AAAR 35th Annual Conference October 17 - October 21, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
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An Integrative, Non-Invasive and Cost-Effective Study of Residents’ Health, Indoor Air Quality and Infrastructure Defects
NIRMALA THOMAS, Leonardo Calderón, Mengyang Guo, MaryAnn Sorensen-Allacci, Deborah Plotnik, Jennifer Senick, Jie Gong, Clinton J. Andrews, Gediminas Mainelis, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Abstract Number: 251 Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract A multidisciplinary field study was conducted in two multi-apartment residential buildings. Residents’ health was correlated with indoor air quality parameters, building construction elements along with energy performance, and structure hazard in a cost-effective way.
Health data related to respiratory illness, building conditions, and maintenance records were compiled via interviews. Building leaks, missing wall insulation, air infiltration, and thermal bridges were inspected using infrared thermography and laser scanning, a time conserving and non-invasive extraction of building hazard related attributes. Key indoor air quality components implicated in sick building syndrome, such as biological and non-biological aerosol concentrations, allergens, volatile organics and indoor gases, were recorded.
Residents who had asthma, including those with ER visits, were positively correlated (p<0.05) with the PM$_(2.5) mass concentration and its outdoor indoor ratio, orientation and floor level of the apartment, prevalence of building cracks, frequency of pest observations and airborne mold concentrations. High concentrations of indoor bioaerosols were positively correlated (p<0.01) to the prevalence of indoor pets. Allergens had no correlation with the thermal bridge factor and the wall air leak factor. This suggests indoor sources of allergens. The indoor air perceived to be drafty by interviewees had negative associations with endotoxin concentration and prevalence of asthma, while being positively correlated with top floor apartments, missing insulation, cracks noticed in the apartment and apartment facing an inner garden. Moisture sensed by the residents accounting for plumbing leaks and improper building maintenance was positively correlated with the measured indoor relative humidity.
This study suggests that using multiple data streams provides a cost-effective and robust method to evaluate indoor air quality, building defects and their effects in residents’ health.