Unit 10 Ventilation

Objectives

To
• Understand the principles of ventilation;
• Be familiar with standard ventilation requirements for common
buildings;
• Understand how ventilation is quantified, and be able to do
simple calculation checks;
• Understand how natural ventilation is achieved and be able to
carry out a check estimation calculation on airflow rates;
• Be familiar with some common ventilation systems, including
air distribution in large buildings and smoke exhaust systems.

Unit contents

• Basic ventilation principles

• Define and quantify ventilation
• Design for better natural ventilation
• Special building ventilation
o Large buildings
o Tall buildings
o Fire exhaust

10.1 Introduction
As mentioned in the last unit, ventilation plays a vital role in removing
indoor contaminants, and providing fresh air. Its importance was firstly
recognised when insufficient ventilation was identified as the main
cause for sick building syndrome (SBS) in the 80’s and later
inadequate ventilation was identified as one of the causes for the
severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003. It can
also be a major way of space heating and cooling, when the supply air
is treated in an air handling unit before supply into the rooms. Apart
from these mechanical systems, natural ventilation has been
purposely used over hundreds years, and now it is critical in cooling
Ventilation & Air conditioning [D11VE]

for low energy buildings. This Unit provides some basic knowledge for
building ventilation.

10.2 Ventilation principles

10.2.1 Ventilation assessment

Ventilation is considered as a process by which fresh air is provided to

occupants, or for carrying out special work, to dilute concentrations of
potentially harmful pollutants in a space and remove these substances
from the space. Ventilation is also used in a passive way to distribute
thermally conditioned air to a space for the heating or cooling purpose.

Ventilation effectiveness, Ev , is a measure to describe the

ventilation quality. It depends on how the space is ventilated, such as
arrangement of fresh supply and exhaust and room geometry, which
will be discussed later. Figure 10.1 shows a room being ventilated by
a variety of arrangement for supply and exhaust. An effective option
should target at the breathing zone, also called the living zone, which
people occupy. The effectiveness for each of them is listed in Table
10.1

supply zone
Exhaust zone

breathing zone

A) Ceiling level ventilation

Exhaust zone

supply zone

breathing zone

B) Single side ventilation

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supply zone

Exhaust zone

breathing zone

C) cross ventilation

Exhaust zone

supply zone

breathing zone

D) cross ventilation

Figure 10.1 Various ventilation arrangements

Ventilation arrangement Temp. diff . (K) between supply and Ventilation air effectiveness,
room air, (ts– tai) Ev
Mixing; high-level supply <0 0.9 ~ 1.0
and exhaust 0~2 0.9
2~5 0.8
>5 0.4 ~ 0.7
Mixing; high-level supply <-5 0.9
low- level exhaust (-5) ~ 0 0.9 ~ 1.0
>0 1.0
Displacement <0 1.2 ~ 1.4
0~2 0.7 ~ 0.9
>2 0.2 ~ 0.7
Table 10.1 Ventilation effectiveness for ventilation arrangements
shown in Figure 10.1

10.2.2 Contaminant removal

Normally building ventilation serves three purposes: fresh air supply

for the need of O2 provision, indoor contaminants removal from the
space, and heating or cooling. There is a need to calculate the basic
ventilation rate, which should not be too large so that it costs extra
energy for cooling or heating, nor too low to result in poor air quality.

Unit 10-3
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The most common calculation is to check the basic requirements for

fresh air supply. Obviously this variable is dependent of space volume
concentration level and generation rate. In a well mixed enclosure, the
generation rate is steady, and the concentration level of a particular
species is proportional to the ratio of the ventilation rate over the
strength of the source of the species.

