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Indoor Air Quality of Historic Buildings: A Comparison of Certified to Non-certified Buildings

Received: 3 July 2021    Accepted: 26 September 2021    Published: 12 October 2021
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Abstract

Since, there is a high level of concern for historic buildings becoming sustainable this paper will investigate the indoor air quality of three historical buildings that are on the National Registry of Historic Buildings and located around Fulton County, Georgia, USA and three historical buildings that are not certified in the same area. The certification for the three certified buildings was obtained thru Earth Craft Sustainable Preservation program, which is the only historic building certification in the United States. The research entails field measurements of CO2 levels, air borne particles (both types and sizes), and greenhouse gas emissions. This was done by counting the airborne particles with sizes between 0.3 to 5.0 nanometers, and identifying biological and non-biological airborne particles both indoors and outdoors. These tests were used to determine if the interior of the certified buildings have better CO2 levels than the exterior and to ascertain how much the certification process effects the indoor air quality. This information will be compared to the noncertified buildings to ascertain if the results of the testing will show that the indoor air quality and greenhouse gases are better than the noncertified buildings. This research will demonstrate the need for improved indoor air quality testing in historic buildings before certifying them as being sustainable in the area of indoor air quality.

Published in American Journal of Energy Engineering (Volume 9, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajee.20210904.11
Page(s) 91-95
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Indoor Air Quality, Historic Buildings, Particulate Matter, CO2

References
[1] Allison, E., & Peters, L. (2011). Historic Preservation and the Livable City. Hoboken, New Jersey, United States: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
[2] Boogaard, H., Kos, G. P., Weijers, E. P., Janssen, N. A., Fischer, P. H., van der Zee, S. C.,... Hoek, G. (2011). Contrast in air pollution components between major streets and background locations: Particulate matter mass, black carbon, elemental composition, nitrogen oxide and ultrafine particle number. Atmospheric Environment, Volume 45, 650-658. Retrieved March 1, 2017, from http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.kennesaw.edu/science/article/pii/S1296207415001375
[3] Brown, J. P., & Rose, W. B. (1996). Humidity and Moisture in Historic Buildings: The Orgins of Building and Object Conservation. Museums in Historic Buildings, Volume 27 (No. 3), 12-15. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1504411
[4] Cappitelli, F., Fermo, P., Vecchi, R., Piazzalunga, A., Valli, G., Zanardini, E., & Sorlini, C. (2009). Chemical-physical and Microbiological Measurements for Indoor Air Quality Assessment at the Ca' Granda Historical Archive, Milan (Italy). Water Soil Pollut, 201, 109-120. doi: 10.1007/s11270-008-9931-5.
[5] CMS Mechanical. (2017). Defining Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). Retrieved October 08, 2017, from CMS nextech: http://cmsmechanical.com/recent-news/defining-indoor-air-quality-iaq/
[6] D'Ayala, D., & Aktas, Y. D. (2016). Moisture dynamics in the masonry fabric of historic buildings subjected to wind-driven rain and flooding. Building and Environment, Volume 104, 208-220. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenv
[7] Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Smart Growth and Preservation of Existing and Historic Buildings. Retrieved 09 25, 2017, from Smart Growth: https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/smart-growth-and-preservation-existing-and-historic-buildings#background
[8] Jacobs, J. (1961). The Death and Life of Great Amaerican Cities. New York, New York, United States: Vintage Books.
[9] Johnston, D., & Gibson, S. (2008). Green from the Ground Up. Newton, Connecticut, United States: Taunton Press.
[10] Parks, S (2019). Preservation Brief 24: Heating, Ventilating, and Cooling Historic Buildings—Problems and Recommended Approaches. Technical Preservation Services. Retrieved April 09, 2017, from https://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/
[11] Neely, J. (2014, May 13). Nine Practical Reasons to Save Old Buildings. Retrieved November 25, 2017, from National Trust for Historic Preservation: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/national-trust-for-historic-preservation/six-practical-reasons-to_b_4956983.html
[12] Phoenix, T. (2015, May 15). Lessons learned: ASHRAE's approach in the refurbishment of historic and existing buildings. Energy and Buildings, Volume 95, 13-14. Retrieved October 7, 2016, from http://dx.doi.org.proxy.kennesaw.edu/10.1016/j.enbuild.2015.02.034
[13] Prihatmanti, R., & Bahaddin, A. (2014). Indoor Air Quality in Adaptively Reused Heritage Buildings at a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Penang, Malaysia. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, Voulme 19 (No. 1), 69-91. Retrieved Febrauary 22, 2017, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305162054_Indoor_air_quality_in_adaptively_reused_heritage_buildings_at_a_UNESCO_world_Heritage_site_Penang_Malaysia
[14] Southface Energy Insitute. (2017). About Us. Retrieved May 02, 2017, from Southface: http://www.southface.org/about-us/
[15] Weeks, K. (2014, May 22). EarthCraft Sustainable Preservation Launched. EcoBuilding Pulse. Retrieved January 11, 2017, from http://www.earthcraft.org/news/sustainable-preservation-launched/
[16] Zefon International. (2017). Air-O-Cell Cassettes. Retrieved March 02, 2017, from Zefon International: http://www.zefon.com/store/air-o-cell-cassettes/
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Jacqueline Furcha Stephens, Farah Abaza. (2021). Indoor Air Quality of Historic Buildings: A Comparison of Certified to Non-certified Buildings. American Journal of Energy Engineering, 9(4), 91-95. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajee.20210904.11

