Diffuse ceiling inlet

As a response to new energy policies in the building sector, office buildings have become well-insulated and highly-airtight, resulting in an increasing cooling need both in summer and in winter. In order to effectively save energy, new interests in cooling concepts using passive cooling technologies and renewable energy sources have risen. Based on a literature review of natural ventilation, building thermal mass activation and diffuse ceiling ventilation, this paper proposes a new system solution combining these three technologies for cooling and ventilation in office buildings.

This paper investigates the dynamic cooling performance of a novel system combining natural ventilation with diffuse ceiling inlet and thermally activated building systems (TABS). This system is tested in the lab under three climatic conditions representing typical seasons in Denmark, including a typical winter day, a typical day in the transitional season and a typical summer day. The corresponding dynamic control strategies have been designed for these three cases in the measurements.

A novel HVAC system combining natural ventilation with diffuse ceiling inlet and thermally activated building systems (TABS) has the ability to fulfill the requirements of cooling and ventilation in future Danish office buildings. In order to study the cooling performance of this system, a test chamber is constructed in a way to represent the characteristics of an office room. Twenty cases are tested under steady-state conditions, including ten cases without ceiling panel and ten cases with ceiling panel.