IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v358y2024ics0306261923019128.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can portable air cleaners reconcile conflicting needs for open-door/window autonomy and indoor air quality for occupants in densely populated offices?

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Yiqun
  • Fan, Yujie
  • Wei, Yuan
  • Liu, Mingqi
  • Xu, Bin
  • Ye, Wei

Abstract

Conventional wisdom advises keeping windows and doors closed in air-conditioned or mechanically-ventilated space. However, this guideline often proves challenging in high-occupancy offices, where the constant influx and egress of individuals, coupled with a strong inclination toward open windows, trigger occupant-induced ventilation (OV) that can affect indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy consumption. To address this, we explored using portable air cleaners (PACs) as a cost-effective ventilation strategy to replace mechanical ventilation (MV) while maintaining IAQ and respecting occupant freedom. We conducted a single-blind trial in a 100 m2 office in Shanghai from December 2020 to March 2021, measuring 857 h of indoor and outdoor temperatures, CO2 and PM2.5 concentrations, and occupant behaviors. We obtained 618 valid subjective responses and conducted a 14-day test to measure possible by-products, such as O3, formaldehyde, and VOCs, during the operation of PACs. The results showed that, first, although MV achieved 2–3 times higher air change rates than PACs, indoor CO2 concentrations remained below 1000 ppm, the commonly accepted threshold, using PACs in the presence of OV. Second, PACs effectively reduced PM2.5 levels during outdoor PM2.5 peaks. Third, occupants' perceived IAQ did not differ between the use of PACs and MV (p>0.05), although individuals with PACs in the afternoon reported slightly increased sleepiness (p<0.05). Fourth, in the presence of OV, PACs demonstrated significant energy-saving potential in improving IAQ. Our study showed PACs can be a cost-effective method to replace MV while maintaining IAQ and preserving occupant freedom.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Yiqun & Fan, Yujie & Wei, Yuan & Liu, Mingqi & Xu, Bin & Ye, Wei, 2024. "Can portable air cleaners reconcile conflicting needs for open-door/window autonomy and indoor air quality for occupants in densely populated offices?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 358(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:358:y:2024:i:c:s0306261923019128
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.122548
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261923019128
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.122548?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. Zhang, Sheng & Ai, Zhengtao & Lin, Zhang, 2021. "Novel demand-controlled optimization of constant-air-volume mechanical ventilation for indoor air quality, durability and energy saving," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    2. Ioannis Tzoutzas & Helena C. Maltezou & Nikolaos Barmparesos & Panagiotis Tasios & Chrysanthi Efthymiou & Margarita Niki Assimakopoulos & Maria Tseroni & Rengina Vorou & Fotios Tzermpos & Maria Antoni, 2021. "Indoor Air Quality Evaluation Using Mechanical Ventilation and Portable Air Purifiers in an Academic Dentistry Clinic during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-12, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Zhang, Sheng & Liu, Jun & Zhang, Xia & Wang, Fenghao, 2024. "Properly shortening design time scale of medium-deep borehole heat exchanger for high building heating performances with high computational efficiency," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    2. Farah Shoukry & Rana Raafat & Khaled Tarabieh & Sherif Goubran, 2024. "Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation Energy in University Classrooms: Simplified Model to Predict Trade-Offs and Synergies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-27, March.
    3. Su, Wei & Ai, Zhengtao & Liu, Jing & Yang, Bin & Wang, Faming, 2023. "Maintaining an acceptable indoor air quality of spaces by intentional natural ventilation or intermittent mechanical ventilation with minimum energy use," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    4. Lei Li & Yilin Zheng & Shaojun Ma, 2022. "Indoor Air Purification and Residents’ Self-Rated Health: Evidence from the China Health and Nutrition Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-17, May.
    5. Zhang, Sheng & Liu, Jun & Wang, Fenghao & Chai, Jiale, 2023. "Design optimization of medium-deep borehole heat exchanger for building heating under climate change," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    6. Simon Li, 2023. "Review of Engineering Controls for Indoor Air Quality: A Systems Design Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-46, September.
    7. Li, Bingxu & Wu, Bingjie & Peng, Yelun & Cai, Wenjian, 2022. "Tube-based robust model predictive control of multi-zone demand-controlled ventilation systems for energy saving and indoor air quality," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    8. Paolo Capparè & Raffaele D’Ambrosio & Renato De Cunto & Atanaz Darvizeh & Matteo Nagni & Enrico Gherlone, 2022. "The Usage of an Air Purifier Device with HEPA 14 Filter during Dental Procedures in COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Clinical Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-11, April.
    9. Sinha, Anshuman & Thakkar, Harshul & Rezaei, Fateme & Kawajiri, Yoshiaki & Realff, Matthew J., 2022. "Reduced building energy consumption by combined indoor CO2 and H2O composition control," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    10. Pouranian, Fatemeh & Akbari, Habibollah & Hosseinalipour, S.M., 2021. "Performance assessment of solar chimney coupled with earth-to-air heat exchanger: A passive alternative for an indoor swimming pool ventilation in hot-arid climate," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    11. Moghadam, Talie T. & Ochoa Morales, Carlos E. & Lopez Zambrano, Maria J. & Bruton, Ken & O'Sullivan, Dominic T.J., 2023. "Energy efficient ventilation and indoor air quality in the context of COVID-19 - A systematic review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    12. Maria Antoniadou & Georgios Chrysochoou & Rafael Tzanetopoulos & Elena Riza, 2023. "Green Dental Environmentalism among Students and Dentists in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-24, June.
    13. Li, Chunxiao & Cui, Can & Li, Ming, 2023. "A proactive 2-stage indoor CO2-based demand-controlled ventilation method considering control performance and energy efficiency," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    14. Stephan Zellmer & Ella Bachmann & Anna Muzalyova & Alanna Ebigbo & Maria Kahn & Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann & Roland Frankenberger & Fabian M. Eckstein & Thomas Ziebart & Axel Meisgeier & Helmut Messmann , 2021. "One Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Dental Medical Facilities in Germany: A Questionnaire-Based Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-11, December.

    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:appene:v:358:y:2024:i:c:s0306261923019128. 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/405891/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.