BUILDING SERVICES I

TOPIC: INDOOR

ENVIRONMENTAL

QUALITY IN OFFCIE /

HEALTHCARE

PREPARED BY: TAN KIAH CHUN (0324414)DARREN LOONG CHI YOONG (0318029)TAN ZHAO MING(0318724) KONG ZHEN CHUNG(0319528)YONG SING YEW(0318766)THAN LEK MEI (0315538)

INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL

HEALTH QUALITY IN OFFICE• Indoor environmental quality (IEQ)

refers to the quality of a building’s environment in relation to the health and wellbeing of those who occupy space within it.

• IEQ is determined by many factors, including lighting, air quality, and damp conditions.

• Other factors such as indoor temperatures, relative humidity, and ventilation levels can also affect how individuals respond to the indoor environment.

INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL

QUALITY (IEQ) IN OFFICES

APPLICATIONS AND SYSTEMS

AIR CONDITIONER Abbreviated as “AC”

It is referred to Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning

(HVAC) in construction term.

Used to distribute conditioned air in an enclosed space

to improve thermal comfort.

Usually used to lower the temperature of an enclosed

space.

AIR CONDITIONER IN OFFICES

Why is it essential? Because most offices today are of high rise buildings,

therefore natural ventilation is impractical.

Air conditioner can also control the humidity of an

enclosed space.

Since humans perspire to provide natural cooling by the

evaporation of perspiration of the skin, drier air improves

the comfort provided.

AIR CONDITIONER IN OFFICESChoosing the right type of HVAC system:

Must select the appropriate type and size of air conditioning system.

If it is not appropriate, it will not be able to cool the space properly.

It can cause a decrease to employees’ productivity due to

uncomfortable environment.

TYPES OF AIR CONDITIONERS

Cooling Only Split-System

Cooling Only Packaged-System

TYPES OF AIR CONDITIONERS

Heat Pump

Chilled Water System

TYPES OF AIR CONDITIONERS

Window Air Conditioner

Packaged Terminal Heat Pump

SYSTEM OF AN AIR CONDITIONER

Three (3) main parts of a standard air conditioner:

1. Cooling Tower

Similar to the condenser of a home-use air conditioner.

Usually air conditioners that are installed for high rise buildings such as

offices will have a cooling tower in place on the roof of the building.

It is common to use both a chemical refrigerant as a coolant that evaporates

and also chilled water to lower the temperature of the coolant.

2. Compressor

To circulate the refrigerant In the system under pressure, this

concentrates the heat it contains.

At the compressor, low pressure gas is converted into high pressure

gas.

3. Air Handling Unit (AHU)

It is the most important component in a commercial HVAC system because

it circulates and regulates the cooled air throughout the building.

AHU looks like a large metal box containing a blower, heating or cooling

elements, filter racks or chambers, sound attenuators and dampers.

There is always a room for the AHU at every floor of a high rise office

building.

An efficient AHU can move significant amounts of air quickly throughout the

building.

SYSTEM OF AN AIR CONDITIONER (CONT’D)

A diagram showing the HVAC system in a office building.

DAYLIGHTING

Daylighting is a system used to allow natural daylight into a

building.

It is a simple system as it only requires several openings

with windows or glass panels to allow light to penetrate.

Helps to create a visually stimulating environment for

building occupants.

INTRODUCTION TO DAYLIGHTING (CONT’D)

Daylighting can be used to substitute electrical lighting

during the day, therefore it can help to cut down one third

of total building energy costs.

In order to create an effective daylighting system, the

location of windows or skylight has to be designed in

such a way to avoid direct admittance of direct sunlight

into occupants’ eyes.

Blinds and shades can be used to minimize direct

sunlight that can affect the comfort of occupants in the

building.

There are various types of daylighting systems but most

of the office buildings uses either tubular daylighting

device or horizontal daylighting system.

