Supplementing Ventilation with Gas-phase Air Cleaning, Implementation and Energy Implications

There is an increasing number of publications related to gas-phase air cleaning worldwide that is paralleled with an increasing sale of gas-phase air cleaning products. But there are no good reference documents and/or standards allowing evaluation and rating of the performance of these products. Consequently, there is a need for verifying their influence on indoor air quality and whether their use will influence the comfort, well-being and health of building occupants. At the same time standardization of testing of gas-phase air cleaners is urgently needed. Because gas-phase air cleaners are expected to improve indoor air quality and will thus have similar effect as increased ventilation it is important to learn to which extent the process of air cleaning can supplement and/or substitute ventilation with respect to improving air quality. Using gas-phase air cleaners may reduce energy use for ventilation in buildings and this impact must be quantified as well. In many parts of the world the outdoor air quality is so bad that it is not recommended to use it for ventilation. In these cases gas phase air cleaning may be an interesting alternative. The proposed work will address these issues and will focus on how the gas-phase air cleaning affects the perceived air quality which is the main parameter today used to prescribe ventilation rates in buildings; particle filtration will not be considered. The annex will also demonstrate performance of gas-phase air cleaners through measurements in-situ.