CONTAM User Guide and Program Documentation Version 3.2

Published

September 4, 2015

Author(s)

William S. Dols, Brian J. Polidoro

Abstract

This manual describes the computer program CONTAM version 3.2 developed by NIST. CONTAM is a multizone indoor air quality and ventilation analysis program designed to help you determine: airflow rates and pressures – infiltration, exfiltration, and room-to-room airflow rates and pressure differences in building systems driven by mechanical means, wind pressures acting on the exterior of the building, and buoyancy effects induced by temperature differences between zones including the outdoors; contaminant concentrations – the dispersal of airborne contaminants transported by these airflow rates and transformed by a variety of processes including chemical and radio-chemical transformation, adsorption and desorption to building materials, filtration, deposition to and resuspension from building surfaces; and/or personal exposure – the prediction of exposure of building occupants to airborne contaminants for eventual risk assessment

Citation

Technical Note (NIST TN) - 1887

Report Number

1887

Issue

1

NIST Pub Series

Technical Note (NIST TN)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1887

Keywords

airflow analysis, building controls, building technology, co-simulation, computer program, contaminant dispersal, controls, energy use, indoor air quality, multizone analysis, smoke control, smoke management, ventilation

Citation

Dols, W. and Polidoro, B. (2015), CONTAM User Guide and Program Documentation Version 3.2, Technical Note (NIST TN), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1887 (Accessed May 23, 2025)