The bake-out of an office building: A case study

To reduce concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOC) emitted by building materials and furnishings, it has been suggested that new buildings undergo a bake-out. This paper reports the results of the bake-out of a newly renovated office building at temperature ranging from 32 to 39°C for 24 hours at a ventilation rate of 1.59 h −1. Based upon the 14 VOC quantified, the total VOC concentration increased to more than four times the original concentration during the bake-out and was reduced to 71% of the original concentration after the bake-out.