Quantifying Pollutant Emissions from Office Equipment Phase IReport
Although office equipment has been a focal point for governmental efforts to promote energy efficiency through programs such as Energy Star, little is known about the relationship between office equipment use and indoor air quality. This report provides results of the first phase (Phase I) of a study in which the primary objective is to measure emissions of organic pollutants and particulate matter from a selected set of office equipment typically used in residential and office environments. The specific aims of the overall research effort are: (1) use screening-level measurements to identify and quantify the concentrations of air pollutants of interest emitted by major categories of distributed office equipment in a controlled environment; (2) quantify the emissions of air pollutants from generally representative, individual machines within each of the major categories in a controlled chamber environment using well defined protocols; (3) characterize the effects of ageing and use on emissions for individual machines spanning several categories; (4) evaluate the importance of operational factors that can be manipulated to reduce pollutant emissions from office machines; and (5) explore the potential relationship between energy consumption and pollutant emissions for machines performing equivalent tasks. The study includes desktop computers (CPU units), computer monitors, and three categories of desktop printing devices. The printer categories are: (1) printers and multipurpose devices using color inkjet technology; (2) low- to medium output printers and multipurpose devices employing monochrome or color laser technology; and (3) high-output monochrome and color laser printers. The literature review and screening level experiments in Phase 1 were designed to identify substances of toxicological significance for more detailed study. In addition, these screening level measurements indicate the potential relative importance of different categories of office equipment with respect to human exposures. The more detailed studies of the next phase of research (Phase II) are meant to characterize changes in emissions with time and may identify factors that can be modified to reduce emissions. These measurements may identify 'win-win' situations in which low energy consumption machines have lower pollutant emissions. This information will be used to compare machines to determine if some are substantially better than their peers with respect to their emissions of pollutants.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 918677
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-63207-(I); R&D Project: E12301; BnR: 400408000; TRN: US200825%%128
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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