Indoor Air Quality Commissioning of a New Office Building.
Indoor Air Quality Commissioning of a New Office
Building.
(3096 K)
Dols, W. S.; Persily, A. K.; Nabinger, S. J.
NISTIR 5586; 51 p. January 1995.
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and
Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE). IAQ'95:
Practical Engineering for IAQ. Proceedings. October
22-24, 1995, Denver, CO, 29-41 pp, 1995 AND National
Conference on Building Commissioning, 3rd. Proceedings.
May 1-5, 1995, Milwaukee, WI, 1-8 pp, 1995, 1995.
Sponsor:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Rockville, MD
Available from:
National Technical Information Service
(NTIS), Technology Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161.
Telephone:
1-800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000;
Fax: 703-605-6900.
Website: http://www.ntis.gov
Order number: PB95-182309
Keywords:
air quality; commissioning; indoor air quality; office
buildings; ventilation; building performance
Abstract:
New buildings can have an increased potential for indoor
air quality problems due to new building materials and
deficiencies in mechanical ventilation system
performance during construction and initial occupancy.
In order to decrease the potential for such problems, an
indoor air quality commissioning program was developed
and implemented by the National Institute of Standards
and Technology in a new office building for the United
States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This indoor air
quality commissioning effort consisted of three tasks:
(1) evaluate the mechanical ventilation system design;
(2) develop a set of environmental parameters and
associated reference values to be used in evaluating the
building indoor air quality; and (3) measure these
environmental parameters in this building and compare
them with the reference values developed in Task 2. The
evaluation of the mechanical ventilation system design
was based on the recommendations of the 1987 BOCA
mechanical code and ASHRAE Standard 62-1989. The design
evaluation showed that the system ventilation rates were
consistent with the recommendations of both documents.
The environmental parameters identified in Task 2
address ventilation system performance, indoor pollutant
levels, and thermal comfort. The reference values for
these parameters were based on available standards and
guidelines as well as on the results of previous indoor
air quality research. In Task 3, these environmental
parameters were measured in three phases of building
construction: after completion of interior build-out;
after the installation of the systems furniture; and
roughly one month after occupancy. The measured values
were within the project reference values with only a few
exceptions, and these exceptions were usually attributed
to a correctable circumstance.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899