PFT Ventilation Data for 603 Houses

Description

Data set bundled with the Versar/Geomet multi-chamber chemical exposure model (MCCEM) created for the USEPA ca. 1990. The dataset contains ventilation data for 603 homes, consisting of zone volumes, air exchange rates and interzonal air flows for different seasons. The data set is described in a 1990 Versar report for the USEPA as well as in the USEPA Exposure Factors Handbook.

Usage

data(Houses)

Format

A data frame with 604 observations, corresponding to each house that was surveyed. The following variables exist for each house:

STATE

State the house is located in, primarily California (CA)

X__STORIES

Number of stories (levels)

HOUSE_CODE

Unique code for the house

VOL_ZONE?

Volume of zone ?, ? = 1, 2, 3, or 4, cubic meters

X__ZONES

Number of zones (1, 2, 3, or 4)

DESC_ZONE?

Description of Zone ?, ? = 1, 2, 3, or 4

SM_ACH

Summer air exchange, 1/h

FL_SP_ACH

Fall-Spring air exchange, 1/h

WN_ACH

Winter air exchange, 1h

AVG_ACH

Overall average air exchange across all seasons, 1/h

SM_X_Y

Summer interzonal air flow from Zone X to Zone Y, cubic meters per h

FL_SP_X_Y

Fall-Spring interzonal air flow from Zone X to Zone Y, cubic meters per h

WN_X_Y

Winter interzonal air flow from Zone X to Zone Y, cubic meters per h

AVG_X_Y

Overall average interzonal air flow from Zone X to Zone Y, cubic meters per h

Details

This is the Versar 1990 PFT database taken from the MCCEM input file Housedb.dbf for 603 houses with number of stories, number of zones, zone volumes, air exchanges, and interzonal flows measured in different seasons: summer (SM), fall-spring (FL-SP), and winter (WN). The homes were primarily in CA. The study and selected results are described in the USEPA Exposure Factors Handbook, but the actual Versar (1990) report is apparently unavailable. I also couldn't find the raw databases. Apparently over 2000 houses were originally surveyed.

I downloaded the MCCEM program from the EPA.gov website and upon installation, I found the Housedb.dbf file in the installation directory, which I converted to R format using the foreign package. The file format is pretty self-explanatory with zone volumes in units of cubic meters, air exchange rate (ACH) in units of inverse hours, and the interzonal flows in units of cubic meters per hour. Up to four zones were characterized with descriptions given for each zone. Values of ventilation are given for each season, as well as overall average values.

References

Versar, 1990, Database of Perfluorocarbon Tracer (PFT) Ventilation Measurements, final report for USEPA Office of Toxic Substances, Versar, Inc.

USEPA. 1997. Exposure Factors Handbook. National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC. Chapter 17. Residential Building Characteristics. http://www.epa.gov/oppt/exposure/docs/USEPA_1997_EFH.pdf

Examples

data(Houses)