Few controllers have been tested on physical terms, their investigation has been limited to proposals and simulations. The construction and modeling of an experimental system for testing advanced HVAC controllers, is the aim of that paper. A simple integrated environment is created for data aquisition, controller design, simulation and closed loop controller implementation and testing. That environment is adequate for rapid prototyping of various controllers and control design methodologies.

This paper describes the attributes of simple and advanced naturally ventilated (ANV) buildings. Environmental design considerations in general and ventilation considerations in particular shape the architecture of ANV buildings. Three large educational buildings have been designed , two in UK, one near Chicago (USA), they represent successive evolutionary stages, from ANV to ANV with passive downdraught cooling, and finally ANV with HVAC support.

This paper deals with the monitoring and simulated thermal behavior of a passive solar school at the Northwest of La Pampa province in Argentina . The results of social-environmental surveys are presented. The monitoring has been carried out under normal conditions of use (heaters working because of students attendance) and during an unoccupied period during winter holidays. 90 % of heating energy savings are registered , compared to conventional schools.

The authors have developed an online model suitable for a zone equipped with a VAV unit , that can predict zone temperature with unknown parameters. Various validation experiments have been performed using a real-building test facility to examine the prediction accuracies for system outputs.

The authors present first some general observations of the efficiency of naturally ventilated buildings and discuss how advanced natural ventilation (ANV) buildings incorporating stacks can be turned into a temporal hybrid form, that combines passive and mechanical ventilation.
Then the design of a new library building, near Chicago, using a new hybrid ventilation concept despite the severe US climate is described in that paper.The performance of that building is illustrated using dynamic thermal modelling and CFD analyses.

A combined solar house with a solar chimney and a solar water collector is studied in that paper. To investigate natural ventilation in the solar house, theoretical analyses were carried out first, then compared with that in the individual chimney ventilation system under the same conditions. Results and conclusions are presented.

For that study, site measurements have been carried out on two different sites in vacant residential building blocks in Hong Kong to collect radon levels contained in the air within the buildings. The aim of those measurements is to find out the relationship between radon concentration and residential building designs. Building designs can influence the indoor environmental quality so the legislation regulating such designs has to be reviewed first.

In that paper, the efficiency of ultraviolet germicidal irridiation (UVGI) to inactivate airborne fungal spores and bacterial vegetative cells has been evaluated under three configurations : intrinsic, upper-room air and in-duct. Experiments were carried out in a pilot-scale chamber with 4 corner UV lamps, in a full-scale room fitted with a UVGI system, and in the supply air duct of a heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. Results are presented.

A visual ventilation guiding device for instant estimation of indoor air quality has been developed for that study. The VVGD converts the signals of a gas sensor and a temperature and humidity sensor into an optical recommendation of how to act for the users (open or close the window). The device has been tested and calibrated in dwellings, flats and schools. Results and conclusions are presented.

This paper presents the EULEB project whose aim is to supply information to architects and engineers throughout Europe and beyond it. A CD containing information on architecture, energy consumption and economical efficiency as well as comfort of innovative buildings selected among educational buildings, office buildings and leisure facilities in nine European countries, will be produced. The lack of information on low energy architecture will be eliminated along with the prejudices many people have against it.