Influence of indoor air quality (IAQ) objectives on air-conditioned offices in Hong Kong.
It is costly to sample all air pollutants of a general community. Air sampling should be conducted based on a practical assessment strategy and monitoring plan. In Hong Kong, the Environmental Protection Department (HKEPD) launched an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) certification scheme to grade workplace IAQ as 'Excellent' or 'Good' by measuring the levels of nine common indoor air pollutants, namely carbon dioxide (CO(2)), carbon monoxide (CO), respirable suspended particulates (RSP), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), ozone (O(3)), formaldehyde (HCHO), total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), radon (Rn), and airborne bacteria count (ABC). Although average office IAQ performance has been improved since the implementation of this certification scheme, there are still resource issues and technical difficulties. To streamline the assessment of office IAQ performance, this study proposes a simple index of IAQ benchmarks formulated in compliance with the HKEPD requirements. In particular, three of the nine listed common air pollutants were selected as the 'representatives' for the overall satisfactory IAQ. Together with the assessment results of 422 Hong Kong air-conditioned offices, the index was evaluated in terms of test sensitivity, specificity and predictive values. Proved to be feasible to describe the IAQ of some air-conditioned offices, this IAQ index would be a useful tool for policymakers, building owners and professionals to quantify IAQ performance in offices and to make decisions on resources and manpower management for efficient mitigation actions.
Hui
Pui-Shan
PS
Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Mui
Kwok-Wai
KW
Wong
Ling-Tim
LT
D000389:Air Conditioning; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000032:analysis*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure; D017132:Workplace
D000393:Air Pollutants; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational