Kitchen Volume - Input Parameter Protocol

Overview

Kitchen volume is generally straightforward to measure and can be assessed relatively rapidly with simple equipment. For the purposes of the WHO Household Multiple Emission Sources (HOMES) and Performance Target (PT) Models, the kitchen is defined as an indoor room with four walls and a ceiling. Thus, this protocol can also be used to calculate the volume of a different room if that is where the emission source is used (e.g., living room or secondary kitchen in the case of measuring emissions from a device like a combined cooking-heating stove).

The volume should include the entire space that is not separated by a barrier such as a door or wall, even if that includes a living or sleeping area. In cases where this separation is not clear, a rule of thumb is that at least 50% of a wall must be open to another room to consider that room as part of the kitchen. The following steps provide instructions for measuring room volumes of simple rectangular or circular rooms. If a room has a different shape, then the volume should be calculated according to the geometry of that space.