Q=
(
G 10 6 − Ci )
Ev (Ci − C o )

where Ci is the equilibrium concentration of the species; ppm or µgm-3

C o is concentration level in the outdoor air, ppm or µg m-3
-1 3 -1
Q is the ventilation rate using outdoor air, µg s or m s
-1 3 -1
G is the generation rate of the species, µg s or m s
E v is the ventilation effectiveness

For convenience in design, the ventilation rate very often is given as

litres of fresh air supply per second per person. CIBSE Guide A gives
some recommendation on required ventilation rate for various indoor
air quality standards (Table 10.1).

Table 10.2 CIBSE recommendations

As often the indoor O2 supply and contaminant removal are achieved

not by purposely designed ventilation but by infiltration. Therefore a
certain degree of infiltration is desirable for these purposes and the air
change per hour is used as a unit in practice.

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10.3 Ventilation strategy

There are three ways to replace indoor air, two passive ones,
including infiltration and natural ventilation, and one active,
mechanical ventilation.

10.3.1 Infiltration

As real buildings are not entirely airtight, both wind and temperature
differences between the indoor air and the outdoor environment, can
move air between an interior space and outdoor environment, through
openings on the building envelope, such as windows, doors, vents,
gaps between window/door panels and their frames, and even a
network of tiny cracks on walls and roofs. Consequently there is
always a certain degree of uncontrollable air exchange between the
indoor spaces and outdoor environment. Although excessive
infiltration causes extra heat loss and should be avoided, a small
amount of infiltration is good as it allows a trace of fresh air needed for
occupants and maintain indoor air quality. This is why nowadays,
double glazed windows have a trickle vent on the top of the window
frame, allowing a small amount of infiltration.

Table 10.3 Empirical values for air infiltration rates due to air
infiltration for rooms in residential buildings on normally-exposed sites
in winter.

10.3.2 Natural Ventilation

When the air movement due to winds or temperature difference is

under control, or if it occurs when it is needed and passes through
where it is needed, this is natural ventilation.

Opening doors and windows, particularly during the mild seasons is

the most effective way to remove indoor contaminants and heat.

As a main indicator for a complex phenomenon, the ventilation rate

Unit 10-5
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depends on various variables, mostly the wind speed, incident

direction to the buildings, locations of openings, height differences,
size of the openings and internal pressure drops cross various airflow
paths.

a) buoyancy flow only b) buoyancy and wind combined

Figure 10.2 Natural ventilation scenarios in a single space building

10.3.3 Mechanical ventilation

When the air movement is driven by a purposely design mechanical

fan system, this is mechanical ventilation. This normally consists of a
fan, either blowing the air into a room or exhausting the air out of it,
and ductwork, or simply openings, diffusers and other elements that
guide air to where the ventilation is needed. There are a wide range of
choices in terms of arrangement or principles.

A simple extract ventilation system uses an exhaust fan mounted on

the external wall, or a window panel, or on ceiling with ductwork
leading to the outside. This simple solution applies widely to kitchens
and bathrooms in domestic buildings.

For more efficient extraction of cooking smells, the system may

include a hood above the cooker (Figure 10.3). Placing the exhaust
closer to the source of contaminants or moisture can greatly improve
the efficiency of removal. Hence this method of ventilation is applied
widely in restaurant kitchens, chemistry labs and other places
involving strong sources of contaminants from a small localised area.

Unit 10 - 6 Heriot-Watt University

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Figure 10.3 a hood over a cooker extracting cooking steam and smell
out of the kitchen via a simple duct system.

10.3.4 Mix mode ventilation

Mix mode ventilation is an operation mode and economical solution,

which is now increasingly popular. The idea is to use natural
ventilation whenever possible for cooling, or heating, or contaminant
removal, or a combination. Mechanical ventilation is switched on when
natural ventilation is insufficient, or additional heating or cooling is
needed.

This mode of operation is done firstly through a good design of the

system, at installation and then optimisation of it operation to achieve
the best benefit it can offer.

10.4 Design for better natural ventilation

Good natural ventilation can be achieved by good design through
good understanding of aerodynamics. However, air movement in a
building often is changeable and unpredictable. A design needs to be
tested in various conditions to ensure it works as intended.

