Toxicity Issues: Indoor Air Quality - Nearly Zero Energy Building Refurbishment - page 344

may lead to the migration of pollutants from their source in the work area to the
major zones of exposure for the occupants of the building such as offices (Jia et al.
2010 ).
4 Prevention and Control of Indoor Pollution
Many IAQ problems have their origin in the design and construction of the
building. Although these problems may be overcome by taking corrective
measures, it may be more cost-effective to prevent and correct deficiencies when
the building is designed or planned to be refurbished. A variety of approaches are
available to prevent and control IAQ problems and even to improve IAQ. These
can be classified as source management, ventilation and infiltration improvements,
and contaminant control (Godish 2004 ).
4.1 Source Management
Source control was not considered until the 90 s, since previously the only approach
to achieve good IAQ was by means of appropriate ventilation (Bluyssen 2010 )—
see Sect. 4.2 in this chapter and '' Ventilation: Thermal Efficiency and Health
Aspects ' '. Nevertheless, the most effective measure to reduce indoor pollution is to
completely eliminate indoor sources, for example, by restricting smoking, or by
eliminating the use of consumer products like solvents, varnishes, finishes, cleaning
products, etc. (Godish 2004 ). Sometimes it is not possible to completely eliminate
the sources, so IAQ problems may be overcome by reducing their emission
(Wargocki et al. 2000 ). Furthermore, the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation
and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) is regulated in Europe under the Regulation
(EC) No 1907/ 2006 . The main objective of REACH is to protect human health from
the threat of chemicals by managing risk and providing safety information to users.
Additionally, European Union takes additional restrictions for dangerous sub-
stances, such as asbestos, benzene or PAHs, all of them considered in this chapter.
Approximately, 40 % of the IAQ levels are caused by emissions from building
materials (Missia et al. 2010 ) and, hence, during the planning of refurbishment
works, building designers may select low-polluting materials (Zhang and Smith
2003 ). IAQ guidelines have been included into the design of new buildings to
reduce the risk of the exposure to some indoor pollutants such as VOCs (Bernstein
et al. 2008 ). Moreover, the European Construction Products Regulation (Regulation
(EU) No 305/ 2011 ) requires to design construction works not to be a threat to
workers, occupants or neighbours, during construction, use and demolition. Con-
cerning IAQ, emission of toxic gases, dangerous substances (VOCs, greenhouse
gases or PM) and radiation must be avoided, as well as dampness in parts of
surfaces construction works.