To what floor do exhaust gases and smog rise? Why are exhaust gases dangerous to human health? Which floor is it good to live on: doctors’ opinions

The article presents the results of field studies of the content of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere at a height from the surface of the earth from mobile sources of pollution. Studies on the height of buildings and carbon monoxide concentrations have not been carried out for the climatic conditions of the south of Western Siberia. The object of the study was residential buildings. The studies were carried out at unfavorable wind speeds. Processing of experimental data made it possible to obtain calculated dependences of the dimensionless value of the concentration of carbon monoxide (II) on the height of the façade of buildings and emission sources from highways with different traffic intensities. A nomogram has been constructed to determine the optimal air intake height for buildings of different heights from highways of different traffic intensity. These recommendations allow you to take into account external sources when designing building ventilation. Calculated dependencies make it possible to determine the minimum concentration along the height of the building from vehicles.

ventilation

motor transport

1. Vladimirov E.A. Numerical modeling of the propagation of passive impurities in the atmosphere / E.A. Vladimirov // Meteorology and hydrology. - 1999. - No. 7. - P. 22-34.

2. Grimsrud D.T. Control of air pollution in residential buildings by means of ventilation: volatile organic substances and radon / D.T. Grimsrud, D.E. Hadlish // Proceedings of ASHRAE. - 1999. - P.114.

3. Gubernsky Yu.D. Ecological and hygienic safety of housing / Yu.D. Gubernsky // Hygiene and sanitation. - 1994. - No. 3. - P.15-18.

4. Livchak V.I. Solutions for ventilation of multi-storey residential buildings / V.I. Livchak // ABOK. - 1999. - No. 6. - pp. 21-25.

5. Malyavina E.G. Air regime of a high-rise building during the year / E.G. Malyavina, S.V. Biryukov, S.N. Dianov // ABOK. -2003. - No. 6. - P. 14.

6. Sidorenko V.F. On the calculation of carbon monoxide concentrations in the air of highways and adjacent residential buildings / V.F. Sidorenko, Yu.G. Feldman // Hygiene and sanitation. - 1974. - No. 1. - P. 7.

The number of cars in cities is rapidly increasing, and at the same time the gross emissions of harmful substances are increasing, most of which end up inside buildings. At the same time, most buildings in urban areas use natural exhaust ventilation, which does not allow controlling the level of indoor air pollution. When using mechanical ventilation, fresh air in urban environments can also lead to deterioration of air quality. This ventilation system was designed in many residential buildings in large cities, such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, etc. All of the above cities are cities with high levels of air pollution.

The distribution of pollutants along the height of residential buildings has a certain character. Of interest are studies on the carbon monoxide content between floors in multi-storey buildings exposed to mobile emission sources, which is important when choosing an air intake for supply ventilation of buildings.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of the research was to develop calculated dependencies for optimizing the air regime of buildings depending on the quality of outside air from vehicles.

Objects and methods of research

Carbon monoxide (II) CO was chosen as the pollutant, as it is the most stable impurity in the air. Data from field studies of CO concentrations over the entire height of the building from vehicles are not sufficiently presented; studies were carried out only in the ground layer.

The concentration of carbon monoxide (II) was measured in the outside air. All analyzes were carried out on the basis of the analytical laboratory of the Federal State Institution “Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in the Tyumen Region”. Field studies were carried out over three years in the spring-summer and autumn-winter periods.

The object of the study was residential buildings (five-, nine-, ten-story), located in the area of ​​intersections with varying traffic volumes: over 2000 vehicles/hour; from 1000-2000 vehicles/hour; from 600-1000 cars/hour; up to 500-600 vehicles/hour. Points with heavy traffic, where frequent braking and high emissions of harmful substances occur, in particular, intersections, were selected. The studies were carried out at the most unfavorable speed of the meter (1-3 m/s).

The concentration of CO in the outdoor air was measured by the height of the buildings. A total of 354 observation posts were selected at the border with residential buildings.

Sampling from mobile sources was carried out from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. or from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., alternating days with morning and evening periods. At night - 1.2 times a week. At the same time, the wind speed (m/s) was measured and its direction was noted.

When sampling near a building at a distance of at least 0.5 m from the wall. Sampling was also carried out within the block space.

Research results and discussion

The dependences of the CO concentration on the height of the building are shown in Figures 1-2, near an intersection with an intensity of over 2000 vehicles/hour.

