Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
IT & Zero Energy Architecture Center, College of Architecture, Myongji University, Yongin, Republic of Korea.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Sep 1;785:147324. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147324. Epub 2021 Apr 26.
Despite the growing interest in energy-efficient homes (EEHs), there is still a lack of evidence regarding whether the mechanical ventilation system of an EEH positively or negatively impacts indoor air quality (IAQ) and the health and wellbeing of occupants. This study aimed to evaluate the IAQ level and daily health symptoms of adults and children living in EEHs compared to conventional buildings over the course of one year. A two-way mixed analysis of variance was conducted to compare the level of IAQ between the two housing types. A binomial generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) and generalized additive mixed model was developed to investigate the association between IAQ and daily risks of symptoms. Differences in the daily prevalence of symptoms between the two housing types were assessed using a Poisson GLMM model. Overall, the indoor concentrations of particulate matter (PM and PM), carbon dioxide (CO), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were lower in EEH after controlling for seasonality. The indoor temperature and relative humidity level were relatively constant in the EEH. We also found that an increased level of indoor air quality parameters, particularly CO which is closely related to the indoor ventilation rate, was associated with the daily risk of eye fatigue, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis symptoms. Considering that EEH effectively reduced indoor air pollutants and IAQ improvement was associated with a reduction in the risk of individual symptoms, the IAQ improvement of EEH may have positively impacted occupants' health. Symptoms such as eye fatigue and skin dryness, which have been reported in previous studies as potential side effects of mechanical ventilation, were reported in this study; however, they were not found to be statistically significantly different from those reported in the conventional building.
尽管人们对节能住宅（EEH）越来越感兴趣，但关于 EEH 的机械通风系统是否对室内空气质量（IAQ）以及居住者的健康和福祉产生积极或消极影响，仍缺乏证据。本研究旨在评估与传统建筑相比，居住在 EEH 中的成年人和儿童在一年内的 IAQ 水平和日常健康症状。采用双向混合方差分析比较两种住房类型的 IAQ 水平。建立二项广义线性混合模型（GLMM）和广义加性混合模型，研究 IAQ 与日常症状风险之间的关联。使用泊松广义线性混合模型（GLMM）评估两种住房类型之间日常症状发生率的差异。总体而言，在控制季节性因素后，EEH 室内的颗粒物（PM 和 PM）、二氧化碳（CO）和挥发性有机化合物（VOC）浓度较低。EEH 室内的温度和相对湿度水平相对稳定。我们还发现，室内空气质量参数水平的升高，特别是与室内通风率密切相关的 CO，与眼疲劳、过敏性鼻炎和特应性皮炎症状的日常风险有关。考虑到 EEH 有效地降低了室内空气污染物，并且 IAQ 的改善与个体症状风险的降低有关，因此 EEH 的 IAQ 改善可能对居住者的健康产生了积极影响。本研究报告了一些症状，如眼疲劳和皮肤干燥，这些症状在之前的研究中被报道为机械通风的潜在副作用，但与传统建筑中报告的症状没有统计学上的显著差异。
