Improving Ventilation

Abstract

Most of us spend the majority of our time in homes or apartments. Making sure the home living environment has enough clean, fresh air will help to improve occupant health. Many multi-family buildings do not consistently provide families with clean, fresh air. While all of our buildings have windows, these windows do not make a complete ventilation system in most U.S. climates. Nearly all buildings require mechanical ventilation and fans to: • Exhaust pollutants generated inside the building, such as moisture from bathrooms and cooking, contaminants generated during cooking, and chemicals from building materials and cleaners; and • Provide enough clean, fresh air by pulling in and filtering outside air before it is heated, cooled, or circulated in the building to help reduce contaminants and allergens in homes.