O' Donovan Adam, O' Sullivan Paul D
Department of Process, Energy and Transport Engineering, Munster Technological University (Cork Campus), Rossa Avenue, Bishopstown, Cork, Ireland.
MaREI Centre for Energy, Marine and Climate, Ireland.
J Build Eng. 2023 Jun 1;68:106044. doi: 10.1016/j.jobe.2023.106044. Epub 2023 Feb 4.
There is a continued need to improve the energy (and by extension carbon) performance of the existing building stock in Europe and globally. Recent experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic have demanded even more of the built environment disciplines when it comes to air quality and ventilation rates particularly in teaching environments which are seen as necessary developmental sectors for the learning of the population. As such it is important that these spaces are safe for students and staff where, until now, infectious disease risk assessments were not typical. In addition to this, there is a risk that envelope refurbishment (which is critical for energy performance) without the provision of adequate ventilation may lead to high-risk scenarios for occupants in university spaces and additional measures may be required. This study presents a design stage risk assessment methodology and applies this to evaluate different retrofitted ventilation approaches combined with additional control measures for a lecture room environment. A real case study lecture room in Ireland was used to demonstrate the methodology for evaluating the airborne infectious disease risk (using the Wells-Riley model) under different ventilation approaches (natural and mechanical), infiltration rates (existing and upgraded), class sizes and times, mask efficiencies as well as the use of an air cleaner. The methodology that was adopted was shown to be flexible and capable of considering a wide range of different retrofit and user specific combinations. The results from the evaluation indicate a wide range in event specific reproductive numbers, however, the use of a well-designed natural or mechanical ventilation system was seen as significant in stabilising or suppressing virus transmission and reducing the likelihood of highly reproductive events. It was found that combinations of measures with ventilation were the most effective at suppressing reproductive numbers. It is recommended that during known pandemics (in the short-term) infectious control strategies should use filtration (through masks or air cleaners) and adequate ventilation. Long-term refurbishment strategies should consider the provision of hybrid ventilation systems which integrate key energy saving measures (such as heat recovery and demand-controlled ventilation), virus control (such as HEPA filtration) and low energy cooling solutions (such as passive cooling).
在欧洲乃至全球范围内,持续需要提高现有建筑存量的能源(进而碳)性能。新冠疫情的近期经历使得建筑环境学科在空气质量和通风率方面面临更多要求,尤其是在教学环境中,教学环境被视为民众学习的必要发展领域。因此,确保这些空间对学生和教职员工安全至关重要,而在此之前,传染病风险评估并不常见。除此之外,如果在进行围护结构翻新(这对能源性能至关重要)时未提供足够的通风,可能会给大学空间的居住者带来高风险情况,可能需要采取额外措施。本研究提出了一种设计阶段风险评估方法,并将其应用于评估不同的改造通风方法以及针对讲堂环境的附加控制措施。爱尔兰的一个实际案例讲堂被用于演示该方法,以评估在不同通风方法(自然通风和机械通风)、渗透率(现有和升级后)、班级规模和时间、口罩效率以及空气净化器使用情况下的空气传播传染病风险(使用威尔斯 - 莱利模型)。所采用的方法显示出灵活性,能够考虑广泛的不同改造和用户特定组合。评估结果表明特定事件的繁殖数范围很广,然而,设计良好的自然通风或机械通风系统在稳定或抑制病毒传播以及降低高繁殖事件的可能性方面被视为具有重要意义。研究发现,通风与其他措施相结合在抑制繁殖数方面最为有效。建议在已知疫情期间(短期内),传染病控制策略应采用过滤(通过口罩或空气净化器)和充足的通风。长期翻新策略应考虑提供混合通风系统,该系统整合关键的节能措施(如热回收和需求控制通风)、病毒控制(如高效空气过滤器过滤)和低能耗冷却解决方案(如被动冷却)。