Week 12
Monday, 4/13
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
People who live in developed countries are indoors approximately 90% of the time.
Indoor air can be many times more polluted than outdoor air.
"The term "indoor air quality (IAQ)", interpreted broadly, refers to the environmental characteristics inside buildings that may affect human health, comfort, or work performance. IAQ characteristics include the concentrations of (amounts of) pollutants in indoor air, as well as air temperature and humidity. Concentrations of pollutants on indoor surfaces that may be contacted by people, and indoor lighting and acoustic (noise) conditions are also often considered aspects of IAQ. Sometimes, the rate of outdoor air supply to a building, i.e., the ventilation rate, is treated as an IAQ condition because of the ventilation rate has a strong influence on the concentration of many indoor air pollutants."
- http://www.iaqscience.lbl.gov/overview.html
"A large number of VOCs are emitted into indoor air from building materials, furnishings, cleaning compounds, office equipment, personal care products, air fresheners, pesticides, people, and unvented combustion processes such as tobacco smoking or cooking with gas stoves [1-4]. Some of these same sources emit SVOCs. VOCs are also produced indoors from chemical reactions of indoor ozone with other VOCs, SVOCs, or materials (such as carpeting) [5]. Outdoor air is normally the major source of the indoor ozone, although ozone generators (marketed as air cleaners), electronic air cleaners (that unintentionally produce ozone as a by-product), and some types of office equipment can be additional sources of ozone. VOCs also enter buildings with outdoor air; however, for many types of VOCs and SVOCs, indoor air concentrations far exceed outdoor air concentrations [1, 2].
Some VOCs and SVOCs are odorous and some are suspected causes of adverse health effects. The suspected health effects cover a broad range including, but not limited to, sensory irritation symptoms, allergies and asthma, neurological and liver toxicity, and cancer."
- http://www.iaqscience.lbl.gov/voc-introduction.html
Three bsic strategies for improving IAQ:
- Source control - eliminate sources of pollution or reduce their emissions
- Ventilation control - increase the amount of outside air coming indoors, and vent areas where sources may emit pollutants.
- Air cleaning - air cleaner machines typically remove particulates but not gaseous pollutants. Do not use machines that produce ozone, which is a pollutant.
Resources
- The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality, US EPA http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/insidest.html#Intro1
- Indoor Air Quality Scientific Findings Resource Bank, Lawrence Berkeley Nationl Laboratory, http://www.iaqscience.lbl.gov/
Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) and Building Related Symptoms (BRS)
Indoor pollutants may contribute to eye, nose or throat irritation, skin irritation, cough, wheeze, headache, and fatigue symptoms.
"In the opinion of some World Health Organization experts, up to 30 percent of new or remodeled commercial buildings may have unusually high rates of health and comfort complaints from occupants that may potentially be related to indoor air quality."
- http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/insidest.html#Refguide
Building-Related Illness: A discrete, identifiable disease or illness that can be traced to a specific pollutant or source within a building.
Sick Building Syndrome: Term that refers to a set of symptoms that affect some number of building occupants during the time they spend in the building and diminish or go away during periods when they leave the building. Cannot be traced to specific pollutants or sources within the building.
- Sick Building Syndrome - Indoor Air Facts #4, USEPA, http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pdfs/sick_building_factsheet.pdf
Assignment
Read the online document "The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality", US EPA, http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/insidest.html#Intro1
Wednesday, 4/15
Reading material:
- Nature's Air Purifiers, Midwest Home and Garden, 2/2005, Green plants for green buildings, http://greenplantsforgreenbuildings.org/pdf/guest_room_article.pdf
- Clearing the Air, HGTV, Green plants for green buildings, http://greenplantsforgreenbuildings.org/pdf/HGTVReprint.pdf
Commercial Interiors
LEED-CI
- Website, http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=145
- V2 Rating System, http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=684
- V2 Credit Checklist, http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=4094
- 2009 Rating System, http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=5543
Note: V3 launches April 27.
