Ozone removal by green building materials

There is a rapidly expanding market for green building materials. Such materials are intended to be environmentally friendly, with such characteristics as low toxicity, minimal chemical emissions, ability to be recycled, and durability. In addition, green materials often contain recycled and/or bio-based contents. Consequently, some green materials may undergo significant oxidation with potential for reduction of indoor ozone. In this study, 48-L electro-polished stainless steel chambers were used to study the reactive consumption of ozone by ten common green wall, flooring, ceiling, and cabinetry materials (perlite-based ceiling tile, unglazed ceramic tile, natural cork wall-covering, aluminum tinted cork wall-paper, bamboo, UV-coated bamboo, wheat board, UV-coated wheat board, sunflower board, and UV-coated sunflower board). Ozone removal was quantified in terms of deposition velocity and reaction probability. Ozone removal decreased with time after initial exposure, but for several materials the ability to react with ozone was regenerated after a period of zero ozone exposure. Test materials found to have the highest ozone reaction probabilities were a perlite-based ceiling tile, natural cork wall-covering, and wheat board.