There is increased interest in using chilled ceilings and beams for cooling in UK buildings, on account of their perceived advantages over traditional air or chilled water based systems. However, there is currently limited knowledge or experience of the use of chilled ceiling and beam systems in the UK, and there is no proper professional guidance. Designers are particularly concerned to avoid condensation occurring on the exposed cold surfaces that could cause a health problem or lead to the so-called "office rain" effect.

This paper critically reviews current and previous research into the use of displacement ventilation in commercial offices with and without supplementary static cooling devices. It also reports the findings of a preliminary study of a displacement ventilation technique that may increase the scope of application for displacemelllt ventilation systems without the need for supplementary static cooling.

Providing people with a quality indoor environment means full air conditioning with an energy use tag that we would rather not mention in the debate about environmental impact and sustainability. But is this really the case? Is it not possible to design mechanical systems so they use less energy than their naturally ventilated counterparts? The law of conservation of energy means we can use the same energy repeatedly. As long as we are aware of how energy is degraded in quality and temperature terms, we can design systems that repeatedly recover and reuse energy.

Eight published post-occupancy surveys have focused on building services and energy performance, management, and occupant satisfaction in buildings of technical interest. All the buildings are relatively good; and two of them had unusually high occupant satisfaction: a sophisticated deep-plan air-conditioned office which demanded (and received) a high level of management; and a simple, low energy, largely naturally-ventilated medical centre, in which occupants were prepared to forgive some deficiencies in lighting, ventilation and summertime temperatures.

This report summarizes the findings of comparative field tests and analysis sponsored by the Govenor's Office of Energy Conservation in Colorado on production housing models using both fiberglass and cellulose Insulation materials. The participating company was McStaln Enterprises, a mid-size (250 homes/year) production builder based In Boulder Colorado. Field test coordination and energy analysis were conducted by SOCTECH (State of Colorado Technical Energy Consultants for Homebuilders) .