--- _id: '11656' abstract: - lang: eng text: Natural ventilation in a building is an effective way to achieve acceptable indoor air quality. Ventilation dilutes contaminants such as bioeffluents generated by occupants, substances emitted from building materials, and the water vapor generated by occupants’ activities. In a building that requires heating and cooling, adequate ventilation is crucial to minimize energy consumption while maintaining healthy indoor air quality. However, measuring the actual magnitude of the natural ventilation rate, including infiltration through the building envelope and airflow through the building openings, is not always feasible. Although international and national standards suggested the required ventilation rates to maintain acceptable indoor air quality in buildings, they did not offer action plans to achieve or evaluate those design ventilation rates in buildings in use. In this study, the occupant-generated carbon dioxide (CO2) tracer gas decay method was applied to estimate the ventilation rates in an office room in Seoul, South Korea, from summer to winter. Using the method, real-time ventilation rates can be calculated by monitoring indoor and outdoor CO2 concentrations without injecting a tracer gas. For natural ventilation in the test room, 145 mm-diameter circular openings on the fixed glass were used. As a result, first, the indoor CO2 concentrations were used as an indicator to evaluate how much the indoor air quality deteriorated when all the windows were closed in an occupied office room compared to the international standards for indoor air quality. Moreover, we found out that the estimated ventilation rates varied depending on various environmental conditions, even with the same openings for natural ventilation. Considering the indoor and outdoor temperature differences and outdoor wind speeds as the main factors influencing the ventilation rates, we analyzed how they affected the ventilation rates in the different seasons of South Korea. When the wind speeds were calm, less than 2 m/s, the temperature difference played as a factor that influenced the estimated ventilation rates. On the other hand, when the temperature differences were low, less than 3 °C, the wind speed was the primary factor. This study raises awareness about the risk of poor indoor air quality in office rooms that could lead to health problems or unpleasant working environments. This study presents an example of estimating the ventilation rates in an existing building. By using the presented method, the ventilation rate in an existing building can be simply estimated while using the building as usual, and appropriate ventilation strategies for the building can be determined to maintain the desired indoor air quality. article_number: '9892' author: - first_name: Hyeonji full_name: Seol, Hyeonji id: '77436' last_name: Seol - first_name: Daniel full_name: Arztmann, Daniel id: '58805' last_name: Arztmann - first_name: Naree full_name: Kim, Naree last_name: Kim - first_name: Alvaro full_name: Balderrama, Alvaro id: '79418' last_name: Balderrama citation: ama: Seol H, Arztmann D, Kim N, Balderrama A. Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method. Sustainability. 2023;15(13). doi:10.3390/su15139892 apa: Seol, H., Arztmann, D., Kim, N., & Balderrama, A. (2023). Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method. Sustainability, 15(13), Article 9892. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15139892 bjps: Seol H et al. (2023) Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 Mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method. Sustainability 15. chicago: Seol, Hyeonji, Daniel Arztmann, Naree Kim, and Alvaro Balderrama. “Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 Mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method.” Sustainability 15, no. 13 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15139892. chicago-de: Seol, Hyeonji, Daniel Arztmann, Naree Kim und Alvaro Balderrama. 2023. Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method. Sustainability 15, Nr. 13. doi:10.3390/su15139892, . din1505-2-1: 'Seol, Hyeonji ; Arztmann, Daniel ; Kim, Naree ; Balderrama, Alvaro: Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method. In: Sustainability Bd. 15. Basel, MDPI AG (2023), Nr. 13' havard: H. Seol, D. Arztmann, N. Kim, A. Balderrama, Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method, Sustainability. 15 (2023). ieee: 'H. Seol, D. Arztmann, N. Kim, and A. Balderrama, “Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method,” Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 13, Art. no. 9892, 2023, doi: 10.3390/su15139892.' mla: Seol, Hyeonji, et al. “Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 Mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method.” Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 13, 9892, 2023, https://doi.org/10.3390/su15139892. short: H. Seol, D. Arztmann, N. Kim, A. Balderrama, Sustainability 15 (2023). ufg: 'Seol, Hyeonji u. a.: Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method, in: Sustainability 15 (2023), H. 13.' van: Seol H, Arztmann D, Kim N, Balderrama A. Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method. Sustainability. 