The indoor air quality, ventilation and energy nexus in the COVID-19 context
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Date
2022-05-20
Authors
Moghadam, Talie Tohidi
Ochoa Morales, Carlos E.
Lopez Zambrano, Maria
Bruton, Ken
O'Sullivan, Dominic T. J.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
TU Delft OPEN
Published Version
Abstract
In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and environmental crises, ventilation plays a critical role in the removal of infectious pathogens. A building ventilation paradigm results in excessive energy consumption to ensure indoor air quality. At the time of writing this paper, several studies have been conducted regarding COVID-19 and ventilation; however, the energy challenges of ventilation operation under the pandemic condition has not been fully addressed by previous studies. This paper is based on a literature review of publications, using an internet-based search in different scientific databases. A data-driven keyword analysis on bibliographic data was performed based on English-language textual data of more than 267 publications downloaded from Dimensions website and using VOSviewer, a freely available software tool for analysing bibliographic data. Via analysis of co-occurrence of the specific terms in the field of COVID-19 ventilation, the trends in research publications were illustrated. The study aims to review the scientific literature of the indoor spread of SARS-CoV-2; clarify the effect of ventilation systems on airborne transmission of the virus; identify the impacts of COVID-19 mitigation measures on the energy consumption of mechanical ventilation systems; define the research gaps and future challenges. This investigation reveals a strong need for more scientific studies in reduction of the transmission risks of the SARS-CoV-2 virus through ventilation systems without compromising buildings’ energy performance. The implications of this study will establish a foundation for engineering control strategies and future energy-targeted investigations for virus transmission reduction and the enhancement of indoor air quality.
Description
Keywords
COVID-19 , Indoor air quality , Mechanical ventilation system , Building energy performance , Healthy indoor environments
Citation
Moghadam, T. T., Ochoa Morales, C. E., Lopez Zambrano, M., Bruton, K. and O’Sullivan, D. T. J. (2022) ‘The indoor air quality, ventilation and energy nexus in the COVID-19 context’, CLIMA 2022: the 14th REHVA HVAC World Congress, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 22-25 May. doi: 10.34641/clima.2022.285