Abstract

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S.This study evaluated nine ventilation and filtration systems in an unoccupied 2006 house located 250 m downwind of the I-80 freeway in Sacramento, California. Systems were evaluated for reducing indoor concentrations of outdoor particles in summer and fall/winter, ozone in summer, and particles from stir-fry cooking. Air exchange rate was measured continuously. Energy use was estimated for year-round operation in California. Exhaust ventilation without enhanced filtration provided indoor PM2.5 that was 70% lower than outdoors. Supply ventilation with MERV13 filtration provided slightly less protection, whereas supply MERV16 filtration reduced PM2.5 by 97-98% relative to outdoors. Supply filtration systems used little energy but provided no benefits for indoor-generated particles. Systems with MERV13-16 filter in the recirculating heating and cooling unit operating continuously or 20 min/h reduced PM2.5 by 93-98%. Across all systems, removal percentages were higher for ultrafine particles and lower for black carbon, relative to PM2.5. Indoor ozone was 3-4% of outdoors for all systems except an electronic air cleaner that produced ozone. Filtration via the FAU or portable filtration units lowered PM2.5 by 25-75% when operated over the hour following cooking. The energy for year-round operation of FAU filtration with an efficient blower motor was estimated at 600 kWh/year.