IAQ 2016 Defining Indoor Air Quality: Policy, Standards and Best Practices Co-Organized by ASHRAE and AIVC

It is often claimed that buildings certified as being sustainable secure high IEQ improving occupants' satisfaction and performance. There are few data that documenting this claim. Two multi-building, multi-country measuring campaigns were carried out to provide evidence on the performance of two certification schemes: Green Mark and DGNB-DK. Week long measurements of parameters describing thermal, atmospheric, acoustic and visual environment were performed, along with administration of a web-based occupant satisfaction survey and rating of their work performance. Three short cognitive games meaured short-term memory, concentration, and text comprehension. The results will be discussed comparing them to previously published data.

Different ventilation strategies impact both exposures and energy use. Two pollutant exposure control strategies were investigated in several US and Middle Eastern buildings. These tests demonstrated that the air cleaning mode with minimum ventilation coupled with smart controls realized 20-40% energy savings compared to conventional modes, while maintaining or improving the IAq in the space. For the pollutants measured, we calculated emission rates and gave examples of using time-averaged mass balance equations to show compliance with the IAQP. Field measurements in this study demonstrated that efficient air cleaning is a superior option delivering both IAQ and energy savings.

Google set ambitious performance goals across its global facilities portfolio, establishing key criteria and metrics. It has been designed based upon leading science-based research and considers the short and long term exposure of office occupants to low levels of air quality parameters. The IAQ program was developed to include parameters with associated target threshold that was determined based on known human health impacts and achievability on large scale commercial office buildings globally. The program requires more stringent targets than are required by third party green building rating systems or most other commonly used programs and guidelines.