Assessing Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation to Limit Aerosol Dispersion—Literature Review

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of indoor air quality (IAQ) and ventilation, which researchers have been warning about for years. During the pandemic, researchers studied several indicators using different approaches to assess IAQ and diverse ventilation systems in indoor spaces. To provide an overview of these indicators and...

Ventilation regimes of school classrooms against airborne transmission of infectious respiratory droplets: A review

Airborne transmission of small respiratory droplets (i.e., aerosols) is one of the dominant transmission routes of pathogens of several contagious respiratory diseases, which mainly takes place between occupants when sharing indoor spaces. The important role of ventilation in airborne infection control has been extensively discussed in...

Test rooms to study human comfort in buildings: A review of controlled experiments and facilities

Occupants’ comfort perception affects building energy consumptions. To improve the understanding of human comfort, which is crucial to reduce energy demand, laboratory experiments with humans in controlled environments (test rooms) are fundamental, but their potential also depends on the characteristic of each research facility. Nowadays, there...

A paradigm shift to combat indoor respiratory infection

Dismantling myths on the airborne transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused untold disruption throughout the world. Understanding the mechanisms for transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is key to preventing further spread, but there is confusion over the meaning of ‘airborne’ whenever transmission is discussed....