There is a trend to perform more ventilation and air infiltration measurements in buildings, either to strengthen commissioning procedures or to learn from field data. This trend is stronger in nearly zero-energy buildings projects or programmes given the significant share of ventilation and infiltration losses on total building energy use.
The inter- and multidisciplinary research area of indoor exposure and health in EU and worldwide covers practical and scientific aspects ranging from technical to medical research disciplines. The overall scientific area can be split into six areas of special focus: (a) exposure measurements, (b) health effects, (c) buildings science and design, (d) exposure modeling, (e) indoor air quality control and (f) exposure risk assessment and management.
For more than 16 years now the European Collaborative Action ECA "Indoor Air Quality & it's Impact on Man" has been implementing a multidisciplinary collaboration of European scientists the ultimate goal of which was the provision of healthy and environmentally sustainable buildings. To accomplish this task ECA has dealt with all aspects of the indoor environment including thermal comfort, pollution sources, the quality and quantity of chemical and biological indoor pollutants, energy use, and the ventilation processes, which may all interact with indoor air quality.