ABSTRACT
Indoor air quality and building envelope components are interconnected. Emissions from building materials are commonly taken only from surface materials when estimating the effects of building structures on indoor air quality. Surface materials are however just a part of the contaminant sources in the indoor environment. Structures as a whole and the materials in various layers of the structures can be even more significant factors affecting the indoor air quality than surface materials when the long-term performance of the building is considered. In this paper, we first present a novel computer simulation model for predicting the combined air, heat, moisture and pollutant transport, followed by a discussion on the material properties required for the model simulation, and then present the predicted and measured results for individual materials and a typical wall assembly of residential houses with the objective of demonstrating the usefulness of the simulation model.
