Retrofitting the Building Stock: Challenges and Opportunities for Indoor Environmental Quality

In a world striving to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, it is imperative to strike a balance that sustains both our environment as well as the health and comfort of the individuals inhabiting buildings. Considering that 90% of the current buildings are projected to remain in the year 2050, retrofitting the existing building stock is paramount to reaching decarbonization goals.

From the perspective of climate goals, reducing energy use in the built environment via energy retrofit and climate neutral newly constructed buildings are critical. However, it is crucial to prioritize indoor environmental quality when reducing energy usage to meet climate targets. Well-designed and executed retrofits are needed to reduce carbon emissions while ensuring healthy indoor environments. Building retrofit professionals, energy conservation experts, ventilation system designers & installers, and indoor air quality specialists must collaborate on innovative solutions to achieve these multifaceted objectives. AIVC 2024 will serve as a multidisciplinary platform to address the emerging challenges by exchanging cutting-edge ideas, research findings, policies and industrial experiences.

The conference organizers invite contributions centered around the pivotal role of ventilation, airtight building and ductwork designs, and ventilative cooling solutions in enhancing Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and overall health in existing buildings. Case studies demonstrating innovative solutions are also welcome.

Conference Concept

The conference will consist of parallel sessions largely devoted to:

• Smart ventilation, Indoor Air Quality and health
• Building and ductwork airtightness
• Ventilative cooling – Resilient cooling

The conference will consist of a mixture of invited presentations and presentations in response to a call for papers, organized in structured sessions focused on the conference topics. Some sessions will consist of presentations from the call for papers only, while other sessions will be topical sessions with presentations proposed by a session organizer or by the organizing committee. The conference is combined with an exhibition by industry partners.

Conference topics

Smart ventilation, Indoor Air Quality and health:

• Integration of ventilation in building energy retrofits
• Associated health benefits of energy retrofits
• Strategies to reduce exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollutants (filtration, air cleaning, source control)
• Resilient approaches in IAQ management (infection control, hazardous events, etc.)
• Inspection, monitoring, maintenance, reliability and durability of ventilation systems
• Model based data analytics and control strategies for smart ventilation, including the role of consumer-grade IAQ sensors
• Building Information Modelling (BIM), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and ventilation systems
• Standards, policies and legislation.

Building and ductwork airtightness

• Role of airtightness in building energy retrofits
• Energy and IAQ impact of envelope and ductwork leakage
• Innovative measurement and airtightening techniques
• Compliance schemes for airtightness
• Long-term performance: durability of airtightness

Ventilative cooling – Resilient cooling:

• Role of ventilative and resilient cooling in building energy retrofits
• Occupant IEQ perception and satisfaction
• Resilient approaches to extreme heat events and climate change
• Control strategies and personal comfort control
• Standards, legislation and compliance tools

Conference organizers

The conference is an initiative from:

• the International Network on Ventilation and Energy Performance (INIVE) on behalf of the Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC), the Building and Ductwork Airtightness Platform (TightVent Europe), and the platform for resilient ventilative cooling (venticool);
• the University of Galway;
• the Maynooth University; and
• the Sustainable Energy Authority Of Ireland (SEAI)