Personal CO2 bubble: Context-dependent variations and wearable sensors usability. (March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ghahramani, Ali; Pantelic, Jovan; Vannucci, Matthew; Pistore, Lorenza; Liu, Shichao; Gilligan, Brian; Alyasin, Soheila; Arens, Edward; Kampshire, Kevin; Sternberg, Esther
• Is Part Of: Journal of building engineering. Volume 22(2019)
• Page Start: 295
• Page End: 304
• Publication Date: 2019-03
• Subjects: CO2 exposure -- Personal indoor air quality -- Inhalation zone CO2 concentration -- Occupant behavior -- Wearable CO2 sensor -- Ubiquitous sensing; Building -- Periodicals; 690.05
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2018.11.015
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-7102

Abstract

Abstract: High CO2 concentration in inhaled air has been shown to negatively impact work performance and increase acute health symptoms. As respiratory CO2 is constantly exhaled, it may not dissipate in surrounding air in absence of adequate air movement and is instead re-inhaled into the airways (breathing in a CO2 -rich bubble). In this study, we explored the impacts of context-dependent factors such as office activities, desk settings, and personal differences on the inhalation zone CO2 concentration and on concentrations at a below-neck wearable sensor. We found that all factors significantly impact measurements at both measuring points of our test subjects. Presence of a small portable desk fan was also found to significantly reduce the CO2 concentration. On average, we observed a 177 ppm reduction in CO2 concentration when using a fan, which is 25 ppm higher than the background CO2 measurement (650 ppm). Among 41 test subjects, we found distinct relationships between the inhalation zone CO2 concentration and the wearable sensor measurements and, by applying a hierarchical clustering algorithm, we found 4 clusters of relationships. While below-neck wearable sensors could be used as an exact measure of inhalation of CO2 concentration for 29% of the subjects, we identified a boundary point (917 ppm) separating high and low inhalation zone CO2 concentration measurements. Highlights: High CO2 concentration in the inhalation zone was introduced as a personal CO2 bubble. Regular office variability such as desk settings, activity, and personal difference was explored. Using air movement devices such as a desk fan significantly reduces inhaled CO2 . A data driven method for predicting inhaled CO2 from wearable CO2 sensors was developed.