Indoor Air Quality Control Research Articles

Field measurement and estimation of ventilation flow rates by using train-induced flow rate through subway vent shafts

This study measured and estimated the subway vent shaft air flow rate induced by moving trains in the tunnel. This work estimated the flow rate via the tunnel structure and train movement to determine the quantitative effect of vent shafts as air purification systems of natural ventilation to improve the air quality management of a subway. The amount of air suctioned into the tunnel is significantly larger than that vented from the tunnel. Thus, placing vent shafts near subway stations is desirable for natural ventilation systems. Experimental approaches to measure train-induced flow rates have not yet been published. Results of this study provide useful fundamental data to study the natural ventilation in a subway. Therefore, this study suggested the significant design factors required to control indoor air quality in a subway.

보육시설에서 실내유해인자 관리를 위한 실내공기질 개선기술 적용사례

Daycare centers provide care for children, often infants, toddlers and some school age children. These centers provide opportunities for playing, eating and napping. As such, cleaning, disinfecting areas and indoor environment management is necessary to keep clean and safe for children; this is often required through regulations. Children breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults. Children are more vulnerable to environmental health risks than adults. Children are still developing, which means indoor pollutants exposure can affect them even more. Korea Indoor Air Quality Control in Public Use Facilities, Etc. Act says shall manage the facilities by satisfying the standards for maintenance of safe indoor air quality. However, Some daycare center are excluded from this act because their floor area is under <TEX>$430m^2$</TEX> by regulation, Maintenance and management of indoor air quality is very inadequate. So, the purpose of this study is to evaluate method of to improve and to apply control and management indoor air quality in uncontrolled daycare center. It selected 28 sites as uncontrolled daycare center and measured indoor air quality. The items of measurement as follow: carbon dioxide (<TEX>$CO_2$</TEX>), particle matter (<TEX>$PM_{10}$</TEX>), total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), formaldehyde (HCHO), total bacteria colony (TBC). Measurement site in day care center is classroom and living room where the children spent in activity and measurement time is in class. After appling technology, Two month later, it measured same mensuration. To determine which factors influence improvement indoor air quality, it analysed the measurement data by comparing before.

Microbiological Quality of Indoor Air in University Libraries

To evaluate the concentration of bacteria and fungi in the indoor environment of Jimma University libraries, so as to estimate the health hazard and to create standards for indoor air quality control. The microbial quality of indoor air of eight libraries of Jimma University was determined. The settle plate method using open Petri-dishes containing different culture media was employed to collect sample twice daily. Isolates were identified according to standard methods. The concentrations of bacteria and fungi aerosols in the indoor environment of the university libraries ranged between 367-2595 CFU/m(3). According to the sanitary standards classification of European Commission, almost all the libraries indoor air of Jimma University was heavily contaminated with bacteria and fungi. In spite of their major source difference, the average fungi density found in the indoor air of libraries did appear to follow the same trend with bacterial density (P=0.001). The bacteria isolates included Micrococcus sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Bacillus sp. and Neisseria sp. while Cladosporium sp., Alternaria sp., Penicillium sp. and Aspergillus sp. were the most isolated fungi. The indoor air of all libraries were in the range above highly contaminated according to European Commission classification and the most isolates are considered as potential candidates involved in the establishment of sick building syndromes and often associated with clinical manifestations like allergy, rhinitis, asthma and conjunctivitis. Thus, attention must be given to control those environmental factors which favor the growth and multiplication of microbes in indoor environment of libraries to safeguard the health of users and workers.

Effect of smoking and indoor air pollution on the risk of tuberculosis: smoking, indoor air pollution and tuberculosis.

