A review on interactions between energy performance of the buildings, outdoor air pollution and the indoor air quality

Indoor air quality has received much attention in recent years because of its rising pollution levels, leading to significant health problems. Indoor air quality has become an important issue because technology development of thermal windows and buildings which have become more energy efficient, leads to sealed buildings, which can greatly increase concentration of pollutants thus presenting high risks to health. In this sense, there is more research focused on assessing human health effects due to exposure to different levels of pollution. This is particularly important as people spend on average 80−90 % of their time indoors.Reducing energy demand for heating and cooling is essential for improving the energy efficiency of a building, but modern technology re-circulates the air instead of refreshing it leads to reduced air quality.The paper attempts to provide an understanding of how contaminants, increased population density in cities, the use of new synthetic materials and traffic pollution contribute and interact to increase adverse effects on humans and deteriorate indoor air quality.