Impact of Indoor Surface Materials and Environment on Perceived Air Quality

Abstract

Nowadays maintaining indoor air quality becomes top priority for owners, designers, building managers and occupants. The building materials and environment combination have direct or indirect impact on perceived indoor air quality. It is difficult today to achieve good air quality because there are many new materials, furnishings, products and processes used in the buildings that are potential source of contaminations and pollutants. Some pollutants can be predicted through biological monitoring that offers a viable alternative to measure exposure of pollutants in air. The knowledge of probable building material and environment effects on indoor air quality can be used in the interior design phase. The paper demonstrates the method maintaining indoor air quality control for human health and role of different indoor plant species like Spider plant, Golden phothos, Lady Palm, Boston fern, Snake plants to improve the air quality. Moreover critical evaluation of techniques also demonstrate the significant decrease in the concentration of some toxic materials such as formaldehyde, benzene and carbon-monoxide,carbon dioxide, ammonia, Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone by using indoor plants.