As a basic knowledge, ventilation is dependant of following factors:

• Pressure difference at the ends of a passage

• Resistance of the airflow passage
• Area of the characteristic cross-section

The pressure difference can be created by either wind, or buoyancy

which is due to indoor and outdoor temperature difference, plus height
difference between openings (Figure 10.4). Therefore a good
understanding of wind and buoyancy helps in the design of natural
Unit 10-7
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ventilation.
openings &
locations

airflow

obstacles
in airpath
Figure 10.4 Driving forces for passive ventilation

10.4.1 Pressure differences

As the driving force for air movement, the pressure difference across
an air-path can be created by wind, or buoyancy or both.

Wind creates different pressure on building surfaces. This pressure is

dependant of

Wind speed

Opening locations

--

+ - -

Figure 10.5 wind right onto a cube

surface pressure: p w = 0.5C p ρU 2 , Pa;

ρ = air density, kg m-3

U = wind speed at datum level (normally the height of the building
of the opening), m s-1
Cp = wind pressure coefficient (WPC), which varies from one
location to another.

For a cube in Fig 10.5, Cp is positive in the windward side, and

negative on the leeward and possibly at two sides and top.

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When there are a pair of openings on these surfaces, air goes through
the building via these openings. The flow rate is dependent on

Open area

Aerodynamic features of the openings

Relative position of the pair of openings

Aerodynamic features of the airflow passage

The maximum flow rate happens for the pair of openings
located respectively on the most positive side and most
negative side

Air movement driven by buoyancy depends on the following factors.

Pressure difference at the pair of openings, which is dependent
on temperature difference of the air and height difference of the
pair of openings

Open areas

Aerodynamic features of the openings and airflow passages

Buoyancy also creates pressure difference. Such a pressure in a

shaft depends on

temperature

density

height above the reference level:
–
p s = p0 − ρgh

p0 = reference pressure, the pressure at the reference level h0, Pa

-2
g = gravity, m s
h = height from the reference height, h0, m
ρ = air density, kg m-3 which is dependent on temperature:

1 1
ps = − ρ0 gT0 h − 
 Te Ti 
T0 = reference temperature, K
ρ0 = air density at reference temperature, kg m-3
Te = temperature outside the enclosure, K
Ti = average temperature inside the enclosure, K

If reference temperature is 20C, then density difference due to the

temperature difference will create a pressure difference:

 1 1 
∆p = gh( ρ e − ρ i ) = 3462h −  (pa)
 Te + 273 Ti + 273 

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∆p ≈ 0.039h(Ti − Te ) (pa)

The relationship between the pressure and the height is best

illustrated by the left diagram in Figure 10.6 showing two openings
with a height difference. Based on the pressure difference the air
velocity inside the vertical shaft can be calculated. The right diagram
in Figure 10.6 is a norm chart used to estimate the airflow velocity
under different temperature differences between the inside and
outside and height difference between the two openings.
t
heigh

pressure
Figure 10.6 Flow speed vs differences in height and temperatures

10.4.2 Airflow rates

Calculation of airflow rate very often relies on empirical formulae or

computer modelling. The former method is normally for simple layout
buildings whilst the later is used for complex buildings.

CIBSE suggests the following formulae for a quick assessment on

ventilation rates.

For a wind only case, such as the one shown in Figure 10.5, the
follow rate across the building:

2∆pw
Qw = Cd Aeq = Cd Aeq ∆C p U (m3s-1);
ρ

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 Ventilation

1 1 1
2
= 2+ 2
Aeq Ai Ao

3 -1
Where Qw is the airflow rate due to wind, in m s
Cd the discharge coefficient of the opening. 0.61 is a typical
value for large openings,
Aeq, Ai and Ao respectively the equivalent area, the areas of inlet
2
and outlet openings, in m .
C p the pressure coefficients of the two openings.
ρ and U respectively the density kgm-3 and reference wind
-1
speed ms .

