Episode 718: Pawel Wargocki, PhD Wenjuan Wei, PhD Corinne Mandin, PhD Deep Energy Retrofits and IEQ; A TAIL from Europe

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Episode 718: Pawel Wargocki, PhD Wenjuan Wei, PhD Corinne Mandin, PhD Deep Energy Retrofits and IEQ; A TAIL from Europe

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Show Resources: Show Discussion:

12:03:16 From cliff zlotnik : trivia: What is EN 1990- EN1999?
12:07:06 From T.Martin MRSA#4055 | ISSA / Normi member 30016 : structural Eurocodes- code for the design of buildings and civil engineering structures within the European Union?
12:14:04 From cliff zlotnik : correct Tom- please email your contact info to czlotnik@cs.com
12:30:41 From Tom Phillips, Healthy Bldg Research : Thanks for the great topic! Did TAIL include overheating standards for current or future climate or extreme weather?
12:37:50 From Kurt Johnson : AIVC?
12:40:33 From Kurt Johnson : Some of my customers are buying and using the currently available air quality sensors and finding it useful to make decisions. Some of them call me finally realizing they need mechanical ventilation. Another tool to help people "measure" should be helpful in all indoor areas.
12:41:29 From Tom Phillips, Healthy Bldg Research : Historical note: in a 2012 report on IEQ research needs for California building efficiency standards, Hal Levin and I concluded that IEQ metrics including thermal comfort was one of the key needs, e.g. Integrated IEQ–Energy–Life Cycle Assessment model that includes Climate Change. The focus was on new construction … Update: Many nations and jurisdictions now have overheating limits for building design and/or for rental housing, schools, day cares, etc. But in CA, not much has happened since then re: IEQ standards in CA. But CA air, health, and housing agencies are now looking into IAQ standards and maximum indoor temperatures for rental housing.
12:42:34 From T.Martin MRSA#4055 | ISSA / Normi member 30016 : Comment--Hopefully the Government agencies will include asthma and allergies in the standard and convert suggestions and guidelines into a mandate to address rising health and energy costs over time -- My consulting business is certified in severe asthma care for Adults, trained at aafa.org, and having been a patient for five decades. I can attest that climate changes from hot to cold impact the indoor air quality characteristics inside the building. Indoor air quality detectors and "measuring in cubic ft" play a crucial role in alerting individuals within the environment to potential changes, contributing to a healthier indoor atmosphere and reduce asthma and environmental allergy attacks.
12:46:27 From Kurt Johnson : In my test of homes, I found benzene and ethanol always there and some times at elevated level. Always at or near the top of the list of concentrations
12:50:44 From EVELYN : I had an IAQ concern where I was getting an odor of moth balls in my apartment and found the source was a refuse room deodorizer/pesticide parachlorobenzene.
12:51:55 From cliff zlotnik : paradichlorobenzene and naphthalene are both made into moth balls.
12:52:10 From EVELYN : Correction: paradichlorobenzene
12:54:29 From Tom Phillips, Healthy Bldg Research : Here is the Aldren web site, with Tools link: https://aldren.eu/aldren-tail/
12:58:57 From Kurt Johnson : Multiple studies are now connecting autism to palates coming from plastics. An maybe other ailments. Seems like it may need to be included in testing parameters.
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Re: Episode 718: Pawel Wargocki, PhD Wenjuan Wei, PhD Corinne Mandin, PhD Deep Energy Retrofits and IEQ; A TAIL from Eur

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IAQ RADIO

Show Number: 718 DRAFT BLOG
Pawel Wargocki, PhD
Wenjuan Wei, PhD
Corinne Mandin, PhD

Deep Energy Retrofits and IEQ; A European TAIL
Thermal, Acoustic, Indoor air, Luminous

Good Day and welcome to IAQ Radio+ Blog for episode 718 this week we welcomed: Dr. Pawal Wargocki, Dr. Wenjuan Wei and Dr. Corinne Mandin for a discussion about Deep Energy Retrofits and IEQ; A TAIL from Europe. With the large focus on making our building stock less energy intensive what will happen to indoor environmental quality? We discussed with a stellar group of academics about how to determine what deep energy retrofits will do to IEQ.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION & CONTEXT

