indoor environmental science & engineering

Indoor Environmental Science & Engineering

Richard Corsi, Kerry Kinney, Jeffrey Siegel, Atila Novoselac, Ying Xu

When did indoor air quality problems begin?

Situation Persists in Developing World

½ world’s population (> 3 B) relies on coal and biomass for domestic energy, and number is increasing!

• Simple stoves

• Incomplete combustion

• Often not vented

• 2 – 2.8 million deaths/year

• 4% of global mortality

• 1 million childhood deaths/year

• Women: 2/3 w/ lung cancer are non-smokers!

Indoor Air Quality in U.S. - Evolution

• Start = End of World War II

Levittown, New York (1948) 800 square feet4 bedroom / 1 bath = $6,900

Demand for Ease of Life

• Wall-to-wall carpet

• Cleaners

• Air fresheners

• Pesticides

• Personal care products

• Much more

Global Production: Synthetic Organic Chemicals

050

100150200250300350

1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

Year

Billi

on kg/

year

Air Conditioning

Total Primary Energy Consumption - 2007

Residential andCommercial

Industrial

Transportation28.5%

32.1%

39.4%

~ 21% residential~ 18% commercial

• 1953: < 5% in US with AC (window)

• Today: > 80% in US with AC > 50% central AC

• Open + Fan Close + AC

voutsideinside Q

EpCC

Americans = Indoor Creatures

• Indoors 89%• 2/3 of time in home

• Transit 6%

• Outdoors 5%• 18 hours indoors for every 1 outdoors

USEPA Risk Rankings

1. (tie) Worker exposure to chemicals1. (tie) Indoor radon3. Pesticide residue on foods4. (tie) Indoor air pollutants (non-radon)4. (tie) Consumer exposure to chemicals

(includes cleaning fluids, etc.)

6. Hazardous/toxic air pollutants7. Depletion of stratospheric ozone8. Hazardous waste sites (inactive)9. Drinking water (radon and THMs)10. Application of pesticides16 others .. (including groundwater contamination at 21, criteria air pollutants at 22, etc.)

Jeffrey Siegel• Particles

Richard Corsi• Gases

Atila Novoselac• Modeling

Kerry Kinney • Microorganisms

Ying Xu

• Emission

Neil Crain • Chemistry

Complementary Research

UniqueProgram

Faculty and Specific Expertise in Indoor Environmental Research

Features of Our Program

• Diverse curriculum• Interdisciplinary student community• NSF-funded IGERT program

– IGERT trainees and affiliates• State-of-the art laboratories and test

house

Siegel Team Research Themes

• Primary and secondary impacts of particle control technologies and strategies

• Aerosol transport in indoor environments• Connections between energy and indoor

air quality

Recent/Ongoing Projects

• Ozone emission from in-duct air cleaners

• Passive removal of pollutants• HVAC filters as passive samplers• Energy implications of filtration

“Clogged, dirty filters block normal air flow and reduce a system's efficiency significantly…. Keeping the filter clean can lower your air conditioner's energy consumption by 5%–15%.”X

New Project

• Indoor air quality and ventilation in retail stores• Fundamental problem

– Huge energy expenditure from ventilation (50% of total)– Very diverse types of buildings/sources

• Stores want to diminish energy use• Research will explore connection between building

ventilation rate, store type, climate, season, occupant perception, and several indoor air quality measures– Microbioogy, SVOCs, VOCs, aldehydes, particles, ozone, CO2, etc

• Largest study ever funded by ASHRAE

Positions

• Looking for 1-3 students• Qualifications

– Interested in indoor environments and energy measurements

– Enjoy fieldwork– Detail-oriented– Creative– Will be in EWRE until 12/31/2012 or later

Position – Ozone Air Cleaners

• Looking for 1 student• Qualifications

– Interested in indoor environments and– Enjoy laboratory work– Detail-oriented– M.S. project

Contact Information

jasiegel@mail.utexas.edu(512) 471-2410

ECJ 5.2

Faculty

Large environmental chamber Full scale test house (UTest)

