Handbook of domestic ventilation

Contents Foreword ix Acknowledgements xi 1 Introduction 1 2 Indoor issues and health implications (and ventilation requirements) 5 2.1 Introduction 5 2.2 The need for ventilation 5 2.3 Water vapour 6 2.4 Mould growth 7 2.5 House dust mites 14 2.6 Carbon monoxide 18 2.7 Carbon dioxide 20 2.8 Nitrogen oxides 21 2.9 Other combustion by-products 22 2.10 Volatile organic compounds 22 2.11 Formaldehyde 25 2.12 Subsoil gases 26 2.13 Indoor temperatures 30 References 42 3 Prediction techniques 45 3.1 Assessment of ventilation requirements 46 3.2 The prediction of ventilation rates 72 References 95 4 Measurement techniques 97 4.1 Introduction 97 4.2 Tracer gas techniques 97 4.3 Site monitoring 100 4.4 Air leakage testing 101 4.5 DC fan pressurisation 101 4.6 AC pressurisation 112 References 112 5 Ventilation strategies for dwellings 115 5.1 Trickle ventilators and other purpose-provided openings 115 5.2 Passive stack ventilation 118 5.3 Passive stack system design 129 5.4 Comparison of means of extraction 132 5.5 Improvements on the basic PSV system 132 5.6 Mechanical extract fans 135 5.7 Assessment of extract fan performance 136 5.8 Mechanical ventilation and heat recovery 137 5.9 Variations on MVHR 140 5.10 The calculation of true efficiency values for mechanical ventilation with heat recovery 144 References 149 6 Specialist ventilation strategies 153 6.1 Ventilation in pitched roof spaces 153 6.2 Control of condensation in cold pitched-roofs 157 6.3 Sub-floor ventilation 162 6.4 Wall cavity ventilation 162 6.5 Control of landfill gas ingress 163 6.6 Control of radon gas ingress 169 6.7 Differences between radon and landfill gas control measures 173 6.8 Flats 173 6.9 Noise control and ventilation 181 References 188 7 Regulations and standards 191 7.1 Building Regulations 191 7.2 Building Regulations for England and Wales: Approved Documents relating to ventilation 196 7.3 Building Regulations in Northern Ireland 224 7.4 Scotland 226 7.5 British Standards 231 vi Contents 7.6 European aspects 234 References 236 8 Domestic ventilation: future trends 239 8.1 Needs 239 8.2 Technical 241 8.3 Legislation 243 8.4 Conclusions 248 References 249 Index 251