Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Wu, Huai-Wen
• Kumar, Prashant
• Cao, Shi-Jie

Titel

Evaluation of ventilation and indoor air quality inside bedrooms of an elderly care centre

Ist Teil von

• Energy and buildings, 2024-06, Vol.313, p.114245, Article 114245

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• [Display omitted] •Ventilation and air quality play crucial roles in affecting the elderly’s health.•Stratum ventilation can effectively improve air quality in ECC bedrooms.•Contaminant removal by SV was 2.58, 3.22 and 2.12 times higher than MV, DV, and ZV.•SV reduced health risks by 46.3%, 53.7%, and 41.7% compared to MV, DV, and ZV.•Privacy of the elderly was important and need to be considered in ventilation design. Ventilation and indoor air quality are important factors that affect the health of the elderly. The purpose of this study was to find effective ventilation design measures for improving ventilation and air quality in typical two-bed bedrooms in elderly care centres (ECCs). Mixing ventilation (MV), displacement ventilation (DV), zone ventilation (ZV) and stratum ventilation (SV) were analysed with twelve scenarios to find the most effective ventilation design solutions including six scenarios with curtains between the beds and six scenarios without curtains between the beds. Airflow distribution, CO2 concentration, ventilation efficiency and health risk assessment were adopted for discussion. SV was found to be an effective method for improving air quality in the ECC bedroom while also taking into account the needs and rights of elderly residents, such as privacy. Comparing scenarios with and without curtains between beds under same types of ventilation, scenarios without curtains showed a slight (≤8%) decrease in CO2 concentration in the pillow area. However, this could increase virus transmission risk and compromise elderly privacy, so it is not recommended. Regarding the scenarios with curtains between the beds, the contaminant removal efficiency (CRE) of scenarios using SV was increased by 2.58, 3.22 and 2.12 times compared to the scenarios using MV, DV, and ZV respectively. Additionally, the health ratio (HR) of SV was reduced by 46.3 %, 53.7 %, and 41.7 %. Hence, it is recommended to install curtains between the beds and apply SV in ECC bedrooms. This study can be used as a guide for systematically designing ventilation systems in ECC bedrooms. Furthermore, collaboration among environmental engineers, designers, policymakers, and the wider community is essential to develop sustainable indoor environments for the elderly.