United Kingdom

Heat and mass flow between cold and warm environments due to the pressure difference between both sides. This exchange causes a loss of energy and human comfort in the buildings. The indoor air quality (IAQ) also reduces because of the passage of dust, odour, insects and bacteria along with the fluid across a doorway. To minimise this heat and mass flux and to maintain IAQ, an air curtain is often used as an artificial separation barrier in public and industrial buildings.

This paper describes the findings and recommendations of a meta-study examining the actual in-use performance of whole-house mechanical ventilation heat recovery systems (MVHR) installed in 54 low energy dwellings in the UK, as part of a national research programme. The performance of the systems is assessed using monitored data on indoor air quality (temperature, relative humidity, CO2) and energy use, cross-related with actual experiences of operating these systems through resident surveys.

About 3 billion people worldwide, and more than 90% in developing countries, are at risk of developing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and cancer, due to exposure to household air pollution attributable to the combustion of solid biomass fuels. In Nepal, various types of fuel are used, such as wood, animal dung, and agricultural residues, as a primary source of energy for domestic cooking and heating.

This paper introduces a comparison study of measuring the airtightness of a house sized test chamber using the novel pulse technique and the standard blower door method in a controlled environment. Eight different testing plates have been applied to the improvised envelope of the chamber to establish different leakage characteristics. Each testing plate has a unique opening in the centre of the plate, achieved by obtaining a different combination of shape and thickness of the opening.

Natural ventilation has the potential to provide cooling and fresh air and cut 40% of the total energy consumption of European office buildings. While in the milder seasons natural ventilation is an obvious low-energy choice, if poorly designed it can cause overheating in summer and poor air quality in winter. In order to promote the use and design of naturally ventilated (NV) buildings, it is therefore important to understand how current NV buildings perform in terms of thermal comfort and indoor air quality.

As UK homes are insulated and draught proofed in an attempt to reduce wintertime heating demand they become more airtight. Any reduction in infiltration could have a detrimental effect on indoor air quality. Controllable background ventilation provided by trickle vents is one method of maintaining indoor air quality.

The polyurethane foam industry is projected to reach a worldwide value of up to $74bn by 2022 and with airtightness of new and retrofitted properties continually increasing, an important question arises: what is the impact of these materials on the indoor air quality (IAQ), occupants’ health and indoor environment?

According to the 2016 Household Projections report, England’s housing stock could reach 28 million households by 2039 with approximately one fifth being new constructions. A significant proportion of these newly built dwellings may face a high risk of overheating as a result of the combined effects of climate change and more stringent building thermal efficiency standards, if not appropriately designed.

The effectiveness of night ventilation strategy for residential buildings in the old town of Ghadames has been investigated in this study. Methods of field surveys including observations, temperature measurements and interviews were conducted to determine the characteristic building parameters and strategies including window patterns and space organisation that mostly contributed to achieve an efficient indoor comfort conditions especially at night summer time. Results showed that skylight openings can be a good window pattern for enhancing night ventilation in hot arid climate.

Combining heat recovery with natural ventilation is a relatively new topic of significant academic and commercial interest. The present study shows the performance of a recently developed Passive Ventilation system with Heat Recovery (PVHR) installed in a primary school building.