The purpose of this work is to evaluate the thermal comfort of human beings in outdoor spaces, taking into account the microclimatic modifications produced by vegetation. The parameters needed to formulate a comfort index are of differing orders of magnitude, so the same conditions could be seen as comfortable outdoors and yet be unacceptable indoors. One of the most influential landscape elements in the degree of comfort is vegetation. The main effects of vegetation are on solar radiation and wind.

The present energy consumption of European Buildings is higher than necessary, given the developments in control engineering. Optimization and integration of smart control into building systems can save substantial quantities of energy on a European scale while improving the standards for indoor comfort.

The work presented in this paper was done in 1997 as a final thesis in mechanical engineering, supervised by TRANSSOLAR Energietechnik GmbH in cooperation with the Institute for Thermodynamics and Heat Technology (ITW), University of Stuttgart. The contents of the work is the investigation of natural ventilation through window openings (single sided and cross ventilation) in an existing office space. Both measurements and computer simulation have been conducted.

Over the last decades, a great importance has been given to thermal insulation, in technological designing of building envelope. Lately, a basic requirement of indoor air quality, strictly related to ventilation control strategies, has been highlighted. Then, it is necessary to evaluate correctly, during the design phase, the air permeability of enclosures through validated methods, to assess new technologies through laboratory tests on prototypes and finally to verify real performances through on-site testings.

The present paper investigates the potential of night ventilation techniques when applied to full scale office buildings, under different structure, design, ventilation, and climatic characteristics. The approach of this study includes the use of both experimental data and theoretical tools in order to determine the impact and the limitations of night ventilation regarding the thermal behavior of various types of office buildings.

The present paper deals with one of the most important mechanisms of inter-zone mass and energy transfer, namely the buoyancy-driven flows through stairwells that connect the floors of buildings. To further investigate these phenomena, experimental as well as theoretical studies have been carried out. A series of experiments have been performed in order to study the airflow through a typical stairwell that connects the two individual zones of a two-storey house. Airflow rates between the two zones were measured using a single tracer gas decay technique.

Convective transfers mainly determine the energy and mass balances which regulate the micro-climate inside a greenhouse. Air flow and temperature patterns induced by natural ventilation through greenhouse roof openings are only considered here. Flow visualizations were performed on a half scale test cell simulating the absorption of solar radiation at the floor surface of a single-span greenhouse. Temperature and air flow patterns were observed in a steady regime i) with a single sided roof vent and ii) with two symmetrical one.

During 1997, an energy efficient building was designed, featuring energy conservation, passive solar heating, natural cooling and daylighting strategies. It is located in the province of La Pampa, in the temperate semi-arid region of central Argentina. The resulting compact design houses takes 634m2 of useful floor area with main spaces. An audience class, two laboratories, four research offices, one simple class and services make up the building. Solar windows are provided for all main spaces, except in the audience class. Clestories contribute to add solar gains and natural lighting.

The ventilation system of a 60 seats conference room was retrofitted to improve indoor air quality. The old, mixing type installation was replaced by a displacement ventilation system. However, the building layout did not allow an optimum location of air inlets and outlets. It was therefore interesting to measure the actual performance of the new system. Using tracer gas techniques, the age of air was mapped within the room, and the ventilation effectiveness was measured in various configurations. The actual air flow rates were also measured in the ventilation system.