Life cycle assessment: A design element for ventilation system selection

A Danish office building designed with a hybrid ventilation system has been compared to a full mechanical ventilation system in the same building. The comparisons include a life cycle analysis (LCA) focussing on CO2 equivalents (CO2equiv.) and life cycle cost (LCC) of the two ventilation solutions. The LCA includes embodied carbon form the ventilation components and operational energy due to heating and electricity. A potential reduction of 32% in the total global warming potential (GWP) was found when using a hybrid ventilation solution instead of a mechanical ventilation solution.

Ventilative Cooling Design In Practice: Where next?

Embedding robust yet accessible frameworks to evaluate ventilative cooling potential during the early/concept design stages for building practitioners can help in reducing the performance gap as well as avoiding vulnerability “lock-in” from design decisions that are based on poor or inadequate information. The challenge is to develop performance based evaluation methods that recognise the tacit approach to design in practice. Often design is iterative, non-linear and multi-agent.

Update on Resilient cooling and indicators from the IEA EBC Annex 80

The growing challenges of climate change, urbanization, and increased energy demand have underscored the critical need for sustainable and resilient cooling solutions in buildings. In response to this pressing global issue, the International Energy Agency's Energy in Buildings and Communities (IEA EBC) Annex 80 was initiated to address the multifaceted aspects of resilient cooling in the built environment. Annex 80 seeks to provide valuable insights into resilient cooling systems and their indicators, offering a pathway towards a more sustainable and adaptable future...

Towards performance-based approaches for smart residential ventilation: a robust methodology for ranking the systems and decision-making

Smart ventilation which provides air renewal thanks to its variable airflows adjusted on the needs can improve both indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy performance of buildings. However, such performance gains should be quantified with performance-based approaches. In this paper, we propose to extend the performance-based approach with a robust methodology to rank the ventilation systems performance. Such a methodology could be used in a decision-making tool at the design stage of buildings.

Metal Oxide Semiconductor sensors (MOS) for measuring Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) - performance evaluation in residential settings

Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) sensors measuring Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) seem to be an obvious step towards broadly available Demand Controlled Ventilation (DCV). The previous research shows that MOS VOC sensors can detect high pollution events such as cleaning, painting, or high occupation density. These abilities seem to make MOS VOC sensors suitable to complement ventilation control systems, especially concerning residential ventilation.

Impact of the building airtightness and natural driving forces on the operation of an exhaust ventilation system in social housing in Chile

Chile has 1,626 social housing complexes with a total of 350,880 dwellings. Several studies have demonstrated a low thermal performance and high air permeability of the envelope of social houses throughout the country, causing surface condensation on walls, high heat losses in winter and low levels of thermal comfort for their occupants. The presence of high levels of indoor pollutants and/or indoor humidity has also been observed, causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in the occupants.

Measurement of ventilation effectiveness and indoor air quality in toilets at mass gathering events

Mass gathering events were closed in 2020 to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2. These events included music concerts, theatre shows, and sports matches. It is known, however, that the long-range aerosol transmission of pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2, can be reduced with sufficient ventilation indoors. This paper examines the risk of reopening these mass gathering events by measuring the CO2 concentration, as a proxy for ventilation effectiveness, at 58 events, with a specific focus on small enclosed spaces with short occupancy.

Indoor air quality in Austrian classrooms – Assessing different ventilation strategies with a citizen science approach

With many existing Austrian school buildings to be renovated in the coming years, there are debates between stakeholders, about which ventilation strategy to pursue in existing schools. Therefore, different intervention strategies such as retrofitting ventilation systems, installing CO₂-monitoring signals, or raising awareness among teachers and students should be evaluated. This paper presents the preliminary results of the project “DIGIdat” on air quality measurements in the first quarter of 2023.

Ventilation behaviour of occupants driven by outdoor temperature: 12 case studies

This paper presents the results of an Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) monitoring study (including relative humidity, temperature and IAQ in terms of indoor CO₂) in naturally ventilated dwellings (mainly based on vertical shafts and infiltrations) and the analysis of the data obtained. The aim of the study is to identify patterns that relate occupants’ ventilation behaviour to outdoor temperature and to increase knowledge of occupant’s perceptions of IEQ. The results could be used to improve ventilation models and building regulations.

Decarbonization and IAQ in Spain: a roadmap

The presentation provides a brief overview of the current situation and a roadmap for decarbonizing the building stock under the context of EU directives. It also discusses how it could be implemented into Spanish building regulations. It examines the evolution of energy and emissions indicators and how they can help tackle the electrification of uses, generalized on-site energy generation, energy storage or building interaction with the grid.

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