Rice. 1. Dependence of CO concentration on the height on the windward side of the building from the highway with an intensity of 2000 auto. /hour

Rice. 2. Dependence of CO concentration on the height on the leeward side of the building from the highway 2000 ve. /hour

The graphs show (Figure 1-2) that the concentration of CO from mobile sources decreases with height. The highest concentrations are observed on the windward side of the façade at the level of the 1st and 2nd floors: 1.4 MPCs.s., on the leeward side - 1.1 MPCs.s. and 1PDKs.s., approximation dependencies (1)-(2). When building frontally, a certain build-up of air masses is formed in front of the building, which creates increased CO concentrations.

Buildings (front buildings) near intersections with traffic intensity of up to 500-600 cars/hour were also studied; 600-1000 cars/hour; over 2000 vehicles/hour. The result of measuring CO concentrations along the height of buildings is also presented as a function of the dimensionless length (, where is the height of the building). The magnitude of the concentration along the height is presented in dimensionless form in relation to the maximum (, where is the maximum concentration along the height of the building, is the concentration at the height).

Processing the results of experimental studies made it possible to obtain semi-empirical dependences of the CO concentration on the height of the building at intersections with different traffic intensity (Table 1). The dependencies are characterized by the value of the approximation reliability coefficient R2≥0.98.

Table 1

Calculation of dimensionless CO concentration over the entire height of the building from highways of varying traffic intensity

In order to be able to determine the concentration at any point along the height of the building, a nomogram was constructed (Figure 3). Using this nomogram when designing a building ventilation system, it is possible to determine the maximum and minimum CO concentration at any point along the height of the building from intersections of varying traffic intensity. In Figure 3, the line shows the permissible dimensionless concentration and the heights at which outside air can be taken along the height of the building. At an intensity of 1000-2000 auto/hour, air flow should be carried out from a height above 0.24H meters, where H is the height of the building; at an intensity above 2000 auto/hour, the air intake is above 0.56N meters. For low intensity, no excess was detected, then according to the nomogram, it is advisable to take air from a height equal to the height of the building H, since at this height the minimum concentration of CO is observed.

Rice. 3. Nomogram for determining the optimal air intake height based on the concentration of carbon monoxide at the height of buildings in the outside air from vehicles:

h - height from the ground surface, m; H - building height, m; Cmax - maximum concentration of carbon monoxide along the height of the building, mg/m3; C - concentration of carbon monoxide at height h, mg/m3

For example, if a building is 30 meters high, then according to the nomogram in Figure 3, with traffic intensity above 2000 cars/hour, the air flow should be higher than 0.56H = 16.8 meters, and under the same conditions for a building of 40 meters - higher than 0 .56N=22.4 meters. This is explained by the aerodynamic processes of the building, that is, the air flow around the building. The higher the building, the larger the size of the aerodynamic shadow. The closer the point is to the building, the more secondary recirculation air flows and stagnant zones appear in which the air speed is close to zero. Consequently, the concentration of carbon monoxide is higher. In this regard, it is necessary to take into account the height of the building when choosing the optimal air intake location.

conclusions

Thus, field studies have shown that the highest concentrations from unorganized sources of pollution are observed at the level of the 1st and 2nd floors and above, depending on the intensity of the transport route. With height, pollution from vehicles decreases depending on the height of the building.

Based on the research results, calculation methods have been developed to select the optimal air intake height for supply mechanical ventilation in buildings based on the CO concentration in the outdoor air at any point () along the height of the building () taking into account mobile sources. This is important at the first stage of designing a building ventilation system, since the obtained dependencies predict the level of pollution over the entire height of the building (above 2 m).

Reviewers:

Skipin L.N., Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Technosphere Safety, Tyumen State Architectural and Construction Educational Institution, Tyumen;

Sarkisyan G.T., Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Tyumen Higher Engineering and Command School (military institute), Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Tyumen.

Bibliographic link

22.05.2014

Which floor to choose when buying an apartment?

When buying an apartment, one of the most important selection criteria is the floor.

The most popular for buyers are the so-called “middle” floors. As a rule, these are 3-6 floors. For old five-story buildings, these are the 2nd and 3rd floors, taking into account the fact that they do not have elevators.

Which floor should I choose?

If you are purchasing an apartment for investment purposes, or planning to sell it in the near future, feel free to choose the middle floors. Such an apartment will be more liquid, therefore, you will be able to sell it faster and more expensively than housing on the outer floors.

