Experimental study of indoor air quality, energy saving and analysis of ventilation norms in climatised areas

Currents trends in indoor air quality involve prevention as well as the nee d for specific legislation (norms) to protect people's health and to achiev e greater levels of comfort. It is currently one of the most important area s of study [5,6, 10]. The existence of different indoor air quality norms a nd standards depending on the country involved has made it difficult to det ermine when these standards really ensure low levels of indoor pollutants. The requirements of the future European ventilation norm (prENV 1752) make a detailed study on the energy implications of the problem essential. This work represents an original study in this field, where the results obt ained from a series of practical indoor air quality and ventilation measure ments are explored. These results have been obtained using photoacoustic sp ectroscopy (PAS) and the trace gas (sulphur hexafluoride) technique in a se ries of Spanish office buildings with varying climatisation systems. The results obtained in ventilation flows as well as an analysis for compar ison purposes with data on Spanish, American (ASHRAE 62R) and European norm s (prENV 1752) are presented. The conclusions which may be drawn are also o ffered. Finally, the work shows a ventilation flow which achieves high environmenta l indoor air quality in offices while at the same time offering compatibili ty with high energy saving. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reser ved.