An integrated approach to indoor contaminant modeling

Good indoor air quality is essential to ensure adequate internal environmental conditions, avoiding possible problems related to health, productivity, and comfort of individuals inhabiting a building. In order to appraise internal contaminant levels, taking into account sources, sinks, and transport of pollutants from the outside and throughout a building, an indoor contaminant behavior prediction method was developed using coupled thermal and mass flow simulation. The developed approach was validated against analytical, inter-model, and empirical results. It was shown that an integrated approach within a building performance simulation environment was necessary because situations exist in which assessment of just one domain does not give an accurate depiction of reality. This paper describes why it is important to take a global look at contaminant behavior. It was found that significant errors could occur if spatial and temporal temperature variations are not included in the prediction of contaminant levels.