• Title/Summary/Keyword: Interior air quality

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Characterization of Volatile Organic Compounds Emission from Interior Materials of Railway Passenger Cabin (철도차량용 내장재의 휘발성유기화합물 방출특성 분석)

  • Cho, Young-Min;Park, Duck-Shin;Kwon, Soon-Bark;Park, Eun-Young
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.182-187
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    • 2008
  • The environmental significance of indoor air quality is gaining more attention. Especially, the contamination of indoor air by volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) has become a serious environmental concern. We investigated the VOCs emissions from some interior materials used in the conventional railway passenger cabin. The seat cover and the flooring of cabins were used as testing materials, and they were put in a clean environmental chamber. The temperature and relative humidity was kept at $25{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ and $50{\pm}5%$, respectively. It was found that these interior materials emitted significant amount of VOCs under constantly ventilated condition. The flooring emitted more halogenated VOCs than the seat cover, because it is made of PVC, which contains many chlorine atoms. However, the emission gradually decreased over time. Because the VOCs emission from interior materials may threaten the health of passengers in the cabin, interior materials emitting less VOCs should be used.

A Study on Indoor Environmental Quality Evaluation in Apartment Buildings - Focus on Apartment Buildings in USA - (공동주택에서의 실내환경의 질 평가에 관한 연구 - 미국 공동주택 사례를 중심으로 -)

  • Yoon, Sung-Hoon
    • Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.79-87
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    • 2009
  • Residential Buildings should provide high-quality, comfortable environments to support the activities of their occupants. The indoor environment of residential buildings, which includes thermal, lighting, acoustic, and indoor air quality, has a significant impact on health and quality of life. The comfortable living environment in residential buildings result from appropriately combining these environmental quality factors, and the performance of building systems must be compatible with the activities of the occupants. The objective of this research is to investigate and analyze the relationship between physical environmental conditions and occupant responses for improving environmental quality (EQ) in apartment buildings with four different building orientations (i.e. E, W, S, N) in two different seasons (i.e. winter and summer). The occupant survey was conducted in actual apartment buildings. The Physical environmental conditions in apartment buildings differed substantially depending on space, outdoor weather conditions and building orientations. Each space within the same apartment building had different environmental conditions. Combinations of unbalanced physical environmental conditions in apartment building decrease occupants' satisfactions and their perceptions of overall residential quality. Occupants' satisfaction and their responses to physical characteristics of their residential environment is related to thermal, lighting, acoustic, and indoor air conditions in their buildings. The result from this research will help designers and researchers to identify problems and develop solutions for improving environmental quality from the occupants' point of view.

Influence of the Variations of Functional-Interior Factors on Study-rooms in Apartment (공동주택의 공부방에 대한 기능성 인테리어 요소 구현과 영향 분석)

  • Kim, Sang-Min;Kim, Soo-Young
    • Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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    • v.22 no.5
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    • pp.314-321
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    • 2010
  • This study examines the influence of functional interior factors on the variation of indoor environment to propose proper elements for planning studyrooms. Several factors that should be included in planning stages of the rooms are discussed to apply appropriate conditions for a pilot study. Field measurements and survey were performed in actual apartment buildings. The influence of lighting, thermal and acoustical conditions on comfort levels were examined.

Influence of Interior Design Elements on Spatial Satisfaction and Preference for Coffeeshop Space (커피전문점의 실내디자인 요소 변화에 따른 공간 만족도 분석)

  • Choi, You-Jin;Lee, Ji-Hyun;Kim, Soo-Young
    • Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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    • v.24 no.4
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    • pp.364-375
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    • 2012
  • This study investigates the effects of interior design elements on the satisfaction and preference for space. Field measurements and surveys were conducted in three coffeeshops where various interior design elements were applied. Results indicate that movable tables and chairs for two people were preferred in the space. They need to be placed flexibly according to the visitors' needs to improve satisfaction for convenience. To improve spatial satisfaction, the brightness of color applied to wall surfaces was recommended to be lower than that of color used for floor surfaces. The surfaces of space and interior design elements such as furniture also need to be kept clean. Lamps with lower color temperature were effective to enhance spatial satisfaction. Light sources should be shielded when a pendant lighting system with general diffuse type was used in space. Natural daylight through window was also required for better satisfaction level. Multiple linear regression implied that the cozy feeling by electric light, existence of daylight, flexible layouts for tables and chairs, color and quality of material for tables and floor were significant contributors to overall spatial satisfaction.

A Study on the Improvement and Environment-friendly Interior Space Planning of High-rise Residences in Korea - focuesd on the case analysis by environment-friendly architectural certification - (국내 초고층 주거의 친환경적 실내 공간 계획 및 개선방안 연구 - 친환경 건축 인증 제도에 의한 사례 분석을 중심으로 -)

  • Kim, Ja-Kyung
    • Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.23-33
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    • 2008
  • After the concept of apartments was introduced in 1960s in Korea, on account of the development of architectural technology and science, high-rise residences in Korea are getting higher, and these residences have been becoming high-rise commercial/residential buildings since 1990. Nowadays, as the construction of high-rise commercial residential building complex is booming, the difference between these complex and high-rise apartments is getting smaller, and these two kind of high-rise residences are becoming new residential style in Korea. And these high-rise residences are considered the symbol of wealth owing to the marketing strategy emphasizing high quality, refined interior, a fair view, and the protection of privacy. However, high-rise residences bring about many problems related to health and psychology caused by the consumption of a large amount of energy, pollutant emission, the deterioration of the quality of indoor air, and vibration. For this reason, in this study, we tried to emphasize the necessity of environment-friendly access to provide healthy living environment and to reduce the negative effect of housing life in high-rise residences, and find the method to improve environment-friendly quality and health of residents in interior space. Therefore, this study aims to detect the problems and the items to be improved of interior spaces of high-rise residences by quantitative, qualitative analysis of the evaluation elements and the floor planning elements deduced from environment-friendly architectural certification in Korea and the other countries, and suggest the guideline to improve the environment-friendly quality of these interior spaces.

