Indoor air quality assessment of Latin America's first Passivhaus home

Moreno-Rangel, Alejandro and Musau, Filbert and Sharpe, Tim and McGill, Gráinne (2021) Indoor air quality assessment of Latin America's first Passivhaus home. Atmosphere, 12 (11). 1477. ISSN 2073-4433 (https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12111477)

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Abstract

Sustainable building design, such as the Passivhaus standard, seeks to minimise energy consumption, while improving indoor environmental comfort. Very few studies have studied the indoor air quality (IAQ) in Passivhaus homes outside of Europe. This paper presents the indoor particulate matter (PM2.5), carbon dioxide (CO2), and total volatile organic compounds (tVOC) measurements of the first residential Passivhaus in Latin America. It compares them to a standard home in Mexico City. Low-cost monitors were installed in the bedroom, living room, and kitchen spaces of both homes, to collect data at five-minute intervals for one year. The physical measurements from each home were also compared to the occupants’ IAQ perceptions. The measurements demonstrated that the Passivhaus CO2 and tVOC annual average levels were 143.8 ppm and 81.47 μg/m3 lower than the standard home. The PM2.5 in the Passivhaus was 11.13 μg/m3 lower than the standard home and 5.75 μg/m3 lower than outdoors. While the results presented here cannot be generalised, the results suggest that Passivhaus dwellings can provide better and healthier indoor air quality in Latin America. Further, large-scale studies should look at the indoor environmental conditions, energy performance, and dwelling design of Passivhaus dwellings in Latin America.

  • Item type:Article
    ID code:78450
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    8 November 2021
    Published
    8 November 2021
    Published Online
    3 November 2021
    Accepted
    Subjects:Technology > Building construction
    Department:Faculty of Engineering > Architecture
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:08 Nov 2021 13:46
    Last modified:18 Apr 2024 00:30
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/78450
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