To characterize the influence of occupancy on the indoor air quality, a public office building with air-conditioning system was selected for this study. The indoor parameters included total bacteria count, total fungal count, temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration. The number of occupants, which varied throughout the day, was recorded in each sample. The samples were taken before the beginning of the working day and during 3 h, at an interval of 30 min between each sampling, and continued for five working days during a week. Correlation analysis demonstrated that occupancy rates were positively correlated with airborne bacteria, CO2, and temperature. No significant association between the number of occupants and fungus was observed. The results of this study provided information on the variability of indoor air parameters during the time-varying occupancy over the course of the day in at air-conditioned buildings where occupancy was quite dynamic.
Indoor air quality; air-conditioned; occupancy; office building
