IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v132y2020ics1364032120303841.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mould growth in energy efficient buildings: Causes, health implications and strategies to mitigate the risk

Author

Listed:
  • Brambilla, Arianna
  • Sangiorgio, Alberto

Abstract

Today, buildings still account for almost half of the global energy consumption and carbon emission. This highlights the necessity to increase energy efficiency requirements worldwide in a common effort to reduce the construction sector's impacts on the environment. The current energy policies are driving toward a design that relies on airtight and highly insulated envelopes. As a consequence, energy efficient houses are found to have insufficient indoor air change rates, impacting on the indoor air quality and resulting in higher latent loads. The increased indoor humidity, coupled with the rising trend to use bio-based construction materials, can easily support mould growth and facilitate indoor organic proliferation. It has been estimated that the proportion of buildings damaged by mould is 45% in Europe, 40% in the USA, 30% in Canada and 50% in Australia, highlighting the extent of this issue. Beyond the economic loss due to the remediation works needed to rectify a buildings degradation due to fungi, mould also has significant adverse health effects on the building occupants. Data show that the occurrence of asthmatic symptoms is higher in new energy efficient buildings with low ventilation rate. This paper investigates the effects of building sustainably on the indoor environment in relation to the risk of mould growth. Favourable conditions for growth, causes of growth, effects on health as well as possible solutions are addressed. The conclusions are a step forward toward a more precise and detailed comprehension of mould growth to support policymakers and promote sustainable housing standards.

Suggested Citation

  • Brambilla, Arianna & Sangiorgio, Alberto, 2020. "Mould growth in energy efficient buildings: Causes, health implications and strategies to mitigate the risk," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:132:y:2020:i:c:s1364032120303841
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2020.110093
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032120303841
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110093?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roberts, Simon, 2008. "Effects of climate change on the built environment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4552-4557, December.
    2. Mendell, M.J. & Smith, A.H., 1990. "Consistent pattern of elevated symptoms in air-conditioned office buildings: A reanalysis of epidemiologic studies," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 80(10), pages 1193-1199.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alexander Rieser & Rainer Pfluger & Alexandra Troi & Daniel Herrera-Avellanosa & Kirsten Engelund Thomsen & Jørgen Rose & Zeynep Durmuş Arsan & Gulden Gokcen Akkurt & Gerhard Kopeinig & Gaëlle Guyot &, 2021. "Integration of Energy-Efficient Ventilation Systems in Historic Buildings—Review and Proposal of a Systematic Intervention Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, February.
    2. Hélène Niculita-Hirzel, 2022. "Latest Trends in Pollutant Accumulations at Threatening Levels in Energy-Efficient Residential Buildings with and without Mechanical Ventilation: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-12, March.
    3. Xueyan Zhang & Jingyi Liang & Beibei Wang & Yang Lv & Jingchao Xie, 2020. "Indoor Air Design Parameters of Air Conditioners for Mold-Prevention and Antibacterial in Island Residential Buildings," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-16, October.
    4. Eleonora Laurini & Mariangela De Vita & Pierluigi De Berardinis, 2021. "Monitoring the Indoor Air Quality: A Case Study of Passive Cooling from Historical Hypogeal Rooms," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, April.
    5. Lisa Coulburn & Wendy Miller, 2022. "Prevalence, Risk Factors and Impacts Related to Mould-Affected Housing: An Australian Integrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-26, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bessa, Vanessa M.T. & Prado, Racine T.A., 2015. "Reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by solar water heating systems and passive technologies in social housing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 138-150.
    2. Roberts, Simon, 2008. "Altering existing buildings in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4482-4486, December.
    3. World Bank, 2017. "Brazil’s INDC Restoration and Reforestation Target," World Bank Publications - Reports 28588, The World Bank Group.
    4. Roshan, Gh.R. & Orosa, J.A & Nasrabadi, T., 2012. "Simulation of climate change impact on energy consumption in buildings, case study of Iran," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 731-739.
    5. Dowson, Mark & Poole, Adam & Harrison, David & Susman, Gideon, 2012. "Domestic UK retrofit challenge: Barriers, incentives and current performance leading into the Green Deal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 294-305.
    6. Huang, Kuo-Tsang & Hwang, Ruey-Lung, 2016. "Future trends of residential building cooling energy and passive adaptation measures to counteract climate change: The case of Taiwan," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1230-1240.
    7. Hughes, Caroline & Natarajan, Sukumar & Liu, Chunde & Chung, Woong June & Herrera, Manuel, 2019. "Winter thermal comfort and health in the elderly," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    8. Pacheco, Miguel & Lamberts, Roberto, 2013. "Assessment of technical and economical viability for large-scale conversion of single family residential buildings into zero energy buildings in Brazil: Climatic and cultural considerations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 716-725.
    9. Stahel Serano Bibang Bi Obam Assoumou & Li Zhu & Clement Francis Deng, 2023. "A Conceptual Framework for Achieving Sustainable Building Through Compressed Earth Block: a Case of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso," Circular Economy and Sustainability,, Springer.
    10. Wang, Xiaoxin & Kendrick, Christopher & Ogden, Raymond & Walliman, Nicholas & Baiche, Bousmaha, 2013. "A case study on energy consumption and overheating for a UK industrial building with rooflights," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 337-344.
    11. Arce, Pablo & Medrano, Marc & Gil, Antoni & Oró, Eduard & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2011. "Overview of thermal energy storage (TES) potential energy savings and climate change mitigation in Spain and Europe," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(8), pages 2764-2774, August.
    12. Mingran Mao & Chunzao Feng & Junxian Pei & Huidong Liu & Haifeng Jiang, 2023. "A Triple-Layer Membrane with Hybrid Evaporation and Radiation for Building Cooling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-11, March.
    13. Mohammed K. Fageha & Alaa Alaidroos, 2022. "Performance Optimization of Natural Ventilation in Classrooms to Minimize the Probability of Viral Infection and Reduce Draught Risk," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-23, November.
    14. Saari, Arto & Kalamees, Targo & Jokisalo, Juha & Michelsson, Rasmus & Alanne, Kari & Kurnitski, Jarek, 2012. "Financial viability of energy-efficiency measures in a new detached house design in Finland," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 76-83.
    15. Flora Maria Díaz-Pérez & Carlos Gustavo García-González & Alan Fyall, 2021. "Accommodation, Seasonality and Domestic Tourism to National Parks: Implications for Environmental Policy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-26, April.
    16. Sally S. Shahzad & John Brennan & Dimitris Theodossopoulos & Ben Hughes & John Kaiser Calautit, 2016. "Building-Related Symptoms, Energy, and Thermal Control in the Workplace: Personal and Open Plan Offices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-20, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:132:y:2020:i:c:s1364032120303841. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.