The effects of controlling strategies on chemical air pollution in the office
Asako Hasegawa, Eriko Takehiro and Takeshi Wakui

This study aimed to eliminate chemical air pollution and its influence on occupants’ health in office buildings. In this paper, two strategies were adopted to reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and their removal effects were investigated in actual office rooms. Firstly, a chemical filter was installed in ceiling mounted indoor units of packaged air conditioners in 2 office rooms and VOCs concentration in the rooms was measured before and after operation. The result shows that VOCs concentration can be reduced to about 20% by this filter. On the other hand, forced ventilation
with hot-humid outdoor air during summer was applied to the office room as “natural bake-out” strategy in Kumamoto. Three aldehydes and four VOCs were measured intermittently to compare to their natural decay and the concentration of chemical substances after the bake-out could be decreased 6 months ealier than the case without this strategy. It was proved that both strategies have a significant effect on reducing VOCs.

Key words: Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Chemical filter, Bake-out, Office