air quality - passivehouseplus.co.uk

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a national air quality forecast to provide greater information to the public regarding expected air quality in Ireland for up to three days.

There has been growing focus in recent weeks on the use of CO2 monitors to help slow the spread of Covid-19, after the government announced at the end of May that it would be supplying the devices to schools across the country.

How we heat our homes has a direct impact on the quality of air that we breathe. This impacts on our health. The impact is both local and national. Burning solid fuel – in an open fireplace or stove – generates fine particle pollution which affects the air in our own home and in the local neighbourhood. There are choices and actions we can take that will reduce this pollution.

NuWave Sensors, developers of smart air quality sensors designed to continuously monitor airborne contaminants in industrial and commercial environments, has unveiled a new carbon dioxide sensor that allows schools to help prevent the spread of Covid-19, while also avoiding energy waste.

Green Building Store and PHI Architecture are currently seeking property owners with MVHR systems to take part in air quality research in conjunction with Nottingham University.

The revelations in Passive House Plus issue 24 about failed external insulation retrofits in the Fishwick area of Preston have been followed up by UK national media, putting pressure on Ofgem, the electricity and gas regulator, to make more effort to help those affected.

Over a third of new homes may be sick buildings which fail to comply with minimum ventilation requirements under Part F of the building regulations, new analysis by Passive House Plus has indicated.

A disastrous failed external insulation contract run under a government energy saving scheme has affected up to 390 homes in Preston with water penetration, mould and damp.

Buildings can be conceived and delivered in new ways that enhance the mental and physical health of occupants. That’s the message the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP) will be sharing with delegates at the ASBP’s Healthy Buildings Conference and Expo 2018 on 14 February.

Swegon has launched a brand new generation of its flagship GOLD air handling units, as the company looks ahead to likely demands for greater energy efficiency, flexibility and comfort in future.

Leading construction testing and research organisation BSRIA has announced that it is concerned with recent findings that toxic nanoparticles from air pollution have been discovered in human brains in “abundant quantities”.

At first glance, designing out electrical fans from ventilation strategies may appear attractive, and even sustainable. Simon McGuinness offers some home truths. 

New evidence indicates that decentralised MEV systems – an increasingly popular option, now questions are being raised over the standard “background-plus-intermittent extract” ventilation strategy – can also fail to provide adequate indoor air quality, and may even perform worse than the standard approach in new build homes. 

Marie Stamp, Senior Trade Commissioner at the Canadian Embassy, Dublin, discusses the merits of Super E home build.