For a buoyancy only case, such as the one shown in Figure 10.6,
the follow rate across the building is :

2∆pw 2 × 0.039h(Ti − Te )
Qb = Cd Aeq = Cd Aeq
ρ ρ
h(Ti − Te )
= 0.17 Aeq (m3s-1)
ρ

1 1 1
2
= 2+ 2
Aeq Ai Ao
Where Qb is the airflow rate due to buoyancy, in m3s-1
h = height from the reference height, h0, m
ρ = air density, kg m-3 which is dependent on temperature:
Te = temperature outside the enclosure, C
Ti = average temperature inside the enclosure, C

It is more complicated when both driving forces exist:

U h
If < 0.26 ; then Q = Qb or
∆T ∆C p

U h
If > 0.26 ; then Q = Qw
∆T ∆C p

Where ∆T = Ti − Te

Unit 10-11
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10.5 Ventilation Solutions

Ventilation systems may be classified according their ability to supply

and withdraw air from the rooms ventilated. It is common to
differentiate between the following three solutions.

• cross ventilation

Ventilation airflow is guided from one side of the space, through the
occupied area and out the space at the other side (Fig 10.1A, C & D).
This is considered more effective than single side ventilation in both
heat and contaminants removal.

• short cut principle

Air supply is located at the upper level in the room and exhausted at
the same level(Fig 10.1A). The advantage of this principle is that the
arrangement of ductwork is easy and does not take much precious
space in the living zone, the occupied level close to the floor. This
principle works fine when the stale air is warmer so it rises to the
ceiling level and removed by the air movement. When incoming air is
warmer, this principle works less effective.

• mixed principle
In this principle, supply air is delivered at low level to mix with room air
through the living zone, and is then extracted at a higher level. This
arrangement provides better fresh air than the short cut one, as the
fresh air is directly delivered to where it is needed in the breathing
zone(Fig 10.1D).

• displacement principle

Like the mixed principle, the displacement principle delivers serviced

air at low level. But in a more sophisticated way, the air is delivered
into the living zone and exhausted out of the room. By using purposely
designed airflow distribution devices, such as diffusers, outlets,
plenums, and so on, a floor-to-ceiling air flow pattern is created in a
similar form of “piston movement” and with form of air movement, heat
and pollution is transferred from the living zone, up to the ceiling
where it's evacuated through the outlet system. Therefore this is
considered the most effective solution

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Using this principle, conditioned air from the air handling unit (AHU) is
ducted into the underfloor plenum where it goes at low speed into the
“living zone or breathing zone” through diffusers mounted on the floor.
These small but numerous outlets diffuse the supply air all over the
occupied floor area, and mix the air well with the room air to achieve
an even air distribution. The room air rises due to the heat released by
occupants, PCs and other equipment is then drawn out at the ceiling
level (Fig 10.7).

Figure 10.7 displacement underfloor ventilation

The following reasons explain why this principle works better than
other solutions,

• heat from people and machines creates convective air flows

from the floor to the ceiling:

• pollution is most like generated in the living zone, when it

should be removed.

• heat due to lighting under the ceiling have limited influence on

the temperatures in the room

• heat and pollutions are transferred out of the living zone

This principle takes advantage of the natural buoyancy produced by
heat sources in the occupied room and efficiently removes heat loads
and contaminants from the space, particularly for cooling applications.
It is therefore is a favourite choice for many office buildings due to its
effectiveness and quality in both heat and contaminants removal. It
also requires more floor to floor height, as the extra space is needed
for the raised floor and suspending ceiling. As a result the net floor to
ceiling height can be limited.

Unit 10-13
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10.6 Special ventilation systems

10.6.1 Distribution systems

A typical mechanical ventilation system comprises of fans or blowers

or an air handling unit, which moves the air and condition it, and a
distribution system including ductwork, diffusers and nozzles to deliver
the conditioned air to the living zone.

