The International Organization for standardization (ISO), Technical Committee 163 "ThermalPerformance and Energy Use in the Built Environment" (ISO/TC 163) has produced and will producesets of standards by reference to which performance requirements can be expressed at various levels,from materials to complete buildings. A coherent set of new work items concerning the energyperformance of buildings has been launched in April 2007 which are briefly presented in this paper.

The measuring method of airflow rates of building equipments is important and is required in manystandards, codes, etc. and the committee of the ventilation planning in the building of SHASE (Societyof Heating, Air-conditioning and Sanitary Engineering), Japan is about to propose the standard for TheMeasuring Method of Airflow Rates of Building Equipments. It is aimed to ensure the quality of indoorenvironment and the performance of HVAC system under the situation that the existing methods are inthe variety but less information for the choosing and its feasibility is available.

In order to clarify determine the energy consumption and the indoor environment of an experimentalhouse with energy efficient design, measurements were taken since January 2006. The house isoccupied twice a year, for a week each in summer and winter. Simulation was used to predict theenergy consumption and indoor environment of the experimental house with a typical four-personfamily. The aim of this study is to understand the influence of energy efficient building design on energyconsumption and indoor environment.

A task/ambient air-conditioning system with natural ventilation was installed in a high-rise office buildingin Osaka, Japan. This paper will report the results of the field measurements of indoor thermalenvironment and natural ventilation opening performances. From the thermal environmental aspect,the office is properly divided into working task zones and a general ambient zone so as to ensureboth occupants comfort and energy savings. Task air-conditioning is for satisfying individual thermalpreferences by using floor outlets.

This paper presents further developments in a new study of a hybrid ventilation system suitable foruse in domestic buildings or classrooms. Currently the hybrid system is used solely for providing fresh,warm air. The system consists of a wall-mounted convector unit coupled with an extract fan to drawthe air into the convector. Fresh air from outside is tempered by circulating water around an internalheat exchange coil, before it passes into the room. This allows a constant supply of clean, filtered,conditioned air.

This study investigated the feasibility of using the spatial distribution of expiratory aerosols and thepercentage viability of airborne viruses to estimate the spatial exposure levels of airborne viruses inrooms under imperfectly mixed condition. Experiments were conducted in a hospital ward withceiling-mixing type ventilation system. A broth solution with a known concentration of bacteriophages,as to simulate airborne viruses, was aerosolized with a droplet size distribution similar to humanexpiratories. Spatial distributions of these aerosols were measured using an aerosol spectrometer.

Total heat exchanger model based on experimental results was incorporated in the entire buildingmodel with the stay and internal generation of heat and with window opening-closing schedule, andenergy-saving effects of total heat exchangers were evaluated including regional features in Japan.Regional differences were found in the effects, and it was found that the reduction rate of heating andcooling loads was in the range of about 2 15%, and the reduction amount of heating and coolingloads was in the range of about 0.1 11 GJ.

The prediction of plume dispersion near buildings is very important for the design of exhaust stacks andair intakes in order to avoid adverse air quality impacts. However, it is difficult to predict pollutantdispersion with certain accuracy due to the complex interaction between atmospheric flow and flowaround buildings.

This study has explored the possibility and potential of using a thermal active mass system for reducingthe temperature rise and increasing the thermal comfort in an office room. The Controlled Active Mass(CAM) will be used as a heat sink to absorb heat from the room in order to increase the thermal comfort.Physically, the CAM system was designed as a cubic-shaped tank filled with water, with the tanksurfaces either polished or black.

A desiccant air-conditioning system has been suggested as being suitable to improve indoor air qualitydue to its superior humidity control. However, this system has the drawback of being less energyefficient, so it is typically used in conjunction with co-generation systems or solar heating systems toimprove its energy efficiency. In previous studies, we proposed a new type of desiccant air-conditioningsystem combined with a CO2 heat pump, and studied its applicability through experiments andsimplified calculations.