Comfort vs Health: A Winter Snapshot of Indoor Air Quality During the Energy Crisis

Abstract

Air quality is a very hot topic now. Real-time monitoring through IoT technologies and cloud services allows each of us to check the outdoor air quality in various areas of the cities where we live at any time. A less discussed aspect is the fact that we spend only 20% of our time outside and the rest indoors, in our apartment, at work, or in other closed places. If the quality of the air we breathe for a fifth of our time is such an intense topic, how important are the remaining 80%? For indoor spaces, there is a lot of discussion about thermal comfort, especially since now the energy crisis is present globally, which forces a moderate heating policy during the winter. This paper tries to capture a real snapshot of indoor air quality during the winter when the health of the population, through the air they breathe, is weighed against the expensive thermal comfort.