PR2002

This paper is divided into tree main sections, ‘Introduction to natural ventilation’, ‘Examples, strategies and results’ and ‘Energy consumption’. In the first section a general introduction to natural ventilation is given, including the three main princi

Based on the experimental results and predictions of a numerical model, the effects of uncertainty in estimation of imperfection of the interface on moisture transport were studied in the present study. It was found that, even though the imperfection of the interface varied with moisture content during the wetting process, the prediction using a constant resistance of the interface was close to that using an actual value.

To evaluate the impact of the natural ventilation of the air cavity in the prototype of the glazing system being studied in the frame of the project SOLVENT, funded in part by the Commission of the European Union, a prototype of a reversible naturally ventilated glazing system. The system consists of a double (clear and tinted) glazing. In the summer position the tinted glazing is in the outer position and the cavity is open to the outside air at both top and bottom extremes.

This paper describes current work to undertake a market assessment of the potential for the application of Passive Downdraft Evaporative Cooling (PDEC) to new and existing buildings in Southern Europe. The work is carried out as part of a European funded ALTENER project focussing on solar and passive ventilation for urban buildings. PDEC is a technique that may potentially become a substitute for conventional air-conditioning. The technique avoids the need for ductwork, fans and suspended ceilings, and reduces the need for refrigerant based cooling.

Nowadays the awareness concerning the environmental pollution and the demand of transparent facades in architecture, lead research in finding new solutions to increase the energy performances of the building and the installations as well. Among those, different kind of Double Skin Facades have been studied and several laboratories are still working on them to find a suitable way to apply this technology in buildings.

To evaluate innovations and efficiency as regards air-conditioning, it is necessary to know for how long and in which conditions the equipment functions, an indication related with the COOLING LOAD and which is their effectiveness - EER - on average (or Seasonal) known as SEER. We extended the concept of SEER to include all sources of electricity consumption, namely the secondary equipment, and we called this extended concept the SYSTEM SEER.

In conventional construction, the ventilation air enters a building through a combination of ‘desired’ pathways, via opened apertures, such as a window, vents, and ‘undesired’ pathways, via cracks such as around external openings, joints between building

Detailed simulation studies on the design and development of PV/T systems are being carried out at the Politecnico di Milano, for their possible integration with a sloped roof. Subsequently, a proto-type PV/T air heating collector has designed, manufactured and tested at the experimental site Parco Lambro in Milan in collaboration with a private industry. Thermal and electric efficiencies have been assessed during several days of experimentation.

In this work a methodology for indoor environmental quality assessment was applied, based on thermal, visual, and acoustic comfort indices and on their analysis and spatial representation.Object of the study was one secondary school classroom of the Province of Torino (Italy), representative of several typologies of educational buildings, showing unsatisfactory environmental conditions.

About 100 office buildings in the Flanders and Brussels regions have been subject to a surveyof energy aspects and indoor climate parameters. Building characteristics and energy use havebeen mapped for all buildings; for 48 of them a database has been built containing buildingand room dimensions, materials used for the building shell, windows, glazing, solar shading,occupancy, equipment characteristics (heating, ventilation, cooling, lighting, office equipment.