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Domestic Laundering – Environmental Audit in Glasgow with Emphasis on Passive Indoor Drying and Air Quality

In the context of zero-carbon housing, the health implications of indoor air quality (IAQ) have become critical. This paper reports findings of a 3-year ESPRC funded project (£520759, EP/G00028X/1) led by MEARU in collaboration with Energy System Research Unit, University of Strathclyde, and Centre for Research into Indoor Climate and Health, Glasgow Caledonian. Porteous was the PI for the project, which investigated the energy and other potentially detrimental environmental impacts attributable to domestic laundering. This lead paper concentrates on compromised energy efficiency and IAQ resulting from passive indoor drying (PID). The research investigated several strands: humidity, mould risk, PID influences and IAQ using CO2 to indicate ‘bad company’; air sampling and analysis of mould spores; moisture buffering potential of certain building materials. This involved laboratory analysis and dynamic computer modelling to determine the moisture and energy impacts of PID. The project is published widely (Design Guide: Healthy Low Energy Home Laundering ISBN 978-0-9571595-0-1; Sensing a historic low-co2 future ISBN 978-953-307-570-9; Communal Residential Laundry Washing And Drying 13 Can It Provide Demand-Side Electrical Load Flexibility?: Microgen’II:, April 2011, Glasgow, Scotland; Displacing Electrical Energy for Drying Domestic Laundry by Practical Solar Upgrades - Proposed Glasgow Housing Case Studies. In: EuroSun 2010, Graz, Austria, September 21st- 1st October 2010, Graz, Austria; Economic and Environmental Impact of Communal Laundry Spaces in High Density Housing in the UK. The International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability; The economic and environmental impact of communal laundry spaces in high density housing in the UK. In: The International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability, Champaign, Illinois, USA).