Mechanical ventilation and indoor air quality in recently constructed homes in the humid climate of the southeast U.S.

This study is part of the Building American Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality (BAVIAQ) field study. This study examines whole-house mechanical ventilation (WHMV) and indoor air quality (IAQ) in 51 single-family homes constructed since 2013 in the humid southeastern U.S in Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia. A total of 67 weeks of data were collected from homes monitored over one or two weeks, with whole-house mechanical ventilation (WHMV) systems either operated or not. Eleven homes were monitored under both WHMV conditions. The dataset includes time-resolved measurements of CO₂, PM2.5, formaldehyde, and radon; and time-integrated measurements of gravimetric PM2.5, NO₂, NOₓ, and formaldehyde. Occupants’ activities, including ventilation equipment usage, cooking, window opening, and other usage related to IAQ, were also monitored. Participants were asked to provide the household characteristics, their practices related to ventilation and pollutant sources and controls, and their satis...,
Overview of the data collection
The basic structure of the study was to characterize the mechanical ventilation equipment functionality in each house through observations and performance measurements, monitor ventilation equipment usage, and measure air quality parameters indoors and outdoors over weeklong periods. Data were also collected by asking occupants to provide information about the household, their practices related to ventilation and pollutant sources and controls, and their satisfaction with air quality, thermal comfort, and other environmental factors in the home. Most homes were monitored for one week with WHMV equipment operating or not operating (with some adjustment or activation by the field team required in many of the homes). In a subset of homes, monitoring occurred for two weeklong periods: one with WHMV set to operate and one with WHMV not operating. 
Each study home was visited by a two-person field team at the start and end of each monitoring period. Venti..., # Dryad dataset

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.kh18932kr](10.5061/dryad.kh18932kr)

## Description of the data and file structure

### **What is in the dataset?**

The dataset contains the most relevant information collected about the houses and their mechanical equipment, results of the participant survey, results of air leakage and airflow measurements at the homes, pollutant concentrations measured by time-integrated passive samplers inside and outside of the home, usage of cooktop and oven, external door and window open state, and time-series or air pollutants and environmental indicators measured within and outside of the houses.

## **Organization of Dataset**

#### **Airflow**

This folder contains time-resolved data of the calculated overall air exchange rate. The total air change rate for the home depends on a combination of the various mechanical ventilation systems, the natural infiltration due to stack and wind effects, and the envelope leakage. The natural infiltration rate w..., This study was reviewed and approved by the Central Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the U.S. Department of Energy. All participants provided written informed consent, which included permission to publish their de-identified data in the public domain for research and educational use.
To protect participant privacy, all personally identifiable information (PII)—including names, addresses, precise geolocation, and contact information—has been removed or anonymized. Each home was assigned a randomly generated study ID that does not correspond to any internal or field-collected identifier. Time stamps were generalized as needed to prevent potential re-identification, and no free-text responses or media content are included. The dataset has been reviewed to ensure that the risk of re-identification is minimal, in compliance with established data protection standards.