Indoor Environmental Air Quality in Urban Areas

Indoor environmental quality is of increasing interest across many countries in terms of health and environmental protection, as well as minimizing energy consumption. It has become more important given developments in building technology and equipment. Modern, tight windows are desirable for energy saving but limit natural ventilation, often below the hygienic minimum, which can contribute to increased cases of sick building syndrome, for example. When considering energy efficiency, it is also necessary to maintain the quality of the indoor environment. Occupants and building users are exposed to a variety of substances indoors e.g., from consumer or construction products, and natural and anthropogenic pollutants transported from outdoors. The pollutants emitted, even at low concentrations, can pose a threat to human health due to their synergistic effects and/or ability to accumulate in the human body.

In urban areas, the characterization of indoor air quality is not an easy task. Indoor air quality is strictly dependent on the occurrence of various biological, physical, and chemical factors. There are multiple parameters that influence the pollutant concentrations and their adverse impacts, e.g., variety of sources and their characteristics - also connected with specific regional conditions of utilization, physical-chemical features of pollutants, the influence of outdoor pollution, ventilation level, occupant behavior and density, domestic activities different in diverse cultures, the presence of pets, and synergy among air pollutants, etc. Research on identifying problems in the indoor environment and efficient ways to increase its quality is crucial to improving comfort and reducing negative health impacts. Therefore, an integrated approach is needed, including monitoring and modeling studies of indoor air quality, and ventilation systems assessment.

This Research Topic welcomes original research papers containing experimental research, simulation research, case studies, or reviews on:
• All aspects related to indoor air quality in urban areas, including the main sources of major pollutant emissions, chemical-physical and microbiological measurements, impacts, modeling, and recent trends in control systems and the improvement of indoor air quality;
• Recent advances in air quality monitoring and forecasting techniques;
• Innovative, efficient, energy-saving, and green solutions and systems, and their applications in building to create a good indoor environment quality.