But now let's look at the most common situation - when housing is purchased for oneself, “seriously and for a long time.” What guides people when choosing a floor for permanent residence?

If we analyze the wishes of our clients, the most common choice is: “any floor except the first and last.” Why did this happen? Will this decision really be the right one?

We suggest that you look into this issue objectively, weighing all the pros and cons.

Criterion No. 1.

Which floor is safer to live on?

It depends on what you are afraid of. If there are thieves, then exclude the first floor. Robberies are much more common here. You can't do without good bars on the windows. As for the top floor, the likelihood of entry into the apartment from the roof is, in fact, not great.

If we consider the danger of fire - here it’s the other way around - the first floor is the safest, because in the event of a fire you can get out of the apartment even without outside help. Of course, if the bars on the windows are not welded shut or “tightly” painted over. Be careful. The gratings from the inside should be easy to handle even for a child!

Except for the first floor - the higher it is, the more dangerous it is in the event of a fire in the building. The fire escape reaches a height of 75-80 meters - this is usually 11-12 floors. And smoke and toxic combustion products also rise upward.

It is much safer in those houses where the stairwells are separated from the staircases (the so-called “smoke-free staircase”). But this advantage can also be dangerous if the elevator in the house is broken - such stairs, unfortunately, are often chosen by attackers. Be careful.

Some people think that it is dangerous to live on the upper floors: they say, it’s high, I’m afraid of falling. In fact, this fear is exaggerated. If you fall from the 8th floor, the result will be the same as from the 18th and 28th...

Criterion No. 2.

Elevator breakdowns.

It is believed that it is comfortable to walk up the stairs to the 3-4 floor. It is inconvenient to lift a baby stroller even up one flight of stairs.

The operation of the elevator depends primarily on the management company and maintenance services. In new buildings, as a rule, problems with elevators occur less frequently. In addition, many buildings have 2 elevators.

Criterion No. 3.

Roof leaks.

Most people believe that on the top floors there is a risk of roof leakage. In fact, this probability is exaggerated, because in practice, cases where neighbors “drown” each other are much more common. In addition, in old panel houses, water can move along the seams between the slabs, and it is not a fact that leaks will appear on the top floor - water may well reach the middle floor, and the neighboring entrance.

Criterion No. 4.

Health and wellness.

It is believed that it is not advisable for people with a weak and unbalanced psyche to live higher than on the 7th floor. Fear of heights and feelings of dizziness usually begin here.

Sometimes people, when choosing an apartment, go up to the top floor and, looking down, say “it’s breathtaking.” It’s just that it shouldn’t be breathtaking. When constantly living at altitude, such people may experience deterioration in their health, depression and headaches. Even if the fear of heights passes over time. Although some people really get used to it and feel quite comfortable.

On high floors in monolithic buildings, a harmful electromagnetic field often occurs. This occurs due to natural vibrations along the monolithic frame. Sensitivity to this field varies from person to person. If you are weather sensitive, refrain from buying an apartment on high floors.

Indeed, it is inherent in nature that man is near the earth. Therefore, most people are actually more comfortable downstairs.

Criterion No. 5.

Which floor has cleaner air?

1-4 floor- the strongest accumulation of exhaust gases. Moreover, there is more on the 3rd floor than on the first, since harmful elements rise above the first, but they rise higher with difficulty. The result is the densest accumulation of combustion products of fuel and lubricants, these are the 2nd and 3rd floors. Think about this if you have your eye on an apartment with windows facing a busy road!

5-7 floor– the cleanest air. Exhaust gases (or rather, their particularly harmful elements) are heavy, and they cannot rise above the 4th-5th floor. But harmful emissions from factories and enterprises in the city are still far away.

8 – 16 floors– here the accumulation of the most harmful substances from the pipes of industrial enterprises occurs. This is especially true for areas of the city where such enterprises are located, since the radius, the distance of your home from a specific plant, is also important for “harmfulness”. That is, if you choose an apartment, albeit high up, but far from harmful emissions, next to a forest on the outskirts of the city, the risks are minimal.

Criterion No. 6.

Audible from the street.

Whatever you say, the higher, the quieter. However, in addition to height, there are many factors that influence the level of street noise on a particular floor. For example, the reflection of sounds from the walls of a high-rise building, especially in box-like courtyards (echo). The side where the windows face is also important.

