Air leakage through the building envelope is of great importance for the energy use of a building. However, from an indoor air quality standpoint, the size of interior leaks in e.g. multifamily buildings could be important as e.g. a source of pollution. Using the standardised Fan Pressurization test method, it is not possible to separate interior leaks from leaks in the building envelope. One way to separate these leaks is to simultaneously depressurise (or pressurise) adjacent apartments to the same pressure and thereby eliminating interior leakage.
To avoid the shortcomings and problems that occur in today's ventilation systems a ventilation concept for future dwelling-houses is under development. The concept responds to the way of living and building in the future. The real living functions are chosen to design principles, that's why the system has to be capable of operating at varying air flow rates. The building in the future is based on a hierarcical modulated system, from which, with a small set of standard components can be assembled versatile alternatives.
This paper describes a two-dimensional numerical study, by finite-volume method of buoyancy-driven flow in a half-scale model of a stairwell. The stairwell forms a closed system within which the circulation of air is maintained by the supply of heat in the lower floor. The heat loss takes place from the stairwell walls. The mathematical model consists of the governing equations of mass, energy, momentum and those of the k - E model of turbulence. The predicted flow pattern and the velocity in the stairway are presented and compared with the authors' experimental data.
The importance of the climate to general health and wellbeing has long been understood. The ultimate goal for planning, building, renovation and administration of the housing stock is to satisfy people's needs. When this goal is not attained, the results will be human sacrifices, social problems and losses to the national economy. This, of course, also applies to the issues of climate and the environment. Research and development work on these questions is nothing new for the Swedish Council for Building Research (BFR).
Login