The traditional handling method of handling heat exchange in a room for design purposes was to suppose that all heat from the plant, radiative as well as convective, was input at a so called "air temperature". This is an evident misnomer, since air temperature as such cannot drive longwave radiation as themodel actually assumed. The "environmental temperature" concept has been introduced in the UK to get round the difficulty. This paper presents an analysis of when an approach along these lines may be logically acceptable.

Three balanced airflow ventilation devices were evaluated, an exhaust and supply fan (E&SF), air-to-air heat exchanger (ATAHE), and exhaust air heat pump (EAHP), which can be used to increase the ventilation rate in an R-2000 (tightly constructed) type house. A prototype of the EAHP, which uses a combination of heat pipe and heat pump, was built and tested. A frosting and non-frosting version of the EAHP were evaluated. The non frosting version provided the best overall performance.

The field modelling technique for predicting the temperature distribution and smoke movement in enclosures containing a fire source is validated against experiments carried out in a fully instrumented sports building covered by anair supported dome. The building is oval in plan and the dome has an ellipsoidal shape. A 2MW methanol pool fire located centrally on the floor of the building was used to obtain detailed measurements of temperature at a number of locations. The mathematical model simulates the transient problemin three dimensions using two different finite volume grids.

This paper outlines the complexity of the building energy modelling problem and describes the ESP program and, in particular, its air flow modelling capabilities. The issue of "technology transfer" is highlighted and mention made of the recently established RIASEnergy Design Advisory Service, a Government-funded technology transfer initiative to provide Scottish building designers with subsidised access to advanced energy simulation technology. Three "case studies" from EDAS work are presented, outlining some of thepractical applications of the ESP program.