Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds from Several Green and Non-Green Building Materials: A Comparison

Abstract

Sources that release gaseous or particulate pollutants into the air are an important cause of indoor air quality problems in residential and non-residential buildings. Source reduction, such as selection of non- or low-emitting building materials (“green” products) and cleaning solvents is a common method of remedying indoor air pollution problems. In this study, we measured and compared the volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from 3 groups of green materials and counterpart non-green materials (Trex© decking wood vs. pressure treated decking wood, ceramic floor tile vs. vinyl flooring, water-based paint vs. oil-based paint and wood stain) using a small-scale environmental chamber under controlled environmental conditions. Samples of the chamber air were collected in sampling tubes and analysed by thermal desorption GC/FID. A mass transfer-based emission model and an empirical model were applied to the dry and “wet” materials respectively to further assimilate the results. The experimental data show that the 4 non-green materials all contained hazardous VOCs. The amounts of VOCs emitted from the non-green materials were also far more than their counterparts. The results of the experiments provide a quantitative comparison of the environmental impacts of materials with the same or similar functionality.