Although epidemiological studies have reported an association between smoking and increases in tuberculosis, the relationship between indoor air pollution and risk of tuberculosis is not fully understood. A limited number of studies have suggested that smoking and indoor air pollution may play a role in the pathogenesis of tuberculosis. In this study, we investigated the effect of smoking and indoor air pollution on the risk of active tuberculosis. It is prospectively recorded age matched case-control study. Three hundred sixty two active tuberculosis cases and 409 healthy controls were included to the study. All participants were interviewed face to face by using a questionnaire including smoking habit, quantity and duration of smoking, number of room/person in the house, monthly income of the family, indoor heating system, and environmental tobacco smoke. Patients who smoke had a five fold (95% CI: 3.2-7.5, p< 0.0001) higher odds of having active tuberculosis compared with patients who do not smoke. Similarly, patients using coal or wood for indoor heating had a 1.6 fold (95% CI: 1.179-2.305, p< 0.003) higher odds having tuberculosis. People who have less income (< 200 Euro/month) had 3.2 fold (95% CI: 2.113-5.106, p< 0.0001) higher odds of having tuberculosis compared with people having high income. There was a significant correlation between heavy smoking (≥ 20 packet/year, p< 0.0001) and age onset of smoking (< 16 years of age, p< 0.041). There was no significant association between environmental tobacco smoke and tuberculosis. Smoking and indoor air pollution may increase the risk of tuberculosis. There is a complex interaction between smoking, socioeconomic conditions, indoor air quality and tuberculosis. Our results suggest that effective indoor air quality control could help to prevent tuberculosis risk.

Impact of Indoor Surface Materials and Environment on Perceived Air Quality

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.

정전기적 힘을 이용한 실내공기 미세부유먼지 제거 요소기술의 개발을 위한 기술별 시장현황 및 연구 동향 분석

본 연구에서는 실내공기 오염물질의 제어를 통하여 공기질을 개선 할 수 있는 요소기술의 개발을 위하여 최 근의 관련 기술 및 시장 현황을 살펴보고, 실내공기질 오염물질의 특성과 최근에 이루어진 연구를 바탕으로 실내공기 질 제어 기술의 특징 및 장·단점을 분석하였다. 적용기술에 따른 공기청정장치의 종류 중에는 현재 필터를 이용한 기 계식 여과기술 및 장치산업이 대부분을 차지하고 있으나, 최근에는 설치와 작동이 간편하고 에너지 효율과 기술의 적 용성도 좋은 전기전자식 기술이 주목받고 있으며 기계식 장치(5.5%), 이온화 장치(-0.3%), 오존청정(-0.5%) 등 다른 기 술에 비하여 향후 시장 발전가능성(성장률 6.3%)이 높은 것으로 분석되었다. 실내 공기질의 오염은 가스상의 VOCs와 입자상의 미세먼지들이 주 원인물질인데 특히 입자가 매우 작은 미세먼지들은 그 특성으로 인체 내부에 깊숙이 침투 하여 건강을 위협하고 가스상 오염물질과 반응하여 2차 오염물질을 낼 수 있어 근본적인 제어 기술이 필요하다. 전기 전자식 기술 중 유전영동 및 정전기력을 이용한 먼지 제어 기술은 전기적으로 미세먼지와 같은 입자를 부유시켜 제 어하는 기술로서 미세부유먼지에 많은 사람들이 노출될 수 있는 다중이용시설 등에 적용될 수 있으며 이를 위해 실 내 온도 및 습도, 대상물질의 수분 함량과 같은 주변 조건에 의한 부유먼지의 이동 특성이 함께 고려되어야 한다. 미 세 부유먼지를 효과적으로 제어할 수 있는 전기전자식 기술을 이용하여 다중이용시설 뿐 아니라 사무실 및 일반가정 등의 실내 공기질 개선을 위한 핵심기술로 발전할 수 있는 가능성이 높을 것으로 판단된다.

Status of PM in Seoul metropolitan subway cabins and effectiveness of subway cabin air purifier (SCAP)

The increasing importance of indoor air quality management on public transport led the Korean government to amend the indoor air quality control in public use facilities, etc. Act including modes of public transport under the Act from June 2013. Particulate matter (PM) in subway systems is reported as being mostly generated by friction—between the wheels and the rails, between the wheels and the brake pads, and between the catenaries and the pantographs. In order to reduce PM level in subway cabins, a newly developed subway cabin air purifier (SCAP) was installed on the ceilings of the cabins. In this study, we analyzed indoor PM concentrations through continuous measurement of PMs less than 10 μm in diameter (PM10) and PMs less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) in the cabins of line 2 and line 5 of the Seoul metropolitan subway network, comparing the concentrations in cabins where SCAP devices were installed to cabins without them in order to verify SCAP effectiveness. In both cabins with and without SCAP, the ratio of indoor to outdoor PM10 (I/O for PM10) showed a two-times higher value in line 5 than in line 2, which indicated that the entirely underground line 5 was less ventilated with outdoor air. In addition, the ratio of indoor PM2.5/PM10 showed that coarse mode PM was more abundant in line 5 due to poor ventilation in the tunnel sections compared to that of line 2. Regarding the effectiveness of SCAP, it was found that changes of PM10 concentrations in line 2 and line 5 were from 132.8 to 112.2 μg/m3 (15.5 % efficiency) and from 154.4 to 114.2 μg/m3 (26.0 % efficiency) after SCAP installation, respectively.

