CRITERIA FOR AIR-QUALITY IN ENCLOSED CAR PARKS

This paper addresses concerns about the environment found within enclo sed car parks in Hong Kong, These concerns have been expressed in term s of the levels of carbon monoxide found in car parks following a surv ey, The outcome has been the development of a code of practice for car park ventilation system design and performance, It is recognized, how ever, that too stringent criteria may lead to over-design of ventilati on systems and unwarranted use of energy, The criteria need to take in to account the levels of exposure likely to be experienced by two sepa rate groups - car park users and car park employees or maintenance con tractors, In public car parks the former group embraces the entire pop ulation as drivers or passengers, whilst the latter group can be expec ted to include only working adults, The criteria for exposure for each group are considered with respect to various health and occupational guidelines used in developed countries, In addition, the potential for impairment of driving performance is considered, Criteria for safe ex posure levels in car parks are recommended.