Journal
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
Volume 47, Issue -, Pages 368-372Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2011.07.001
Keywords
Cost-benefit analysis; Economizer; Health; Office; Ventilation rate; Work performance
Funding
- Indoor Environments Division, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [DW-89-92224401]
- U. S. Department of Energy [DW-89-92224401, DE-AC02-05CH11231]
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This paper provides quantitative estimates of benefits and costs of providing different amounts of outdoor air ventilation in U.S. offices. For four scenarios that modify ventilation rates, we estimated changes in sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms, work performance, short-term absence, and building energy consumption. The estimated annual economic benefits were $13 billion from increasing minimum ventilation rates (VRs) from 8 to 10 Lis per person, $38 billion from increasing minimum VRs from 8 to 15 L/s per person, and $33 billion from increasing VRs by adding outdoor air economizers for the 50% of the office floor area that currently lacks economizers. The estimated $0.04 billion in annual energy-related benefits of decreasing minimum VRs from 8 to 6.5 L/s per person are very small compared to the projected annual costs of $12 billion. Benefits of increasing minimum VRs far exceeded energy costs while adding economizers yielded health, performance, and absence benefits with energy savings. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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