Airborne pollutant emissions from naturally ventilated buildings: Proposed research directions Review Article

The present article describes the current research focus and the future research trends associated with investigating emissions from naturally ventilated buildings as identified at the technical session entitled “Emission from naturally ventilated buildings (Measurement, modelling, reduction and assessment)”, that was held during the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (Commission Internationale du Genie Rural, CIGR) World Congress in Quebec, Canada, between the 13th and 18th June 2010. Current knowledge and measurement techniques can only provide reasonable estimates of emissions from naturally ventilated livestock buildings. Thus, further research and development are required. The goal is a point where measurements are precise enough to validate simulation models and to obtain more consistent and accurate emission estimates. To achieve this, better synergy between mathematical modelling, physical modelling and field measurements of ventilation rates in naturally ventilated livestock buildings is required. The review of research presented at the Quebec meeting identified the following intermediate goals: 1. Investigate and determine error sources and measurement inaccuracies. Error analysis might be necessary to interpret results and establish research priorities. 2. Develop intelligent ventilation control systems that can handle highly fluctuating ventilation conditions in naturally ventilated livestock buildings. 3. Develop practical field methods that can be used as reference standards. 4. Establish a dedicated facility that could be used to obtain precise reference measurements of ventilation rates in naturally ventilated building. To enable this, a parallel development of new technologies (instrumentation and methodology) is required.