Characteristics of VOCs Emission According Interior Finish Materials and Working Phases of New Apartments (신축 아파트의 실내 마감재 변경 및 시공단계별 휘발성유기화합물 발생 특성)

  • Pang, Seung-Ki;Cho, Woo-Jin;Sohn, Jang-Yeul
    • Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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    • v.18 no.6
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    • pp.486-492
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    • 2006
  • In this research, IAQ is measured to evaluate the emission performance of VOCs in three new apartment houses finished by totally EFMs (Environmental Friendly Material), partially installed EFMs and general materials. Among various VOCs, Target pollutants for the IAQ measurement are benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, xylene, 1,4-Dichlorobenzene and formaldehyde. The measurement is conducted one day after each interior finishing material is worked over by construction schedule. The result of this research concluded that (1) Except toluene, the concentration levels of each pollutant did not exceed the national IAQ standards in all test residences, (2) As the interior finishing work schedule, A toluene level peaked when the furniture installing was ended. (3) The toluene concentration level of the house installed general interior materials as the non-EFMs furniture was one and half higher than other houses. Consequently, installing. the furniture made by EFMs is one of effective methods to improve the IAQ for new apartment houses.

The Effect of Ventilation on VOCs Emission rate during the Bake-out Procedure in Newly Constructed Apartments (신축 공동주택에서 베이크 아웃 시 환기 조건에 따른 마감재에서의 방출량 저감 효과)

  • Park, Dong-Sun;Sohn, Jang-Yeul
    • Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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    • 2008.06a
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    • pp.708-713
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    • 2008
  • Various kinds of contaminant are generated from many kinds of interior construction materials, furniture and life articles. People of today living indoor most of the time are exposed to these kinds of contaminant. In this connection, people are exerting their efforts to reduce the occurrence of contaminant from the interior finish materials. And it is the actual condition that research is being actively made on the method of reducing contaminant by performing bake-out for newly constructed housings. Bake-out is the method of temporarily increasing the generation of the harmful contaminant quantity including VOCs and Formaldehyde emitting from construction materials or finish materials by increasing the interior temperature of the newly constructed buildings or improved or repaired buildings, and then removing it by mobilizing ventilation system. In this study, the researcher measured the effect of reduced concentration according to ventilation or non-ventilation of the newly constructed but not yet resident public housings during the bake-out in order to grasp the effect of reduced interior air contaminant according to the elapse of timeat the time of bake-out.

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Studies on Effects of Interior Plantscaping as Related to the Air Ions (공기이온으로 본 실내녹화 효과에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Tae-Soon
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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    • v.6 no.3
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    • pp.1-8
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    • 2003
  • This study was carried out in order to investigate of effects of environmental conditions which influence negative ions development. Negative ions are nature' most powerful air-cleaning agents, are created by nature, and found at their most optimal levels where the air is most pure and healthy. Negative ions are regarded as one of the important factors which indicate the quality of the air. Therefore, the focus of this study was to clear relationship among negative ions development induced by plant cultivar and environmental conditions such as air temperature, light intensity and relative humidity. As the results of this study, it was found that negative ions development was promoted during the period with plants compared to the period without plants. In Particular, negative ions development was high under air temperature $20^{\circ}C$, relative humidity 90% and dark condition. Temperature and humidity factors on this experiment was strongly affected on negative ions development, but light intensity had almost slight effect. It was shown that these results can contribute to the application of environmental control techniques to negative ions. Among plant cultivar of Spathiphyllum spp. Mentha spicata, and Cupressu arizonica, Mentha spicata was higher negative ions than the other plants, and also the leaves were higher than the stems and roots. The effect of plants on the perception of the inte끼r air quality may, therefore, be one explanation of this results about negative ions. on the other hand, it seems that a green indoor environment might be an increase in general well-being due to the plants.

Evaluation of Air Quality Inside Passenger Car with Operating Air Quality System (공기질 조절장치 작동 승용차 내부의 공기질 평가)

  • 조완근;박건호
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.7 no.5
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    • pp.573-580
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    • 1998
  • This study examined the carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) pollution inside vehicles under low ventilation condition and evaluated the Air Quality System (AQS) for in-vehicle air quality using two techniques. The low ventilation condition is not recommended in order to keep oxygen-rich condition inside vehicles. Under the low ventilation condition, the in-vehicle $CO_2$ concentrations exceeded 1,000 ppm, the air qualify guidelines in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, indicating more oxygen deficiency inside vehicles. On the contrary, with the AQS-on condition, the in-vehicle $CO_2$ concentrations were less than 1,000 ppm fer most of the driving time, indicating that the AQS could solve the problem of $CO_2$ accumulation inside vehicles under the low ventilation condition. The AQS test conducted by comparing carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations inside two vehicles indicated that the AQS effectively decreased the in-vehicle concentrations by 21 to 36%, as compared to medium ventilation condition with the windows closed, the vent opened, and air conditioning on. In addition, The AQS test conducted by comparing the interior and exterior concentrations indicated that the AQS effectively decreased the in-vehicle concentrations by 18 to 31%, as compared to medium ventilation condition.

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