Systematic Framework for Quantitative Assessment of Indoor Air Quality Under Future Climate Scenarios; 2100s Projection of a Belgian Case Study

Abstract

Alteration of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) levels in the context of changing climate is correlated with shifting air pollutant emissions, variations in ambient climate, and the mitigation/adaptation strategies applied in buildings to deal with increasing extreme weather events and energy demands. In this study, firstly, a systematic modeling-based framework for the quantitative assessment of the impacts of future building retrofit and climate scenarios on IAQ is presented. After describing the framework, its practical implementation in a demonstrative case study is presented. The proposed framework includes three main parts: i) IAQ measurements, ii) IAQ model design, and iii) future IAQ state evaluation. Regarding the case study, fabricated indoor monitoring devices (O3, CO, NO, NO2, PM2.5, PM10, VOCs, air temperature, relative humidity, and air pressure) based on Low-Cost Sensors were developed, and calibrated with reference analyzers. An indoor measurement campaign was conducted in a naturally ventilated residential building (+2 exhaust fans) in the Wallonia region, south of Belgium (summer of 2021). An IAQ model was designed in the multizone IAQ and ventilation software, CONTAM. The validation and calibration processes were carried out with the aid of experimental data from the indoor measurement campaign. The calibrated IAQ model showed a total conformity of +95% from the average concentration perspective. Finally, predicted future outdoor air pollution and indoor and outdoor climate data of the case study were fed to the IAQ model (basis-year 2021), and indoor contaminant levels under different climate scenarios were quantitatively assessed till 2100.