On the lower floors, of course, you can hear absolutely everything. If your windows face the road, you will listen, at best, to the uniform hum of cars. Over time, many people get used to this noise.

But if your windows face the courtyard, consider that you will be aware of all the grandmother’s conversations at the entrance. Add here sounds from the playground, car horns in the yard, company gatherings at night, barking dogs and cat weddings, etc.

No matter what floor you live on, in any case, you need high-quality double-glazed windows for comfort.

Criterion No. 7.

Dust and dirt.

Usually the dirtiest part of the entrance is the 1st and 2nd floors. In addition, if the house does not have a fenced area, groups of young people can gather on the top floors. If this factor is excluded, then the upper floors will be much cleaner than the ones below.

If your windows face the roadway, get ready to wet-clean your home more often if you have chosen an apartment on floors 1-6. At higher altitudes, such dust rises less. If there is construction going on near the house, add construction dust here. It can rise to the 9th floor and above. The cardinal direction, openness to wind, etc. are also important here.

An important point is that if there are problems with communications or the basement in the house, then woodlice and other unpleasant creatures appear on the first and even second floors. In addition, “chronic” mold and fungi can arise as a result of dampness. This is simply dangerous to health. If there are trees near the house that create constant shade, it is almost impossible to remove mold.

Criterion No. 8.

Insects.

Checked:

Mosquitoes fly the same way on the 1st and 5th floors. There are noticeably fewer of them higher up, but they still exist. Mosquitoes can easily reach 8-9 floors (in calm weather). They practically don’t rise any further.

Flies rise higher - up to the 10-11th floor. But their main accumulation is up to the 3-4th floor.

Midges can appear at any height, as they “move” with debris, along ventilation shafts, and so on.

Spiders settle high up extremely rarely. Therefore, above the 10th floor they are very rare.

Criterion No. 9.

Light.

The brightest apartments are located above the 7th floor (of course, if the windows do not touch the end of the neighboring building). The tallest trees remain below the 6-7th floor.

If you love the sun, choose apartments whose windows face the sunny side and are not blocked by trees (be careful if you buy an apartment in winter - trees without foliage let in much more light than in summer.

Those who don’t like heat will have a hard time at high altitudes, especially if it’s on the sunny side.

Inna Adgamova, AN "Avangard-Realt"

According to environmental studies, in large cities almost 90% of air pollution comes from vehicle exhaust. The biggest polluters are cars running on diesel fuel. The type of gasoline burned also plays a big role. For example, sulfur-containing gasoline releases sulfur oxides into the atmosphere, and chlorine, bromine and lead. But the most common exhaust gas composition is as follows:

Nitrogen – 75%;
- oxygen – 0.3-8.0%;
- water – 3-5%;
- carbon dioxide – 0-16%;
- carbon monoxide – 0.1-5.0%;
- nitrogen oxides – 0.8%;
- hydrocarbons – 0.1-2.5%;
- aldehydes – up to 0.2%;
- soot – up to 0.04%;
- benzopyrene – 0.0005%.

Carbon monoxide

A product of incomplete combustion of gasoline or diesel fuel. This gas has no color, so humans cannot feel its presence in the atmosphere. This is its main danger. Carbon monoxide binds hemoglobin and causes damage to the tissues and organs of the body. This leads to headaches, dizziness, loss of consciousness and even death.

There are often cases when warming up a car in a closed or even open garage led to the death of the car owner. Odorless and colorless, carbon monoxide causes loss of consciousness and death.

Nitrogen dioxide

Yellowish-brown gas with a pungent odor. Reduces visibility and gives the air a brownish tint. It is very toxic, can cause bronchitis, and significantly reduces the body's resistance to colds. Nitrogen dioxide has a particularly negative effect on people suffering from chronic respiratory diseases.

Hydrocarbons

In the presence of nitrogen oxides and under the influence of ultraviolet radiation from the sun, hydrocarbons oxidize, after which they form oxygen-containing toxic substances with a pungent odor, the so-called photochemical smog. Cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are also found in resins and soot; they are strong carcinogens. Some of them are capable of causing mutations.

Formaldehyde

A colorless gas with an unpleasant and pungent odor. In large quantities, it irritates the respiratory tract and eyes. Toxic, causes damage to the nervous system, has mutagenic, allergenic and carcinogenic effects.

Dust and soot

Suspended particles with a size of no more than 10 microns. Can cause diseases of the respiratory system and mucous membranes. Soot is carcinogenic and can cause cancer.

