Aspects of Indoor Air Quality in the Design for a Healthy Building.

Abstract

The existing criteria for green buildings are insufficient and superficial in effectively addressing the selection of materials and the design of ventilation systems that guarantee a conducive indoor environment, commonly referred to as a "healthy building," through planning and implementation. The integration of systems in the design, construction, and operation phases of modern buildings is faced with challenges arising from public perception, cultural preferences, litigation trends, current codes and regulations, the expeditious integration of novel construction materials and commercial goods, and prevailing design-build practices. We are approaching a critical juncture in the evolution of ventilation design ideology. Historically, the thermal characteristics of air inside a particular area were used to establish standards for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. In the forthcoming era, there will be a prevailing trend towards adopting occupant-specific and susceptible strategies. Integrating natural ventilation, displacement ventilation, micro zoning with underfloor plenums, point-of-source heat control, and end-of-use sensors is expected to develop an intelligent and adaptive ventilation-building dynamic system. The routine utilization of advanced ventilation design technologies, such as computational fluid dynamics (C.F.D.) modelling, will be employed. Computational Fluid Dynamics (C.F.D.) is set to be incorporated into air quality and risk assessment models.