TUBULAR DAYLIGHTING DEVICE

A tubular daylighting device or TDD in short, is an optical system that uses

engineered duct-like tubes to carry light from roof openings deeper into the

building.

The tubes ranges from 10 to 21 inches in diameter and has a engineered

reflective surface and an interior diffuser inside the tubes.

TDDs are frequently capped with a transparent, roof-mounted dome that

acts as a light collector.

The diffuser is used to distribute even amount of light inside a building.

TDDs may look simple, but it is one of the most advanced daylighting

technologies among the other daylighting systems.

TUBULAR DAYLIGHTING DEVICE

(CONT’D)

A diagram showing how light travels into a

Tubular Daylighting Device (TDD) and how

it is distributed inside a building.

HORIZONTAL DAYLIGHTING

SYSTEM This is a even more simple and traditional daylighting system.

Horizontal systems uses rows of transom-level wall mounted panels to

harvest light from the sides of a building and deliver it horizontally to

adjacent floors.

This is similar to an exterior air handling unit distributing fresh air through a

building.

The horizontal daylighting system resembles a conventional mechanical

heating and ventilation system, carrying light from one point to different

parts of a building through a network of duct-like passages.

Since more light enters the building using this daylighting system, blinds are

needed to avoid heating in the building. Blinds are also needed to avoid any

direct sunlight on task surfaces or into the occupants’ eyes.

HORIZONTAL DAYLIGHTING SYSTEM (CONT’D)

Horizontal daylighting system uses specially shaped lenses, called

Fresnel lens, which are powerful but shallow, to collect and concentrate

sunlight from oblique angles.

Light captured by the wall panel is increased by a factor of 10, and then

sent through a network of fanning reflective light pipes into horizontal

above-ceiling ducts, and finally delivered to room diffusers.

Installation

process

Split air conditioners are the commonly used

ventilation system in office because there are

comparatively cheap and easy to install.

Method 1 of 3: Install the

Indoor Unit

1) Select an unobstructed location on your interior wall to

mount the indoor air conditioning unit.

2) Secure the mounting plate to the interior wall.

3) Create a hole in the wall to fit the piping.

4) Check the electrical connections.

5) Connect the pipes.

6) Secure the indoor unit to the mounting plate by pressing the

unit against the mounting plate.

Method 2 of 3: Install the Outdoor

Condenser

1) Choose the best place to install the outdoor unit.

2) Lay the concrete pad on the ground and make sure that it

is level.

3) Connect the electrical wires.

4) Secure the pipes’ flare nuts to the

corresponding pipes on the outdoor unit.

Method 3 of 3: Complete the Split

System Air Conditioner Installation

1) Bleed the air and humidity from the refrigerant circuit.

2) Wrap the joints of the piping with insulating covering and

insulating tape.

3) Affix the piping to the wall with clamps.

4) Seal up the hole in the wall using expanding

polyurethane foam.

Tubular daylight devices

Tubular daylighting device (TDD) are devices that you can use

to get natural light into rooms that don't have access to

windows or traditional skylights. They do this by collecting

sunlight on the roof and channeling it through a highly-

reflective tube into the room below. This daylighting solution

is perfect for dark hallways, bathrooms, and kitchens.

1) Choose the Right Location

• Choosing the right location to install your

skylight will go a long way in avoiding any

potential installation problems and providing

a better final result.

2) Cut Out Ceiling and Roof Holes

• Once you've finalized the location for your

skylight, it's time to cut the holes in the

ceiling and the roof.

3) Install the Flashing

• Now that the roof hole is cut, you will need to install the flashing.

4) Install the Tube

• Once the flashing is installed, you're ready to build and install the tube.

5) Install the Dome

• Attach the dome to the flashing using the screws provided in the installation kit.

6) Install the Diffuser

• Attach the diffuser and trim ring to the ceiling ring.

