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No abstract

Indoor air quality (IAQ) inside educational institutions is an important topic in the field of building and health research. School absenteeism and educational performance have been linked to poor air quality inside classrooms. A numerical simulation software has been used to test 5 different scenarios of natural ventilation during summer and winter. CO2 levels, air relative humidity, operative temperature and PMV were used as indoor air quality and thermal comfort indicators. Results have shown high CO2 and humidity levels when all windows are closed, and a variable improvement when different natural ventilations strategies are employed. A detailed procedure for the numerical simulation has been presented.

A recent challenge in research dedicated to residential exposure to radon comes from the growing number of houses retrofitted to reduce energy consumption. Efficiently insulated buildings and modern architectural solutions can lead to the accumulation of high levels of indoor pollutants. A systematic analysis was conducted in a residential complex (consisting of six houses) in order to assess the annual radon concentration and to evaluate the intensity of the relationships with various factors, such as the indoor-outdoor temperature differences, wind speed and wind direction. Three types of occupational behaviour, influencing the ventilation rate of the dwellings and, implicitly, the indoor radon activity concentration were observed. By calculating the partial correlation coefficient between the radon concentration and the wind direction, with the wind speed as the control variable, for all six houses the correlation coefficient presents negative values.