A novel solution for reducing the transfer of particles and gases among adjacent apartments

A unique type of fabric membrane has been developed by a Swedish company. That membrane is design to trap the emission from surfaces. To test the performance of the said membrane for trapping particles and gases, a study was conducted by the Danish Building Research Institute (SBi). The study is based on the laboratory experiments as well as in situ measurements. Laboratory tests were performed in the laboratory of SBi where two adjacent apartments were simulated. One apartment was the source apartment which generated the particles and the second apartment was the exposed apartment which was exposed to the particles generated by the source apartment. Exposed apartment was situated over the source apartments. Both apartments had the same plan area and height. The simulated apartments were separated by wooden flooring. When the ultra-fine particles (UFP) were generated in the source apartment, around 48% of UFP migrated to the exposed apartment. Similarly when gases were generated in the source apartment, 16.5% of the gases migrated to the exposed apartment. Then the sealing membrane was installed below the wooden flooring of the exposed apartment. It was noted that the inclusion of the sealing membrane reduced the transfer of UFP up to 86% and reduced the transfer of N2O up to 87.5% in comparison with the transfers without the membrane. A similar procedure of measuring the transfer of UFP and gases was adapted in situ measurements. In situ the sealing membrane was able to reduce the transfer of UFP up to 53%. A survey regarding occupant’s perception of the performance of the sealing membrane was also conducted after 4 months post occupancy. Before the renovation, the occupants were continuously irritated by the cigarette smells from their neighbours. However, after renovation the occupants are highly satisfied with the performance of the sealing membrane.