•  
  •  
 

Corresponding Author

Aliaa A. Mahmoud

Subject Area

Architectural Engineering

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

There is a growing awareness in indoor environment sustainability concerning Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emissions from interior finishing materials as a major source of pollution in the eductional environment; owing to children sensitivity to pollutants than adults and the large time spent in school. The relationship between mitigation VOCs concentration levels in indoor and the architect role is still ambiguous. It's generally accepted that mitigating this level can be achieved by eliminating the sources of VOCs embodied in selecting sustainable or low-VOCs materials. This strategy comes as the last step in the architectural design process, but in fact, mitigation process must be taken into consideration from the very beginning. The objective of the paper is to shed more light on the mitigation process through discussing the two most effective factors in this process; suitable materials selection and achieving adequate natural ventilation. For that the paper selects six schools with specific criteria to be analyzed concerning these two factors. From the detailed analytical study of each case in fulfilling accepted VOCs concentration levels, it has become clear that every used strategy in selecting low-VOCs materials and ventilation results in different architectural consequences with regard to school design.

Keywords

VOCs emissions, VOCs Mitigation process, Natural ventilation, Architect role, low-VOCs materials, Educational environment

Download

Share

COinS