New Methodology to Evaluate and Optimize Indoor Ventilation Based on Rapid Response Sensors

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 24; no. 5; p. 1657
• Main Authors: Durán Del Amor, María Del Mar, Baeza Caracena, Antonia, Esquembre, Francisco, Llorens Pascual Del Riquelme, Mercedes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 04.03.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: ACH; Aerosols; air changes per hour; Air pollution; Control systems; COVID-19; Disease transmission; Energy consumption; Energy efficiency; Evaluation; Green buildings; HVAC; Indoor air quality; Internet software; Methods; Mortality; Outdoor air quality; Pollutants; rapid response sensors; Respiratory diseases; RRS; Sensors; Test methods; Tracers (Chemistry); Ventilation; Viruses; Spain; RRS; indoor air quality; rapid response sensors; air changes per hour; ACH; ventilation
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s24051657

The recent pandemic increased attention to the need for appropriated ventilation and good air quality as efficient measures to achieve safe and healthy indoor air. This work provides a novel methodology for continuously evaluating ventilation in public areas using modern rapid response sensors (RRS). This methodology innovatively assesses the ventilation of a space by combining a quantitative estimation of the real air exchange in the space-obtained from CO experimental RRS measurements and the characteristics of and activity in the space-and indoor and outdoor RRS measurements of other pollutants, with healthy recommendations from different organisations. The methodology allows space managers to easily evaluate, in a continuous form, the appropriateness of their ventilation strategy, thanks to modern RRS measurements and direct calculations (implemented here in a web app), even in situations of full activity. The methodology improves on the existing standards, which imply the release of tracer gases and expert intervention, and could also be used to set a control system that measures continuously and adapts the ventilation to changes in indoor occupancy and activity, guaranteeing safe and healthy air in an energy-efficient way. Sample public concurrence spaces with different conditions are used to illustrate the methodology.