HEATING & RENEWABLE ENERGY SUPPLEMENT 63
THE INS AND OUTS OF AIR POLLUTION
Paul Williams from Domus Ventilation says that indoor air pollution needs to be taken more seriously, and proposes measures for addressing it.
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n 2021, the UK was found guilty by the European Court of Justice of “systematically and persistently”
breaching air pollution limits. The court ruled that, since 2010, the UK had failed
to tackle the problem of toxic NO2 emissions in the shortest possible time. The UK government’s latest data shows
that NO2 limits are being exceeded in 33 out of 43 air quality assessment zones. Measures to tackle air pollution have
been announced, which cover both NOx (the collective name for oxides of nitro-
gen, with NO and NO2 having the most effect on the environment and human health) and PM2.5 (particulate matter, which is a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets such as soot). It aims to have new legal air pollution limits in place by October 2022, which will be informed by WHO guidelines. So, air pollution is being taken seriously, but the focus is on external air pollution. When you consider we spend 80-90% of our time indoors, are we in danger of sidelining indoor air pollution?
WHAT ARE THE INDOOR POLLUTANTS? When it comes to outdoor air pollutants
the focus is very much on NO2 and PM2.5, with the key emissions sources being transport and domestic fossil fuel burning respectively. For those living near busy roads and in built up areas, these emissions remain a problem indoors as well as outdoors as they readily enter homes around closed doors, through windows etc. Pollution is, however, also generated
by activities conducted within the house. Levels of particulate matter (PM) increase burning fossil fuel such as gas cookers
WHEN YOU CONSIDER WE SPEND 80-90% OF OUR TIME INDOORS, ARE WE IN DANGER OF SIDELINING INDOOR AIR POLLUTION?
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and heaters, and even candles. The cleaning equipment used often contains harmful toxins that accumulate indoors and linger. Even seemingly innocuous items within homes, such as furniture and the very materials these homes are built from, can release potentially harmful pollutants if properties are poorly heated and ventilated. Sadly, this is a much under-studied
area, and our knowledge of the sources and worst effects of indoor air pollution is lacking.
HOW TO ADDRESS INDOOR POLLUTANTS While ‘there are things that we know we don't know’, as the saying goes, the things we do know that cause potentially harmful pollutants indoors we can address. The first and easiest one of these is to
switch to non-toxic cleaning products. The second is to move away from fossil
fuels in our home. While these focus on removing the pollutant at source, the third way to address pollutants in our homes is to disperse them through effective ventilation. The simplest form of ventilation is to open windows, but this isn’t a good option if the property is in a heavily polluted area as you are simply bringing more polluted air into it. Basic mechanical ventilation, such as bathroom and kitchen fans are essential and will remove a level of pollution (as long as they are correctly ducted!), but to truly make a difference you need to turn to mechanical ventila- tion systems. And this is where housebuilders can make a potentially life changing difference to future home owners and residents.
EFFECTIVE VENTILATION Mechanical ventilation, in the form of intermittent extract, continuous extract or
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