AAAR 37th Annual Conference October 14 - October 18, 2019 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Can You Breathe Me Now? Effect of Wood Stove Exchange Programs on IAQ
MATTHEW SURVILO, Aurelie Laguerre, Everett Stilley, Elliott Gall, Portland State University
Abstract Number: 223 Working Group: The Air We Breathe: Indoor Aerosol Sources and Chemistry
Abstract More than six million people in the United States use wood stoves as their primary heat source. Wood stoves emit air pollutants that may impact health, e.g., wood combustion products are associated with premature death and aggravation of pulmonary and cardiovascular conditions. Relatively little data exists reporting in-situ particulate emission rates of residential wood burning stoves. Additionally, there are few studies investigating the efficacy of wood stove exchange programs (WSEPs) as a method to improve indoor air quality (IAQ). Weare partnered with a WSEP in Washington County, Oregon, to conduct an air quality study that measures the impacts of the WSEP on indoor and neighborhood levels of wood combustion products. Over twenty households are engaged in the air quality study with monitoring that employs low-cost particle counters to measure particle levels, a blower door test to approximate air exchange, and stove use monitoring. Seven households were engaged with enhanced monitoring, which added deployment of a weather station, and research grade monitors for carbon monoxide, size resolved particles from 10nm – 10 micrometers, and in select homes, NO and NO2. All measurements occurred before and after wood stove exchange, where a newer, more efficient burning stove or gas insert was installed. Using air quality data collected simultaneously indoors and outdoors, infiltration rate estimates, and stove use data, net indoor emission rates from the woodstove will be calculated. A secondary goal of this study is to evaluate low-cost sensors (PurpleAir PA-II) for widespread monitoring of woodstove combustion. We conducted indoor and outdoor co-location with reference and gravimetric monitoring to evaluate the appropriateness of use of PA-IIs for wider scale monitoring of emissions from wood stoves. This project aims to evaluate if WSEPs have potential for improvement of neighborhood and residential IAQ in areas where wood burning is a prominent heat source.