LEED-CI Sections
- Sustainable Sites
- LEED building
- Access to public transportation
- Access to services
- Water Efficiency
- Reduce water use by at least 20% from baseline
- Watersense certified fixtures
- Baseline use is 1.6 gpf toilets, 2.2 gpm faucets, 2.5 gpm showerheads
- Does not include irrigation, clothes washers, dishwashers
- Energy and Atmosphere
- Building commissioning
- Baseline is ANSI/ASHRAE 90.1 Standard
- EnergyStar certified equipment
- No CFC-based refrigerants
- Reduce lighting power density by at least 15% below standard
- Lighting controls, daylight and occupancy sensors
- Zoned and individually controlled HVAC
- Submetering of tenant space
- Ongoing measurement and verification of energy use
- Purchase renewable energy from Green-e Energy certified sources
- Materials and Resources
- Dedicated areas for recycling collection and storage
- Tenants commit to 10-year lease
- Maintain at least 40% of existing non-shell non-structural components
- Recycle or salvage at least 50% (weight or volume) of demolition and construction debris
- Use at least 5% (by cost) salvaged, refurbished, or reused materials, excluding furniture and furnishings
- Use at least 30% (by cost) salvaged, refurbished, or reused furniture and furnishings
- Use at least 10% (by value) recycled materials; multiply percent of recycled content by cost to determine value
- Use regional materials for construction and furniture; 20% if manufactured locally, 10% if manufactured locally from regional raw materials
- Use at least 5% (by cost) rapidly renewable materials for construction and furniture
- Use FSC certified woods for at least 50% of construction and furniture woods
- Indoor Environmental Quality
- Supply outdoor-air ventilation according to ASHRAE standard 62.1
- Building should be smoke-free; multi-unit residential space should seal units to prevent transfer of ETS between units
- Install CO2 monitors
- Install airflow measurement devices
- Increase outdoor air ventilation rates to 30% above minimum
- Use high efficiency air filters in HVAC system; replace immediately before occupation
- Avoid using HVAC systems during construction
- Between construction and occupancy, flush out building using 14,00 cf of outdoor air per sf of floor area
- Between construction and occupancy, conduct baseline IAQ testing and demonstrate that maximum contaminant levels are not exceeded
- Exhaust s[paces where chemicals or gasses are stored or used
- Protect stored and installed materials from moisture
- Adhesives, sealants, and sealant primers must meet SCAQMD Rule 1168 for acceptable VOC levels
- Use Green Seal (GS-36) certified low-VOC aerosol adhesives
- Use Green Seal (GS-11) certified low-VOC interior paints
- Use Green Seal (GS-03) certified low-VOC anti-rust paints
- Wood stains, primers, and finishes must meet SCAQMD Rule 1113
- Carpets must be CRI Green Label Plus certified
- Carpet cushion must be CRI Green Label certified
- Use low-VOC carpet adhesive
- Resilient and non-resilient flooring must be Floor Score certified
- Use Low-VOC tile adhesive and grout
- Composite wood and agrifiber products must contain no added urea formaldehyde resins
- Laminating adhesives for wood assemblies must contain no added urea formaldehyde resins
- Use GreenGuard Indoor Air Quality certified furniture and seating; furniture more than one year old is exempt
- Use entry systems (grates, walk-off mats) to capture particulates
- Provide sufficient ambient and task light with occupant controls
- Provide individual controld for thermal comfort
- Monitor thermal comfort and correct issues on an ongoing basis
- Provide daylight and views to at least 75% of occupied spaces; refer to LEED document for method of calculation
- Provide direct line of sight to outdoors to 90% of occupied ares
- Innovation in Design
- LEED AP on design team
- Achieve above threshold for other points
- Various innovative strategies apply
- Regional Priority
- Credits by region are available at USSGBC website, determined by local chapters
Third-party Certifications
- Watersense, EPA program for labeling water-saving fixtures, http://www.epa.gov/watersense/
- EnergyStar, EPA program for energy efficient appliances and electronics, http://www.energystar.gov/
- Green-e Energy, certified renewable enrgy sources, https://www.green-e.org/energy
- Forest Stewardship Council, certified sustainably harvested woods, http://www.fscus.org/
- Green Seal, standards for sevral types of products and services, http://www.greenseal.org/
- Green Label and Green Label Plus, Carpet and Rug Institute program for Low-emitting carpet materials, http://www.carpet-rug.org/commercial-customers/green-building-and-the-environment/green-label-plus/index.cfm
- Floor Score, Resilient Floor Covering Institute program for low-emitting flooring, http://www.rfci.com/int_FloorScore.htm
- GreenGuard, certified low-emitting products, http://www.greenguard.org/
Commercial Interior project:
Draw a plan (to scale) of one floor of your commercial building on an 18x24 sheet. Design an office (client of your choice) for the floor. If your building is very large, use 1/2 of the floor to design the office. Include interior walls, fixtures, furniture, and furnishings. Note on the drawing the green/sustainable strategies used in the space. Due Monday, April 27.
Remember, the information in the notes is what's important.
Bring your list of notes and preliminary plan Monday (4/20) for discussion. Wednesday (4/22) is a project work day.