Ventilation energy demand can be reduced considerably by adopting a variety of energy efficient ventilation techniques. These include:

Minimising the need for ventilation: Energy demand may be curtailed by ensuring that the need for ventilation is reduced. This means minimising emissions from avoidable pollutant sources. Any extra ventilation needed to dilute and remove avoidable pollutants can be equated directly against conditioning load.

Poor ventilation can be associated with unhealthy buildings. Miller (1992), for example, highlights the association of increasing bacteriological concentration with decreasing ventilation rates, while Billington (1982) has produced an historical review of the role of ventilation in improving health and reducing the spread of illness. Studies reported by Sundell (1994) and others have shown that symptoms of building sickness can occur at all ventilation ranges.

Ventilation needs and strategies differ according to occupancy patterns and building type. Main considerations are:

Frequently, the dominant pollutant is ‘heat’ itself. Particularly in large commercial office buildings, high heat loads are developed through lighting, computing and other electrical sources. Further heat gains are derived from occupants, solar radiation and high outdoor temperatures. These factors make cooling of the indoor air essential. The choice is either to introduce refrigerative cooling or to introduce ventilation cooling. In either case heat gains should be minimised by good building design and reduced power consumption.

Indices of ventilation efficiency characterise the mixing behaviour of air and the distribution of pollutant within a space. These two aspects may be subdivided into indices of air change efficiency and pollutant removal effectiveness respectively. Ventilation efficiency is based on an evaluation of the ‘age’ of air and on the concentration distribution of pollutant within the air. Some indices are based on room averaged values, while others refer to specific points or locations.