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The Indoor Environment of Green versus Non-Green Buildings

Coombs, Kanistha C
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1748-0683
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1447070716

Abstract Details

2015, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Medicine: Industrial Hygiene (Environmental Health).
An increasing number of homes and office buildings are using green renovation principles to become energy-efficient. Green buildings use different strategies such as building materials that have low emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This is expected to reduce the levels of environmental contaminants as compared to those in non-green buildings. However, the tightness of green buildings could lead to lower air exchange rates and higher humidity levels indoors, if mechanical ventilation is deficient. Humidity is the key variable that governs the type and extent of fungal colonization in an indoor environment. Additionally, green building materials have a higher presence of organic and recycled matter as compared to traditional building materials, which could potentially cause changes in the diversity of indoor fungi. This could also lead to the proliferation of a higher burden of microorganisms in green building materials compared to traditional building materials. Green buildings are designed and constructed to have a minimal negative impact on the environment; however, the indoor environmental quality including the microbial diversity within these buildings has not been attested. The overarching aim of this dissertation is to provide a better understanding of the extent to which green-building features affect the indoor air quality and fungal community structure and burden when compared to non-green building features. Indoor air quality (IAQ) assessments were conducted in 28 green and 14 non-green homes, by measuring concentrations of PM2.5, black carbon, sulfur, ultrafine particles and VOCs. This study revealed that black carbon concentrations decreased and formaldehyde concentrations increased immediately after green renovation. Both of these trends appeared to be attributable to opening of windows that decreased after renovation. Overall, the results indicated that occupants’ activities appeared to affect the indoor air quality more than the renovation status. The fungal community structure, from air and house dust (collected from bed and floor), was also studied from the same housing community. This study revealed statistically significant differences between green and non-green homes only at twelve-month assessments, suggesting the need for longer follow-ups. Additionally, the fungal growth on green and non-green building materials was investigated using next generation sequencing and quantitative PCR. Both methods revealed that the fungal community structure is different between green and non-green building materials. In conclusion, this research indicates that to reduce potential indoor air quality (IAQ) problems and potentially improve health, careful selection of indoor building materials (taking into account their life cycle emissions) and modeling of the impact of reduced air exchange rates on IAQ are important for green building designs. Further, to provide a better assessment and comparison of the indoor air quality alongside the fungal diversity and richness, in green vs. non-green homes, a larger sample size and longer follow-up is recommended.
Tiina Reponen, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Brett James Green, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Stephen Joseph Vesper, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Ginger L. Chew, Sc.D. (Committee Member)
Jaroslaw Meller, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
115 p.
Environmental Health
Microbiome; Illumina; Green Housing; Green Building Materials; Next-Generation Sequencing

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Coombs, K. C. (2015). The Indoor Environment of Green versus Non-Green Buildings [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1447070716

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Coombs, Kanistha. The Indoor Environment of Green versus Non-Green Buildings. 2015. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1447070716.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Coombs, Kanistha. "The Indoor Environment of Green versus Non-Green Buildings." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1447070716

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1447070716
362
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.