Midway house-tightening project: a study of indoor air quality

Technical Report · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:6258651

Offermann, F J; Girman, J R; Hollowell, C D

To meet the increasing demand for energy, some utility companies are realizing that sponsoring residential conservation programs is an attractive economic alternative to building new power plants. Concern has arisen, however, that some conservation measures reduce the natural ventilation of the house and thus can degrade indoor air quality. To address this concern, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) conducted a cost-shared joint study of indoor air quality in twelve retrofitted houses of the BPA Midway Substation Residential Community (MSRC). Measurements of effective leakage areas and average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and radon, were made before and after special house-tightening retrofits by LBL and BPA house doctors. The average reduction in leakage area resulting from these retrofits was 32%. None of the pollutants measured before or after the retrofits, reached levels exceeding existing guidelines. The moderate increases in radon and formaldehyde concentrations observed are consistent with what would be expected from the estimated average decrease in air-exchange rates. Because the pre- and post-retrofit measurements involved only single, relatively short-term samples taken two months apart, uncertainties associated with the variability of source strength and occupant activities affecting ventilation remain and preclude any definitive conclusions that the increases observed are purely the result of the retrofits. A more conclusive study would require measurements of a larger sample of homes for a longer period of time, including simultaneous monitoring of control (un-retrofitted) houses.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6258651
• Report Number(s): LBL-12777; ON: DE81030886
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
291000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Conservation
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320101* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Residential Buildings-- (-1987)
AIR FLOW
AIR INFILTRATION
AIR POLLUTION
ALDEHYDES
BUILDINGS
CHALCOGENIDES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ELEMENTS
FLUID FLOW
FLUIDS
FORMALDEHYDE
GAS FLOW
GASES
HOUSES
HUMIDITY
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
LEAKS
MEASURING METHODS
MONITORING
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN DIOXIDE
NITROGEN OXIDES
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
PRESSURIZING
RADON
RARE GASES
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
RETROFITTING
STANDARDS
WEATHERIZATION