Ventilation: function and challenges

Article 1 ^er of the French Charter of the Environment states that "everyone has the right to live in a balanced environment respectful of health". The majority of human beings spend over 80% of their time in enclosed spaces, making indoor air quality a legitimate public health concern. It is even becoming a key issue in today's highly insulated, airtight buildings, whether new or renovated. The main function of ventilation is to preserve indoor air quality in homes and buildings.

An IPSOS survey on quality of life carried out in 2017 for the Qualitel association and comprising 80 questions asked of people during a survey on their environment revealed that 5 criteria particularly affect them:

• 32% complain of thermal discomfort (of these, 41% live in apartments and 26% in single-family homes);

• 34% say they are dissatisfied with their home's energy consumption. A third of French people have individual electric heating, and this is considered the least satisfactory;

• 30% complain about poor soundproofing;

• 25% are dissatisfied with building materials;

• only 21% consider ventilation to be poor in their homes, with this percentage rising with surface area:

  • 20% for 75 m ² units

  • 15% for 75 to 100 m ² units

  • 8% for units between 100 and 120 m ² .

  • 6% for homes over 120 m ² .

This proves that the effort to improve home ventilation, particularly since 2012, has been significant.

The sixth edition of the LES DÉFIS BÂTIMENT SANTÉ symposium took place in Paris on June 15, 2017, at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie de la Villette Convention Center. The next edition is scheduled for July 2019. This event has become a must-attend event for those involved in healthy construction. In addition to technical and regulatory innovations concerning indoor air quality, issues around electromagnetic exposure generated by smart meters or exposure to different frequencies of blue light from LEDs were widely discussed.

For example, the impact of innovations in lighting and acoustics, the issues surrounding smart meters and, more broadly, the integration of health into urban planning dynamics and the need for training for the entire chain of players (such as companies with the Ateliers...