Mechanical Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality in Recently Constructed U.S. Homes in Marine and Cold-Dry Climates Data from Building America Project
Data were collected to characterize whole-house mechanical ventilation (WHMV) and indoor air quality (IAQ) in 55 homes in the Marine climate of Oregon and Cold-Dry climate of Colorado in the U.S. Sixteen homes were monitored for two weeks, with and without WHMV operating. Ventilation airflows; airtightness; time-resolved CO2, PM2.5 and radon; and time-integrated NO2, NOX and formaldehyde were measured. Participants provided information about IAQ-impacting activities, perceptions and ventilation use. All homes had operational cooktop ventilation and bathroom exhaust. Thirty homes had equipment that could meet the ASHRAE 62.2-2010 standard with continuous or controlled runtime and 34 had some WHMV operating as found. Thirty-five of 46 participants with WHMV reported they did not know how to operate it, and only half of the systems were properly labeled. Two-week homes had lower formaldehyde, radon, CO2, and NO (NOX-NO2) when operated with WHMV; and also had faster PM2.5 decays following indoor emission events. Overall IAQ satisfaction was similar in Oregon and Colorado, but more Colorado participants (19 vs. 3%) felt their IAQ could be improved and more reported dryness as a problem (58 vs. 14%). The collected data indicate that there are benefits of operating WHMV, even when continuous use may not be needed because outdoor pollutant concentrations are low and indoor sources do not present substantial challenges.
Complete Metadata
| @type | dcat:Dataset |
|---|---|
| accessLevel | public |
| bureauCode |
[
"019:20"
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| contactPoint |
{
"fn": "Haoran Zhao",
"@type": "vcard:Contact",
"hasEmail": "mailto:haoranzhao@lbl.gov"
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| dataQuality |
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| description | Data were collected to characterize whole-house mechanical ventilation (WHMV) and indoor air quality (IAQ) in 55 homes in the Marine climate of Oregon and Cold-Dry climate of Colorado in the U.S. Sixteen homes were monitored for two weeks, with and without WHMV operating. Ventilation airflows; airtightness; time-resolved CO2, PM2.5 and radon; and time-integrated NO2, NOX and formaldehyde were measured. Participants provided information about IAQ-impacting activities, perceptions and ventilation use. All homes had operational cooktop ventilation and bathroom exhaust. Thirty homes had equipment that could meet the ASHRAE 62.2-2010 standard with continuous or controlled runtime and 34 had some WHMV operating as found. Thirty-five of 46 participants with WHMV reported they did not know how to operate it, and only half of the systems were properly labeled. Two-week homes had lower formaldehyde, radon, CO2, and NO (NOX-NO2) when operated with WHMV; and also had faster PM2.5 decays following indoor emission events. Overall IAQ satisfaction was similar in Oregon and Colorado, but more Colorado participants (19 vs. 3%) felt their IAQ could be improved and more reported dryness as a problem (58 vs. 14%). The collected data indicate that there are benefits of operating WHMV, even when continuous use may not be needed because outdoor pollutant concentrations are low and indoor sources do not present substantial challenges. |
| distribution |
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{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Publication",
"format": "110480",
"accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2023.110480",
"mediaType": "application/octet-stream",
"description": "Report detailing the project for more information. "
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Additional Information for BAIAQ Dataset.docx",
"format": "docx",
"mediaType": "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document",
"description": "Additional information about the Building America Indoor Air Quality (BAIAQ) dataset contained in this submission. Includes funding and contributions, acknowledgements, data collection methods, usage notes, and a description of each directory contained in the BAIAQ dataset.",
"downloadURL": "https://data.openei.org/files/5845/readme.docx"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Building America IAQ Data.zip",
"format": "zip",
"mediaType": "application/zip",
"description": "The dataset contains the most relevant information collected about the houses and their mechanical equipment, results of the participant survey, results of air leakage and airflow measurements at the homes, pollutant concentrations measured by time-integrated passive samplers inside and outside of the home, usage of cooktop and oven, external door and window open state, and time-series or air pollutants and environmental indicators measured within and outside of the apartments.
See Additional Information for BAIAQ Dataset.docx for data collection methods, usage notes, and a description of each directory contained in the BAIAQ dataset.",
"downloadURL": "https://data.openei.org/files/5845/BAIAQ_PNNL_20230322.zip"
}
]
|
| DOI | 10.25984/1971379 |
| identifier | https://data.openei.org/submissions/5845 |
| issued | 2023-03-22T06:00:00Z |
| keyword |
[
"Building America",
"Carbon dioxide",
"Fine particulate matter",
"Formaldehyde",
"Home performance",
"IAQ",
"IAQ satisfaction",
"Ventilation standards",
"WHMV",
"air quality",
"buildings efficiency",
"chemistry",
"energy analysis",
"field study",
"home ventilation",
"indoor air quality",
"kitchen ventilation",
"mechanical ventilation",
"nitrogen oxides",
"occupant activity",
"residential",
"whole house mechanical ventilation",
"whole-house"
]
|
| landingPage | https://data.openei.org/submissions/5845 |
| license | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| modified | 2025-10-08T15:25:30Z |
| programCode |
[
"019:000",
"019:002"
]
|
| projectNumber | FY22 AOP 1.1.1.19 |
| projectTitle | Building America Program |
| publisher |
{
"name": "Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory",
"@type": "org:Organization"
}
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|
| title | Mechanical Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality in Recently Constructed U.S. Homes in Marine and Cold-Dry Climates Data from Building America Project |
