Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health (2011) / Chapter Skim
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8 Building Ventilation, Weatherization, and Energy Use
8 Building Ventilation, Weatherization, and Energy Use
Pages 209-238
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From page 209... ...
It addresses energy consumption in buildings, the means used to tighten buildings, programs to enhance the energy efficiency of buildings and reduce harmful emissions from building components, the training of personnel who implement weatherization programs, and the effect of tightening on ventilation, indoor environmental quality, and occupant health and productivity. The chapter concludes with the committee's observations regarding those issues.
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From page 210... ...
All told, building CO2 emissions in 2006 accounted for 38% of total US CO2 emissions -- 20% contributed by residential buildings, 18% by commercial structures. BUILDING WEATHERIZATION Weatherization describes the steps taken during building design or retrofit to increase energy efficiency by limiting unintended air and heat exchange between the indoor and outdoor environments.
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From page 211... ...
TABLE 8-1 Percentage of Total Energy Use and Carbon Dioxide Emissions Attributable to Specific Applications in US Buildings in 2006 (DOE, 2010) Energy Use Carbon Dioxide Emissions All Residential Commercial All Residential Commercial Space heating 19.8 26.4 12.1 18.8 24.6 12.2 Lighting 17.7 11.6 24.8 18.1 12.0 25.2 Space cooling 12.7 13.0 12.6 13.0 13.4 12.5 Water heating 9.6 12.5 6.3 9.4 12.4 6.0 Electronics 7.8 8.1 7.5 8.0 8.4 7.6 Refrigeration 5.8 7.2 4.1 5.9 7.4 4.2 Cooking 3.4 4.7 2.0 3.4 4.7 1.9 Wet cleaninga 3.3 6.2 -- 3.4 6.4 -- Mechanical ventilation 2.8 -- 6.7 2.9 -- 6.2 Computers 2.3 1.0 3.8 2.4 1.0 3.9 Other 8.5 3.6 13.2 8.4 3.8 12.6 Attributable to buildings 6.3 5.7 6.9 6.4 5.9 7.9 but not directly to specific end uses a Primarily automatic washers, dryers, and dishwashers.
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From page 212... ...
In a study of unplanned airflows in 70 commercial buildings, 8 had air-exchange rates of 2 to 10 air changes per hour (ACH) when the air handlers were running (Cummings et al., 1996)
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From page 213... ...
The solid line represents the smoothed fit through the data. It shows that the air-exchange rate -- as extrapolated from a blower-door pressurization test of air leakage -- has been decreasing in homes built over the past 40 years.
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From page 214... ...
Major funding comes from DOE, and additional support from a variety of sources, including the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program block grants and energy utility programs (WAP, 2009b)
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introduced ENERGY STAR as a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Computers and monitors were the first labeled products.
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From page 216... ...
The ENERGY STAR Indoor Air Package is a label that adds items that address a broader array of indoor environmental quality issues -- including moisture control, pest management, combustion safety, ventilation, emissions from building materials, and radon control -- to the baseline ENERGY STAR program (EPA, 2010b)
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From page 217... ...
In response to those concerns, governments and private organizations developed product-labeling, emission-testing, and building-certification systems to distinguish and market3 healthier and more environmentally conscious products and buildings. The following sections summarize and evaluate some features of the green-building movement related to indoor environmental quality, includ 3 The US Federal Trade Commission maintains Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (also known as the Green Guides)
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From page 218... ...
, and a Web site created to compile "ecolabel" information listed nearly 380 in February 2011, including 85 related to building products and 64 to buildings (Ecolabel Index, 2011)
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From page 219... ...
. Indoor environment "comfort thresholds" are based on the time required for the VOC emissions to decay to the point where their room concentrations are below their indoor-relevant threshold, which is half the value of either the odor threshold or the sensory-irritation estimate (whichever is lower)
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From page 220... ...
It suggests research and policy initiatives that would help resolve them. In addition to those issues, a small number of chemicals are measured in the emissions tests, and there are few data on health effects of many of the emitted chemicals in animals or humans with which to assess hazards or develop health-based indoor environmental quality standards (Willem and Singer, 2010)
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From page 221... ...
certification is a voluntary standard that has become widely accepted for certification of energy efficiency and perceived "greenness" of US buildings (EHHI, 2010; Srebric, 2010)
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From page 222... ...
