Evaluation of indoor environmental quality in green low-income housing
| dc.contributor.author | Akom, Joshua | |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Kavgic, Miroslava (Civil Engineering) Dick, Kris (Biosystems Engineering) | en_US |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Issa, Mohamed (Civil Engineering) | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2019-03-29T13:43:21Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2019-03-29T13:43:21Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019 | en_US |
| dc.date.submitted | 2019-03-29T01:42:17Z | en |
| dc.degree.discipline | Civil Engineering | en_US |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Science (M.Sc.) | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | There is little empirical evidence in literature on the performance of green residential buildings, even more limited is the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) performance of green low-income residential buildings. This is particularly interesting because residents of low-income housing are exposed to higher levels of indoor pollutants. To address the lack of empirical evidence on the indoor environmental quality of green low-income housing, this study utilised a mixed-method approach to evaluate IEQ of 17 green low-income single attached family houses in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. Snapshot physical measurements took place in 17 single family attached low-income housing clustered into four blocks over two seasons: the fall of 2016 and winter of 2017. The indoor physical environment was monitored with sensors in three sampling spaces per apartment; while a paper-based questionnaire was used to assess occupants’ satisfaction with their indoor environment. Moreover, long-term evaluation of two selected apartments was carried out to elucidate the hourly variation of thermal comfort and indoor air quality. The long-term data showed that concentration levels peaked in the mornings and evenings during weekdays for the most pollutants. The comparison of the snapshot fall to winter data revealed that indoor air quality levels in the fall season were lower compared to the winter except particulate matter (PM). Same result was reported for the long-term evaluation. The Wilcoxon signed rank test showed that there were statistically significant differences in relative humidity (RH), temperature, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, particles smaller than 2.5 µm (PM2.5), total volatile organic compound (TVOC) and background noise between the two seasons. Further, pertaining to the long-term evaluation, statistical significant differences were observed in concentration levels (i.e. CO, PM, and RH) between weekdays and weekend during the fall period. During the winter period, statistical significant difference existed in temperature levels. Further, occupants with higher snapshot satisfaction were generally exposed to relatively lower levels of indoor pollutants. A statistically significant difference was found in PM10 level only between the snapshot satisfied and snapshot dissatisfied groups of occupants. Moreover, for individual environmental parameters, significant differences were reported in RH, PM2.5 and PM10 between reported acceptable IEQ and unacceptable IEQ group. Apparent sound transmission classes were below the standard reference value of 50, suggesting potential problems in noise attenuation within different spaces in a single apartment and between apartments. The findings of this study could help governments implement green principles for low-income housing and also renovate existing houses using the same principles. | en_US |
| dc.description.note | May 2019 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1993/33796 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | en_US |
| dc.rights | open access | en_US |
| dc.subject | Indoor environmental quality | en_US |
| dc.subject | Low-income housing | en_US |
| dc.subject | Affordable housing | en_US |
| dc.subject | Green buildings | en_US |
| dc.title | Evaluation of indoor environmental quality in green low-income housing | en_US |
| dc.type | master thesis | en_US |
| local.subject.manitoba | yes | en_US |