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    ACS Style

    Jacqueline Furcha Stephens; Farah Abaza. Indoor Air Quality of Historic Buildings: A Comparison of Certified to Non-certified Buildings. Am. J. Energy Eng. 2021, 9(4), 91-95. doi: 10.11648/j.ajee.20210904.11

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    AMA Style

    Jacqueline Furcha Stephens, Farah Abaza. Indoor Air Quality of Historic Buildings: A Comparison of Certified to Non-certified Buildings. Am J Energy Eng. 2021;9(4):91-95. doi: 10.11648/j.ajee.20210904.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajee.20210904.11,
      author = {Jacqueline Furcha Stephens and Farah Abaza},
      title = {Indoor Air Quality of Historic Buildings: A Comparison of Certified to Non-certified Buildings},
      journal = {American Journal of Energy Engineering},
      volume = {9},
      number = {4},
      pages = {91-95},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajee.20210904.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajee.20210904.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajee.20210904.11},
      abstract = {Since, there is a high level of concern for historic buildings becoming sustainable this paper will investigate the indoor air quality of three historical buildings that are on the National Registry of Historic Buildings and located around Fulton County, Georgia, USA and three historical buildings that are not certified in the same area. The certification for the three certified buildings was obtained thru Earth Craft Sustainable Preservation program, which is the only historic building certification in the United States. The research entails field measurements of CO2 levels, air borne particles (both types and sizes), and greenhouse gas emissions. This was done by counting the airborne particles with sizes between 0.3 to 5.0 nanometers, and identifying biological and non-biological airborne particles both indoors and outdoors. These tests were used to determine if the interior of the certified buildings have better CO2 levels than the exterior and to ascertain how much the certification process effects the indoor air quality. This information will be compared to the noncertified buildings to ascertain if the results of the testing will show that the indoor air quality and greenhouse gases are better than the noncertified buildings. This research will demonstrate the need for improved indoor air quality testing in historic buildings before certifying them as being sustainable in the area of indoor air quality.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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    AU  - Jacqueline Furcha Stephens
    AU  - Farah Abaza
    Y1  - 2021/10/12
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajee.20210904.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajee.20210904.11
    T2  - American Journal of Energy Engineering
    JF  - American Journal of Energy Engineering
    JO  - American Journal of Energy Engineering
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajee.20210904.11
    AB  - Since, there is a high level of concern for historic buildings becoming sustainable this paper will investigate the indoor air quality of three historical buildings that are on the National Registry of Historic Buildings and located around Fulton County, Georgia, USA and three historical buildings that are not certified in the same area. The certification for the three certified buildings was obtained thru Earth Craft Sustainable Preservation program, which is the only historic building certification in the United States. The research entails field measurements of CO2 levels, air borne particles (both types and sizes), and greenhouse gas emissions. This was done by counting the airborne particles with sizes between 0.3 to 5.0 nanometers, and identifying biological and non-biological airborne particles both indoors and outdoors. These tests were used to determine if the interior of the certified buildings have better CO2 levels than the exterior and to ascertain how much the certification process effects the indoor air quality. This information will be compared to the noncertified buildings to ascertain if the results of the testing will show that the indoor air quality and greenhouse gases are better than the noncertified buildings. This research will demonstrate the need for improved indoor air quality testing in historic buildings before certifying them as being sustainable in the area of indoor air quality.
    VL  - 9
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Author Information
  • Construction Management, Kennesaw State University, Marietta, United States

  • Biology Major, Kennesaw State University, Marietta, United States

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