Although the great majority of British dwellings are heated by individual gas systems, there are some instances, particularly in blocks of flats and retirement homes, where individual gas appliances cannot be specified. In these buildings the alternative to individual systems is a group heating scheme whereby a central boiler plant supplies hot water to each flat for heating and domestic hot water. In the past, group heating systems have not always been successful. Comparative results show that energy use of group heating systems is, on average, 50% higher than that of individual systems.
By using balanced, mechanical ventilation with a high efficiency regenerative heat exchanger it is possible to achieve twice the ventilation rote required by the Norwegian Building Code, and still consume less than half the normal amount of energy. This is the conclusion drawn from extensive measurements made in a Norwegian single Family home last winter. The measurements were made by the EMTEK-programme, which is a Norwegian government programme to promote the introduction of energy efficient products.
This Home Energy classic, originally printed in 1986, explains a simple way to take one air infiltration measurement and determine a home's average air infiltration rate.
Now a widely used diagnostic tool, blower doors have revolutionized the way most professionals approach retrofit work. This introduction explains how blower doors work, what can be gained from their use, and what a typical blower door test involves.
As part of the energy and indoor climate survey recently carried out in Sweden (the ELIE study) a simple, inexpensive but reliable passive sampler for estimating monthly averages of relative humidity has been developed. The diffusion sampler consists of a 5 ml plastic tube prepared with lithium chloride monohydrate as trapping medium. After necessary calibration of this particular design of sampler the relative humidity can be calculated from the weight change of the sampler, the time of sampling and the average temperature during this period.
Questionnaire reports on symptoms and sensations from 4943 office workers, measurements of indoor climate from 540 office rooms in 160 buildings, and measurements of TVOC in 85 rooms were used in an analysis of the role of indoor air humidity and the sensation of dryness as risk indicators of SES (Sick Building Syndrome) symptoms. The sensation of dryness was strongly associated with the prevalence of SBS symptom reports. There were no associations between measured indoor air humidity and the prevalence of SBS symptoms or the sensation of dryness.
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