Indoor Air Quality in Green Buildings: A Review and a Case Study.
Indoor Air Quality in Green Buildings: A Review and a
Case Study.
(1130 K)
Dols, W. S.; Persily, A. K.; Nabinger, S. J.
Paths to Better Building Environments/Environmental
Effects on Health and Producitivity. IAQ '96
Conference. Proceedings. American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.
(ASHRAE). October 6-8, 1996, Baltimore, MD, ASHRAE,
Atlanta, GA, Teichman, K. Y., Editor(s), 139-150 pp,
1996.
Keywords:
building performance; green building; indoor air
quality; office buildings; ventilation; occupants
Abstract:
The term "green building" is used to describe buildings
that are designed, constructed, and operated, to have a
minimum impact on the environment, both indoor and
outdoor. Most discussions of green buildings refer to
the importance of providing an acceptable, if not
exceptional, indoor environment for the building
occupants. However, these discussions of indoor
environment quality have not included many specific
recommendations or criteria for building design,
construction, or operation. Building projects described
as green building demonstrations often make reference to
indoor air quality, but these references are often
general and qualitative. In addition, rating systems
that have been developed to assess the "greeness" of a
building are based largely on design features and are
not particularly specific with respect to indoor air
quality. This paper reviews the features of indoor air
quality that are considered in green building
discussions, demonstration projects, and rating systems.
These green building features are discussed in terms of
their completeness and specificity, and are compared to
other guidance on building design, construction, and
operation for good indoor air quality. A case study of
indoor air quality performance in a green building is
presented. This study includes a description of the
indoor air quality features of the building and the
results of a short-term indoor air quality evaluation of
the building involving ventilation and contaminant
concentration measurements.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899