English

One of the significant factors affecting the quality of air in the built environment, particularly in the context of hot humid climates, is the design and implementation of the air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation system. While most building regulations would incorporate minimum ventilation requirements al design, it is often difficult to quantitatively measure the adequacy of such ventilation provision in insitu buildings.

The objective of this project was to provide cool working conditions for a small number of Customs Department staff in a turn-of-the-century heritage building in Town ville at 19° S latitude. A ducted air conditioning system was initially proposed but rejected as it would have been incongruent with the Victorian elegance of the space, as well as its high cost. As the working area in the three storey high space was surrounded by ornate timber counter and partitions, a scheme was developed using fan coil direct expansion units. These were located behind the counter to the public space.

The multi-storey blocks which constitute the main type of building in Greek urban environments, have certain common characteristics. Those characteristics include the overall building dimensions and geometry, internal room dimensions, the materials used both in building construction and insulation, the size and the arrangement of the openings on the facades, the arrangement of the balconies, the position and dimension of the staircase etc.

This work presents a field measurement study, investigating the airtightness of 64 French dwellings less than ten year old. Buildings have been classified according to the type of construction (masonry or timber frame) and of occupancy mode (multi- or single- family). Using a fan-depressurization technique, we assessed the air leakage rate of each dwelling, based on a theoretical flow model that relates the infiltration airflow rate to the differential pressure .

This research investigates the effect of integrating solar radiation, internal building mass, thermal insulation and natural ventilation on building thermal performance. A field study and a computer simulation were conducted on the Beliveau house located in Blacksburg- Virginia. The house designer implemented several new ideas for integrating solar radiation, thermal mass, thermal insulation, and air ventilation to conserve energy. The goal of this study is to investigate the relationships between these design variables.

The Second Skin Facades can be an useful tool for increasing the efficient use of natural ventilation in order to decrease the energy consumption for ventilation and cooling purposes and to increase the indoor thermal comfort levels. To analyze this type of facades a simulation is set up. The simulation is carried out with the simulation code Simulink.

We calculate the influence of thermal mass and night ventilation on the maximum indoor temperature in summer. The results for different locations in the hot humid climate of Israel are presented and analyzed. We find that the maximum obtained indoor temperature depends linearly on the temperature difference between day and night at the site. The fit can be applied as a tool to predict from the temperature swing of the location the maximum indoor temperature decrease due to the thermal mass and night ventilation.