To avoid health risks and discomfort, the European Energy Performance for Building Directive (EPBD) mandates that ‘‘Member States should support energy performance upgrades of existing buildings that contribute to achieving a healthy indoor environment.” There is, however, no widely accepted method
for rating the overall level of indoor environmental quality (IEQ), although several different approaches are proposed by standards, guidelines, and certification schemes. To fill this void, a new classification rating scheme called TAIL was developed to rate IEQ in offices and hotels undergoing deep energy renovation during their normal use; the scheme is a part of the energy certification method developed by the EU ALDREN project. The TAIL scheme standardizes rating of the quality of the thermal (T) environment, acoustic (A) environment, indoor air (I), and luminous (L) environment, and by using these ratings, it provides a rating of the overall level of IEQ. Twelve parameters are rated by measurements, modelling, and observation to provide the input to the overall rating of IEQ. Their quality levels are determined primarily using Standard EN-16798-1 and World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines and are expressed by colours and Roman numerals to improve communication. The TAIL rating was shown to discriminate IEQ levels when its feasibility was examined in eleven buildings across Europe to provide support for its applicability and input for further modifications. Opportunities for using the scheme in other types of buildings and for its further development and application are discussed.

The recently developed TAIL rating scheme enables assessment of the changes in the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) associated with a building’s deep energy renovation (DER) and classification of the resulting quality levels of the thermal (T), acoustic (A), and luminous (visual) (L) environments and indoor air quality (I). Since the TAIL rating is primarily based on measurements, it cannot be determined
prior to renovation operations to help design the IEQ. To fill this gap, the PredicTAIL method was developed in the present study to predict the changes in ten of the twelve TAIL parameters as a result of DER.

These parameters are indoor air temperature, relative humidity, sound pressure level, daylight factor, illuminance, and concentrations of carbon dioxide, formaldehyde, benzene, radon, and PM2.5; no prediction is made for ventilation rate or mold. To examine the feasibility of the PredicTAIL method and the sensitivity of the existing models for quantifying changes in the TAIL parameters corresponding to different renovation strategies, simulations were performed in a hotel and an office building using TRNSYS, IDA ICE, ACOUBAT, MATHIS-QAI, and PHANIE. These modeling tools were first benchmarked against the TAIL parameters measured in the buildings before renovation. Once the agreement between measurements and modeling was considered acceptable, four pragmatic renovation scenarios were applied, and their impact on the IEQ parameters was quantitatively modeled. The simulations showed that the quality levels of the IEQ parameters were improved or unchanged for some parameters but degraded
for other parameters after DER. The changes in the IEQ parameters and the TAIL rating depended on the renovation scenarios, suggesting that the PredicTAIL method is sufficiently sensitive to guide renovation design.

The choice of the TAIL parameters is a compromise between a large number of measurement-based IEQ parameters that have been proposed in scientific publications and Green Building certification schemes, including HQE, BREEAM, and LEED.

The quality level of each parameter is assessed in accordance with the EN 16798-1 standard and the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines.

The PredicTAIL method is not a new simulation model, but it establishes the principles for integrating the existing thermal, acoustic, IAQ and lighting models to enable the prediction of the TAIL parameters under a holistic modeling framework.

Nuggets mined from today’s episode:

Why are IEQ standards an important topic? Pawel- KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are quantifiable measurements used to measure performance. For IEQ there has been a lack of KPIs. Lack of IEQ KPIs results in an inability to compare resulting in setbacks in innovation. Our team sought to start the process of standards quantification and rating. Retrofitting buildings can change IEQ in either direction. The EU seeks to improve energy efficiency and reduce CO² emissions. One of our goals is to find and identify economic benefits for retrofitting. The ability to measure and quantify performance provides opportunities to intensify incentives for retrofitting hotels and office buildings through a rating scheme with metrics.
Rather than recreate the wheel we sought to find existing standards and metrics. We found that 80-90 different parameters are currently being measured without a standard approach; so our team decided to create our own. We first defined our working principles and objectives.

Corrine- European buildings often lack ventilation. In 2012, mold and radon were identified as potential problems in both new and retrofitted tight buildings. Lack of air circulation allows radon to accumulate and mold to grow. Its not only about IAQ we need to focus on IEQ.
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) are a set of standards that play a key role to support the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) of the EU. Any energy retrofit should not aggravate the health and comfort of the occupants.

