On reducing CO2 concentration in buildings by using plants

Abstract

The article deals with the implementation of plants in the indoor environment of buildings to reduce the concentration of CO2. Based on a specified model representing the internal environment of an office space, it was studied whether the requirement for the total amount of ventilated air could be reduced by using plants, thereby achieving savings of operating costs in the building ventilation sector. The present research describes the effect of plant implementation according to different levels of CO2 concentration of the supply air, specifically with values of 410 ppm corresponding to the year 2020, 550 ppm to the year 2050 and 670 ppm to the year 2100, as well as according to different levels of CO2 concentration in the indoor environment, namely 1000 ppm and 1500 ppm, the illumination of plants in the indoor environment is constant in the model, PPFD equals to 200 μmolm−2 s−1. Based on the computational model, it was found that the implemented plants can positively influence the requirement for the total amount of ventilated air, the most significant effect is in the case of a low indoor environment quality, with the CO2 concentration of 1500 ppm, and a high supply air quality 410 p˙pm. The simulation also showed that compared to 2020, by the year 2100, it will be necessary to increase the ventilation of the indoor environment by 25.1% to ensure the same quality of the indoorenvironment.