Building on the original PUrE sustainable sssessment software the PUrE Intrawise project has improved and added many new features and additional functionality to the PUrE2 software. Alongside the existing pollutant and impact modelling capabilities built into the PUrE software building models and indoor air quality models have been added. In addition existing models and tools such as Life Cycle Assessment, Human Health Analysis and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis have been substantially improved.

Try the PUrE2 Software Now

The latest version of the PUrE2 Software is available for free to download from the PUrE Intrawise web site: www.pureintrawise.org

About the PUrE Intrawise Project

The aim of the PUrE Intrawise consortium is to develop an integrated decision-support framework for more sustainable management of indoor pollution associated with the provision, conservation and use of energy in buildings. The framework will be applied to a number of case studies that will compare environmental, health and economic implications of the principal options for future home energy provision as an aid to policy development.

We spend some 90% of our time inside buildings so that indoor air quality can have an impact on our health. Indoor air quality is affected by:

• Building design - air-tight buildings increase thermal efficiency but also reduce ventilation thus increasing indoor pollution.
• Ventilation - can lead to ingress of outdoor air pollution and reduced energy efficiency.
• Thermal insulation - improves energy efficiency but reduces ventilation leading to increased indoor moisture and creation of mould; mould has been linked to respiratory and other health problems.
• Energy provision - burning fuels in domestic appliances (i.e. gas boilers and cookers) can potentially be hazardous to the health.
• Energy switching - changing from fossil fuels to biomass, photo-voltaics, fuel cells etc., reduces the impact on the indoor environment; however, it causes environmental and health impacts elsewhere in the life cycle.

PUrE Intrawise builds on the PUrE project. While PUrE focused on outdoor pollution, PUrE Intrawise is concerned with indoor pollution. Its main aim is to develop an integrated decision-support framework for more sustainable management of indoor pollution associated with the provision, conservation and use of energy in buildings.