The addition of pollution loads from building and furnishing materials, using a panel of persons trained to evaluate the perceived air quality in decipol, was studied. The results showed that the assumption that pollution loads of different sources can be added needs to be reevaluated and studied more. In the comfort equation, used to predict required ventilation rates, this simple addition is assumed. While reviewing previous addition studies of perceived air quality, it was observed that, for the majority of the comparisons between predicted (by using the addition assumption) and measured pollution loads of combinations of sources, the predicted pollution loads are frequently higher than the measured pollution loads. The same was found for the perceived air qualities. A critical review is given and possible reasons for this mismatch are pointed out.

Paper from IAQ 1997 -- Design, Construction, and Operation of Healthy Buildings: Solutions to Global and Regional Concerns