Premium
Estimation of bias with the single‐zone assumption in measurement of residential air exchange using the perfluorocarbon tracer gas method
Author(s) -
Van Ryswyk K.,
Wallace L.,
Fugler D.,
MacNeill M.,
Héroux M. È.,
Gibson M. D.,
Guernsey J. R.,
Kindzierski W.,
Wheeler A. J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
indoor air
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.387
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 1600-0668
pISSN - 0905-6947
DOI - 10.1111/ina.12171
Subject(s) - indoor air quality , tracer , environmental science , air quality index , atmospheric sciences , meteorology , geography , environmental engineering , geology , physics , nuclear physics
Residential air exchange rates ( AER s) are vital in understanding the temporal and spatial drivers of indoor air quality ( IAQ ). Several methods to quantify AER s have been used in IAQ research, often with the assumption that the home is a single, well‐mixed air zone. Since 2005, H ealth C anada has conducted IAQ studies across C anada in which AER s were measured using the perfluorocarbon tracer ( PFT ) gas method. Emitters and detectors of a single PFT gas were placed on the main floor to estimate a single‐zone AER ( AER 1z ). In three of these studies, a second set of emitters and detectors were deployed in the basement or second floor in approximately 10% of homes for a two‐zone AER estimate ( AER 2z ). In total, 287 daily pairs of AER 2z and AER 1z estimates were made from 35 homes across three cities. In 87% of the cases, AER 2z was higher than AER 1z . Overall, the AER 1z estimates underestimated AER 2z by approximately 16% ( IQR : 5–32%). This underestimate occurred in all cities and seasons and varied in magnitude seasonally, between homes, and daily, indicating that when measuring residential air exchange using a single PFT gas, the assumption of a single well‐mixed air zone very likely results in an under prediction of the AER .