation.

Remove the pile of manure.
Max Van Pettenkofer (1848)
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Design Criteria for Capture

• Walls to deck above and sealed
• Independent exhaust
• No return or recirculation air
• Negative air pressure

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Source Elimination/Capture

• Smoking Rooms
• Janitors Closets
• Photocopying rooms
• Bathrooms
• Locker rooms
• Kitchens
• Others?

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Take-aways or the Ah hahs

• Identify the contaminants that are in your
  building (they will be unique)
• First try to eliminate them, then capture them,
  then filter them.

• If all else fails, dilute them

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