Ingenieur Vol 80 ingenieur 2019 octoberfinal | Page 31

Figure 1: Typical Aircraft Hangar #1. Green Hangar by Universiti Kuala Lumpur – Malaysian Institute of Aviation Technology Over the past year, indoor air quality has received growing attention among researchers. A lot of studies were conducted to identify how human performance is affected through the working environment such as room temperature in a confined space, air quality, noise, humidity and other factors. Many complaints with respect to indoor air quality have arisen and the causes of these complaints are often not identified, despite thorough measurements of indoor air quality. To some extent, these complaints have been blamed on energy-efficiency measures. In a workshop on Indoor Air Quality Management organised by the European Commission, it was identified that the attainment of health and comfort in the indoor environment, combined with energy efficiency, requires both minimisation of human exposure to indoor air pollution, such as source control, well-functioning and energy-efficient heating, and a ventilating or air conditioning system. The outcome of this workshop led to the establishment of the “European Audit Project to Optimise Indoor Air Quality and Energy Consumption in Office Buildings”. Aviation maintenance has many common features with other industries. The physical facilities in which aviation technicians work, however, are unique. No other industry uses aircraft hangars as its primary worksite. The primary reason for using hangars is obvious. Aviation maintenance technicians work on airplanes, and hangars are needed to shelter aircraft and workers from the elements. Aircraft hangars present a range of human-related issues. They are generally quite large and are built so that most of the floor area is unobstructed by structural support members. This design allows a large aircraft to be moved and parked in the building. Their vast areas and high ceilings make hangars difficult to be installed with proper lighting. Their large, unobstructed volume makes public address systems difficult to hear. Large, open doors make controlling temperature and humidity problematic. The use of elevated work platforms and scaffolding is common, due to the height of today’s large jet aircraft. Individual 29