ABSTRACT
The configuration of balconies can affect the indoor environmental performance of dwellings, but there is not enough knowledge regarding how a balcony simultaneously impacts all the parameters of indoor environmental quality (IEQ). Therefore, this study aims to evaluate, for the first time, the impacts of different balcony configurations on IEQ. A comprehensive in-situ campaign was carried out on ten balconies and their contiguous rooms in a building in Porto. Air temperature, relative humidity, CO2, PM2.5 and TVOCs concentration, illuminance and sound pressure level were simultaneously monitored. The results show that an open balcony has a positive impact on hygrothermal conditions, controlled daylight illuminance, and reduced traffic noise by up to 10 dBa. The presence of a glazed balcony improved hygrothermal conditions in winter and increased the noise reduction by up to 15 dBA, but caused a reduction in the daylight of up to 64%. The rooms, in which the balcony was eliminated presented the worst hygrothermal conditions, lost the benefits of noise reduction and had an increase in daylight illuminance of up to 136%. It was also found that the impacts are interrelated and that a balcony influences the occupants’ behaviour by enhancing window opening.
Acknowledgments
The first author would like to acknowledge the support of FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, the funding of the Doctoral Grant PD/BD/135164/2017, through the Doctoral Programme EcoCoRe. The second author like to acknowledge the support of by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through the individual Scientific Employment Stimulus 2021.02686. CEECIND. This work was financially supported by: Base Funding - UIDB/04708/2020 of the CONSTRUCT - Instituto de I&D em Estruturas e Construções - funded by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). The authors want to thank the Municipal Department of Civil Protection – Porto for the outdoor weather data.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.