Air Quality & Ventilation Feature When talking about ventilation, some are quick to talk about air conditioning
to continue the conversation. It is important to note however that although the name “air conditioning” would imply that the air is being purified, it is not always. These units heat or cool the air, but unless they take the air out and replace it with fresh air, they are not providing ventilation. The true definition of ventilation is “the controlled or designed replacement of stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air.” Sounds easy, but it is much harder than you would think. By and large, it is us and what we do in our homes that causes stale air;
cooking, cleaning, washing, even breathing – all these things contribute to reducing the IAQ. A typical family of four will produce 16 litres of moisture a week. One issue lies in the fact that we are all unique and we all have
different habits and lifestyles. This can be very difficult if you are looking to set just the right level of ventilation in a home for good IAQ, as there is a constant moving target. Each room will have a rising and falling demand for ventilation at different times of the day. If you over ventilate, there will be comfort issues as the property will be too cold. If the ventilation is not enough, this will lead to issues with excess moisture in the home, causing condensation
Efficiency
By and large, it is us and what we do in our homes that causes stale air; cooking, cleaning, washing, even breathing – all these things contribute to reducing the IAQ. A typical family of four will produce 16 litres of moisture a week
and ultimately creating an environment for mould to develop and grow. Ventilation often gets overlooked by landlords and housing professionals
when other home improvement measures are being installed. Improving insulation or upgrading windows to reduce infiltration can put a strain on the existing ventilation system (unless it had been designed to deal with more airtight properties). The results can be very damaging to IAQ and the buildings. So, how can we effectively measure IAQ in our homes? There has been a real
step forward in low cost monitoring equipment, and it has become much more popular in recent years with Smart Home controls, for instance. There has been a shift towards large monitoring schemes by housing
providers, Peabody, Renfrewshire, Flagship and Riverside Housing to name just a few. Big data seems to be the way forward to monitor the IAQ and health of buildings. A recent survey into ventilation carried out by Aecom for the Government
concluded that 79 out of 80 properties did not meet minimum building regulations. Monitoring would certainly highlight these issues quickly. One thing is certain, that the more information we gather, the more we learn
about the internal environment, the more equipped we are to overcome any issues found.
Pre and post monitoring of a dwelling to determine IAQ after new ventilation measures had been installed
Vince House is head of Sales and operations UK at Aereco
www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM December/January 2021 | 31
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