H2S photocatalytic oxidation over WO3/TiO2 Hombikat UV100

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a toxic, corrosive and malodorous compound with damaging effects even when present at a low concentration in air. Consequently, the development of efficient and environmentally friendly remediation technologies as an alternative to conventional techniques is justified for environmental reasons and public concern over human health and well-being. In the context of indoor air quality control, the use of photocatalysis over semi-conductor oxides could be a valuable alternative purification technology due to its wide-ranging effect and its easy way of implementation. The superiority of the TiO2 Hombikat UV100 photocatalyst in comparison with the Aeroxide© TiO2 P25 standard was already apparent in the UV-A photocatalytic oxidation of H2S. We report here on the first use of WO3/TiO2 UV100 photocatalysts for this reaction. Associating WO3 to TiO2 UV100 was not beneficial in terms of semiconductor coupling and of charge transfer between both phases. Even if such coupled wide band-gap oxide semi-conductor photocatalysts suffered from on-flow deactivation due to the formation of poisoning sulfates as ultimate reaction products continuously stored at the surface, by contrast, their ability to strongly lower and delay the release of SO2 to the gas phase was very positive for maintaining a weak selectivity into the unwanted SO2 by-product.

Distribution of Airborne Bacteria in Railway Stations in Tokyo, Japan

We performed the current study to (1) understand the distribution of culturable airborne bacteria over a one-year monitoring period, (2) confirm places in stations where airborne bacteria are highly detected, (3) understand the factors that affect concentrations of airborne bacteria and (4) compare the distributions of airborne bacteria and fungi in railway stations in Japan. Measurements of airborne bacteria were taken at stations A and B located in Tokyo. Station A had under- and above-ground concourses and platforms, whereas station B had spaces only above-ground. Airborne bacteria at each measurement position were collected with an air sampler on plate count agar media. After cultivation of the sampled media, the number of bacteria colonies was counted on each media. (1) Airborne bacteria were highly detected in the above-ground concourse in station A. Almost all the indoor-to-outdoor (I/O) ratios of concentrations of airborne bacteria in the above-ground concourse in station A were higher than one throughout the year and were especially high in summer. (2) The factor that affects the concentrations of airborne bacteria seems to be the number of railway customers, not humidity. (3) The characteristics of the distributions of airborne bacteria and fungi were different, even though they were sampled in the same stations on the same days. In the case of controlling indoor air quality of stations in the future, the locations in railway stations that would require control of indoor air quality differ between airborne bacteria or fungi, respectively.

Online monitoring and interpretation of periodic diurnal and seasonal variations of indoor air pollutants in a subway station using parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC)

Because indoor air pollutants are detrimental to public health, especially in public buildings or underground spaces, frequent monitoring of indoor air quality (IAQ) is necessary. IAQ undergoes seasonal and daily variations which are caused by anthropogenic emissions and weather conditions. Traditional IAQ monitoring methods, such as multiway principal component analysis (MPCA), which converts three-dimensional data of IAQ into one-dimensional data (a day) and two-dimensional data (IAQ variables by time) cannot capture the periodic characteristics of IAQ. In this paper, a new online monitoring and interpretation method of IAQ using parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) is developed. PARAFAC is capable of capturing hourly variations of IAQ dynamics as well as dealing with the seasonal variations of IAQ. The experimental results in a subway station showed that the proposed method provides more accurate online monitoring and a more physically meaningful interpretation of IAQ than other univariate and MPCA monitoring methods. When online monitoring of PARAFAC detects an abnormal measurement of IAQ, the source of the main air pollutants was identified based on a contributing plot of PARAFAC, which is a useful advantage that enables IAQ control through a subway ventilation system.

