Ventilation system effectiveness and tested indoor air quality impacts / prepared by Armin Rudd and Daniel Bergey ; prepared for: the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America Program, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Rudd, Armin, author.

Bergey, D. (Daniel), author.

Contributor:

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (U.S.), issuing body.

Building America (Program : U.S.), sponsoring body.

United States. Department of Energy. Office of Building Technologies, issuing body.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indoor air quality--United States--Testing.

Indoor air quality.

Dwellings--Heating and ventilation.

Dwellings.

United States.

Genre:

technical reports.

Technical reports

Technical reports.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 87 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Golden, CO : U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Office, 2014.

Summary:

In this project, Building America research team Building Science Corporation tested the effectiveness of ventilation systems at two unoccupied, single-family, detached lab homes at the University of Texas - Tyler. Five ventilation system tests were conducted with various whole-building ventilation systems. Multizone fan pressurization testing characterized building and zone enclosure leakage. PFT testing showed multizone air change rates and interzonal airflow. Cumulative particle counts for six particle sizes, and formaldehyde and other Top 20 VOC concentrations were measured in multiple zones. The testing showed that single-point exhaust ventilation was inferior as a whole-house ventilation strategy. This was because the source of outside air was not direct from outside, the ventilation air was not distributed, and no provision existed for air filtration. Indoor air recirculation by a central air distribution system can help improve the exhaust ventilation system by way of air mixing and filtration. In contrast, the supply and balanced ventilation systems showed that there is a significant benefit to drawing outside air from a known outside location, and filtering and distributing that air. Compared to the exhaust systems, the CFIS and ERV systems showed better ventilation air distribution and lower concentrations of particulates, formaldehyde and other VOCs. System improvement percentages were estimated based on four system factor categories: balance, distribution, outside air source, and recirculation filtration. Recommended system factors could be applied to reduce ventilation fan airflow rates relative to ASHRAE Standard 62.2 to save energy and reduce moisture control risk in humid climates. HVAC energy savings were predicted to be 8-10%, or $50-$75/year.

Notes:

Title from title screen (viewed Oct. 30, 2014).

"February 2014."

"NREL technical monitor: Cheryn Metzger."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 76-77).

"DOE/GO-102014-4290"--Page [88].

OCLC:

894252766