Interest in having a healthy and well-being environment has increased the awareness to improve indoor air quality (IAQ). Building materials influence the contribution of indoor air pollution, so understanding their behaviour on IAQ is essential. Among building materials, carpets cover surfaces of indoor environments and significantly impact IAQ due to their large surface area and multi-layers of materials components. This review aimed to consolidate what is known about how carpet impacts indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) concentrations and particulate matter (PM) distributions. The results showed that carpets are not only a source of primary emission but also can ad/absorb VOCs and emit VOCs through secondary emission, sink effects, and transformation reactions. The material composition of each carpet layer, environmental parameters (e.g., humidity, temperature, air velocity), and chamber size influence a carpets’ behaviour. Previous studies on the resuspension of PM from carpets mainly focused on the effects of human activities and humidity. Further studies are needed to enhance knowledge related to carpet behaviours in the indoor environment and on how the common materials of carpets should be designed and sustained to reduce exposure to harmful pollutants indoors while maintaining its benefits.

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In recent years, interest in biophilic design and indoor greenery has increased. However, the growth of indoor plants may become stunted under unfavorable light conditions. Therefore, we must evaluate the light environments required for indoor plants to thrive. We propose a new method to assess indoor light environments for indoor plants by using spectral irradiance simulation. We verify the accuracy of the spectral irradiance simulation via actual measurements in a university classroom. Additionally, we confirm the calculation accuracy of the photosynthetic photon flux density, which is strongly correlated with photosynthesis in plants. We evaluate indoor light environments for indoor plants in 3D models by applying a few concepts from plant physiology.

Indoor air quality (IAQ) plays an important role in human health and well-being as people spend most of their time indoors. Among building materials, carpets covering high surface areas and having dense fibres have the potential to impact perceived IAQ. To explore the impact of carpets on perceived IAQ, it was studied whether low-emitting wool carpets can ‘clean’ the air. To assess the sorption effect of emissions of hardboard (as a permanent source) on carpet, untrained subjects were asked to assess a combination of low-odour emitting carpet and hardboard in one sample container and only hardboard in another sample container of test chamber. The results showed a slight (although not statistically relevant) difference in favour of the combination, indicating a slight adsorption effect.