Perceived indoor air quality in modern office buildings in Finland

Perceived indoor air quality in modern office buildings in Finland Background: Indoor air quality has been identified as a significant determinant of health and comfort. Recent development of energy efficient buildings and corresponding tightening building regulations including requirements for sufficient ventilation and control of indoor air quality internationally and nationally potentially provide means for improvement. Aims: One of the objectives of the EU FP7 funded Officair project was to investigate indoor air quality and experienced health in modern office buildings that have been in use for 2-10 years. Methods: In Finland 19 office buildings in five cities (Kuopio, Joensuu, Mikkeli, Varkaus and Helsinki metropolitan area) were selected for the study and the employees working in these buildings participated in an online questionnaire on their health and indoor air quality. Results: 793 out of 4476 workers filled in the questionnaire. 72 % of them reported to experience some health problems and 41% out of them suspected the symptoms to be related to the office environment. The most common health problems reported were blocked or stuffy nose (39 %), dry eyes (35 %), dry skin (30 %), dry or irritated throat (27 %) and watering or itchy eyes (26 %). The most common problems related on the working environment were reported to be noise (45%) and too dry air (43%). The results indicate that sex, background disease diagnosed by a doctor, the geographical location of the office building, distance to a busy street and the type of the ventilation system are related on the prevalence of experienced health problems. Conclusions: The study provides up-to-date information on indoor air quality, office environment and experienced health problems in modern office buildings. This study is part of a European wide analysis of similar factors, allowing for a later comparison between climatological regions, building techniques and other relevant factors.

Air Stuffiness and Air Exchange Rate in French Schools and Day-Care Centres

A pilot survey was undertaken from September 2009 to June 2011 in 310 schools and day-care centres distributed in all regions of France including overseas departments. This experimental survey was carried out as part of the preparation of the mandatory control of indoor air quality in public buildings. Three parameters were measured in 896 classrooms or child playrooms: benzene, formaldehyde and carbon dioxide (CO2). The last enables the determination of degree of air ‘stuffiness’ during children occupancy as well as the night-time air change rate. The level of air stuffiness was represented by a score from 0 (no stuffy air) to 5 (extremely stuffy air), which depends on both the occurrence and intensity of CO2concentration. Moreover, a simple audit of each building was undertaken in order to describe its characteristics, the equipment, user behaviour and outdoor environment. Results show varying levels of air stuffiness from one room to another: low or no air stuffiness was recorded in 30% of rooms, medium to high air stuffiness in 48% of rooms, and very high to extreme air stuffiness in 21% of rooms. The air in day-care centres was generally found to be less stuffy than in schools, because of more favourable ventilation conditions and lower children density per square metre. At the opposite, the air in elementary schools was found to be generally more stuffy than in the other establishments. Air change rates were estimated from the decay of CO2 concentration by an automated method. The observed carbon dioxide values were low at a median level around 0.2 air changes per hour (ac/h) in day-care centres and 0.1 ac/h in nursery or elementary schools. Mechanical ventilation systems were installed in all the day-care centres and used for 60% of the time. They were also installed in the monitored nursery and elementary schools where they were used, on average, for 20% of the time. The most common mechanical systems were based on exhaust ventilation or balanced ventilation directly in the rooms.

Multi-objective optimization of indoor air quality control and energy consumption minimization in a subway ventilation system

Ventilation systems in subway stations have been mainly used to control indoor air pollutants. Conventional control systems using manual control or proportional integral derivative (PID) control are widely implemented without considering the energy cost. In this paper, a multi-objective optimization (MOO) which determines optimal set points of model predictive control (MPC) is developed to ensure healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) as well as to minimize energy consumption. First, three first-order plus time delay models are obtained by using the system identification method, which can be used to control the concentration of particulate matter (PM) at the platform. The input variable of the process model is the speed of the fan inverter and the other two disturbances are the train schedule and the concentration of outside PM10. Next, based on the understanding of IAQ dynamics, the MPC controller that provides optimal control actions is then developed in the D-station of the Korean subway. The multi-objective genetic algorithm with Pareto optimal objective is adopted to determine the optimal set points of the MPC. The results indicate that the performance of the proposed multi-objective optimization ventilation control is superior to that of manual control, both in terms of IAQ and energy savings.