Pawel- TAIL is an abbreviation of 4 primary building metrics: Thermal Acoustic Indoor air and Luminous. For Thermal, TAIL uses dry bulb measurements. TAIL was developed to be applicable and adaptable to the market. TAIL metrics include: Dry Bulb, Air Velocity, Humidity, Wet Bulb. TAIL was created with simplicity is mind. Purposefully, narrowed the number of parameters rather than widening them. The simpler TAIL is to use, the wider the potential for acceptance.

Wenjuan- There are both similarities and differences between American, European and Asian buildings. TAIL’s main focus is alignment with European climate and building standards. TAIL is adaptable to buildings located in a wide range of geographies.

Corrinne- We reviewed existing knowledge rather than rebuilding the wheel. The team decided that Green Building Certifications and parameters must be included. The 90 parameters reviewed were reduced to 12, and those were divided into 4 categories. Energy retrofits should not result in deterioration of interior parameters. Affordable accessible guidelines to classify good or poor quality.

Wenjuan- The IAQ in TAIL are: Ventilation Rate, CO² concentration, Formaldehyde, Benzene, PM2.5, Visible Mold and Radon.
Pawel- IAQ is an important issue. We couldn’t reduce the parameters down to only 1 or 2; so we decided to use something existing CO² (because its commonly used) and Ventilation Rate (because it can be measured). The WHO has guideline parameter values for hotel rooms and poorly ventilated offices and mold.

Corrine- There are diverse pollutants indoors: biological (bacteria, fungi, virus), physical (radon), chemical (particles, PM2,5 and gases).

Pawel- The ventilation rate indoors is hard to measure. TAIL did not want to develop their own values so they refer to EN 16798. CO² alone, doesn’t provide information on ventilation.

Corrine- It’s costly to measure ventilation rates. It can be done at ventilation supply grilles and cold air returns. In a building you need to measure a minimum of 6-12 rooms. Measuring fewer parameter programs is better than measuring none. Some schools and IEQ consultants in France are currently using TAIL. IEQ consultants and others with the equipment and expertise can take the measurements.

Pawel- The TAIL papers were published during the pandemic and were not widely circulated. We envision that each country using TAIL will decide upon their own metrics. TAIL is designed for both research and practical use, developers are focused more on the practical.

Wenjuan- TAIL can be used in conjunction with testing instruments and low-cost sensors. The instruments and sensors need to be benchmarked prior to use. Planning to develop a toolkit and program to calculate TAIL online.

Pawel- Ambition to develop a TAIL meter that anyone following the rules and practitioners can use to take measurements. Low-cost sensor doesn’t mean low quality.

Corrinne- Formaldehyde and benzene, known carcinogens are measured. Benzene is regulated in outdoor air and is a tracer for vehicle combustion.

Wejuan- TAIL measure the actual. PredicTAIL is based on predicted TAIL levels taken before, during and upon completion of retrofitting. Capturing seasonal changes for a minimum of 1 season preferably 2 seasons over span of 7-30 days.

ROUNDUP-
Where is TAIL going next?
Corrinne- The adoption process of TAIL can be slow. TAIL will be part of the regulations because retrofitting is a massive due to energy concerns. People expect easy to understand information. The French government wants to add benefits of retrofitting as a new label in 2030. Optimistic!

Wenjuan- We have an ALDREN PhD student committed to a 3 year long program to adapt TAIL to French Schools, test and gather data. We are thinking about other projects,

Pawel- Ongoing development of TAIL with the hopes of having it included in a European Standard. Our objective is including TAIL in the revision of EN 1679A.

What is your major concern?
Pawel- The most common concern during retrofitting is IAQ. Thermal overheating is another concern.

Wenjuan- I agree with Pawel. We saw preliminary results that temperature can be a concern in some buildings. CO² is also a concern.

Corrinne- Mold, radon, and rising temperatures due to climate change are concerns.

Guests lasts words:
Pawel- We want to place an economic value on the benefits provided by TAIL (e.g. improved occupant health and productivity)

Wenjuan- Try Tail, use TAIL and give us your feedback.

Corrinne- We need to look at buildings holistically. While energy performance is important occupant health is more important.

Z-Man signing off


Trivia:
What is EN 1990-EN 1999?

Answer: EN codes EN 1990-EN 1999 are a series iof 1o European cods standards providing a common approach for the design of buildings and other civil engineering works and construction projects. They are the recommended reference for technical specifications in public contracts.

Answered by:
Thomas E. Martin III
Elite Supply & Services, LLC
P.O. box 135758
Clermont, FL 34713
cell/text 843-251-8721
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