The focus of this review is on natural ventilation strategies and systems, highlighting design features and associated research. It outlines relevant papers dealing with: the main elements of natural ventilation research; the fundamental equations, driving forces and associated factors; the design and utilisation of windows, purpose provided openings, passive stacks and advances natural systems, with any design guidance where applicable; and case studies showing where such systems can be effectively installed, e.g. industrial buildings and libraries.
Patrick Waterfield, Energy Consultant with the EDAS Northern Ireland Regional Centre, examines an issue central to the energy performance of school buildings and also looks at an innovative fabric - Transparent Insulation Material.
New Best Practice programme publications from the Energy Efficiency Office provide the building industry with guidance on construction design for well insulated new houses, writes Peter Barton-Wood, BRECSU
Indoor radon concentrations, radon emanation rates from building surfaces, radioactivity contents of building materials and the indoor gamma dose rates for Hong Kong are all in general higher than values obtained elsewhere. An interesting phenomenon has been noted that the values of indoor radon concentrations and radon emanation rates from building surfaces in Hong Kong tend to decrease with the age of the buildings, while the absorbed gamma dose rate remains about the same.
In modern livestock barns, proper indoor air quality is imperative to maintain the health and productivity of farm workers and animals. Some problems related to the health of farm workers have been noticed, especially since the 1970's, coinciding with the rapid changes from small traditional farms to large intensive livestock operations.
The purposes of this Fac tsheet are to describe several farm worker health problems that are related to air quality in side livestock buildings and to consider poss ible methods to alleviate them.
In this paper the use of a thin adsorbent sheet composed of activated carbon particles to purify indoor air is modelled. A loose sheet with high porosity appears more effective than a dense one. The carbon sheet can be replaced by a fresh sheet after a certain period of use, thus keeping the volatile organic compound (VOC) level low in the remaining years. The model has been used to predict the optimal replacement time. Binary VOCs are modelled.
Inadequate controls - by today's standards - are estimated to cost industry and commerce £500 million a year in wasted ener9y. Terry Walters, chairman of the Building Controls Group of the Energy Systems Trade Association, looks at the opportunities in ventilation and air conditioning.
A "fungal index" is proposed as a new climate parameter for the characterization of the indoor environment. The index quantifies the environmental conditions in relation to the ability of fungi to grow by means of the response of a xerophilic fungus Eurotium herbarioriun. The growth response of this fungus was found to be climate-dependent. The indoor environment in a residential building in Japan (1991-1992) was quantitatively assessed by this approach. In the assessment, the variation in microclimate, which differs greatly within and between rooms, could be demonstrated.
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