During engine operation, unburned particles accumulate on the walls of the exhaust system. Under the influence of gas pressure, they are released into the atmosphere, polluting it.

Benzpyrene 3.4

One of the most dangerous substances that contains exhaust gases. It is a strong carcinogen and increases the likelihood of cancer.

Every buyer choosing apartments in a multi-storey building faces a difficult and even painful question: which floor to live on. We investigated this issue on the Moscow market of new buildings, examining in detail the advantages and disadvantages of the lower, upper and middle floors.

Lower floors: there are more disadvantages than advantages.

Ecology. The air situation for residents of the lower floors is critical. As a rule, the atmosphere here is polluted by car exhaust: the level of maximum concentration of harmful CO and CH is at the height of the 3rd floor (quickly decreasing towards the fifth). You should be aware that exhaust gases spread at least 150 m from the highway. Various heavy gases, including radon, also accumulate on the second floor. Dirt and dust from the street are very noticeable. If the area is new, then construction work and trucks may continue for years. Just look at the cars that spend the night under your windows! Not only can the alarm sound at any time at night, but in the morning you will also have to listen to the engine of a warming car and close the window because of the exhaust gases. The ecology of the living environment also largely depends on the degree of “noise” pollution in the apartment.

Noise. As experts note, household noise can seriously undermine our health. Constant, virtually round-the-clock exposure to a noise environment on a person has a negative impact on all body systems, sleep patterns, and the degree of physical and nervous tension.

“I rent an apartment on the second floor. With the windows open, people talking at the entrance seem to be talking behind my curtain. The neighbors return from work until 2-3 in the morning, slamming their doors. And at 6 in the morning the garbage truck arrives.”

The non-residential first floor often turns out to be a problem for the residents of the second floor. Instead of an office, there may well be a 24-hour store or an aerobics room with evening classes.

If the windows are located above the entrance to offices where employees regularly smoke, then it is impossible to open the window to ventilate the apartment. Office workers sometimes come to work on Saturday mornings, and before the start of the working day they like to smoke and exchange news. If you sleep with the window open, this guarantees you a rise. And such neighbors from below sometimes celebrate holidays, accompanied by loudly screaming music, songs and dances until the morning. The police, of course, will solve the problem, but they will not return your nerves.

And yet, offices are not the most harmful neighbors. Offices work during the day, but do not work at night; they usually do not have home theaters or high-power playback equipment. They are more tolerant of leaks and before the trial, demands for money are usually not waived (although, of course, it varies). If they violate order, the police can help. A legal entity is much more vulnerable than an individual. In addition, do not forget that everything that happens under your windows will be under the watchful eye of office security - crooks will not break in, and young people will not cause a showdown.

Elevator. The first and second floors are completely independent from the elevator. Almost the only, but very big plus, which immediately covers several minuses. An elevator is only needed for heavy lifting. It’s faster to walk up the stairs than to wait for the elevator, even if it comes from the second floor; no time is wasted if you need to quickly jump out of the house. This is important if there is a small child in the family. As you know, our elevators tend to break down, and the prospect of going up on foot with a stroller is not encouraging.

Other. If there is non-residential premises below you, you have the right to make any legal redevelopment on the second floor, for example, moving a kitchen or bathroom, which is no longer possible on the floor above (in panel houses).

The lower floors have one pitfall: they can build a garage or something else under the windows.

“I know a case. A man bought an apartment on the 2nd floor in a new building. After the house was rented out, an extension was discovered right under the window of this apartment, with direct access from the roof to this very window.”

Summary. The decision to take or not to take the second floor depends on the views from the windows and what is under the window. If there is a road, a store, climb as high as possible, if there is a quiet courtyard, then the second floor can be quite comfortable for living. As people who have lived on the first (second) floor say, all the problems of the upper floors are temporary (the elevator will be fixed someday), but the problems of the first and second floors are forever.

Upper floors: more pros than cons

The thieves. “Thieves of my friends broke into the apartment from the attic, through a ventilation duct (they broke through the wall of the duct in the kitchen). Also known are “Carlsons” who descend from the roof via a rope to the balcony of the top floor.”

The easiest way to deal with “climbers” is to install bars on all windows, including the loggia. Perhaps not everyone likes to look at the world through lattice windows, so you can solve the problem with the help of private security. Door locking costs 1,400 rubles, motion sensors cost 1,500 rubles apiece, and the subscription fee is about 200 rubles per month. However, modern double-glazed windows are not so easy to break, so you can install them and just remember to close the windows before leaving. It wouldn’t hurt to strengthen the door to the attic and replace the padlock with a mortise one.

