An epistemic approach for IAQ assessment of air-conditioned offices in Hong Kong

Continuous sampling is one of the common approaches for assessing the exposure concentrations of common air pollutants. To determine the acceptable indoor air quality (IAQ) of a space, assessment uncertainties must be included. Based on the prior understanding of test sample failure probability, this study proposes an epistemic IAQ assessment approach. The prior failure rates of office IAQ were derived from a large scale regional survey of 330 typical offices in Hong Kong. For demonstration, a sample test result was used to assess the IAQ acceptance against an action CO2level with assessment uncertainties which were precalculated from a longitudinal year-round measurement carried out in a chosen office. With an 'agreed' range of acceptable assessment uncertainties, different parties involved in IAQ monitoring can make better decisions to devise the appropriate and cost-effective sampling strategies for IAQ control and improvement.