2023;15(13). date_created: 2024-07-04T12:21:13Z date_updated: 2024-07-16T11:38:12Z department: - _id: DEP1034 - _id: DEP1055 doi: 10.3390/su15139892 intvolume: ' 15' issue: '13' keyword: - natural ventilation - occupant-generated CO2 tracer gas method - ventilation rates - infiltration rates language: - iso: eng place: Basel publication: Sustainability publication_identifier: issn: - 2071-1050 publication_status: published publisher: MDPI AG quality_controlled: '1' status: public title: Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method type: scientific_journal_article user_id: '83781' volume: 15 year: '2023' ... --- _id: '13021' abstract: - lang: eng text: Natural ventilation in a building is an effective way to achieve acceptable indoor air quality. Ventilation dilutes contaminants such as bioeffluents generated by occupants, substances emitted from building materials, and the water vapor generated by occupants’ activities. In a building that requires heating and cooling, adequate ventilation is crucial to minimize energy consumption while maintaining healthy indoor air quality. However, measuring the actual magnitude of the natural ventilation rate, including infiltration through the building envelope and airflow through the building openings, is not always feasible. Although international and national standards suggested the required ventilation rates to maintain acceptable indoor air quality in buildings, they did not offer action plans to achieve or evaluate those design ventilation rates in buildings in use. In this study, the occupant-generated carbon dioxide (CO2) tracer gas decay method was applied to estimate the ventilation rates in an office room in Seoul, South Korea, from summer to winter. Using the method, real-time ventilation rates can be calculated by monitoring indoor and outdoor CO2 concentrations without injecting a tracer gas. For natural ventilation in the test room, 145 mm-diameter circular openings on the fixed glass were used. As a result, first, the indoor CO2 concentrations were used as an indicator to evaluate how much the indoor air quality deteriorated when all the windows were closed in an occupied office room compared to the international standards for indoor air quality. Moreover, we found out that the estimated ventilation rates varied depending on various environmental conditions, even with the same openings for natural ventilation. Considering the indoor and outdoor temperature differences and outdoor wind speeds as the main factors influencing the ventilation rates, we analyzed how they affected the ventilation rates in the different seasons of South Korea. When the wind speeds were calm, less than 2 m/s, the temperature difference played as a factor that influenced the estimated ventilation rates. On the other hand, when the temperature differences were low, less than 3 °C, the wind speed was the primary factor. This study raises awareness about the risk of poor indoor air quality in office rooms that could lead to health problems or unpleasant working environments. This study presents an example of estimating the ventilation rates in an existing building. By using the presented method, the ventilation rate in an existing building can be simply estimated while using the building as usual, and appropriate ventilation strategies for the building can be determined to maintain the desired indoor air quality. article_number: '9892' author: - first_name: Hyeonji full_name: Seol, Hyeonji id: '77436' last_name: Seol - first_name: Daniel full_name: Arztmann, Daniel id: '58805' last_name: Arztmann - first_name: Naree full_name: Kim, Naree last_name: Kim - first_name: Alvaro full_name: Balderrama, Alvaro id: '79418' last_name: Balderrama citation: ama: Seol H, Arztmann D, Kim N, Balderrama A. Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method. Sustainability. 2023;15(13). doi:10.3390/su15139892 apa: Seol, H., Arztmann, D., Kim, N., & Balderrama, A. (2023). Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method. Sustainability, 15(13), Article 9892. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15139892 bjps: Seol H et al. (2023) Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 Mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method. Sustainability 15. chicago: Seol, Hyeonji, Daniel Arztmann, Naree Kim, and Alvaro Balderrama. “Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 Mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method.” Sustainability 15, no. 13 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15139892. chicago-de: Seol, Hyeonji, Daniel Arztmann, Naree Kim und Alvaro Balderrama. 2023. Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method. Sustainability 15, Nr. 13. doi:10.3390/su15139892, . din1505-2-1: 'Seol, Hyeonji ; Arztmann, Daniel ; Kim, Naree ; Balderrama, Alvaro: Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method. In: Sustainability Bd. 15. Basel, MDPI (2023), Nr. 13' havard: H. Seol, D. Arztmann, N. Kim, A. Balderrama, Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method, Sustainability. 15 (2023). ieee: 'H. Seol, D. Arztmann, N. Kim, and A. Balderrama, “Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method,” Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 13, Art. no. 9892, 2023, doi: 10.3390/su15139892.' mla: Seol, Hyeonji, et al. “Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 Mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method.” Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 13, 9892, 2023, https://doi.org/10.3390/su15139892. short: H. Seol, D. Arztmann, N. Kim, A. Balderrama, Sustainability 15 (2023). ufg: 'Seol, Hyeonji u. a.: Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method, in: Sustainability 15 (2023), H. 13.' van: Seol H, Arztmann D, Kim N, Balderrama A. Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method. Sustainability. 2023;15(13). date_created: 2025-06-24T13:53:29Z date_updated: 2025-06-24T13:55:57Z department: - _id: DEP1600 - _id: DEP1634 doi: 10.3390/su15139892 intvolume: ' 15' issue: '13' keyword: - Management - Monitoring - Policy and Law - Renewable Energy - Sustainability and the Environment - Geography - Planning and Development - Building and Construction language: - iso: eng place: Basel publication: Sustainability publication_identifier: issn: - 2071-1050 publication_status: published publisher: MDPI quality_controlled: '1' status: public title: Estimation of Natural Ventilation Rates in an Office Room with 145 mm-Diameter Circular Openings Using the Occupant-Generated Tracer-Gas Method type: scientific_journal_article user_id: '83781' volume: 15 year: '2023' ...