Development of a model for radon concentration in indoor air

Abstract

A model is developed for calculation of the radon concentration in indoor air. The model takes into account various important parameters, e.g. radon concentration in ground, radon diffusion resistance of radon barrier, air permeance of ground, air pressure difference between outdoor ground and indoor at ground level, ventilation of the building ground and number of air changes per hour due to ventilation. Characteristic case studies are depicted in selected 2D and 3D graphical plots for easy visualization and interpretation. The radon transport into buildings might be dominated by diffusion, pressure driven flow or a mixture of both depending on the actual values of the various parameters. The results of our work indicate that with realistic or typical values of the parameters, most of the transport of radon from the building ground to the indoor air is due to air leakage driven by pressure differences through the construction. By incorporation of various and realistic values in the radon model, valuable information about the miscellaneous parameters influencing the indoor radon level is gained. Hence, the presented radon model may be utilized as a simple yet versatile and powerful tool for examining which preventive or remedial measures should be carried out to achieve an indoor radon level below the reference level as set by the authorities.

Improved predictive mapping of indoor radon concentrations using ensemble regression trees based on automatic clustering of geological units

“…Since a building's foundation type is known to influence IRCs (Jelle, 2012;Kropat et al, 2014;M€ akel€ ainen et al, 2001), we divided the foundation types into 4 classes: "Concrete", "Concreted afterwards", "Earth", "Other". The class "Concrete" refers to buildings that had a concrete foundation by the time of construction.…”

Accelerated climate ageing of building materials, components and structures in the laboratory

“…water, radon and earthquakes. Radon exposure in indoor air is highly dependent upon radon diffusion and air leakage into the building from the building ground , Jelle 2012, and there may be large local variations of radon concentration in the building ground. Contrary to the climate adaption strategy is to construct all buildings with the same and at such a high level of durability versus climate exposure, that these buildings may be erected anywhere within a specified large or vast climate region.…”

Machine learning and statistical models for predicting indoor air quality

“…Indoor air quality is commonly predicted using mechanistic models based on an understanding of the underlying mechanisms governing the fate and transport of indoor air pollutants, including, for example, diffusion of compounds from source materials, convective mass transfer of compounds in air, and sorption of compounds into or onto sink materials. Mechanistic models have been developed to predict the concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), [1][2][3][4] semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), [5][6][7] aldehydes, [8][9][10] inorganic compounds including radon, [11][12][13][14] and particulate matter (PM) [15][16][17][18][19] in indoor environments. Mechanistic models require detailed inputs on both indoor sources and sink materials for the target pollutants, building envelope and ventilation conditions, and outdoor concentrations of the target pollutants.…”