Roof leaking. Roof leaks in new panel houses are a fact that should always be kept in mind. The drains become clogged and the roof leaks. This largely depends on how well the developer builds the roof. Not only the roof, but also the interpanel seams can leak, all this depends on the direction of the wind during rain. As experience shows, in modern sockets, if there is a leak, it happens all the way down to the lower floors, so this problem is not only at the top. There is only one way out: fight with the DEZ (or with the builders, if you have a new building) about the roof and seams. This is a long task, but not hopeless. As you know, once every 4 years there are elections, when you can force the DEZ not only to fix the roof, but also to fix the toilet. Some residents do waterproofing on the technical floor themselves, without waiting for workers.

It gets hot in summer. One of the problems with high-rise buildings is uneven heating of the house. Warm air rises, and the upper floors of a multi-story building warm up much more. If in summer it is plus 20°C on the third floor, then on the 23rd floor it may well be 25°C.

There are two reasons for this. First. The panel box heats up, and warm air rises up to the top floor - a system of inverted glass is obtained, under the bottom of which air accumulates. Good thermal insulation of the entrance door of the apartment will help to cope with this problem, cutting off hot air from the entrance.

Second. The apartment is hot because the panel is a poor thermal insulator (if the insulation is still weak and worn out), it allows heat to pass through well (as well as cold). Rooms with windows facing east are especially affected. In summer, from 6.00 to 14.00, the direct sun thoroughly “fries” the apartment. The situation is aggravated by the room with a loggia. The loggia heats up because the air does not circulate, so it is impossible to open the window and ventilate. In summer, the air on the loggia can heat up to 45 degrees. Conclusion: you can’t do without air conditioning on the top floors.

Ventilation problems. A particular problem arises with the ventilation of apartments on the upper floors. Many household gases easily rise to the top, so residents of the upper floors breathe what the lower apartments “exhaled.” Interestingly, the use of sealed double-glazed windows, which reduced the ventilation of the apartments, led to a deterioration in the ventilation of apartments. In modern houses, housing is ventilated using a ventilation chamber passing through all apartments. Like a conventional stove, the draft is higher on the lower floors and very weak on the upper floors, so a resident of the upper floors of the “tower” should take care of additional forced ventilation of his apartment, for example, install ducted exhaust fans or double-glazed windows with a micro-ventilation system.

Ventilation in normal mode works in exhaust mode, but sometimes due to blockage of the air duct or a slight temperature difference in the summer, the reverse process can occur - the so-called tilting of the ventilation. You will immediately feel it by the smell from the kitchens and toilets of all the lower neighbors. Installing check valves on the ventilation holes can solve this problem.

No noise from above. “I specially moved to the top floor after six months of “survival” on the eighth in a new building, where the lightweight construction reached its apogee. All the movements of the neighbors above echoed loudly, hum and vibration in our apartment.”

The problem of “noise from neighbors above” in multi-storey buildings is particularly acute. Because only from the neighbors above can you get a complete and spicy noise cocktail: the sound of the TV along with a child’s cry, seasoned with the clicking of stilettos on the parquet or the bear stomping on the linoleum of the 120-kilogram head of the family. Combined with the sounds of objects falling on the floor and loud swearing, the life of the neighbor downstairs turns into a continuous nightmare.

If you want to achieve relative silence, choose the top floor. Soundproofing the floor is much easier than hanging a false ceiling and stuffing it with sound-absorbing wool.

Noise from neighbors below can be reduced by adding a noise-insulating layer on the floor (expanded polystyrene and noise-absorbing wool). The thickness of such a “sandwich” will be 10-15 centimeters.

Other. A special issue is fire safety of high floors. The maximum height of a firefighter's articulated lift is 68 m, and the maximum height of a fire escape is 50 m, and there are only a few lifts even in Moscow. Therefore, a fire in an apartment above the 22nd floor poses a serious threat and will require evacuation by helicopter.

Often on upper floors people are confused by the possible instability of the supply of hot and cold water. Indeed, the water pressure is usually weaker than on the lower floors, however, in the KOPE and P-44T series, for example, water and heat are distributed from above. Therefore, there is no need to worry about problems with water.

