Goodarzi, F; Palaniappan, K; Pillay, M and Ershadi, M (2025) A scoping review of indoor air quality assessment in refurbished buildings. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, 14(1), pp. 93-118. ISSN 2046-6099
Abstract
Purpose: Exposure to poor indoor air in refurbished buildings is a matter of health concern due to the growing concentrations of various contaminants as a result of building airtightness without amendment of ventilation, or the use of building materials such as glue, paint, thinner and varnishes. Recent studies have been conducted to measure indoor air pollutants and assess the health risks affecting the quality of life, productivity and well-being of human beings. However, limited review studies have been recently conducted to provide an overview of the state of knowledge. This study aims to conduct a scoping review of indoor air quality (IAQ) in the context of refurbished or energy-retrofitted buildings. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic screening process based on the PRISMA protocol was followed to extract relevant articles. Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar and PubMed were searched using customised search formulas. Among 276 potentially relevant records, 38 studies were included in the final review covering a period from 2015 to 2022. Findings: Researchers mapped out the measured compounds in the selected studies and found that carbon dioxide (CO2) (11%) and total volatile organic compounds (11%) were among the most commonly measured contaminants. Two trends of research were found including (1) the impact of ventilative properties on IAQ and (2) the impact of introducing building materials on IAQ. Originality/value: The contribution of this study lies in summarising evidence on IAQ measurements in refurbished buildings, discussing recent advancements, revealing significant gaps and limitations, identifying the trends of research and drawing conclusions regarding future research directions on the topic.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | energy retrofits; indoor air quality; refurbished buildings; renovations; scoping review |
| Index terms: | screening, productivity, building material, renovation, ventilation, carbon dioxide, drawing, science, quality of life, health risk, pollutant, exposure, evidence, well-being, methodology, indoor air quality |
| Subjects: | environmental health, management, renovation and retrofit, public and environmental health, technical documentation, building materials, mental health and wellbeing, air quality, research methods, evaluation and assessment methods, specialized education, climate science |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Human Resources, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Education, Sustainability, Health and Safety, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here