factory

The ventilation heat loss has been assesed for twelve factory/warehouse buildings covering a range of construction types. This has been achieved by the design and development of a new mobile test facility which can pressurise buildings up to and beyond 20,000 m3, depending on their air leakage characteristics. The results of the measured air leakage characteristics have been translated into predicted air change rates for mean wind speeds and average internal/external temperature differences, from which the average ventilation heat loss has been calculated.

Avery largeelectronics factory had beencompletely refurbished, and new mechanical ventilation systems installed. In an area of the factory where the principal activity was the bench assembly of small components, there were persistent complaints of eye nose and throat irritations, and absenteeism among the workforce was excessive. Careful examination of the environment had failed to identify any significant contaminants in the air. The situationwas similar to the SickBuilding Syndrome in office buildings.

Knowledge of air movement within a building is often a condition for solving problems with the spread of pollution. The internal airflow paterns are mostly very complex and a survey of the airflow normally demands that measurements are carried out. Measuring equipment for defining air movement within buildings almost always uses the tracer gas technique. We have used two tracer gases and have kept a constant concentration of these in the polluted and the clean zones respectively. Thus enabling us to get a time history of the airflow between the two zanes.