Describes the major features of air flow around buildings, indicating how wind characteristics and building geometry interact to determine airflow round a house. Outlines work being done by Watson House in this area, mainly concerned with ventilation, flue performance and dispersal of combustion products.
Describes a project undertaken for the CEC to build low-energy houses according to a particular design methodology, and to verify the efficiency and practical application of this design. Describes general site layout, climatic effects on the site, and design methodology as applied to the houses. Aims to undertake energy audits in each of the houses,including measurements of air temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, "steady state" behaviour and air infiltration.
Presents space heating and total energy consumption values for a one-year monitoring period for a group of 27 low energy houses in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. These have a number of energy conserving features, including air tightness, controlled ventilation, air-to-air heat exchangers, passive solar heating and high insulation levels. The average space heating energy consumption for the 27 houses was 43.7 Kj/sq.m.DD May 1980-May 1981.The total energy consumption for the houses averaged 365 Mj/sq.m. The space heating energy consumption averaged .228 Mj/sq.m.
Reports on the metabolic CO2 method for ventilation measurement which has been extended from mechanically ventilated rooms to naturally ventilated ones. The analysis, which under some circumstances is also relevant to tracer gas decay measurements, allows assessments of the individual incoming flows of air.
Reviews sources of indoor air pollution, factors which influence pollutant concentration, and health aspects. Reports on investigations into carbon monoxide concentrations in kitchens with geysers. Treats various factors including geyser type, state of maintenance, frequency of use, occupant type, cooking and ventilating behaviour, time and location of measurements etc.Reports nitrogen dioxide concentration measurements in kitchens and livingrooms relating to cooking and smoking.
Reports TNO-IMG research into ventilation of houses including the influence of cracks, open windows, weather conditions, occupants' behaviour, pollutants and guidelines. Lists conclusions such as an opened window renews the room air within half an hour. 40% of the occupants open windows for too long, 27%ventilate insufficiently, 25% of the dwellings are air tight, 75% leaky. Ventilation occurs partially through shafts (30%) and cracks (60%).Ventilation rates differ considerably between the rooms in a house.Ventilation ducts should have an exhaust function.
Mechanical ventilation systems usually provide a fixed quantity of "fresh" air to a building space based upon the maximum number of people expected to occupy that particular space. When the use of a building space is below its design maximum, the amount of outside air brought into that space can be reduced, thus generally also reducing energy consumption through lower heating and cooling loads. One method of determining the necessary ventilation rate for aparticular space is to utilize an air quality detector (eg CO2 or O2) sensitive to building occupancy and activity load.
Describes the monitoring of indoor air quality in a San Francisco office building where occupants had registered eye, nose and throat irritation complaints. Data was taken under two different ventilation rates. Carbon dioxide concentrations increased as the ventilation rate decreased, odour perceptibility increased slightly at the lowest ventilation rate, and other pollutants generally showed very low concentrations, which increased when ventilation was reduced.
Uses occupant-generated CO2 as an indicator of the actual ventilation rate in a San Francisco office building. Employs two techniques, a decay method and an integral method, and measurements are conducted simultaneously at several locations. The decay method compares favourably with the conventional measurement methods in both the all-outside-air and recirculation modes, whereas the integral method shows a considerable deviation from the other methods in the recirculation mode.
Gives a brief overview of:< 1. Measurement of air change rate using tracer gas.< 2. Measurement of air leakage using steady state and alternating pressure.< 3. Calculation methods (by hand and by computer) for predicting air exchange in a building.< Indicates where relevant research in these areas is being carried out, and outlines the role of the Air Infiltration Centre.