Literature review on field study of ventilation and indoor air quality performance verification in high- performance commercial buildings in North America

Published

March 31, 2017

Author(s)

Steven Emmerich, Kevin Y. Teichman, Andrew Persily

Abstract

In this paper, we summarize the results of field studies to evaluate the ventilation and indoor air quality (IAQ) performance in high-performance commercial (non-industrial, non-residential) buildings in North America. We show that the number of such studies is small and that the ventilation and IAQ measurements performed vary widely. For example, none of the studies measured ventilation rates, though one study used measured carbon dioxide concentrations to estimate these rates. Similarly, the suite of indoor pollutants measured, which generally included some measure of particulate matter and total volatile organic compounds, rarely included measurements of biological contaminants, semi-volatile organic compounds, or ozone. We discuss previously published concepts for documenting IAQ in high-performing buildings during design, construction and commissioning, and after occupancy, and conclude more complete and uniform studies are needed on the economic, environmental, and health implications of ventilation and IAQ in commercial buildings.

Citation

Science and Technology for the Built Environment

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1080/23744731.2016.1274627

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Keywords

Commercial buildings, sustainable buildings, indoor air quality, field study

Citation

Emmerich, S. , Teichman, K. and Persily, A. (2017), Literature review on field study of ventilation and indoor air quality performance verification in high- performance commercial buildings in North America, Science and Technology for the Built Environment, [online], https://doi.org/10.1080/23744731.2016.1274627, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=921113 (Accessed April 24, 2026)

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