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Relative humidity in the indoor air – impact on indoor air quality and means of control.

Author(s) : SCHRECK T.

Type of article: Periodical article

Summary

The relative humidity in the indoor air in buildings is often associated with various problems and sick building syndromes. In addition, humidification is associated with high operating and service costs. Indoor air humidity control is often related to removing humidity from the building, not controlling it. In some specific building applications, it is necessary to maintain the humidity at a certain level defined by requirements for the use of the building, such as museums, archives, laboratories or diverse processes.
But what about us — people — and the indoor air humidity? We, engineers and indoor air quality scientists, tend to conclude that humidity has a small impact on human well-being and perceived indoor air quality (IAQ). Research communities rarely focus on indoor air humidity. Humidity is even considered only as an aspect of thermal comfort in IAQ ratings. Humidity indeed has some effects on thermal comfort, but its importance in the overall IAQ is more significant than just as a part of thermal comfort. In fact, indoor air humidity has its own dimension in indoor air quality.
This article proposes to use of a balanced approach to humidity, weighing the concerns of the building construction, the economic aspects and human well-being into consideration.

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