Diagram of Tubular Skylight Installation

PROBLEMS

Indoor environmental quality not necessarily from air

• Noise

• Lightning

• Ergonomic stressors

• Job-related psychosocial stressors can

• Individually and combination

Problem

• Office operation intended to reduce short-term costs will contribute the problem

• Lack use of walk mats at entrance- increase amount of soil tracked

• Low-bid custodial service that fail to remove soils and containment- increase the load of volatile organic chemicals

• Renovation and remodeling can effect the indoor environment

Negative effect on air quality

• Reducing the flow of outdoor ventilation air

• Shutting down HVAC system unoccupied periods

• Select least expensive and least efficient panel filters

Effective design and construction of office

• Properly designed and constructed building shell-isolates and insulates the indoors from the outdoors

• Keeps outdoor containments such as dust and liquid water enter the office

• Insulation in the office helps to protect the interior temperature extremes

Well designed heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system

• Provide clean outdoor air

• Modify and control indoor temperature

• Dilute general pollution from people, activities, furnishings

• HVAC system-maintain correct air pressure relationship between indoor and outdoor

Effective, prompt and preventive maintenance

• Reduce the occurrence of problems with the indoor environment

• Careful management of custodial, pest control, building engineering and maintenance service-prevent problem

Change the floor plan

• Moving walls or change in number and distribution of people-may deviate from intended design and operation of HVAC system

• Short term problem maybe reduced

• Such as painting during unoccupied periods and airing out carpets before installation

Pollutant source control

• Most cost-effective solution to IEQ problems

• Prohibit tobacco smoking in office

• Changing air pressure relationship will help to isolate sources

• Good filtration help prevent outside pollution pollen from entering the building

• Minimize the use of perfumes or colognes

• Do not do the activities such as cooking food in microwave ovens

• May trigger a co-worker’s discomfort

• Chemical formulations should be used sparingly-only when dedicated ventilation is provided.

• Air supply diffusers should not be blocked or taped closed

Case

Study

INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL

QUALITY IN OFFICES

Indoor Environmental

Conditions

In 2004, Professor Dr. Alan Hedge from Cornell University conducted a study at

Insurance Office of America’s headquarters in Orlando.

Aim of study – To investigate the link between changes in physical environmental

conditions and changes in work performances

Methods

The office were equipped with air samplers that recorded

the temperature every 15 minutes

Tracked the productivity of 9 workers working in the

office

Productivity was tracked by software that measure their

typing speed and error for 20 consecutive days

Result

The workers were significantly more productive when the office

temperature was kept at a warmer temperature.

Office temperature at 25°C – workers keying 100% of the time with

a 10% error rate.

Office temperature at 20°C – keying rate went down to 54% of the

time with a 25% error rate.

It show clear associations

between office work

performance and indoor

environmental conditions.

The performance of workers

will decrease when it is too

cold (or too hot).

Temperature at a more

comfortable thermal zone

will improve performance of

workers.

Impact of Daylight

A study from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Aim of study – To understanding the impact of light on office workers.

Methods

Total of 49 participants were examined.

27 of them worked in windowless offices and

another 22 were worked near windows.

Workers with windows received 173% more white

light exposure during work hours.

Result

Workers with windows in the workplace slept an average of 46 minutes

more per night than others who did not have the natural light exposure in

workplace.

More physical activity than those without windows.

Workers without windows had more sleep disturbances.

May suffer memory loss, depression, slower psychomotor reflexes and

shorter attention spans.

Daylight can improve office workers productivity and health

Advantages and

DisadvantagesAdvantages Disadvantages

Increase comfort • Cost of construction will

be high

Decrease absence rates • Special design from

architect and engineer

Increase work

performance

• Maintenance cost is high

Pollutant inside building

can be diminished

• Specific materials always

needed to construct

Maintain optimum

temperature for workers

• Once the building is built, changing the existing construction is very hard

Improve overall thermal

comfort

• Hard to satisfy everyone's preference for desired temperature

Decrease sick building

syndrome

• adding new lights like fixed ceiling lights could be a lot more difficult

THANK YOU