We are trying to find a cost-effective solution for a research project and we are looking at reducing the number of parameters to monitor only the key ones that can give us a reliable broad picture to easily detect a poor indoor environment, as a first step before undertaking a more in-depth analysis to understand the causes. We suspect that temperature, humidity and CO2 should be in the equation, but not so sure about the benefit of measuring others such as PM2.5, TVOC, Air Pressure, Nitrogen Dioxide or Ozone.
You can use the correlation between the parameters to reduce the number. For example, if there is a strong correlation between two parameters, No need to monitors the two parameters and one of them can be canceled.
As Sepideh wrote, the parameters to be measured depend on the scope of the study. CO2 is a good indicator of the outdoor airflow rate per person, and therefore, an indicator of IAQ if no other pollutants are emmitted inside.
Temperature and humidity allow to assess comfort and, if also measured outside, to evaluate the risk or even the causes of mould growth.
Other parameters should be measured if necessary to answer a specific question.
To improve the cost-effectiveness of a research project, the questions to be answered should be first clearly stated. Then the parameters to be measured and the interpretation method for getting the answers should be clearly defined. This methodology avoids getting at high cost large amounts of data that may never be interpreted!
Indoor pollution is caused by a number of factors such as: the number of people in the room, the amount of dust, the consequences of cooking and cleaning, the characteristics of furniture, construction and finishing materials, hot water preparation systems, ventilation systems, etc.
By origin, pollutants can be viewed as chemical, physical and microbiological. The gases most commonly exceeded are: CO2, caused by human respiration, CO caused transport vapors, NO2, ozone, radon and formaldehyde. In addition to measuring the CO2 concentration must be measured and parameters of air pressure, temperature and relative humidity.
Thanks a lot for your insightful responses. Interesting what Abdulmuhsin S. Shihab said about finding potential correlation of parameters. Also, very interesting materials shared. We are working on this at the moment, so we will be sharing our conclusions with you.
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