Abstract
The climate characteristics of the islands in the Nansha Islands of China are a typical marine climate including high temperature, high relative humidity, high salt content, strong solar radiation, and long sunshine. These can provide suitable conditions for mold reproduction on the surface of the wall in a building. Therefore, mildew pollution on the wall for a long time can easily damage the building’s structure. It does not only directly affect the appearance of the building, but also indirectly affects the indoor environment and human health. In this paper, dominant fungi in the residential buildings on thee Nansha Islands of China are Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Cladosporium. Critical lines of temperature and relative humidity for mould growth on the interior surfaces of island residential building envelopes have been given and discussed. The results show that the risk of mould growth on the wall with different materials, from low to high, is reinforced concrete, aerated concrete block, coral aggregate, brick, and wood. Furthermore, in order to prevent the room regulated by air conditioner from being contaminated by mould, indoor air temperature should be set variable and controlled between 26 °C and 28 °C, the relative humidity should be changed between 50% and 80%.
Highlights
Several hundred species of fungal and bacterial can usually be found in indoor environments [1,2]
On the other hand, existing studies have shown that respiratory tract infections, asthma, dermatitis and other allergies, and even infectious diseases can be caused by exposure to or the inhalation of mold and its metabolites for a long time, as confirmed by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the World Health Organization (WHO) [3,4,5]
Mold growth is affected by many factors such as air temperature, relative humidity, pH value, and operation of the air conditioner
Summary
Moisture accumulation can lead to mold growth on the surface of building envelopes. Mold spores are generated inside a room and on the surface of the walls of different building materials, and can be transferred by the flowing air and the activities of personnel. The structure of building envelopes can be damaged by mold growth, which could cause a dark color or obvious color change on the surface of the wall. In Northern Europe and North America, according to the estimation, 20% to 40% of buildings are contaminated by indoor mold [6], which has a significant impact socially and economically [7,8]. Costs related to indoor mold pollution have been estimated by the United States and Scandinavia, where the results show that annual
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