Ventilation Strategies for Good Indoor Air Quality and Energy Efficiency

The requirements for good indoor air quality and energy efficiency have often been considered to be in conflict with each other. However, buildings with low energy consumption in Europe also seem to have a lower rate of building related health symptoms. This indicates the importance of proper design and installation as well as qualified, well trained operational personnel, who understand both the requirements for good indoor air quality and energy efficiency. Several strategies for ventilation are described in this paper. It is shown that, by selecting an appropriate strategy, the indoor air quality can be maintained or improved while reducing energy consumption. Aspects include: proper target and design values of indoor air quality and climate, source control, the efficient removal of contaminants, proper location of fresh air intakes, cleaning of intake air, efficient air distribution in rooms by means of improved ventilation efficiency, heat recovery from exhaust air, control of ventilation rates by air quality, correct balancing of airflows, controlling of indoor climate locally and using ventilation for night cooling.