Ventilation of buildings, the exchange of “fresh” outdoor air for polluted indoor air, is important for health and comfort. An insufficient supply of outdoor air means higher concentrations of indoor generated pollutants. There is evidence that lower air change rates can negatively affect human health. However, the focus in science during the last 40 years has been on minimizing energy use, with relatively little attention given to ventilation and its relation to health. Available reports from large scale studies of ventilation rates in residential buildings in China, to the best of our knowledge, are next to zero. 

Recently, Associate Professor Yuexia Sun, from School of Environmental Science and Engineering, is performing a China, Children, Homes and Health (CCHH) study to obtain detailed information on ventilation rates in homes. An important article “Air change rates at night in northeast Chinese homes” is published by Building and Environment (top journal in Civil Engineering). This article provides firstly a database on ventilation rates in homes in China. It shows that during the whole year approximately 71% of homes at night had a ventilation rate lower than National Standard (i.e., 0.5 h？1). Most homes only have infiltration. This article makes an alarm for the public, media and government to reconsider the association of energy saving, indoor air quality and occupants’ health in homes.

By: Sun Yuexia, School of Environmental Science and Engineering

Editors: Qin Mian and Keith Harrington