Figure 10.8 shows a central mechanical ventilation and air

conditioning system for a multi-storey building with open plan offices
on its perimeter area and a core in the centre.

The plant rooms are located in the basement, providing treated air,
with cooling in summer or heating in winter. The supply air is delivered
via a set of vertical ducts to each floor (Fig 10.8a), and is distributed
over the floor via two sets of ducts, one at floor level in the perimeter
areas (two branches in thin black lines in Fig 10.8b), and the other at
the ceiling level near the core side (The thick dark line in Fig 10.8b).

The room air is extracted at ceiling level, in the middle of the open
plan between the perimeter and near core supply (position in plan Fig
10.8b and level in Fig 10.8c).

Such a “tree” like arrangement is used to minimise the ductwork and

maximise the evenness of the air distribution over the main office
space.

a) details of a cross section of the floor (with the suspending ceiling for the
floor underneath.

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 Ventilation

b) cross section

c) ductwork arrangement on a standard floor (plan)

Figure 10.8 A multiple storey office building with open plan.

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The supply inlets are diffusers helping the supply to mix well with the
room air. There are various design options for this purpose, with
consideration on easy installation and maintenance, aesthetics,
integration with lighting luminaries and so on. Figure 10.9 shows two
common ceiling mount diffusers. The circular fins that guide the air out
and blend it with room air can be seen clearly.

Figure 10.9 Air supply (diffuser) on a suspended ceiling integrated

with two fluorescent light sets on its sides(square, left and circular
right)

For large spaces, organising air flow is vital as it affects ventilation

efficiency for air quality of the space as well as heating and cooling.
The following considerations are taken in arranging the mechanical
ventilation distribution:
• Supply air evenly across the whole occupied areas;
• Locate air returns to provide circulations without bypassing
occupied areas
• Design the ductwork paths economically;
• Use, whenever possible, heat flows created by occupants, PCs
and other equipments, windows convection(heating in summer
and cooling in winter),
• Size the ducts for both supply and return to balance pressure,

10.6.2 Large spaces

Ventilation is critical for large spaces such as industrial buildings,

supermarkets, stadiums, airport lounge, sports halls and gymnasiums
and very different from that of small buildings. For example,
manufacturing plants are typically large, single-cell buildings partially
partitioned in some cases. Various manufacturing activities such as
welding, assembly and painting take place side by side in one big hall.
These activities have different ventilation needs, firstly due to different

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levels of indoor air quality requirement to achieve the best

performance and secondly due to different levels of pollutants
produced during different activities, which need efficient removal. For
these reasons ventilation system design can be a challenge.

Generally, for large spaces, organising air flow is vital as it affects

ventilation efficiency and air quality of the space. The considerations
listed in 10.6.1 also have to be made with other concerns in spaces
like theatres, sports hall, airport or stations where large space should
be free of obstacles for views and people moving around.

Inside these type spaces, the diffusers in Fig 10.9 are not suitable as
large space with high void space needs to be clear. Instead jet
nozzles are used to project the air further into the living zone. For
example in hot climates, cool air shoots from ceiling level in theatres,
the nozzles help the air reach the audience below(reverse the flows
shown in Fig 10.10).

Figure10.10 cross section of a theatre showing air supply inlets at

audience level and return outlets at ceiling level

When supply is very close to

occupants, low air velocity is
essential to avoid unpleasant
draughtiness. Therefore large
numbers of the inlets or large
opening areas are to be
produced. Figure 10.11 shows
a long slot underneath a row
of seats providing conditioned
air coming into the auditorium
at very low speeds.

Figure 10.11 Air supply outlets underneath audience seats

Unit 10-17
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10.6.3 Tall buildings

Tall buildings are common in many
cities. In an overcrowd city with
heavy traffic at ground level, outdoor
air is not always ideal for indoor
ventilation. Therefore outdoor air is
often taken at roof level, where the
concentrations of the most common
pollutants are lower than those on
ground level. The air filtered and
conditioned is then delivered
vertically to every floor below (Fig
10.12).

