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What Impacts Does Increasing Airtightness Have on Mould, Condensation and Measures of Indoor Air Quality?

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What Impacts Does Increasing Airtightness Have on Mould, Condensation and Measures of Indoor Air Quality? “What impacts does increasing airtightness have on mould, condensation and measures of indoor air quality?” Rapid Review Report V 2.0 Authors Leela Kempton, Daniel Daly, Mark Dewsbury Sustainable Buildings Research Centre, University of Wollongong [email protected] [email protected] Title What impacts does increasing airtightness have on mould, condensation and measures of indoor air quality? ISBN Date September 2020 Keywords Airtightness, Ventilation, Indoor air quality, mould, moisture, condensation Publisher CRC LCL Preferred citation Kempton, L, Daly, D, Dewsbury, M (2020), Rapid Review: What impacts does increasing airtightness have on mould, condensation and measures of indoor air quality? CRC Low Carbon Living, Sydney. Rapid Review - Airtightness 2 Acknowledgements This research is funded by the CRC for Low Carbon Living Ltd supported by the Cooperative Research Centres program, an Australian Government initiative Disclaimer Any opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the CRCLCL or its partners, agents or employees. The CRCLCL gives no warranty or assurance and makes no representation as to the accuracy or reliability of any information or advice contained in this document, or that it is suitable for any intended use. The CRCLCL, its partners, agents and employees, disclaim any and all liability for any errors or omissions or in respect of anything or the consequences of anything done or omitted to be done in reliance upon the whole or any part of this document. Peer review statement The CRCLCL recognises the value of knowledge exchange and the importance of objective peer review. It is committed to encouraging and supporting its research teams in this regard. The author(s) confirm(s) that this document has been reviewed and approved by the project’s steering committee and by its program leader. These reviewers evaluated its: originality methodology rigour compliance with ethical guidelines conclusions against results conformity with the principles of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (NHMRC 2007), and provided constructive feedback which was considered and addressed by the author(s). Abbreviations and acronyms ACH – Air changes per hour, how many times the air volume in a space is completely replaced in an hour. ACH50 – Air changes per hour at an indoor – outdoor pressure difference of 50 Pa, used to present the results from blower door testing. CO – Carbon monoxide CO2 – Carbon dioxide HCOH - Formaldehyde IAQ – indoor air quality MVHR – mechanical ventilation with heat recovery NCC – National Construction Code NO2 – Nitrogen dioxide PM2.5 – Particulate matter, very small particles with diameter of 2.5 micrometres (0.0025 mm) or smaller. VOC – volatile organic compounds WHO - World Health Organisation Registration1 This protocol is archived in an Open Science Framework project folder https://osf.io/2m9wf/. 1 The archived protocol follows PRISMA-P format, as outlined in Moher D, Shamseer L, Clarke M, Ghersi D, Liberati A, Petticrew M, Shekelle P, Stewart LA, PRISMA-P Group Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. Syst Rev. 2015;4:1 Rapid Review - Airtightness 3 Contents Acknowledgements.......................................................................................................................................................3 Disclaimer ...............................................................................................................................................................3 Peer review statement .............................................................................................................................................3 Abbreviations and acronyms ....................................................................................................................................3 Registration.............................................................................................................................................................3 List of tables .................................................................................................................................................................5 List of figures ................................................................................................................................................................5 Executive summary ......................................................................................................................................................6 Objectives of this Rapid Review ...............................................................................................................................6 Key findings of this rapid review ...............................................................................................................................6 Methods, limitations and future research ..................................................................................................................6 Summary and conclusions .......................................................................................................................................7 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................8 Rationale ................................................................................................................................................................8 Objectives ...............................................................................................................................................................8 Method .........................................................................................................................................................................8 Eligibility criteria ......................................................................................................................................................8 Information sources .................................................................................................................................................8 Search strategy .......................................................................................................................................................8 Study records ..........................................................................................................................................................9 Outcomes and prioritisation ................................................................................................................................... 10 Risk of bias of individual studies ............................................................................................................................ 10 Deviations from protocol ........................................................................................................................................ 10 Data synthesis ...................................................................................................................................................... 10 Meta-bias(es) ........................................................................................................................................................ 10 Confidence in cumulative evidence ........................................................................................................................ 10 Data items ............................................................................................................................................................ 11 Results ....................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Overview of the included studies ............................................................................................................................ 12 Qualitative summary of study findings ......................................................................................................................... 21 Carbon dioxide (CO2) ....................................................................................................................................... 21 Particulate levels (PM2.5) .................................................................................................................................. 21 Formaldehyde (HCHO) .................................................................................................................................... 21 Volatile organic compounds (VOC) ................................................................................................................... 21 Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) ..................................................................................................................................... 22 Mould / moisture .............................................................................................................................................. 22 Other ............................................................................................................................................................... 23 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................
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