In conclusion, let us mention a statistical study by Japanese scientists, according to which the higher the floor, the shorter the life expectancy of those living on it. According to the recommendations of scientists, you should live on 4-5 floors, no higher than the tree crowns.

Summary. For the most part, the shortcomings of the last floor are removable and correctable, but it is impossible to prohibit people from walking and jumping over your head. As long-suffering residents say, silence from above is not just a plus, but several years of life saved.

Middle floors are the most popular

Middle floors have one biggest drawback: neighbors above and neighbors below, so the acoustic picture can be completely unpredictable. Add to this the noise from the moving elevator car and elevator winches, and possible problems with the elevator. The cleanliness of the air and the view from the window may also not be ideal.

However, let's see what apartment buyers themselves prefer. We conducted our own marketing research to answer this question. We studied apartments in 16-story panel new buildings of the I-155, P-3M, P-44T, P-46M series with a fairly wide selection of apartments by floor.

It was assumed that apartments in the same building of approximately the same area and the same price (but on different floors) can be considered market equivalent. By determining how quickly such apartments are sold on a particular floor, you can find the market “demand” for these floors.

The main parameter and the desired result of the study is the exposure time (sale time) of apartments located on different floors.

Databases of offers from firms - leaders in the real estate market, which are publicly available, were used as source material for the study. After processing a sample of 80 thousand apartments, the figures shown in the diagram were obtained.

The house is located in a quiet green courtyard without garages, away from the highway;

The courtyard area is closed and guarded (for example, in luxury houses);

You suffer from acrophobia (fear of heights);

You simply don’t have enough money for a normal floor.

The middle floors are the most popular and almost ideal for living if the neighbors above are calm.

The top floor is a good option in both panel and monolithic houses, especially if the house is low-rise.

Some statements are borrowed from the Internet conference “Let's Exchange Experience: Real Estate” on www.auto.ru.

Alexey Chugunov, expert of the company “Legal Center for Housing”

The first time I admired Moscow from a great height was when I was still at school, when I visited my father at work, on the 22nd floor of the main building of Moscow State University on the Lenin Hills. The massive brick walls of the Stalinist Empire masterpiece and the strong metal frames of the windows left no doubt about safety. The opening panorama of Moscow was mesmerizing: Luzhniki Stadium, somewhere further away the golden dome of Ivan the Great, very far away - the Ostankino Tower... and lots and lots of blue summer sky with dazzling white clouds. People on earth are like ants, buses are like toys. It was impossible to take my eyes off all this.

But it also happens differently. Much later, when I came to look at my future apartment on the 20th floor of a building in Yasenevo and wanted to go out onto the loggia, the previous residents had to move the chest of drawers away from the balcony door, which served them as a psychological barrier between the living space and the “yawning” abyss outside the windows.

So if the reader is not afraid of heights, then we can invite him to climb up the facade of a modern high-rise residential building and see how the environmental parameters of the environment change vertically and how fundamentally this change is to pay for it.

Firstly, the view from the window

The view that opens should attract attention and please the eye, evoke a desire to peer and examine. The larger the visible space and the more details it contains, the higher the psychological comfort. And vice versa: the view from the windows of the lower floors, overlooking the courtyard and looking at the gray blank ends of the neighboring houses, depresses the psyche and causes depression. This is what is called “video ecology”. It is not for nothing that a person decorates the interior, saturating it, depending on his preferences, with works of art, decorative and applied items, souvenirs brought from distant countries or other cute trinkets. An interior devoid of these details resembles a dull hotel room rather than a living room in a house. So the higher the apartment is located, the more environmentally friendly it is, especially if the view from the windows includes not only houses and streets, but also green areas - boulevards, parks, river valleys - areas that change their shades and conditions depending on the time of day and weather, by which you can monitor the changing seasons. Therefore, it is quite logical that the higher and, therefore, the richer the view from the windows, the better and more expensive.

Of course, you will not be pleased with the view from the window of the railroad marshalling yard or the production buildings of a house-building plant, but this is a rare case and they do not charge money for it (although “not a fact”).

Secondly, the neighbors have cars

If a residential building is not located in the center of an industrial zone studded with pipes, but is located in a residential area where the main source of air pollution is highways and parking lots, then clearly, the higher the apartment is located, the cleaner the air outside the windows.