Effect of water vapour condensation on the radon content in subsurface air in a hypogeal inactive-volcanic environment in Galdar cave, Spain

Fluctuations of trace gas activity as a response to variations in weather and microclimate conditions were monitored over a year in a shallow volcanic cave (Painted Cave, Galdar, Canary Islands, Spain). 222Rn concentration was used due to its greater sensitivity to hygrothermal variations than CO2 concentration. Radon concentration in the cave increases as effective vapour condensation within the porous system of the rock surfaces inside the cave increases due to humidity levels of more than 70%. Condensed water content in pores was assessed and linked to a reduction in the direct passage of trace gases. Fluctuations in radon activity as a response to variations in weather and microclimate conditions were statistically identified by clustering entropy changes on the radon signal and parameterised to predict radon concentration anomalies. This raises important implications for other research fields, including the surveillance of shallow volcanic and seismic activity, preventive conservation of cultural heritage in indoor spaces, indoor air quality control and studies to improve understanding of the role of subterranean terrestrial ecosystems as reservoirs and/or temporary sources of trace gases.

Evaluation of VOC emission and sorption characteristics of low-VOC adhesive-bonded building materials

To reduce the risk of indoor air pollution caused by synthetic building materials, low-volitile organic compounds (VOC) building materials, including adhesives, are commonly used in building construction. Although adhesives do not directly contact indoor air, they affect VOC mass transfer at the surface of finishing materials by diffusion. This study investigates VOC emission and sorption behaviors of building materials with low-VOC adhesives. Small chamber emission and sorption experiments were designed in parallel to field measurements to examine the onsite VOC emission and sorption rates of adhesive-bonded building materials. It was found that the onsite emission rates from a wallpaper composite (polyvinyl chloride wallpaper + paper adhesive + gypsum board) were higher than the emission rates detected in the small-scale chamber, which demonstrates the possible sorption effect of the wallpaper composite. The results of the sorption chamber experiment confirm that the wallpaper is a sorptive building material and that the bonding of wallpaper to gypsum board increases the sorption and re-emission rates. These results indicate that even though low-VOC adhesive-bonded materials are used, additional indoor air quality control techniques should be applied to minimize re-emission by sorption processes over long periods of time.

Preparation and properties of Ag-coated activated carbon nanocomposites for indoor air quality control

Activated carbon (AC) has been widely used in indoor air quality (IAQ) control for removal of hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A detrimental effect of this adsorption technology is that bacteria multiplied on AC may deteriorate IAQ. In this paper, antibacterial AC nanocomposites with well-dispersed silver nanoparticles (Ag/ACs) were prepared by the attachment of Ag+ on the functionalized AC surface via ion–dipole interactions and the subsequent in-situ reduction of Ag+. The surfaces and microporous structures of the obtained Ag/ACs were analyzed by means of scan electron microscope (SEM) and pore size surface area analysis. Antibacterial tests were performed using Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) as model bacteria. Antibacterial activity against airborne bacteria and toluene adsorption capacity of AC nanocomposites were further evaluated. It was found that the introduction of Ag nanoparticles significantly improves antibacterial effect of AC but slightly reduces toluene adsorption ability. Ag/ACs can efficiently kill bacteria within 100 min without decreasing adsorption ability toward toluene.

