CE 51601 – Indoor Air Quality

Credits and contact hours:

  • 3 credits
  • LEC/50 min per mtg/3 mtgs per week/16 weeks per term (LEC/50/3/16)

Specific course information:

  • Catalog description: CE51600 covers the fundamentals of indoor air pollutant dynamics in buildings and their heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.
  • Prerequisites: Graduate standing with an undergraduate degree in engineering or consent of instructor. Qualified undergraduate students may enroll with consent of instructor.
  • Course status: Technical elective

Specific Goals for the course:

  • Student learning outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
    • Mechanistically evaluate pollutant transport dynamics in buildings through application of material balance models.
    • Apply fundamental principles of aerosol physics to characterize the behavior of indoor aerosols from several nanometers to tens of micrometers in size.
    • Evaluate human exposure to indoor aerosols and analyze the effectiveness of engineering control strategies for indoor air pollution.
    • Read and critically analyze papers in the technical literature on indoor air quality and aerosols.
    • Gain additional insight regarding specific topics related to indoor air quality and aerosols through a rigorous course project.
    • Analyze, and discuss in a group-setting, contemporary indoor air quality issues facing our global society.
    • Prepare and review written and oral technical communication.
  •  Relationship of course to program outcomes
    • Outcome 1: An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science and mathematics.
    • Outcome 5: An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.

Assessment Methods:

Learning outcomes will be assessed through a combination of homework assignments, a semester-long course project, and readings and discussions of the scientific literature.

Description of Assessment Methods:

Homework Assignments: There will be three homework assignments on indoor air pollutant dynamics over the course of the semester. Homework assignments will be completed individually. Students are encouraged to use MATLAB and Microsoft Excel to complete their assignments. Students will submit formal technical reports for each assignment.

Course Project: Students will work in teams to investigate any one of several topics relevant to the course. Students will be able to choose from a list of topics provided by the instructor, or they may propose their own topic (with permission from the instructor). The project will include several deliverables to be submitted throughout the semester. Students are expected to complete a rigorous study of the topic (including a review of existing literature), prepare a final written report of the findings in the form of a 12-page journal paper, and give an oral presentation to their classmates during the last week of the semester. Students are expected to integrate course material to complete the course project and to demonstrate a firm understanding of project materials as reflected in the final written report and oral presentation.

Readings and Discussions on Contemporary Indoor Air Quality Issues: Throughout the semester, students will discuss readings on various indoor air quality topics. Students will have one week to read the assigned paper(s) on the given topic. Students will prepare a 500-word reflection on the reading and then discuss the reading with a group of four to five other students via Zoom. Each group will then present a summary of their Zoom discussion to the rest of the class during lecture. The aim of these assignments is to encourage students to think about indoor air quality issues in a broader scientific and societal context, introduce them to the writings of leading experts in the field, and give them practice discussing technical literature with their peers.

Final Grading Criteria:
Homework Assignments: 45%
Course Project: 45%
Readings and Discussions on Contemporary Indoor Air Quality Issues: 10%

Library Resources:

Online access to the following scientific journals is preferred: Environmental Science & Technology, Environmental Science & Technology Letters, ACS ES&T Air, Journal of Aerosol Science, Aerosol Science & Technology, Indoor Environments, Building & Environment, Atmospheric Environment, Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Annals of Work Exposures & Health, Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, Environmental Science: Atmospheres, Science & Technology for the Built Environment, One Earth.