You are here:
LARGE BUILDINGS CHARACTERISTICS AS RELATED TO RADON RESISTANCE: A LITERATURE REVIEW
Citation:
Venezia, R. A. LARGE BUILDINGS CHARACTERISTICS AS RELATED TO RADON RESISTANCE: A LITERATURE REVIEW. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/R-97/051 (NTIS PB97-167134), 1997.
Impact/Purpose:
information
Description:
The report gives results of a literature review to determine to what useful extent buildings have been characterized and a data base developed in relation to radon entry and mitigation. Prior to 1993, most radon research in large buildings was focused on developing diagnostic and mitigation techniques for school buildings. The belief exists that techniques developed for school buildings can be used as the basis for developing diagnostic and mitigation techniques for other types of large buildings. The complexity and diversity of large building designs is an added complexity in radon mitigation. Much in the available literature on large building characteristics is directed toward energy conservation and toward heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system design and operation. Data on floor space to footprint ratio, separation of lower level from upper floors, floor bypasses, and building foundation design/construction are lacking. The development and application of energy conservation techniques for large buildings have been vigorously pursued since the mid-1970s and have resulted in significant energy savings. Some of these techniques may have contributed to sick building syndrome, building related illness, and a general decrease in indoor air quality. Radon diagnostic and mitigation strategies are lacking for large buildings.