Points are also awarded for using low-emitting materials -- adhesives and sealants, paints and coatings, flooring systems, and composite wood and agrifiber products -- in construction, for indoor chemical and pollutant source control, and for designing for maintaining the thermal comfort of occupants. From a public-health standpoint, one of the primary criticisms of LEED is that it is possible to receive the highest level of certification without earning any points in indoor environmental quality.
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From page 223... ...
Product-labeling systems help to identify products that can contribute to higher scores in green-building certification processes, but the lack of data on types and rates of chemical emissions from materials after installation hampers scientific evaluation of the effect of labeling on indoor environmental quality. That uncertainty also hinders the development of health-based indoor environmental quality standards, as does the lack of research on links to human health and comfort in these buildings.
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From page 224... ...
To provide clues about performance in a variety of climate change scenarios, future research needs to focus on minimum ventilation rates and room sizes and on scenarios in which to measure emissions. An integrated understanding of the interplay among those factors is crucial for understanding the minimally necessary conditions to maintain healthy indoor environmental quality in a changing climate (Levin, 2010)
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From page 225... ...
Even with the best intentions, indoor environmental quality issues may emerge with interventions that have not been sufficiently well screened for their effects on occupant safety and health. Researchers have examined the effects of poor ventilation on indoor air quality.
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From page 226... ...
in single family and low-rise multifamily residential buildings with at least 90% efficient combustion or electric equipment lowers the ventilation rate in basements and crawlspaces. In some buildings, that may change the indoor moisture balance and result in cold-weather condensation in the building enclosure.
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From page 227... ...
They found that the literature supported links between low ventilation rates and increased risk of allergies, symptoms of sick-building syndrome, and respiratory infections and suggested that "higher rates than are currently common may be healthprotective in many instances" (Sundell et al., 2011)
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From page 228... ...
atically turned UVGI lamps installed in the HVAC systems of three office buildings on and off over the course of a year and collected environmental and occupant data. Fungi, bacteria, and endotoxin concentrations were measured, and building occupants who were unaware of the operating condition of the UVGI lamps filled out questionnaires on their health.
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From page 229... ...
determined that air-distribution patterns with high ventilation effectiveness played an important role in minimizing airborne cross-infection in a hospital setting. Weatherization Workforce Training in Considerations of Indoor Environmental Quality and Health As awareness of the potential of weatherization programs to engender problems of indoor environmental quality and health has grown, initiatives have been undertaken to train the weatherization-industry workforce
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From page 230... ...
. It focuses on indoor environmental quality issues and
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From page 231... ...
Many such problems might be identified and avoided if the current process of designing and constructing buildings took a more integrated approach that included consideration of the links between indoor environmental quality and indoor and outdoor sources, ventilation, occupant comfort, and energy efficiency. Material testing and labeling systems represent an important source of information on product emissions and a driving force in lowering emissions.
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From page 232... ...
measures that limit the exchange of indoor air with outdoor air. • G overnment and consensus organizations are beginning to recog nize the importance of this issue and have established or are estab lishing voluntary guidelines and codes that account for the links between energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, ventila tion, and occupant health and productivity.
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From page 233... ...
Washington, DC: DOE. ECA (European Collaborative Action, Urban Air, Indoor Environment and Human Expo sure)
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From page 234... ...
2010a. Healthy indoor environment protocols for home energy upgrades.
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Washington, DC: EPA Indoor Environments Division. http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pdfs/hal_ levin_paper.pdf (accessed February 18, 2011)
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2000. Risk of sick leave associated with outdoor air supply rate, humidification, and occupant complaints.
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From page 237... ...
grating systems to improve indoor air quality credits and to address changing climatic conditions. Washington, DC: EPA Indoor Environments Division.
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From page 238... ...
2002b. Ventilation and health in non industrial indoor environments: Report from a European multidisciplinary scientific consensus meeting (EUROVEN)
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