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A healthy indoor environment is becoming an increasingly important issue. As the use of various materials in inhabited interiors increases, so does the concentration of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in these spaces. The actual trend of reducing energy consumption in buildings, such as by using perfectly sealing windows and doors, contributes to this increase. Consequently, people moving around in these interiors experience a rise in health problems due to the elevated concentrations of VOCs. This study aimed to assess the indoor air quality (IAQ) in naturally ventilated primary schools located in the southern Czech region. Two classrooms were selected from each primary school based on similar characteristics, such as building construction, volume, windows structure, area of windows, number of occupants, activities, type of furniture, and internal covering including flooring, wall, and ceiling. The classrooms were continuously occupied during school hours for a total of 25-35 hours per week and unoccupied during afternoons and weekends. The study focused on measuring the concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the classrooms, as well as assessing their impact on health. The study highlights the importance of monitoring IAQ in naturally ventilated primary schools and can be useful for policymakers and school administrators in developing strategies to improve IAQ and promote the health and well-being of students and staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are pollutants that can reduce indoor air quality and the leading cause of respiratory disorders such as Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) and Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). Because of that, the indoor air must be cleaned by degrading VOCs. One of the non-thermal plasma applications to degrade VOCs is negative ion plasma or Negative Air Ion (NAI), i.e., ionized air becomes negatively charged. Superoxide is one of the most widely produced NAI and can be a degrading agent for VOCs in the air. The ability of plasma negative ions in degrading VOCs was further investigated using case studies in 1500 ppm ethanol and 600 ppm toluene. The research was conducted by injecting ethanol and toluene gas into the prototype, equipped with a negative ion plasma generator that produces a DC voltage of 5.6 kV. The measured negative ion density in the prototype is 8 x 106 – 1.2 x 107 ion/m3. The Removal efficiency of ethanol reached 99.94% during a contact time of 4 hours with a final concentration of 0.97 ppm, while that of toluene reached 99.77% during a contact time of 5 hours with a final concentration of 1.33 ppm. Fan blowing speed can increase the performance of negative ion plasma, where the fan speed of 1600 RPM at a voltage of 12VDC gives the best results in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the problem of the occurrence of volatile organic compounds in the work environment, specifically in administrative public buildings in the context of the quality of the indoor environment (IAQ). The importance of indoor air quality has become an interest in research and development in the last 10 years, mainly due to the increasing quality of the airtight envelope of the building and the prevailing trend of forced ventilation. Indoor air quality is directly related to Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). The occurrence of VOC emissions within 10 selected office buildings in the South Bohemian Region in the Czech Republic is demonstrated in the practical case study. Detection of volatile organic compounds was performed using ultra-fast electronic zNose Model 4200 Analyzer based on gas chromatography with patented SAQ detector. The results of the case study demonstrate how important a quality element and the necessary implementation of the building and the design of the indoor working environment is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-performance buildings are greatly influenced by the occupants' behavior, which impacts energy consumption from various building systems and technologies. IoT-based systems opened up opportunities for advancements in building management, leading to potential energy savings in buildings through intelligent control of energy systems. Ensuring occupants' satisfaction with their environment is crucial for the overall building performance. To this end, the development of smart technologies based on the Internet of Things (IoT) has paved the way for further advancements in personal thermal comfort modelling, potentially leading to energy savings in buildings. In this study, a methodology and the results of a thermal comfort experiment were presented for a University building in Split, Croatia. To gather accurate and comprehensive data, wearable sensors, in the form of a smartwatch, were employed for continuous monitoring of various personal parameters, including skin wrist temperature and heart rate. Simultaneously, environmental thermal comfort and air quality parameters such as air temperature, relative air humidity, CO2 concentration and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured in the rooms. To complement the objective data, subjective responses from the occupants were collected through a conducted field survey. This comprehensive approach provided deeper insights into personal thermal comfort, enabling the use of field data for modeling and establishing a smart regulation of building energy systems. This research highlights the growing importance of personal thermal comfort in high-performance buildings and demonstrates the potential of smart technologies to optimize building energy systems and foster occupant well-being. As smart buildings become more prevalent, the understanding and implementation of personalized thermal comfort strategies will play a crucial role in achieving sustainable and energy-efficient building environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed the physical and chemical parameters related to indoor air quality (IAQ) at Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) and the IAQ of selected campus buildings were compared with guidelines provided by DOSH. This study is especially important as students spend most of their time indoors thus making them more vulnerable to exposure to indoor contaminants. Seven sampling locations around the UNITEN campus were selected which all have different layout. The method of data collection is based on Industry Code of Practice on Indoor Air Quality 2010 (ICOP). The indoor contaminants were recorded using real-time monitoring method and the parameters of interest are the Particulate Matter (PM2.5 and PM10), Total Volatile Organic Compound (TVOC), relative humidity and temperature. Results show that the parameters of IAQ level in UNITEN is at a safe level as it is well below the DOSH permissible limit. One-way ANOVA analysis was used to identify whether or not the mean of the IAQ parameters specifically PM2.5, PM10 and TVOC are the same and belongs to the same population. Statistical analysis also shows that there was no significant difference in IAQ level between all sampling locations (P≤0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many studies focusing on indoor air quality in primary and secondary schools. Nevertheless, studies in nursery schools are still few. Concentrations of indoor air pollutants are typically 2-5 times higher, and occasionally 100 times higher than outdoors. Children spend more time in nursery and preschools than in any other indoor microenvironment besides home. It is generally assumed that preschool students are more susceptible to the adverse effects of poor indoor air quality (IAQ) than elementary or middle school students due to their activities. The parameters of indoor air quality in nursery school during the period as introducing case study is measured. The assessment is based on the measurement of indoor air temperature, relative humidity (RH), and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) concentration. Likewise, individual