Tuberculosis transmission: Modelled impact of air-tightness in dwellings in the UK

Jonathon Taylor; Hector Altamirano-Medina; Clive Shrubsole; Payel Das; Phillip Biddulph; Michael Davies; Anna Mavrogianni; Eleni Oikonomou

Abstract

High CO₂ emissions from the residential sector have forced UK authorities to promote measures to improve energy efficiency through retrofit. Air-tightening can reduce infiltration rates, thereby decreasing ventilation heat losses, but also reducing indoor air quality. This paper presents an initial investigation of the increase in airborne transmission risk of Tuberculosis (TB) due to air-tightening in two of the most commonly-occurring dwelling types in London (purpose-built flat and terraced). EnergyPlus is used to calculate the ventilation rate of the main bedroom over a year for a range of building permeabilities representing the current and air-tightened stock. The Wells-Riley equation is then used to calculate the risk of infection under three different rates of TB generation. Results indicate the potential for increased airborne TB transmission between building occupants following air-tightening, with occupants of flats more susceptible to infection, particularly at high TB generation rates.

Original language	English
Pages	60-67
Number of pages	8
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2014
Externally published	Yes
Publication type	Not Eligible
Event	13th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, Indoor Air 2014 - Hong Kong, Hong Kong Duration: 7 Jul 2014 → 12 Jul 2014

Conference

Conference	13th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, Indoor Air 2014
Country/Territory	Hong Kong
City	Hong Kong
Period	7/07/14 → 12/07/14

Keywords

Building archetypes
Building simulation
EnergyPlus
London
Tuberculosis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Pollution
Building and Construction
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Computer Science Applications

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Cite this

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title = "Tuberculosis transmission: Modelled impact of air-tightness in dwellings in the UK",

abstract = "High CO2 emissions from the residential sector have forced UK authorities to promote measures to improve energy efficiency through retrofit. Air-tightening can reduce infiltration rates, thereby decreasing ventilation heat losses, but also reducing indoor air quality. This paper presents an initial investigation of the increase in airborne transmission risk of Tuberculosis (TB) due to air-tightening in two of the most commonly-occurring dwelling types in London (purpose-built flat and terraced). EnergyPlus is used to calculate the ventilation rate of the main bedroom over a year for a range of building permeabilities representing the current and air-tightened stock. The Wells-Riley equation is then used to calculate the risk of infection under three different rates of TB generation. Results indicate the potential for increased airborne TB transmission between building occupants following air-tightening, with occupants of flats more susceptible to infection, particularly at high TB generation rates.",

keywords = "Building archetypes, Building simulation, EnergyPlus, London, Tuberculosis",

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AU - Taylor, Jonathon

AU - Altamirano-Medina, Hector

AU - Shrubsole, Clive

AU - Das, Payel

AU - Biddulph, Phillip

AU - Davies, Michael

AU - Mavrogianni, Anna

AU - Oikonomou, Eleni

PY - 2014/1/1

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AB - High CO2 emissions from the residential sector have forced UK authorities to promote measures to improve energy efficiency through retrofit. Air-tightening can reduce infiltration rates, thereby decreasing ventilation heat losses, but also reducing indoor air quality. This paper presents an initial investigation of the increase in airborne transmission risk of Tuberculosis (TB) due to air-tightening in two of the most commonly-occurring dwelling types in London (purpose-built flat and terraced). EnergyPlus is used to calculate the ventilation rate of the main bedroom over a year for a range of building permeabilities representing the current and air-tightened stock. The Wells-Riley equation is then used to calculate the risk of infection under three different rates of TB generation. Results indicate the potential for increased airborne TB transmission between building occupants following air-tightening, with occupants of flats more susceptible to infection, particularly at high TB generation rates.

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KW - Building simulation

KW - EnergyPlus

KW - London

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