IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i11p4149-d369726.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Investigation into Indoor Radon Concentrations in Certified Passive House Homes

Author

Listed:
  • Barry Mc Carron

    (School of Natural and Built Environment, Faculty of Built Environment, Creative and Life Sciences, South West College, Enniskillen BT74 4EJ, UK)

  • Xianhai Meng

    (School of Natural and Build Environment, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK)

  • Shane Colclough

    (School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland)

Abstract

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) has introduced the concept of Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) specifying that by 31 December 2020 all new buildings must meet the nearly zero- energy standard, the Passive House standard has emerged as a key enabler for the Nearly Zero Energy Building standard. The combination of Passive House with renewables represents a suitable solution to move to low/zero carbon. The hypothesis in this study is that a certified passive house building with high levels of airtightness with a balanced mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) should yield lower indoor radon concentrations. This article presents results and analysis of measured radon levels in a total of 97 certified passive house dwellings using CR-39 3 alpha track diffusion radon gas detectors. The results support the hypothesis that certified passive house buildings present lower radon levels. A striking observation to emerge from the data shows a difference in radon distribution between upstairs and downstairs when compared against regular housing. The study is a first for Ireland and the United Kingdom and it has relevance to a much wider context with the significant growth of the passive house standard globally.

Suggested Citation

  • Barry Mc Carron & Xianhai Meng & Shane Colclough, 2020. "An Investigation into Indoor Radon Concentrations in Certified Passive House Homes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-13, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:11:p:4149-:d:369726
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/4149/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/4149/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dempsey, Seraphim & Lyons, Seán & Nolan, Anne, 2018. "High radon areas and lung cancer prevalence in Ireland," Papers RB201803, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    2. Matthew Collins & Seraphim Dempsey, 2019. "Residential energy efficiency retrofits: potential unintended consequences," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(12), pages 2010-2025, October.
    3. Schnieders, Jurgen & Hermelink, Andreas, 2006. "CEPHEUS results: measurements and occupants' satisfaction provide evidence for Passive Houses being an option for sustainable building," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 151-171, January.
    4. Janice Foster & Tim Sharpe & Anna Poston & Chris Morgan & Filbert Musau, 2016. "Scottish Passive House: Insights into Environmental Conditions in Monitored Passive Houses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-24, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Coyne, Bryan & Denny, Eleanor, 2021. "Retrofit effectiveness: Evidence from a nationwide residential energy efficiency programme," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    2. Adrian Pitts, 2017. "Passive House and Low Energy Buildings: Barriers and Opportunities for Future Development within UK Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-26, February.
    3. Wang, Yang & Kuckelkorn, Jens & Zhao, Fu-Yun & Spliethoff, Hartmut & Lang, Werner, 2017. "A state of art of review on interactions between energy performance and indoor environment quality in Passive House buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1303-1319.
    4. Molinari, Marco & Anund Vogel, Jonas & Rolando, Davide & Lundqvist, Per, 2023. "Using living labs to tackle innovation bottlenecks: the KTH Live-In Lab case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 338(C).
    5. Wang, Ran & Lu, Shilei & Feng, Wei, 2020. "A three-stage optimization methodology for envelope design of passive house considering energy demand, thermal comfort and cost," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    6. Krzysztof Wąs & Jan Radoń & Agnieszka Sadłowska-Sałęga, 2020. "Maintenance of Passive House Standard in the Light of Long-Term Study on Energy Use in a Prefabricated Lightweight Passive House in Central Europe," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-22, June.
    7. Nipuni Nilakshini Wimalasena & Alice Chang-Richards & Kevin I-Kai Wang & Kim N. Dirks, 2021. "Housing Risk Factors Associated with Respiratory Disease: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-24, March.
    8. Allard, I. & Olofsson, T. & Hassan, O.A.B., 2013. "Methods for energy analysis of residential buildings in Nordic countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 306-318.
    9. Piccardo, C. & Dodoo, A. & Gustavsson, L. & Tettey, U.Y.A., 2020. "Retrofitting with different building materials: Life-cycle primary energy implications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    10. Forde, Joe & Hopfe, Christina J. & McLeod, Robert S. & Evins, Ralph, 2020. "Temporal optimization for affordable and resilient Passivhaus dwellings in the social housing sector," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    11. Aydin, Yusuf Cihat & Mirzaei, Parham A. & Akhavannasab, Sanam, 2019. "On the relationship between building energy efficiency, aesthetic features and marketability: Toward a novel policy for energy demand reduction," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 593-606.
    12. Kylili, Angeliki & Ilic, Milos & Fokaides, Paris A., 2017. "Whole-building Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a passive house of the sub-tropical climatic zone," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 169-177.
    13. Kheira Anissa Tabet Aoul & Rahma Hagi & Rahma Abdelghani & Monaya Syam & Boshra Akhozheya, 2021. "Building Envelope Thermal Defects in Existing and Under-Construction Housing in the UAE; Infrared Thermography Diagnosis and Qualitative Impacts Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-23, February.
    14. Georges, L. & Massart, C. & Van Moeseke, G. & De Herde, A., 2012. "Environmental and economic performance of heating systems for energy-efficient dwellings: Case of passive and low-energy single-family houses," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 452-464.
    15. Soršak, Marko & Leskovar, Vesna Žegarac & Premrov, Miroslav & Goričanec, Darko & Pšunder, Igor, 2014. "Economical optimization of energy-efficient timber buildings: Case study for single family timber house in Slovenia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 57-65.
    16. Alejandro Moreno-Rangel & Tim Sharpe & Gráinne McGill & Filbert Musau, 2020. "Indoor Air Quality in Passivhaus Dwellings: A Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-16, July.
    17. Dalbem, Renata & Grala da Cunha, Eduardo & Vicente, Romeu & Figueiredo, Antonio & Oliveira, Rui & Silva, Antonio César Silveira Baptista da, 2019. "Optimisation of a social housing for south of Brazil: From basic performance standard to passive house concept," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 1278-1296.
    18. Michaela Makešová & Michaela Valentová, 2021. "The Concept of Multiple Impacts of Renewable Energy Sources: A Critical Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-21, May.
    19. Audenaert, A. & De Cleyn, S.H. & Vankerckhove, B., 2008. "Economic analysis of passive houses and low-energy houses compared with standard houses," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 47-55, January.
    20. Mishra, Pulak & Behera, Bhagirath, 2016. "Socio-economic and environmental implications of solar electrification: Experience of rural Odisha," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 953-964.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:11:p:4149-:d:369726. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.