10.6.4 Ductwork
Ductwork costs a lot to build, install
and maintain. Long ducts do not only
cost more but also allow more
cooling/heat losses before reaching the room to be conditioned. They
also increase pressure drop, which needs a stronger fan to drive
airflow. This results high running costs too. A good design can save
significant amount of material, use smaller fans, and lowering initial
costs for installation and saving energy and running costs.

Fabric ductwork has been increasingly used in ventilation for several

reasons, including light weight, easy installation and cleaning and
atheistic appearance. It is particularly favourable for spaces with large
spans and light roof structure such as supermarkets, aeroplane
hangers, and other similar large spaces. For fire safety considerations,
fabric materials, such as fire resistant treated polyester is used to
make ducts.

10.7 Smoke and heat exhaust ventilation

10.7.1 Fire Safety geometry

Fire smoke and combustion gases are hot and therefore much lighter
than the normal room air. They rise from the fire to the ceiling and fill
up the upper space of the compartment. The hot gases and smoke
accumulate to form a layer at a sufficient height to allow a layer of
cooler, clearer air to remain at lower levels for sufficient time to allow
occupants to be safely evacuated. This clear lower layer can be

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 Ventilation

maintained by exhausting smoke from the high level either by natural

or mechanical means. Regulations are available for how these
systems should be designed, installed and maintained (BS EN 12101).
In the compartment where the fire occurs, the task for smoke control
is to keep the breathing zone clear. The following factors affect smoke
extraction:

y : height for safe escape (clear layer), which depends on

– the size of the fire;
– the production rate of smoke;
– ceiling height
– depth of the reservoir
– area of the ceiling
–
d : depth of the smoke reservoir (thickness of smoke layer,
beyond the neutral plane), which depends on
– opening size;
– the height of the open door;
– the size of the room;
–

d: Smoke reservoir
Neutral
plane

y: clear layer

breathing zone
fire

Figure 10.13. Key geometric features for smoke control in a

compartment shown on a cross section of a room with a fire at the
centre and an exhaust fan drawing out smoke and keeping the living
zone clear

If the door and the vent are open, there will be two passages for the
hot smoke to dissipate out of the room. Extract ventilation at ceiling
level can draw more smoke out of the space and further slow down
the deepening process of the smoke reservoir, and consequently the
height of the clear layer will remain longer above the breathing zone
for safe escape.

Unit 10-19
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10.7.2 Spreading over in a building

It must be noted that the effects of the fire will be confined within the
compartment where the fire originated. If the enclosing doors, walls
and ceilings have no fire resistance or do not form a fire-tight joint with
a fire-resisting floor (or ceiling) above, the fire can penetrate to the
neighbouring space most likely at ceiling level, where the attack from
the flames and hot gases are strongest.

Even with fire-resisting construction, the buoyancy and expansion of

the fire gases can cause them to be driven out of the space to affect
other parts of the building. This is most common in tall buildings,
where smoke and hot gases are driven to other parts of the building
by the strong draughts created by the huge temperature difference
and the existing height difference (Fig 10.2).

Figure 10.14. Air movement and the most likely smoke distribution in
a multi storey building.

In this case, it is assumed that the fire and smoke are in the two
rooms on the ground floor, and all windows and doors are open.
Therefore the convection already present will be greatly enhanced due
to the large amount of heat produced by the fire. The stronger
buoyancy flow will rise up via the vertical passage, such as lift well or
staircases, other shafts, to the upper floors.

Hence it is a very effective way of preventing the fire and smoke

spreading to separate spaces by placing closed fire doors between

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 Ventilation

rooms and corridors, between corridors and staircases and so on and

to make all walls fire resistant between these spaces.

Extracting air at the top of the vertical shafts is another very effective
measure preventing smoke spreading to other spaces, particularly on
higher floors. The exhaust fan can reverse the airflows in the rooms in
upper floors and reduces smoke going into these spaces.

