Measuring indoor carbon dioxide (CO2) levels is a clear and simple way to evaluate if an area is adequately ventilated.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a free online tool that can provide building professionals with CO2 readings to regularly evaluate ventilation.
The free application computes CO2 levels depending on the user’s desired ventilation rate as well as details about the building and its inhabitants.
The tool can detect poor conditions that could lead to the accumulation of harmful contaminants.
NIST said the tool is used for implementing the CO2 concentration calculations.
“After providing the relevant inputs, or selecting from a number of predefined cases, the QICO2 tool allows the user to estimate indoor CO2 concentrations in a ventilated space,” according to the NIST web site.
“These calculated concentrations can be compared with measured CO2 concentrations in a building or space to evaluate whether the intended or required ventilation rate is actually being achieved.