performance testing

The UK Government strategy for all new homes to be built to zero carbon standards by 2016 is based upon a “fabric first” approach to design. This means prioritising energy efficiency improvements to the building envelope through: increasing overall levels of insulation; reducing thermal bridging; and making buildings more airtight. However, recent research has raised concerns about the standards that are actually achieved in the construction of new housing.

This paper describes a study of the relationships between indoor environmental factors and individual work performance in a call center. The productivity benefits of ventilation rates appeared small, for the worker performance, only high temperature had a statistically significant negative impact on productivity. But it appears that the degree of understaffing and shift length have an impact on productivity too.

The performance of a passive cooling system was evaluated as part of design works for theproject of an auditorium. The passive cooling system incorporates an array of buried pipes together with a solar chimney. The natural ventilation is enhanced with the help of the solar chimney and fresh air is cooled by circulation within the buried pipes. The application of this system to the acclimatization of an auditorium was evaluated. A model was developed on this purpose, which allows foreseeing the temperature and relative humidity of the air in the auditorium.

Part of the task in the design of ventilation systems involves selection and specification of system components - components sizes and expected performance characteristics or criteria to achieve specific ventilation objectives for anticipated environmental conditions. Careful selection of these components is required to ensure that they are able to react to changes in environmental conditions.

The study was carried out on 30 female subjects exposed in a low-polluting office in either presence or absence of personal computers that had been in service for 3 months. Under each of the two conditions, the persons performed simulated office work using low-polluting PCs. They were found to be strong indoor pollution sources, having a negative impact on perceived air quality, on performance of office work and on some SBS symptoms.

The goal of the present study was to examine the influence of CO2 concentration in the air ofindoor spaces on human well-being and intensity of mental work. Ten experimental subjectswere used in four experimental conditions with different CO2 concentrations (600, 1500,3000, 4000 ppm). Microclimatic parameters (CO2 concentration, temperature and relativehumidity of the air, surface temperature of walls) were measured.

A 2 × 2 replicated field intervention experiment was conducted in a call-centre providing a national public telephone directory service: outdoor air supply rate was adjusted to be 8 or 80% of the total airflow of 430 l/s (3.5 h-1); and the supply air filt

Ventilation is one of the most important measures to dilute indoor air pollutants. In order to maintain a clean indoor air environment, not only the total ventilation rate of the building but also the distribution of outdoor air to each area must be taken into consideration. A performance evaluation of various ventilation systems, which have different air supply and exhaust equipment, has been made. This investigation was undertaken over a heating period, in a full-scale test house.

Experimental investigations and CFD simulations were carried out to evaluate the performance of square and circular section wind - driven systems for natural ventilation application in buildings. Wind tunnel and smoke visualisation tests were conducted on a full-scale model based on a commercial wind catcher design. The experimental set-up consisted of each system being connected to a model test room. The devices were divided internally into four quadrants/segments for the purpose of air supply and extract.

Kitchen hoods are frequently found in Belgian kitchens. Most of them have as only function intensive ventilation during certain cooking activities. It is expected that kitchen hoods with appropriate performances can also play an important role as devices for guaranteeing basic ventilation. The aims of the research can be summarized as follows: How do occupants evaluate the performance of existing kitchen hoods? What are the sound levels (dB(A)) in various locations in these dwellings due to the kitchen hood?