Assessment of Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution in a Residential High-Rise

Abstract

Almost half of the world’s population resides in cities and many urban residents live in highrise apartments. It has been hypothesized that living in a highrise building might reduce exposure to ambient air pollution due to vertical gradients in outdoor air pollution and particulate removal by filtered air intake systems. However, few studies have examined air pollution levels in residential highrise buildings. Previous studies in Korea and Singapore reported significant differences in average indoor concentrations by floor (Jo and Kim, 2002; Jo et al., 2003; Jo and Lee, 2006; Kalaiarasan et al., 2009). However, extrapolation from these studies to cities in Europe and North America is difficult because of differences in construction, ventilation systems, and the components of urban pollution. This is the first study to examine the influence of vertical distribution and betweenunit infiltration on air pollutant concentrations in a Canadian residential highrise building