Field study on measuring indoor air quality in certified green-rated urban Indian residences
Rajat Gupta*, Yuanhong Zhao
Low Carbon Building Research Group, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
DOI: 10.62744/CATE.45273.1189-057-065
Email: rgupta@brookes.ac.uk
Abstract:
India has the second largest registered green building footprint in the world, however, there is growing recognition that green building rating and certification systems do not always ensure better indoor air quality (IAQ) over conventional buildings. Moreover, residents spend a substantial fraction of their lives indoors, yet IAQ in homes has been studied far less than air quality outdoors, especially in urban India. To verify the actual IAQ performance of green-rated buildings built to sustainability standards, this study uses a socio-technical building performance evaluation (BPE) approach to empirically assess daily trends and variations in IAQ parameters measured across a sample of twelve green-rated urban Indian residences (high-income group) co-located in an apartment complex in Delhi. Using internet-enabled Airveda devices, time-series monitoring data at 30? intervals were gathered for indoor temperature, relative humidity, CO2, PM2.5 and PM10 for 7 days during the summer season when air conditioning was prevalent. Contextual data about the physical and social aspects of residences were gathered using household surveys. Results were compared against the recommended ISHRAE and WHO standards to observe any deviations. Given the paucity of empirical data, an online interactive dashboard (RIAQ) for visualising IAQ in green-rated homes was developed to enable further research.
Keywords: Indoor Air Quality, Post-Occupancy Evaluation, Green-rated Residences, Visualization