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Special Issue "Advanced Technologies on Indoor Environment Quality in Sustainable Buildings"

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Building".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2024 | Viewed by 4459

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ying Sheng

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Guest Editor

School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
Interests: indoor air quality; air cleaning; ventilation engineering; air conditioning; building technology; energy saving

Dr. Chunxiao Su

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Interests: indoor air quality; UV disinfection; air cleaning; indoor radon exposure

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ventilation is the most common method of indoor air quality control in practice. The outdoor air supply rate prescribed by existing ventilation standards and guidelines is in the range of 2.5~10 L/s per person. It has been reported that around 40% of building energy is used for ventilation and associated air conditioning. Some studies have found that a higher ventilation rate (over 25 L/s per person) would be required to minimize the prevalence of SBS symptoms. This is hardly acceptable from an energy point of view. Some suitable strategies are implemented to assure both indoor air quality and affordable energy performance, such as the coupling operation of ventilation and air cleaning. Climate change requires that the built environment is decarbonized, and advanced technologies with energy efficiency are encouraged to assure the indoor air quality. Sustainability provides an important platform to share emerging knowledge and technologies directed to environmental control in buildings. Therefore, this Special Issue will focus on the research works using innovative technologies to build a sustainable future for indoor air quality in the built environment.

Potential topics for this Special Issue include, but will not be limited to, the following topics:

(1) Energy-saving air-cleaning technologies;

(2) Innovative ventilation modes;

(3) Pollution source control;

(4) Simulation of air cleaning and ventilation;

(5) Novel technologies for indoor air monitoring;

(6) Indoor exposures and ventilation.

Dr. Ying Sheng
Dr. Chunxiao Su
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Study of Indoor Air Quality in a University Professor’s Office

Guillermo Efren Ovando-Chacon

Sandy Luz Ovando-Chacon

Abelardo Rodríguez-León

and

Mario Díaz-González

Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 4221; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054221 - 26 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 587

Abstract

Indoor air conditioning is currently a topic of much interest, not only to save energy but also due to public health issues such as pandemics. This study focuses on the thermal comfort and air quality of a closed, air-conditioned space located in an extremely hot climate. Due to noise and weather conditions, the door and window of the space are kept closed at all times. The study uses computational fluid dynamics techniques and the finite element method. Average temperatures and CO₂ concentrations, as well as effectiveness for temperature and concentration distribution, are calculated for the analysis. Results indicate that supplying air away from hot walls improves air quality and thermal comfort. Furthermore, there is an optimal Reynolds number that depends on the number of people inside the space. Due to the above, it is possible to find an ideal configuration that simultaneously allows for efficient energy use, helps to avoid the adverse effects of CO₂ on daily activities such as working or studying, and supports people’s health and comfort. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies on Indoor Environment Quality in Sustainable Buildings)

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Open AccessArticle

Thermal Environment Control at Deep Intelligent Coal Mines in China Based on Human Factors

and

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3193; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043193 - 09 Feb 2023

Viewed by 906

Abstract

Mechanical cooling of the entire mining tunnel, widely used in deep coal mines, has a significant energy-intensive consumption, particularly for intelligent mining tunnels. Therefore, localized cooling would benefit the intelligent mining industry. Current studies on the temperature, relative humidity, and air velocity under localized cooling for working protection are still unclear. A modified predicted heat strain model that is appropriate for warm and humid conditions is presented in this article and calculated using MATLAB. Results reveal that air temperature was the primary factor affecting underground miners’ safety. Increasing air velocity would improve the working environment when the thermal humidity index is lower than 32. Reducing total working time and wet bulb temperature would benefit underground miners’ security. For the cooling of intelligent mining tunnels, the recommended air velocity would be 2 m/s, and the maximum wet bulb temperature would be 28 °C for the 6-h working period and 26 °C for the 8-h working period. Results would be beneficial to the cooling of intelligent mining in China. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies on Indoor Environment Quality in Sustainable Buildings)

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Open AccessArticle

Experimental Study on Fan Aerodynamic Noise Variation Characteristics under Non-Proportional Variation Law

and

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2025; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032025 - 20 Jan 2023

