Carbon Monoxide and Volatile Organic Compounds as Indicators of Indoor Air Quality in Underground Parking Facilities

Abstract

The provision of underground parking facilities (UPFs) has become a necessity particularly in densely popu lated urban areas and business districts. Indoor air quali ty (IAQ) in such facilities is of great concern due to vehi cle-induced emissions. This paper presents an IAQ as sessment at six representative UPFs in Beirut using car bon monoxide and volatile organic compounds as IAQ indicators. For this purpose, concentrations of both pol lutants were measured at different time intervals throughout the day. Vehicular emission factors (EFs) were estimated using the EMFAC7F1.1 model. A tran sient mass balance model was then applied to construct concentration profiles. The ventilation rates required to maintain pollutant concentrations within acceptable standards were estimated under maximum UPF occu pancy, and a sensitivity analysis was conducted to evalu ate the effect of changes in EMFAC7F1.1 input parame ters on EFs and ventilation rates.

Keywords

Indoor air quality Underground parking facility .Vehicle emissions Ventilation EMFAC7F1.1

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Mølhave L. , Klausen G. , Berglund B. , De Ceaurriz J. , Kettrup A. , Lindvall T. , Maroni M. , Pickering AC , Risse U. , Rothweiler H. , Seifert B. , Younes M. : Total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) in indoor air quality investigations . Indoor Air 1997;7:225-240.

Usepa : IAQ a concern in EPA's planned 232-million research facility, Indoor air quality update 9, 10:8-13, USA, 1996 .

Pluschke P. : Indoor air quality guidelines; in Salthammer T (ed): Organic Indoor Air Pollutants: Occurrence, Measurement, and Evaluation. Weinheim, Wiley-VCH , 1999, pp 291-304.

Lizardos EJ : HVAC and IAQ. Construction-Specifier 1995;48 (2): 11.

Faiz A. , Weaver CS , Walsh MP : Air Pollution from Motor Vehicles: Standards and Technologies for Controlling Emissions. Washington, World Bank , 1995.

USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) : Air Toxics Emission from Motor Vehicles, EPA report No. EPA-AA-TSS-PA, USA, 1987.

Dar Al Handassah (Shair and Part) : Road User Charging Study, Draft Final Report, National Roads Project, Program Implementation Unit, Ministry of Public Works, Republic of Lebanon, 1998.

Hashisho Z. : Socio-economic impacts of leaded gasoline and phase-out prospects in Lebanon; MS thesis, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, 2000.

Mølhave L. : The TVOC concept; in Salthammer T (ed): Organic Indoor Air Pollutants: Occurrence, Measurement, and Evaluation . Weinheim, Wiley-VCH, 1999, pp 305-317.

10.

ARB (Air Resources Board) : Methodologies for estimating emissions from on-road motor vehicles (6 volumes), Technical Support Division, Mobile Sources Emission Inventory Branch. California, US Environmental Protection Agency, 1996.

11.

Singer BC , Kirchstetter TW , Harley RA , Kendall GR , Hesson JM : A fuel-based approach to estimating motor vehicle cold-start emissions. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 1999;49:125-135.

12.

Heitner K. , Shair F. : Theoretical model for relating indoor pollutant concentrations to those outside . Environ Sci Technol 1974;8:444-451.

13.

De Nevers N. : Air Pollution Control Engineering. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1995.

14.

Fisk WJ , Grimsrud DT , Pedersen B. , Offermann FJ , Sextro R. , Spencer RK : Indoor Air Quality: Control Techniques, Radon, Formaldehyde, Combustion Products . Park Ridge, Noyes Data Corporation /Noyes Publications, 1987.

15.

Kraenzmer M. : Modeling and continuous monitoring of indoor air pollutants for identification of sources and sinks. Environ Int 1999;25: 541-551.

16.

El-Fadel M. , Hashisho Z. : Vehicular emissions and air quality assessment in roadway tunnels: The Salim Slam tunnel. Trans Res 2000 ;5:355-372.

17.

Gofa F. , Gertler AW , Sagebiel JC : Changes in on-road emissions and emission factor model predictions for the Van Nuys tunnel: 1987 to 1995 Proc 90th Annu Meet AWMA, 1998, San Diego, 98-MP4B.04.

18.

Kirchstetter T. , Singer B. , Harley R. , Kendall G. , Chan W. : Impact of oxygenated gasoline use in California light-duty vehicle emissions. Environ Sci Technol 1996;30:661-670.

19.

McLaren R. , Gertler A. , Wittorff D. , Belzer W. , Dann TD : Real-world measurements of exhaust and evaporative emissions in the Cassiar Tunnel predicted by chemical mass balance. Environ Sci Technol 1996;30:3001-3009.

20.

Bayer CW , Dowing CC : Classroom indoor air quality vs. ventilation rate. ASHRAE- Transactions 1993;19:1099-1103.

21.

USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) : Ventilation and air quality in offices, Office of Air and Radiation, Washington D.C., USA 1990.