Sea Water Air Conditioning (SWAC) is a highly efficient alternative to conventional air conditioning that uses deep seawater as a cooling source (Free Cooling). There are three SWAC installations in the world dedicated to cooling production in real-operating conditions, all located in French Polynesia due to its suitable bathymetry for SWAC installations and the high cooling needs of tropical climate. These installations provide cooling for two hotel complexes and a hospital center respectively in Bora Bora, Tetiaroa, and Tahiti.

Elderly people residing in nursing homes spend a vast majority of their times indoors and often in common recreation areas, to allow for socialization and interaction. Elderly people are a vulnerable age group. Hence, it is essential to provide them with good breathable air quality during these common activities and reduce cross contamination through ventilation. Prolonged exposures of elderly to contaminants may adversely affect their health, quality of life and increase medical expenditures due to frequent hospitalizations.

In office buildings, an air-conditioning system with natural ventilation can reduce cooling loads and create a comfortable indoor environment. However, it is difficult to predict the performance of such systems and there is concern that the natural ventilation will create an uneven indoor thermal environment. In this paper, we propose a method for evaluating the performance of a natural-ventilation air-conditioning system by coupling a building energy simulation tool and computational fluid dynamics.

Since the spread of covid-19 in 2019, it is necessary to realize an indoor environment that takes measures against viral infections such as covid-19 and influenza virus. One method for realizing such an indoor environment is to control indoor humidity. In a high-humidity environment, mold grows, indoor air quality deteriorates, and physical fatigue increases. On the other hand, in a low-humidity environment, viruses easily suspend and the immune system gets weaker. Therefore, controlling indoor humidity is necessary for human health.

The utilization of natural ventilation helps to reduce building energy consumption and improve indoor air quality. In the urban area, the performance of the natural ventilation is very sensitive to surrounding building density. However, the influence of surrounding buildings on ventilation rate was not well investigated in previous research. This paper presents a wind tunnel experiment to assess the influence of urban density on the wind-induced ventilation rate of single-sided ventilation.

Air-supplied ceiling radiant air conditioning is expected to become more popular in Japan in the future because there is no leakage from pipes and no condensation on the surfaces of radiant panels. Coanda air conditioning, a type of air-supplied ceiling radiant air conditioning, uses the Coanda effect, which is the tendency a fluid passing near a wall to maintain contact with it. As used commonly, Coanda air conditioning cools the ceiling surface by blowing airflow horizontally along it from the top of the wall surface and cooling by radiation1).

Computational predictions of buildings' indoor-environmental conditions and energy performance would presumably benefit from the inclusion of models that could reliably capture occupants' window operation behaviour. Frequently, models derived from empirical data have a black-box character. However, the utility of window operation models could be conceivably improved, if the model derivation process is preceded by specific hypotheses regarding the variables that are assumed to influence the frequency and timing of window operation actions.

One proposed mitigation to reduce transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and other airborne pathogens is to increase ventilation in buildings. This measure can be difficult to implement in existing buildings and has the potential environmental costs of increased energy consumption to condition the additional airflow, as well as other potential costs such as the disposal of existing serviceable mechanical equipment and the manufacture and delivery of new equipment.

Monitoring and regulating the air quality inside critical infrastructure is essential for protecting occupants from external and internal airborne threats, such as pollutants, toxic chemicals, and pathogens. The outdoor air can be contaminated with agents such as diesel and car exhaust or with more toxic agents like Toxic Industrial Chemicals (TICs). In case of a pandemic, there is a threat of viruses and bacteria which can spread in the building. These airborne agents can penetrate and disperse inside the building via windows and doors or via the ventilation system.

Most current building materials are industrially processed, resulting in increased carbon emissions. Global annual carbon emissions due to construction materials reached its peak in 2013, 9.5 gigatons of CO2 were produced. Upcoming circular economies can have a positive impact on the environment since reusing materials can lower carbon emissions. This economy encourages the use of more innovative materials (e.g., textile insulation, cellulose insulation, hemp, and cork) and recycling old materials.