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

我们大约90%的时间是在建筑物内度过的，我们在那里控制着环境的质量，以实现健康、热舒适、安全和生产力。室内环境的质量受许多因素的影响，包括建筑物的设计、通风、隔热以及能源的供应和使用。维持建筑物的环境质量可能会对当地和全球环境以及人类健康产生相当大的影响。近年来，作为提供热舒适和降低能源消耗的努力的一部分，建筑物的气密性已经成为一个问题。然而，随着住宅变得更加密闭，内部污染源可能会对室内空气质量产生更大的影响，除非通风有效，否则居住者可能会经历不利的健康影响。另一方面，通风会导致室外空气污染进入室内，降低建筑的能效，占建筑总能耗的25%-30%。相反，旨在通过更好的隔热来提高能效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。后者是霉菌的主要原因，接触霉菌正越来越多地与呼吸道和其他健康问题联系在一起。此外，在燃气锅炉和炊具等微型家用电器中燃烧燃料可能会对居住或更远地区的人的健康造成潜在危害。然而，改用生物质、光伏、燃料电池等其他能源，同时减少对室内环境的影响，在生命周期的基础上，可能会对其他地方的环境和健康造成影响。尽管如此，几份政府报告强调了家庭微型发电选择以及能源效率的重要性，因为必须减少温室气体排放和普遍的燃料匮乏。后者被认为与英国因寒冷/冬季造成的巨大死亡负担有关，每年通常超过3万人。居民楼、办公室和学校的室内环境质量差与病态建筑综合症症状、呼吸系统疾病、病假和生产力损失的增加有关。对健康的影响可能是即刻的(例如眼睛、鼻子和喉咙刺激、头痛、头晕和疲劳)，也可能是长期暴露在室内污染物中(例如呼吸系统疾病、心脏病和癌症)。越来越多的科学证据表明，即使在最大和最工业化的城市，住宅和其他建筑内的空气污染也可能比室外空气更严重。鉴于大多数人大约90%的时间是在室内度过的，他们对空气污染物的暴露主要是由室内暴露决定的，特别是在他们的家里。为了提高室内环境的质量，本项目建议研究与建筑中能源的产生、节约和使用有关的环境和健康影响，特别是住宅建筑。该项目的主要产出将是更可持续地管理室内污染的综合决策支持方法和软件工具。该框架将应用于一些案例研究，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，以帮助制定政策。利用生命周期方法，该项目将审查一系列可持续性问题，包括环境影响(例如，资源枯竭、全球变暖、酸化、生态毒性等)。和社会问题(例如，人类健康、舒适和福祉)。此外，还将研究不同方案的经济影响。

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.