Investigating IEQ and Ventilation Effectiveness in Hospital Wards
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Review of Environmental Performance and Ventilation Effectiveness in Hospital Ward Settings : IEQ monitoring in healthcare settings to evaluate environmental conditions and relationship to ventilation effectiveness and potential associated COVID-19 transmission risk
IRAS ID
300362
Contact name
Tim Sharpe
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Strathclyde
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
It is well documented that the quality of the indoor environment (indoor air quality, thermal comfort, noise and lighting) influences the health and satisfaction of building occupants. Ensuring a high-quality environment is particularly important within a hospital setting where occupants may be more vulnerable to the effects of the environment, and where poor indoor conditions can contribute to issues around health, comfort and productivity for healthcare staff. This should be viewed in the context of significant evidence of a ‘performance gap’ within the built environment; buildings that are not delivering what was intended at the design stage in terms of increased energy use and impacting the health and satisfaction of occupants.
The recent Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of adequate ventilation in buildings. There are difficulties, however, in establishing ventilation rates within existing buildings, particularly in areas that rely on opening windows. Using CO2 as a proxy to understand ventilation effectiveness has proven to be useful in some types of spaces. Using low-cost, easily deployed sensors to measure the performance of the indoor environment could potentially help to understand the effectiveness of ventilation within existing areas, in order to potentially explore links between ventilation effectiveness to possible Covid-19 transmission risk.
An important concept in the design of healthcare buildings in recent years has been that of evidence-based design (EBD). It is therefore important that research is undertaken within existing hospitals to better understand the quality of the indoor environment. This research attempts to contribute to the body of literature addressing issues of poor building performance inherent to the construction industry, in order to create a feedback loop to those responsible for designing and managing the healthcare environment.REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/WM/0210
Date of REC Opinion
30 Sep 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion