Management of Indoor Air Quality

Due to changes in lifestyle, people spend more time indoors. This refers not only to the time spent at home and at office premises, but also in shopping malls, recreation centers and transport vehicles. Concentrations of many pollutants are higher indoors than they are outdoors. Consequently, the indoor environment has a bigger impact on human health, well being and effectiveness.

Indoor Environment Engineering is a relatively new scientific discipline with an interdisciplinary character, using knowledge from chemistry, biology, medicine and engineering. Since the early 1990s, the number of studies in this area has grown significantly from research on indoor air parameters, new emerging pollutants in indoor air, energy saving systems of heating, to studies on ventilation and air-conditioning in buildings. Even though much progress has been made since then, a number of questions still remains open:

• How can indoor air quality be measured? What are reliable, time- and cost-efficient methods?
• How can indoor air quality be improved, investing as little energy as possible?
• How to minimize secondary pollution caused by air supply systems?
• Which type of pollutants should research focus on?
• In what way are we exposed to new pollutants (plasticizers, flame retardants, pesticides)? What is their impact on our health?

Management of Indoor Air Quality is a collection of 14 peer reviewed papers in Indoor Environment Engineering addressing the above issues. It includes research on HVAC impact on aerosol levels, new ventilation systems as well as air quality problems in new environments. The volume is intended for scientists, engineers, post-graduate and graduate students interested in the area of indoor environment.