보육시설 급식실 실내공기에서 분리된 식중독 세균의 독소 유전자 및 독소 생산 특성

Objectives: This study was conducted in order to evaluate the microbiological contamination of the indoor air of the lunchrooms at child care centers and investigate the toxin genes and toxin production ability of food-borne pathogens. Methods: A total of 64 child care centers were sampled to test total aerobic bacteria, coliform bacteria, fungi, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Salmonella spp. according to the Korea Food Code. All toxin genes of pathogens were detected using the Polymerase Chain Reaction method. The Sthaph. aureus enterotoxin was detected by a Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin-reversed passive latex agglutination kit. The heamolysin BL (HBL) and non-heamolytic enterotoxin (NHE) produced by B. cereus were detected using a B. cereus enterotoxin-reversed passive latex agglutination kit and Bacillus diarrheal enterotoxin visual immunoassay kit, respectively. Results: The means of total aerobic bacteria and coliform bacteria were <TEX>$1.91{\pm}1.84$</TEX> log CFU/plate and <TEX>$0.47{\pm}0.62$</TEX> log CFU/plate, respectively. The mean of fungi also showed <TEX>$0.59{\pm}0.71$</TEX> log CFU/plate. Among the pathogenic bacteria tested in this study, Staphy. aureus and B. cereus were detected in four (6.3%) and 21 (32.8%) out of 64 indoor air samples from lunchrooms in child care centers, respectively. All Staphy. aureus tested in this study possessed no toxin genes and did not produce enterotoxin. The detection rate of nheABC, hblCDA, entFM and ces toxin gene in B. cereus was 100, 57.1, 76.2 and 0%, respectively. B. cereus isolates were classified into four groups according to the presence or absence of toxin genes. The nheABC gene was the major toxin gene among B. cereus tested in this study. The HBL was detected in 11 out of 21 B. cereus isolates (52.4%) and three B. cereus isolates produced NHE (14.3%). Conclusion: The results indicated that the contamination by microorganisms in the indoor air of lunchrooms was unqualified to supply safe catering in child care centers. The ongoing control of indoor air quality is required.

An Overview of Extreme Hot Weather Incidents and the Role of Natural Ventilation in Buildings on Human Body Comfort

It is still difficult to confirm from available data if global warming and climate changes have played a role in increasing heat-related injuries. However, it is certain that global warming can increase the frequency and intensity of heat waves, which can cause discomfort to the human body and, in the worst case, can lead to more heat illness casualties. Recent worldwide natural disasters, such as the Tohoku earthquake in Japan, flooding in Thailand, and the Pakistan heat wave show that climate change is truly a fact. Heat-related deaths resulting from climate change are becoming increasingly serious around the world as such abnormal weather phenomena have occurred each year in the past decade causing a large number of deaths, particularly of the elderly. The nation of Japan faced a huge problem in energy shortage after the Fukushima nuclear explosion. Various energy-saving strategies were adopted to combat hot weather during the following summer in Japan. Passive cooling through natural ventilation is deemed to be one of the most effective strategies against the shortage of energy and hot weather. This paper gives an overview of some extreme hot weather incidents worldwide and discusses the important role of natural ventilation from three different aspects: energy shortage, indoor air quality control and human body comfort. A current human thermoregulation study being carried out in Japan is also described.

건축자재에 의한 실내 오존제거 및 제어에 대한 고찰

Recently, residents have been spending almost 90% of their time indoors, which presents a higher risk from inhalation of pollutants than when spending time outdoors. Therefore, controlling indoor air quality became important. It is reported that the lung diseases and mortality for occupants are increased when there is high density of ozone which is one of the pollutants among the indoor air. In addition, the reactions between ozone and building materials produce VOCs and formaldehyde. The studies to eliminate the ozone by building materials have been actively investigated. However, ozone removal and secondary pollutants from ozone reactions with building materials have not been reported in Korea. For this reason, the aim of this study is to introduce ozone removal by HVAC filters, various building materials, and eco-friendly building materials including the quantity of secondary pollutant emissions.

Indoor Air Quality Monitoring Improving Air Quality Perception

AbstractEnergy‐efficient ventilation strategies relating to good indoor air quality (IAQ) are a major task for building performance according to the requirements set by the energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD) in 2010. Applying demand‐controlled ventilation (DCV) in buildings, using sensors for IAQ control that enables variable airflow rates adapted to the actual indoor load conditions is one possibility to fulfill the requirements of adequate IAQ while reducing the energy consumption at the same time. CO2 concentrations above outdoors are generally used as an indicator for occupancy generated indoor air pollution and corresponding ventilation rates. The objective of this study is focused on a micromachined metal oxide semiconductor gas sensor module developed for IAQ control, based on volatile organic compound (VOC) detection. The sensor output was correlated with measured CO2 concentrations and quantified VOCs in 15 field scenarios. Energy demand and IAQ, applying the sensor module for DCV in an office, were compared to natural and time‐scheduled ventilation in the office. The study accentuates the need for DCV and proves the functionality of the sensor module for IAQ control at adequate comfort levels. Compared to time‐scheduled ventilation, 15% heating energy and 70% power consumption were saved with DCV.