Archive for November, 2013

Energy and environmental literature round-up, November 2013

I haven’t posted one of these literature round-ups since June. The last one was right before I post in which I said “I’m going to start blogging more!” That turned out to be completely false, but now that our semester is wrapping up, I thought I’d try to jump back in! So here are a few recent papers related to building science, energy, environment, and health that have sparked my interest:

  • Improving airflow measurement accuracy in VAV terminal units using flow conditioners – A good friend and colleague of mine Michael Waring at Drexel recently published an article with coauthors on using a simple flow conditioner to make airflow measurements in HVAC systems more accurate, reducing errors from 10-45% (depending on nearby elbows and kinks) to about 5%.
  • Human exposure to airborne particulate matter leads to oxidative DNA damage
  • Both soil and paint contributes to lead levels in Australian homes
  • Particle size distributions form e-cigarettes – Always controversial, this team measured particle concentrations and particle size distributions in mainstream smoke from electronic cigarettes under a range of liquid flavors, liquid nicotine contents, and “puffing times.” Particle size distributions peaked around 120-165 nm, similar to conventional cigarettes. Resulting particle concentrations were actually higher than a conventional cigarette. Flavor didn’t matter.
  • Meta-analysis of high penetration renewable scenarios – A meta-analysis of several studies evaluating the possibility, operability, and implications of high levels of renewable sources of electricity in grid scale power systems shows that in most regions, renewable sources can provide the majority of a country’s or region’s electricity demand, at least on an hourly scale.
  • Systemic and vascular effects of circulating diesel exhaust particulate matter – Diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) were shown to increase inflammatory responses when they enter the bloodstream. Also, DEPs were shown to be quickly sequestered in the spleen and liver in mice.
  • Fine particulate matter from urban areas was shown to generate a higher reactive oxygen species (ROS) response than rural and/or coarse PM – responses were independent on PM chemical composition.
  • Fine and ultra fine particle decay rates in homes – Using time-resolved data over the course of 1 week in 74 homes in Edmonton, CA, Wallace et al. used concentration peaks and subsequent decay periods of both PM2.5 and submicron particles (representative mostly of ultra fine particles), to estimate decay rates. Median and interquartile decay rates were 1.08 per hour (IQR: 0.62-1.75 per hour) for PM2.5 and 1.26 per hour (IQR: 0.82-1.83 per hour) for submicron particles. Air exchange contributed about 25% of these values, on average. Window opening, home age, use of central furnace fans and kitchen/bathroom exhaust fans, use of air-conditioners, use of air cleaners, and indoor-outdoor temperature differences all influence these values.
  • Diversity and distribution of fungi on residential surfaces – Rachel Adams and coauthors sampled fungi from 3 surfaces in homes: drains in kitchens and bathrooms, sills beneath condensation prone windows, and the skin of human occupants. Weedy genera and a large set of fungi likely of outdoor origin were found on the window sills; human foreheads contained a surprising amount of plant pathogens. Indoor fungal richness was generally high, but the authors conclude that most fungi were unlikely to be growing on the surfaces but are more likely to have been deposited/settled from other sources.
  • Asthma and the diversity of fungal spores in air – many studies in the past have found correlations between asthma symptoms and exposure to fungi indoors; this short article highlights some of that past work and suggests that by doing more species identification we will be able to learn more about which fungi species contribute to asthma and inflammation
  • Low fungal diversity in house dust is associated with childhood asthma development – Somewhat contrary to the previous paper, a new study of low-income children whereby house dust was collected at age 1 and asthma status determined 6 years later. Although the study had a small sample size of 13 cases and 28 controls, decreasing fungal diversity within the genus Cryptococcus was significantly associated with increased asthma risk. No fungal taxon (species, genus, class) was positively associated with asthma development. Hmm…
  • PVC flooring at home and development of asthma in young children – Last article on asthma this time… in a 10-year follow up study of children in Sweden revealed that children who had PVC floorings in their bedroom at baseline (when hey were 1 to 5 years old) were more likely to develop asthma during the following 10 year period than compared to children without PVC flooring. Exposure to PVC flooring – and the phthalate plasticizers emitted – during pregnancy may be critical to development of asthma in children later on.



Reposted from microBEnet… Building science measurements in the Hospital Microbiome Project: Part 1

This post was originally written for microBEnet and is copied here.

First of all, Happy Halloween everyone. I think my costume this year will be a blogger!

For those that don’t know me, I’m Brent Stephens, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL. I call my research team the Built Environment Research Group and my teaching and research interests are primarily in characterizing energy and air quality in buildings. Some people would also call me a “building scientist,” and it’s that description that brought me to microBEnet. Since Fall 2012, my team and I have been working with Jeff Siegel at the University of Toronto on Jack Gilbert’s Sloan-funded  Hospital Microbiome Project. Continue Reading →