Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: In this paper, to better understand indoor humidity in cold regions where it is more difficult to maintain indoor humidity in winter and to obtain basic information for improving indoor humidity, we evaluated thermal environments from measurement data in special nursing homes for the elderly of Miyagi and Hokkaido, and estimated the lack of humidification from an analysis of ventilation amount in these cold regions. Measured of indoor temperature, humidity and CO2 concentration showed the following. 1) Although there were differences in the number of years of construction and the type of facility, it was shown that the indoor temperature was almost the same, the relative humidity was about 20 to 30%, which was a low humidity environment, and the CO2 concentration was less than 1,000 ppm in the facilities investigated. In addition, it was shown that the average value of the indoor temperature, humidity and CO2 concentration of the common space and the rooms were the same for the same building and the same floor. 2) The indoor temperature of the common space and rooms in the facilities were controlled relatively stably, and the indoor temperature fluctuation during the three months in winter tends to be smaller in facilities in Hokkaido Prefecture than in facilities in Miyagi Prefecture. 3) The indoor humidity ratio in the common space and rooms in the facilities was low and the indoor humidity ratio also fluctuated up and down following the change in humidity ratio of the outside air, showing that the indoor humidity ratio is strongly affected by outside air. 4) Indoor temperature and humidity (temperature, relative humidity and humidity ratio) and CO2 concentration showed a tendency to fluctuate with the user's daily rhythm spent in the common space during the day and in the rooms at night. An analysis of the ventilation amount and required humidification amount showed the following. 1) It was shown that there was diversity in ventilation patterns, and ventilation modes in each facility, such as by opening windows, or opening and shutting the living room door, were closely related to building performance. Also, it was shown that the colder the region, the more the ventilation amount tended to increase. 2) It was shown that there was a need to introduce an industrial humidifier at an early stage in examination facility construction specifications so that indoor relative humidity could be more than 40%, because the humidification produced by portable humidifiers was insufficient. 3) It was shown that if CO2 concentration were controlled to 1,000ppm, the lack of humidification could be reduced by more than 50%.
DOI: 10.3130/aije.83.267
Language: English
Subfield: Building and Construction
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2795251908