Ventilation monitoring system to improve indoor air quality in shared spaces

The air quality negatively affects occupants' health and safety. High amount of indoor air contaminants such as carbon dioxide can suggest poor ventilation, which can lead to the accumulation of particles and more dangerous gases like carbon monoxide. Poor building ventilation can contribute to poor health, learning challenges, and productivity issues. This issue is very worrying since people spend most of their time indoors. Thus, indoor air quality is essential to describe the conditions of the air quality inside the building. In this paper, a prototype of a ventilation system with monitoring and control systems is proposed to monitor the indoor air quality and control the airflow ventilation. A real-time air quality monitoring system using MH-Z19 NDIR gas module that measure carbon dioxide has been introduced. The air quality data measured by the module will determine the status of the building and the optimal ventilation rate needed. A ventilation system that consists of the type of system used, fan design, and selection of motor is implemented. This work focuses on analyzing the carbon dioxide concentration under three different conditions. The results have proven that the developed ventilation system with monitoring and control system can provide adequate indoor air quality and reduce the air contaminant which is carbon dioxide by 46%. This work shows an optimistic possibility that indoor air quality can be monitored and improved for the benefit of the occupants in terms of health and safety.