Effect of Different Ventilation Conditions on Indoor CO2 Levels

Abstract

This paper describes a study on (Carbon Dioxide) CO2 levels based on different ventilation systems. Three main types of buildings were considered in the study, such as educational, office buildings and hospitals. The effect of different systems of natural ventilation systems on CO2 levels was studied. The measurements were taken by accommodating different situations in the open able condition of windows: fully opened, half opened and fully closed. It was found that, the size of windows, the number of windows and the positioning of windows have major impact on indoor air quality. CO2 measurements were taken in both naturally ventilated buildings and mechanically ventilated buildings. And a comparison was made between mechanically and naturally ventilated systems. In mechanically ventilated buildings two types of air conditioning systems namely cold water air conditioning system and spit type air conditioning system were considered for the comparison. Cold water air conditioning system was found to be good than the split type air conditioning system under improper maintenance conditions. From the experimental measurements we can conclude that the CO2 levels are higher in mechanically ventilated buildings which are not properly operated than in naturally ventilated buildings.