  Citation: Jung, C.; Al Qassimi, N. Investigating the Emission of Hazardous Chemical Substances from Mashrabiya Used for Indoor Air Quality in Hot Desert Climate. Sustainability 2022, 14, 2842. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su14052842 Academic Editor: Diego Pablo Ruiz Padillo Received: 3 January 2022 Accepted: 14 February 2022 Published: 28 February 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Investigating the Emission of Hazardous Chemical Substances from Mashrabiya Used for Indoor Air Quality in Hot Desert Climate Chuloh Jung * and Nahla Al Qassimi Department of Architecture, College of Architecture, Art and Design, Healthy and Sustainable Buildings Research Center, Ajman University, Ajman P.O. Box 346, UnitedArab Emirates; n.alqassimi@ajman.ac.ae * Correspondence: c.jung@ajman.ac.ae Abstract: Dubai has the reputation of a continuously growing city, with skyscrapers and mega residential projects. Many new residential projects with poor choices of material and ventilation have led to a faster rise in sick building syndrome (SBS) in Dubai than in any other country, and the IAQ (indoor air quality) has become more critical. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and formaldehyde (HCHO) affect the health of residents, producing the phenomenon known as SBS (sick building syndrome). It has been reported that wood materials used for furniture and wooden windows and doors are a significant source of indoor air pollution in new houses. This paper aims to identify the factor elements emitting harmful chemical substances, such as VOCs and HCHO, from wooden mashrabiya (traditional Arabic window) by examining the characteristics of the raw and surface materials through test pieces. As a methodology, a small chamber system was used to test the amount of hazardous chemicals generated for each test piece. For Total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) and HCHO, the blank concentration before the injection and the generation after seven days were measured. The results showed that to reduce TVOC, it is necessary to secure six months or more as a retention period for raw materials and surface materials. The longer the retention period, the smaller the TVOC emission amount. In the case of mashrabiya, an HCHO low-emitting adhesive and maintenance for one month or more are essential influencing factors. It was proven that using raw materials with a three-month or more retention period and surface materials with a one-month or more retention period is safe for indoor mashrabiya. This study is the first study in the Middle East to identify factors and characteristics that affect the emission of hazardous chemicals from wood composite materials, such as wood mashrabiya, that affect indoor air quality in residential projects in Dubai. It analyzes the correlation between emission levels and the retention period of raw and surface materials, in order to provide a new standard for indoor air pollutants. Keywords: mashrabiya; total volatile organic compounds (TVOC); formaldehyde (HCHO); retention period; hot desert climate 1. Introduction From the point of view of selecting building materials in the design stage of a house, it is helpful to use data on the amount of hazardous chemical substances generated from each building material [1,2]. In the case of using construction materials with a large amount of hazardous chemical substances, more ventilation is required to meet a certain concentration standard than when using low-generation building materials. In a hot desert climate, this leads to an increased energy consumption [3]. Therefore, it is desirable not only in terms of comfort and health, but also in an energy-saving aspect to use materials that generate low-toxicity substances [4]. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Emirates Green Building Council launched the Energy Efficiency Program (EEP) in 2013 to reduce the carbon footprint for existing energy- inefficient buildings [5]. The EEP database was launched in 2014 to facilitate building retrofit Sustainability 2022, 14, 2842. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052842 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability