Long-term indoor gas pollutant monitor of new dormitories with natural ventilation

Abstract

New furniture and wood-based decoration are the major sources of gas pollutant in indoor environments. Ventilation is the most straightforward approach to eliminate the indoor gaseous pollution. There were many studies investigating the VOC emission characteristics of various building materials, but people still can’t answer the question that how long should we ventilate for an acceptable indoor concentration level in the real life. This study monitors the long-term gas pollutant concentration of 14 new student dormitory rooms with newly furnitured beds, desks and closets. The formaldehyde, TVOC, and ammonia concentrations were measured, the concentration of detected composition of VOCs was listed, and the decay rate under natural ventilation was analyzed. To determine the natural ventilation rate, the traditional tracer gas method and fast VOC decay method were compared, then a quick ventilation rate method was proposed. The VOC emission rate from the furniture was also measured at different times during the whole testing period. As the field measurement has many un-controlled factors, a small single room model was built and furnitured with corresponding loading amount of furniture board materials. The influence of furniture density, supplier and room location on VOC emission rates was also analyzed.