Viewed by 375

Abstract

This paper presents the noise characteristics of axial fans in the process of variable frequency adjustment, so as to clarify the basis of frequency adjustment and high-risk area division for practical purposes. In the aerodynamic performance experiment, 11 kinds of operating conditions (OC) were divided into 3 groups, and the air flow rate and power consumption were measured. At the same time, an aerodynamic noise experiment was carried out, and nine measuring points were selected to test the noise of the air inlet and shell. The data showed that the aerodynamic performance parameters have the characteristics of non-proportional law. The maximum ventilation coefficient of OC2, OC7, OC11 is 3.9%, and its noise always has a negative growth rate. Furthermore, the typical OC were selected from all experiments, and broadband noise and discrete noise analyses were performed. The results indicated that the fan noise of the changes under variable frequency adjustment may come from boundary layer noise and shedding noise. In addition, the fundamental frequency sound pressure level of discrete noise is the highest in the whole frequency band. At the high-speed condition, the contribution of higher harmonics to the fan overall noise increases, but the broadband noise is still the dominant noise. Finally, the noise rating was introduced, and the high-risk noise index was divided for the noise of the air inlet and the shell. It was found that the main noise variation index of typical OC mostly exceeded the high-risk noise index, and the main target frequency band of noise control is 250–4000 Hz. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies on Indoor Environment Quality in Sustainable Buildings)

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Open AccessArticle

Prediction for the Adsorption of Low-Concentration Toluene by Activated Carbon

and

Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1555; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021555 - 13 Jan 2023

Viewed by 493

Abstract

Activated carbon filters are widely used to remove gaseous pollutants in order to guarantee a healthy living environment. The standard method for evaluating the adsorption performance of filters is conducted at ~100 ppm. Although this accelerates the test and avoids the high requirements of the test device, it is still far from the contaminant concentration in the indoor environment, and adsorbents in practical application may show different capabilities. Therefore, this study compared several methods for predicting the adsorption performance of activated carbon and recommended a procedure based on the Wheeler–Jonas model to estimate the breakthrough curve at low concentrations using experimental data at high concentrations. The results showed that the Langmuir model and Wood–Lodewyckx correlation were the most suitable for obtaining the equilibrium adsorption capacity and mass transfer coefficient, which are critical parameters in the Wheeler–Jonas model. The predicted service life was derived from the breakthrough curve. A modification method based on a relationship with inlet gas concentration was proposed to reduce the prediction deviation of the service life. After modification, the maximum deviation was within two hours and the relative deviation was no more than 7%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies on Indoor Environment Quality in Sustainable Buildings)

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Open AccessArticle

Odor from Building Air Conditioners: Emission Characteristics, Odor Compounds and Influencing Factors

Jingjing Pei

and

Luyao Sun

Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1495; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021495 - 12 Jan 2023

Viewed by 664

Abstract

The odor generated by air conditioners is an important factor influencing the perceived air quality in buildings. In this study, different types of air conditioners and air filters were investigated to study the level of odor emission related to the operation state of the compressor, to identify the odor compounds and to analyze the cooling setpoint temperature on emitted odor intensity. Results show that the odor from constant frequency air conditioner use is periodic and stronger than that from variable frequency air conditioner use due to the different operation strategies of the compressor, which affect the evaporation of condensed water on the surface of the cooling coil. Ethyl acetate, acetic acid, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, acetaldehyde, hexanal, nonanal, toluene and n-hexane are identified as odor compounds by Odor Active Value (OAV), Gas Chromatography/Olfactory/Mass Spectrometry (GC/O/MS) and Flavornet methods. The higher cooling setpoint temperature would lead to stronger odor, due to greater release of hydrophilic odorous compounds from condensed water. In our opinion, reducing the residual condensed water in air conditioners may be the key to control odor emission before purification. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies on Indoor Environment Quality in Sustainable Buildings)

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Open AccessArticle

Indoor Environmental Quality Assessment Model (IEQ) for Houses

Felipe Quesada-Molina

and

Sebastián Astudillo-Cordero

Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1276; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021276 - 10 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 956

Abstract

Housing and its indoor environment influence its inhabitants’ comfort, productivity, and health. For this reason, it is becoming increasingly important to investigate the factors that affect indoor environmental quality. Thus, numerous sustainability assessment systems have been developed to evaluate building performance. This paper presents a model for evaluating the indoor environment of housing located in the Biobio region of Chile, integrating aspects that influence its overall quality. The research methodology proposes a strategy to identify appropriate evaluation criteria and contextualized standards. The application of the model made it possible to identify the level of performance of studio dwellings for each category, namely air quality, thermal comfort, acoustics, and lighting, as well as the overall evaluation of the IEQ. The results reflect that the lowest levels of performance in the three houses were with respect to the acoustic evaluation criteria, while the highest levels of performance were for the air quality evaluation criteria. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies on Indoor Environment Quality in Sustainable Buildings)

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