HVAC simulatorGC/MS and small chambers

Laboratories

• CE 389T Indoor Air Quality: Trans. and Control - Siegel

• CE 396L.4 Indoor Air Quality: Physics and Chem. – Corsi

• CE 397 Sources & Indoor Air Pollution – Xu

• CE 397 Air and Pollutant Flows in Buildings - Novoselac

• CE 381E Energy Efficient & Healthy Buildings - Siegel

• CE 397 Energy Simulation in Building Design - Novoselac

• CE 389H HVAC Design – Novoselac/Siegel

• CE 397 Human Exposure Assessment – Corsi

• CE 397 Renewable Energy and Envir. Sustainability - Xu

• CE397 Indoor Air Quality Field Measurements - Siegel

• CE 397 IGERT Technical Exchange A/B – Corsi/Hart

Courses

20

Students

• 37 IGERT Students– Trainees = 21 (including 6 alumni)

– Affiliates = 16 (including 8 alumni)

– Multidisciplinary Environment – Departments represented: CAEE, Economics, ME, Toxicology, Community and Regional Planning, Advertising

– 13 faculty advisors (seven from CAEE)

• 13 CAEE Students– In broader area of architectural and environmental engineering

Novoselac Research Themes– Human exposure to pollutants in indoor

environments

– Heat and mass transfer at indoor surfaces

– Transport between indoor and outdoor environment

– Use of phase change materials as building thermal storage systems

2) Experiments1) Modeling (CFD)

Pollutant Transport & Human Exposure Research Approach:

O3

- Person to person exposure in public spaces - Ventilation systems for nurseries

Heat and Mass Transfer at Indoor Surfaces

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 110.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

WIndow Floor Below Window Blinds

h [W

/m2 K

]

ACH [1/h]

hheat = f ( ACH, ΔT)

hmass = f ( ACH, ΔT,…)

use in air quality analyses

Transport Between Indoor and Outdoor Environment

0123456789

10

Case 1 - small velocity, large openings

experimentCFDContam

ACH Volume flow rate

Wind direction Wind fluctuation

Defines:natural ventilation, infiltration, pollutant transport, …

night

Power [w]

dayDay time

Small thermal mass

Large thermal mass

Phase Change Materials as Building Thermal Storage Systems

Low thermal massLarge thermal mass

Energy cost

Saving ~ 5%Same saving like integrating photovoltaic cells on south-east and south-west façades

Ying Xu Research Themes

• Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds (SVOC) Emissions from Building Materials– Modeling emission characteristics

– Chamber study on emission process

– Directly measure emission control parameters

– Investigate SVOC interaction with other surfaces

– SVOC transport and human exposure

• Environmentally Benign Materials

SVOC Emissions from Building Materials • Phthalate plasticizers

−High conc., 40% by weight

− Reproductive tract− Asthma and allergic symptoms

• Adverse effects

40%40%

SVOC Emissions from Building Materials

xx = 0

yin= 0, Q

V

C0 D

y(t)

x = Lh

y(t), Q

C0 = Ky0

q = Ksyn

Mass Transfer Based Model Chamber Study

Measure Control Parameters Human Exposure

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0

0

20

40

60

80

Cdust= 21.9 y

R2= 0.68, p-value <2e-16

Raw data Linear regression 95% Prediction interval 95% Confidence interval

Dus

t con

cent

raio

n, C

dust (

g/g)

Gas phase concentration, y (g/m3)

MFCAir Source Sampling pump

Tenax-TA Sorbent tube

0.1 1 10 100

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Cum

ulat

ive

frequ

ency

Exposure (g/kg/d)

Inhalation Dermal Oral Total

…….qp = KpyTSP

Particles

Additive adsorption materials Additive adsorption materials

Barrier layerBarrier layer

…… ……

AlternativesAlternatives

Environmentally Benign Materials

Cleaning products

Biocides

Flame retardants

Structural insulated panels

100 101 102 103 104 105

Gas

pha

se c

once

ntra

tion

Time (h)

Nonane from Coating Materials Phenol from Vinyl Flooring DEHP from Vinyl Flooring

Hours Months Years

1 µ

g/m3 5

00 µ

g/m3

500 m

g/m3

Positions• Indoor air quality and ventilation in retail stores

– Looking for 1-3 students• Ozone Air Cleaners

– Looking for 1 student

Contact Information:Jeffrey Siegeljasiegel@mail.utexas.edu(512) 471-2410ECJ 5.2