Pollutants in the Urban Environment: An Integrated Framework for Improving Sustainability of the Indoor Environment (PUrE Intrawise)

我们90%的时间都在建筑内度过，我们控制着环境的健康、热舒适、安全和生产力。室内环境的质量受到许多因素的影响，包括建筑物的设计、通风、隔热和能源的供应和使用。保持建筑物内的环境质量可对当地和全球环境以及人类健康产生重大影响。近年来，建筑的气密性已经成为一个问题，作为提供热舒适和减少能源消耗的一部分。然而，随着住宅变得更加密闭，内部污染源可能对室内空气质量产生更大的影响，除非通风有效，否则居住者可能会对健康产生不利影响。另一方面，通风会导致室外空气污染的进入；它还降低了建筑物的能源效率，占建筑总能耗的25-30%。相反，通过更好的隔热来提高能源效率的努力可能会对室内空气质量产生不利影响，例如通过减少通风和增加水分含量。后者是霉菌的主要原因，与霉菌的接触越来越多地与呼吸系统和其他健康问题联系在一起。此外，在微型家用电器如燃气锅炉和炊具中燃烧燃料可能对居住或更远地方的人的健康造成潜在危害。然而，在减少对室内环境影响的同时，转向其他能源，如生物质、光伏、燃料电池等，在生命周期的基础上，可能在其他地方造成环境和健康影响。尽管如此，几份政府报告强调了家庭微型发电选择和能源效率的重要性，因为必须减少温室气体排放和普遍的燃料贫穷。后者与英国与寒冷/冬季相关的大量死亡有关，每年的死亡人数往往超过3万人。住宅建筑、办公室和学校室内环境质量差与患病建筑综合症症状、呼吸系统疾病、病假和生产力损失的增加有关。健康影响可能是立竿见影的（如眼睛、鼻子和喉咙发炎、头痛、头晕和疲劳），也可能在较长时间接触室内污染物后发生（如呼吸系统疾病、心脏病和癌症）。越来越多的科学证据表明，即使在最大和工业化程度最高的城市，家庭和其他建筑物内的空气污染也可能比室外空气污染更严重。鉴于大多数人大约90%的时间在室内度过，他们对空气污染物的暴露主要取决于室内暴露，特别是在家中。为了促进实现更好的室内环境质量，该项目建议研究与建筑物中能源的产生、保存和使用有关的环境和健康影响，特别侧重于住宅建筑。该项目的主要产出将是一种综合决策支持方法和软件工具，用于更可持续地管理室内污染。该框架将适用于若干案例研究，这些研究将比较未来家庭能源供应的主要选择对环境、健康和经济的影响，以协助制定政策。该项目将采用生命周期方法，研究一系列可持续发展问题，包括环境影响（如资源枯竭、全球变暖、酸化、生态毒性等）和社会问题（如人类健康、舒适和福祉）。还将审查不同选择的经济影响。

We spend some 90% of our time inside buildings where we control the quality of the environment for health, thermal comfort, security and productivity. The quality of the indoor environment is affected by many factors, including design of buildings, ventilation, thermal insulation and energy provision and use. Maintaining the quality of the environment in buildings can have considerable consequences on both local and global environment and on human health. In recent years, the air-tightness of buildings has become an issue, as part of a drive to provide thermal comfort and reduce energy consumption. However, as dwellings are made more airtight, internal pollution sources can have a greater impact on the indoor air quality and occupants may experience adverse health effects unless ventilation is effective. On the other hand, ventilation can lead to ingress of outdoor air pollution; it also reduces energy efficiency of buildings, accounting for 25-30% of the total building energy use. Conversely, efforts aimed at the improvement of energy efficiency through better thermal insulation may affect adversely indoor air quality, e.g. through reduced ventilation and increased moisture content. The latter is the main cause of mould, the exposure to which is being increasingly linked to respiratory and other health problems. Further, burning fuels in micro-generation domestic appliances such as gas boilers and cookers can potentially be hazardous to the health of those in the dwelling or further afield. However, switching to other sources of energy such as biomass, photovoltaics, fuel cells etc., while reducing the impact on the indoor environment can, on a life cycle basis, cause environmental and health impacts elsewhere. Nevertheless, several Government reports have highlighted the importance of household micro-generation options as well as energy efficiency, given the imperatives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and widespread fuel poverty. The latter has been linked to Britain's large burden of cold-/winter-related deaths, which often exceed 30,000 per year. Poor indoor environmental quality in residential buildings, offices and schools has been related to increases in sick building syndrome symptoms, respiratory illnesses, sick leave and losses in productivity. Health effects can be immediate (e.g. irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness and fatigue) or can occur over a longer period of exposure to indoor pollutants (e.g. respiratory diseases, heart disease and cancer). A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialised cities. Given that most people spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, their exposure to air pollutants is determined primarily by exposure indoors, particularly in their home. In order to contribute towards achieving a better quality of the indoor environment, this project proposes to study the environmental and health effects related to the generation, conservation and use of energy in buildings, with a particular focus on residential buildings. The main outputs from the project will be an integrated decision-support methodology and software tool for more sustainable management of indoor pollution. The framework will be applied to a number of case studies that will compare environmental, health and economic implications of the principal options for future home energy provision as an aid to policy development. Using a life cycle approach, the project will examine a range of sustainability issues, including environmental impacts (e.g. resource depletion, global warming, acidification, eco-toxicity etc.) and social issues (e.g. human health, comfort and well-being). The economic implications of different options will also be examined.