VOC concentrations are also monitored. The air temperature and relative humidity are set with data logger Testo 480. An ultra-fast electronic nose based on gas chromatography is used for the analysis of individual VOCs and a photoionization detector with a UV lamp was used for the determination of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play an important role in the IAQ evaluation process. Chemical contaminants emitted by dry building material and indoor equipment influence long-term indoor air quality. VOCs adversely affect both occupant comfort, productivity and health. Most of the health hazards related to VOCs emissions occur during the first months of occupation or after refurbishing the building. At present, most people generally spend up to 90% of their daily time in the indoor environment. Humans spend almost one-third of their lifetime sleeping. The indoor environment along with other factors like bed microclimate, psychological state, body condition, and circadian rhythm can impact daily sleep. In this study, a typical double bedroom is considered an emission sources were introduced using the database included in the IA-Quest software. A standard double bedroom is assessed studied, where the geometric dimensions and emission sources are defined in order to establish both an appropriate ventilation rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major pollutant in indoor air are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from materials and building products The indoor surface materials are considered to be studied as the principal sources of indoor air pollution. The source control is the most practical approach to improve the indoor air quality. The measure for indoor pollution's decreasing seems to be the effective control of volatile organic compounds and indoor odors. The perceived indoor air quality in four rooms with various flooring materials was studied. An untrained sensory panel of 20 subjects assessed perceived air quality in tested rooms. The subjects indicated their immediate evaluation on continuous scale regarding acceptability of the air (from -1 clearly unacceptable to +1 clearly acceptable). Continuously the impact of used flooring materials on VOCs emissions was observed. An electronic nose based on gas chromatography was used for the analysis of individual VOCs and a photoionization detector with a UV lamp was used for the determination of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) concentration. The effect of air change level to TVOC concentrations was studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution deals with the indoor air quality (IAQ) in residential prefabricated panel houses, which represent a significant proportion of the housing stock in the Czech Republic. Ensuring the health and comfort of users is a phenomenon of present time in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. Almost two thirds of building occupants suffer from the symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). Concentration of pollutants in indoor environments increases due to increasing of airtightness of the building envelope and due to insufficient ventilation. The main source of contaminants is the human and its every-day activities such as breath, skin respiration, flatus and using cosmetics or perfumes. Building materials, furniture and equipment of building are also a source of harmful emissions. Experimental measurements were carried out in autumn/winter 2016 in characteristic apartment of prefabricated panel house (Ostrava, Czech Republic). The high-performance AS-MLVP2 MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) gas sensor was used for VOC detection. The obtained levels of volatile organic compounds are expressed in the values of CO2 equivalent [ppm]. The obtained results are described and analysed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally known that the effect of environment quality on comfort and productivity has to be studied. In recent years the needs of building performance and productivity improvement have been increasing. Presented research study was carried out within the national research project concerning to environmental quality and occupants productivity. Indoor air quality was introduced by carbon dioxide concentration, total volatile organic compounds, odor intensity and air acceptability. The experiments were conducted in model room. The positive effect of perceived environmental comfort to performance and productivity of occupants is generally expected. The odor intensity and indoor air acceptability were assessed by a sensory panel. The range of subjective microclimate comfort as well as indoor air quality impact is studied in this paper. The pollution from building as well as the pollution from occupancy was respected. The objective of the present study is to extend knowledge of the poor indoor air quality effects on performance and productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indoor environmental quality in a workplace is a very sensitive issue according to the fact that people spend a substantial part of their day here and also it is not always possible to ensure their full protection against harmful substances. The first measurement of indoor air quality in the printing company was conducted in spring 2015. Another measurement was carried out several months later in winter 2015 and focused to more parameters of indoor environmental quality. The aim of this study was to compare the results of these measurements, and find out whether there are changes in the levels of total volatile organic compounds and in the presence of individual volatile organic compounds in this type of workplace. An electronic nose was used for qualitative analysis of volatile organic compounds. The mean TVOC and total PM concentrations were 66.1 mg/m3, and 211.3 μg/m3, respectively. Operative temperature was also higher than optimal value for this type of workplace. Other parameters of indoor environmental quality were normal. Analysis of VOCs showed occurrence of many types of VOCs and eight of them were detected also during first measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The material combination impact on perceived indoor air quality for various surface interior materials is presented in this paper. Traditional and progressive materials comparison reveals new fact regarding the sum of volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) concentration. The using possibility of individual material surfaces sorption ability was investigated. The chemical analysis and sensory assessments identifies health adverse of indoor air pollutants (TVOCs). In this study, emissions and odors from different common indoor surface materials were investigated in test chamber under standardized conditions. Chemical measurements (TVOCs concentration) and sensory assessments (odor intensity, perceived air quality) were done after building materials exposure to standardized conditions. The impact of individual materials and their interaction effects to the perceived air quality will be discussed within the paper. The knowledge of targeted sorption effect can be used already in the interior design phase. The results demonstrate the various sorption abilities of various indoor materials as well as the various sorption abilities of the same indoor materials in various combinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air conditioning in buildings is vital for people who spend much of the day indoors. The climate control industry views indoor air quality as a measure of temperature, humidity, and amount of volatile organic compounds. This paper introduces the concept of a Wi-Fi based measurement system that is tiny and low cost and works on battery power. Sensors for measurement of temperature, humidity, absolute pressure and air quality are mounted on the board. The node is able to read sensors and send data to the network by using an IP-based application protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]