TABLE 4.

—Priority Research Needs for Improving Health of US Workers: Science and Technology of Indoor Environments and Buildings

Improving exposure assessment for indoor contaminants of concern

• Develop improved and more practical methods of assessing indoor exposures of concern, preferably personal exposures, including temporal and spatial variation

• Using standardized methods, establish reference distributions of indoor concentrations and, if possible, of personal exposures

• Characterize size distribution and composition of indoor particles

Relationships of indoor pollutants to building and ventilation factors

• Identify pollutant sources and rates of emissions for contaminants of concern

• Identify strategies that reduce or prevent indoor chemical and particulate pollutants of concern over the life cycle of buildings, including consideration of design, material choice, construction, and renovation; commissioning, operation, ventilation, thermal control, and filtration; and maintenance, cleaning, and pest management

• Characterize the influence on indoor microbiological colonization and bioaerosol exposures of features and practices in buildings, including building envelopes, indoor materials, indoor thermal conditions, ambient climate, filtration, ventilation operation and design, biocidal radiation, maintenance and cleaning activities, and occupant activities

• Characterize and quantify the sources (indoor and outdoor), concentrations, size distributions, composition, and fate of indoor particles (including consideration of transport and transformation), in relation to features and practices in buildings

• Develop models predicting indoor air contaminant levels resulting from sources in conjunction with specific building and ventilation system design, operation, and maintenance features

Research to improve ventilation designs

• Reduce risk of producing contaminants (e.g., through control of moisture or contamination within systems, or by making components highly accessible)

• Incorporate natural ventilation

• Increase effectiveness in removing contaminants

• Improve efficiency of outdoor air delivery to the breathing zone

• Improve the control of indoor temperature, with consideration of individual control

• Improve the control of indoor humidity, especially in humid climates

Ventilation rate measurement and control

• Develop accurate yet practical measurement technologies for determining ventilation rate

• Develop and evaluate improved strategies and systems to control ventilation rates, including demand-controlled systems using pollutant sensors and more accurate measurement of airflow within the system