In general, in Moscow, road transport accounts for about 80% of the total mass of pollutant emissions into the atmosphere. The remaining 20% ​​is divided approximately equally between thermal power facilities and the rest of industry. In residential areas located far from thermal power plants and factories, the relative contribution of vehicles to air pollution is even greater. Vehicle emissions contain toxic substances such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, soot and about 40 types of hydrocarbon compounds (aromatic, polycyclic, saturated, unsaturated).

It is important that pollution from vehicle exhaust occurs in the ground layer of air, where the maximum levels of pollution are observed. How fundamental the difference in air purity can be between the lower and upper floors can be judged from the figures given in this article. They display the results of mathematical modeling of a very specific situation of air pollution in a residential neighborhood surrounded by highways.

The modeling was carried out at the Research Institute of Urban Ecology using unique software that allows one to calculate the distribution of pollutants in the air due to dynamic and thermal convection, turbulent and molecular diffusion. This is a fundamentally more accurate and reliable method of calculation than the stochastic algorithm known as “OND-86” used in the mass practice of environmental support of projects.

Complete calm. Vertical pollution

The most unfavorable, or, as they say, “dangerous” weather conditions for air pollution are calm. Therefore, we first consider the vertical structure of pollution under this condition. Theoretically, over a surface that is homogeneous in its physical properties, the wind speed in the absence of a horizontal atmospheric pressure gradient is zero. In real conditions, such a situation is not observed, since the synoptic situation determined by the general circulation of the atmosphere is always superimposed by smaller circulation processes induced by the difference in the degree of absorption of solar radiation by different areas of the relief and urban development, the processes of evaporation and transpiration, the presence of artificial coatings, and the peculiarities of the thermal balance of buildings and structures.

It should be emphasized that calm conditions in Moscow have an average annual frequency of about 20%, with a maximum in the summer, when city residents spend the most time outdoors. And it is under calm conditions that the most unfavorable conditions for the dispersion of pollutants are created. This is further aggravated by the fact that in summer, when there is calm, the most uncomfortable “overheating” bioclimatic conditions are also created both in open spaces and inside buildings, which forces the population to ventilate the premises through open windows around the clock, giving access to polluted outdoor air inside the apartments. Thus, modeling microscale processes for calm conditions is extremely important from an environmental point of view.

Distribution of CO emissions from highways during calm conditions

The figure shows the result of modeling microscale thermal convection, which arose due to the temperature difference, and therefore the size of sensible and latent heat flows between the atmospheric air and the facades of buildings, various sections of the relief (taking into account the nature of artificial surfaces and green spaces), including the area adjacent to the projected area. construction of buildings, road networks and other territories.

The figure shows how the concentrations of a gaseous pollutant (in this case, carbon monoxide) are distributed when there is no horizontal gradient of atmospheric air pressure at the earth's surface. Due to thermal convection, air pollution rises in clouds. During the day, these clubs appear both above highways, which are covered with asphalt and therefore intensely heated by the sun, and near the southern facades of buildings that receive the greatest amount of solar radiation, and therefore are also warmer than other surfaces in the building. The sections of these clouds show that the maximum concentration of the pollutant is in their central lower part. With altitude, the concentration decreases, moreover, faster than according to a linear dependence. Due to this, the zone of maximum concentration contains low (up to 5 floors) buildings and the lower floors of tall buildings. Somewhere at the level of the 15th floor, the concentration of gaseous pollutants is 2 times lower, and at the level of the 30th floor it is already 10 - 20 times lower than at the level of the lower floors of buildings in the first line of development adjacent to the highway.

Horizontal pollution

Another characteristic feature of air pollution during calm conditions is that the bulk of pollutants accumulates above highways in the canyons formed by buildings of the first line of development.

Distribution of concentrations during calm conditions at different altitudes

The figure shows the horizontal distribution of the same impurity at the height of the third and thirtieth floors. From these pictures it is easy to understand how much better it is to live inside a microdistrict, or at least so that the windows of the apartment do not face the street, but the courtyard, if it (the apartment) is located in a building on the first line of the building.

Light wind

Now let's look at the spatial structure of atmospheric pollution by gaseous impurities under low wind conditions. In our model, a southerly wind with a speed of 2 m/s was specified, transporting emissions from the highway (Marshal Zhukov Avenue) to the residential area. The result of the model experiment is presented in the figure. It can be seen how atmospheric pollution drifts into residential areas. Isosurfaces of pollutant concentration form something like a layer cake, the slope of the layers of which is directed from the source of pollution deep into the microdistrict.

Distribution of CO emissions at low winds