Department of Occupational Health and Environment, Center for Primary Care and Public Health, Unisanté, University of Lausanne, CH-1066 Epalinges, Switzerland.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 16;19(6):3538. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19063538.
Improving the energy efficiency of buildings is a major target in developed countries toward decreasing their energy consumption and CO emissions. To meet this target, a large number of countries have established energy codes that require buildings to be airtight. While such a retrofitting approach has improved health outcomes in areas with heavy traffic, it has worsened the health outcomes in Nordic countries and increased the risk of lung cancer in areas with high levels of radon emissions. This review highlights the importance of adapting the characteristics of energy-efficient residential buildings to the location, age, and health of inhabitants to guarantee healthy indoor pollutant levels. The implementation of mechanical ventilation in new energy-efficient buildings has solved some of these problems; however, for others, a decrease in the level of outdoor pollutants was still required in order to achieve a good indoor air quality. A good balance between the air exchange rate and the air humidity level (adapted to the location) is key to ensuring that exposure to the various pollutants that accumulate inside energy-efficient buildings is low enough to avoid affecting inhabitants' health. Evidence of the protective effect of mechanical ventilation should be sought in dwellings where natural ventilation allows pollutants to accumulate to threatening levels. More studies should be carried out in African and Asian countries, which, due to their rapid urbanization, use massive volumes of unproven/unrated building materials for fast-track construction, which are frequent sources of formaldehyde and VOC emissions.
提高建筑物的能源效率是发达国家减少能源消耗和二氧化碳排放的主要目标。为了实现这一目标，许多国家都制定了能源法规，要求建筑物具有气密性。虽然这种改造方法改善了交通繁忙地区的健康状况，但在北欧国家却使健康状况恶化，并增加了高氡排放地区的肺癌风险。这篇综述强调了根据建筑物所在地、居民年龄和健康状况来调整节能住宅建筑特征的重要性，以保证室内污染物水平处于健康状态。在新的节能建筑中采用机械通风已经解决了其中的一些问题；然而，对于其他问题，仍需要降低室外污染物水平，以实现良好的室内空气质量。在确保节能建筑内积累的各种污染物的暴露水平足够低以避免影响居民健康的前提下，需要在空气交换率和空气湿度水平（适应所在地）之间取得良好的平衡。在那些允许污染物积聚到威胁水平的自然通风住宅中，应寻求机械通风的保护作用的证据。应在非洲和亚洲国家开展更多的研究，这些国家由于快速城市化，大量使用未经证实/未经评级的建筑材料进行快速建设，这些材料是甲醛和 VOC 排放的常见来源。
