FM Nectar Can we rely on good ventilation? IAQ and ventilation effectiveness Presented by Ian Mawditt February 2017 London
Healthy Buildings Conference slide 2 Slide from Tom Woolley presentation, October 2016
Healthy Buildings Conference slide 3 Slide from Tom Woolley presentation, October 2016
Healthy Buildings Conference slide 4 Contents Ventilation performance summary how are we doing? Ventilation effectiveness overview results from field monitoring: House Dust Mites Carbon Dioxide TVOCs Nitrogen Dioxide Radon Summary can we rely on good ventilation?
Number of Homes Healthy Buildings Conference slide 5 Installed ventilator area vs. AD F minimum specification 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 40-60% 60-80% 80-100% 100-120% 120-140% 140-160% 160-180% % of Required EQA Data from DCLG 2009: Ventilation and IAQ in Part F 2006 homes study
litres per second Healthy Buildings Conference slide 6 Ventilation extract rates in new homes: continuous MEV 50.00 40.00 30.00 20.00 10.00 0.00 Site 1 Site 3 Site 4 Site 5 Site 6 Design 43.00 37.00 45.00 31.00 15.00 ZCH Measured 20.80 19.10 21.00 12.30 5.50 % of Required Duty 48 52 47 40 37 Chart for Zero Carbon Hub: Ventilation in New Homes study
Litres per second (l.s -1 ) Healthy Buildings Conference slide 7 Measured flow rates MVHR 25.00 Minimum boost rate met in: 44% kitchens 71% bathrooms 30% en-suites 38% utility rooms 20.00 15.00 10.00 Minimum AD F Minimum supply air flow rates met in 33% of dwellings 5.00 0.00 Kitchen Bathroom En Suite Utility W.C. Chart from Characteristics and performance of MVHR systems (meta study): MEARU/OISD/Fourwalls
Healthy Buildings Conference slide 8 Successful ventilation installation requires a full house of happy faces! One unhappy face in the chain (row) will likely result in failure. None of the sites visited in this study had a complete row of happy faces. None of the ventilation systems met the minimum requirements specified in AD F Chart by Zero Carbon Hub: Ventilation in New Homes study
Relative Humidity (%) Healthy Buildings Conference slide 9 Hygrothermal conditions without purpose-provided ventilation 80.00 75.00 70.00 65.00 60.00 55.00 50.00 45.00 40.00 35.00 No PP Ventilation PEH 7g.kg CEH min (DP2) 30.00 16.00 17.00 18.00 19.00 20.00 21.00 22.00 23.00 24.00 Temperature ( o C)
Relative Humidity (%) Healthy Buildings Conference slide 10 Hygrothermal conditions with purpose-provided ventilation 80.00 75.00 70.00 65.00 60.00 55.00 50.00 45.00 40.00 35.00 No PP Ventilation With PP Ventilation PEH 7g.kg CEH min (DP2) 30.00 16.00 17.00 18.00 19.00 20.00 21.00 22.00 23.00 24.00 Temperature ( o C)
Percentage of monitored bedrooms Healthy Buildings Conference slide 11 Seasonal performance MVHR and non-mvhr CO 2 data from 43 monitored homes CO 2 levels higher in non- MVHR dwellings through spring and summer Increasing CO 2 levels in MVHR dwellings in summer may indicate shift toward natural vent during Percentage 1000 ppm Percentage >1000, <1500 ppm Percentage 1500 ppm 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% warmer periods 0% MVHR Non-MVHR MVHR Non-MVHR MVHR Non-MVHR February April August Chart from Characteristics and performance of MVHR systems (meta study): MEARU/OISD/Four Walls
Healthy Buildings Conference slide 12 CO 2 concentration a useful metric? CO 2 is not harmful below 5000ppm, but it can keep bad company. CO 2 is a useful indicator for ventilation effectiveness Correlations can be found with CO 2 and chemical pollutants Formaldehyde is a human carcinogen Chart with permission: MEARU
measured air exchange rate (ach) Healthy Buildings Conference slide 13 Air exchange rates and TVOC concentrations in 30 bedrooms 1.00 0.90 0.80 0.70 0.60 0.50 0.40 0.30 Higher ach, lower TVOC =7 Higher ach, higher TVOC =3 0.20 0.10 0.00 Lower ach, lower TVOC =6 Lower ach, higher TVOC =14 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 measured TVOC (µg/m 3 )
Healthy Buildings Conference slide 14 Dilution of combustion by-products 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 NO 2 (micrograms.m -3 ) Data from DCLG 2009: Ventilation and IAQ in Part F 2006 homes study
Healthy Buildings Conference slide 15 Managing Radon can we rely on ventilation? 600 500 <0.1 ach Radon (weekly mean) Bq.m -3 400 300 200 0.5 ach 0.5 ach?? 100 0 Week
Healthy Buildings Conference slide 16 Summary Can we rely on good ventilation? We know there are significant performance issues with domestic ventilation installations. But, moving some air is still better than allowing it to stagnate and become polluted particularly the more airtight the building. Source control is important: building occupants have little or no control over background levels related to construction materials. Design for low emission is a priority At <8 l/s/p source control becomes more important: AD F is based on 3.5 l/s/p Moisture and bio-effluents are key pollutants in domestic environments Can we rely on ventilation? Well, not entirely (at domestic rates). But we do need to ventilate, so it had better be good!
Healthy Buildings Conference slide 17 And finally Context is everything. E.g.: What are you ventilating for activities? What is the building s geometry/exposure/airtightness? Is it in a Radon risk area? How do (or will) occupants use the ventilation (including window use)? What are the occupancy patterns and how does this relate to pollutants? Risk relates to period of exposure and concentration of pollutant(s) Etc., etc., etc. We don t need to answer these to demonstrate Part F compliance. But we should be asking when we determine appropriate ventilation strategies. Ventilation should not be seen as an add-on it is essential for safety.
Healthy Buildings Conference slide 18 Thank you ian@fourwalls-uk.com