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Evaluating the Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality Impacts of Intensive Building Energy Efficiency Improvements
COLBY BUEHLER, Kenneth Gillingham, Pei Huang, Drew Gentner, Jordan Peccia, Yale University
Abstract Number: 649
Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract
Intensive building energy efficiency improvements can reduce air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, improving outdoor air quality and human health, but may also affect indoor air quality through changes in ventilation. This study examines the indoor and outdoor effects of highly ambitious, yet feasible, building energy efficiency upgrades in the United States through 2050. Our energy efficiency scenarios, derived from the literature and modeled using Yale-NEMS (National Energy Modeling System), lead to reductions in outdoor energy-related emissions of 18-25% for PM2.5 and 6-11% for CO2 in 2050. The effects on indoor air quality as a result of the various energy efficiency scenarios were examined using a coupled indoor air quality box model with a Monte Carlo approach across the entire US housing stock based on typical activity patterns and evolving housing characteristics. Due to increasing emphasis on energy savings related to the building envelope, indoor air quality impacts varied across the U.S. housing stock and were dependent on indoor emissions, infiltration air exchange rates, and the presence of PM2.5 filtration. While indoor air quality was negatively impacted in some homes, the net effects of changes in indoor and outdoor air quality with intensive energy efficiency scenarios could prevent thousands of premature deaths per year across the United States in 2050, but the results emphasize the need for careful consideration of ventilation policies and investments in improved PM2.5 filtration in recirculation systems.