The UK government has signed the Kyoto Protocol and it has committed to reducing C02 emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2010. As buildings are responsible for approximately half of the UK C02 emissions, of which the domestic sector accounts for 50%, meeting this target will require a significant contribution from the domestic sector.

The inherent unreliability of the forces which drive natural ventilation can make such systems unattractive for the designer. Developing interest in mixed-mode ventilation is prompting difficulties in sourcing components suitable for ultra-low velocity flow generation in large ducts. This work examines the possibility of using air induction. A theoretical analysis generates equations which assist the designer in sizing a suitable inducer for ventilation purposes. Preliminary tests which verify the theory are described.

Unsteady wind effects can be important in natural ventilation, but their treatment requires knowledge of instantaneous surface pressure distributions which are extremely difficult to obtain. The paper describes a theoretical investigation aimed at determining the effects of unsteadiness and, perhaps more important, the conditions for which it may be worth accounting for them in the design process. For generality the study uses nondimensional parameters. The effects of unsteadiness on both mean and instantaneous flow rates are covered.

Recent years have seen increased use of natural ventilation, daylighting, and cooling techniques in UK buildings. This paper describes the design and operating concept of a large, naturally ventilated and illuminated city centre library for Coventry University in the UK. The novel design concept includes four lightwells acting as ventilation inlets, each of which is fed with fresh air from a plenum below the ground floor. A central lightwell and perimeter stacks draw air across each floor plate and provide air extract routes.

To develop guidance on effective ventilation strategies for buildings located in urban areas, it is necessary to have an understanding of the processes involved in the ingress of external pollution into buildings and its effect on indoor air quality. For naturally ventilated buildings, the combination of pressure forces and contaminant levels around the building is important in generating the level of internal contamination.

In this study, a mixed mode building, namely the Portland Building at the University of Portsmouth is considered. It combines both Natural Ventilation and conventional Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning systems to maintain the internal comfort. The paper presents the development of Sof1 Computing models to predict the internal temperature in one of the offices using information from neighbouring rooms, corridor and the outside. To derive this model, the so called Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy lnference System method is used.

This paper describes the development of a model which can be used to explore the technical feasibility and policy implications of attempting to achieve 60 - 90% reductions in the C02 emissions from the UK housing stock by the middle of the next century. Reductions of this order are likely to be required across the industrialised countries in order to stabilise the atmospheric C02 concentration and global climate. In order to be able to investigate this problem, a highly disaggregated physically based energy and carbon dioxide model of the UK housing stock has been developed.

In response to an increased awareness of the impact of building related energy consumption on emissions of carbon dioxide, attention has turned to the task of making buildings more energy efficient. Although this is a key element in the design of a new building, it is important also that the occupants' expectations of a comfortable and healthy environment are met. Computer simulations of the airflow and thermal environment within a naturally ventilated building have been made using a finite volume CFD model.

A major concern of those wishing to limit the energy use in buildings is the growing trend towards installing air-conditioning in new and refurbished  buildings. The Airlit - PV project has taken this challenge and has designed a novel fa9ade unit incorporating the latest thinking in solar control, natural ventilation, daylighting and photovoltaic power. By careful design and intelligent control the goal is to reduce the impact of solar and internal gains to such an extent that mechanical cooling is not required to maintain comfort conditions.