Smoke and heat exhaust ventilation (SHEV) systems are essential in

large buildings particularly in those with high density of occupants.
The principle for designing such as system is very simple:

10.7.3 Smoke control systems

Smoke control systems consist of sensors, emergency lighting

devices, exhaust fans and vents or openings. Their function is
primarily to extract smoke and gases and to confine smoke to a
certain area. This provides firstly crucial visibility for way finding,
secondly dilution to slow the accumulation of toxic gases, and finally a
reduction of the acceleration of temperature rise.

They are individually designed,

normally as one of many other
Extract fans
aspects in the whole building
design and installed into the
building, according to building
plan layout and vertical
arrangement and also
according to the escape
routes throughout the building.
Therefore often they are
installed in staircases, or halls,
or atria, which are the main
paths of escape routes, and
because their height can
attract heat and lighter smoke
and gases to come in, rise
upwards and accumulate.
Compared with Figure 10.14,
Figure 10.15 shows a smoke Figure 11.15 exhaust ventilation
control system that employs
an exhaust fan at the top of the vertical shaft together with vents
guiding smoke into the shaft and confining the smoke within the space
until it is drawn out of the building at the top.

If the door and the vent are open, there will two passages for the hot
smoke to dissipate out of the room. Extract ventilation at ceiling level

Unit 10-21
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can draw more smoke out of the space, and further slow down the
deepening process of the smoke reservoir, and consequently the
height of the clear layer will remain longer above the breathing zone
for safe escape.

The smoke exhaust ventilation is also applied to spaces for horizontal

passages, such as a corridor shown in Figure 10.16. As the main
horizontal passage, it can also provide a vital escape route. They are
divided into sections. The separations, such as fire doors can provide
a reservoir of smoke to accumulate and leave an underneath clear
layer for escape, when this section has caught fire. When a roof vent,
or an exhaust fan is activated this can further delay the progression of
the smoke lowering into the clear layer in the breathing zone.

Smoke exhaust

Reservoir screen Reservoir screen

Air drawn from y: clear layer Air drawn from

neighbouring neighbouring
space space

Figure 10.16 partitioning a safety passage using reservoir screens

and smoke exhaust ventilation.

For large spaces such as atria, they have the features of both those
discussed for vertical shafts and for horizontal corridors.

Unit 10 - 22 Heriot-Watt University

 Ventilation

References
BS EN 13779: Ventilation for buildings. Performance requirements for
ventilation and air-conditioning systems (London: British Standards
Institution) (2005)

Questions and Outline Answers

Q 1. List and explain the need for ventilation in a habitable space.

Outline answer
• Need for respiration
• Replacing indoor air with outdoor air
• Cooling: removing indoor heat gains
• Extraction, smoke in the event of fire
• Extraction, excessive moisture
• Extraction, hazardous chemicals
• Psychological satisfaction: air movement

Q2. List the major contaminants in a house and suggest why they
might be undesirable.

Outline answer
• Odour
• Carbon dioxide
– respiration
– combustion
• Tobacco smoke
• Particulates
• Water vapour
– respiration
– combustion
– cooking/washing
• Formaldehyde
– woodchip boards
– compressed cellulose boards
– plasterboards
– wallpapers
– carpets
– Curtains
• fibres
• Radon & VOC

Then discuss their medical and psychological effects on human occupants,

including the symptoms of Sick building syndromes.

Unit 10-23
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They can contribute to illness, poor well being or reduced productivity

• Discomfort:
– Smell (olfactory system)
– Irritation (eyes, skins)
• Chemical/biological: harmful, noxious,
– Respiration, affecting internal organs
– skins, eyes, ....

Q3 Discuss the two driving forces that determine the natural

ventilation (or infiltration) in a building and the major factors that
affect these two forces and consequently the ventilation quality
in the building.

Outline answers

• Buoyancy driven that is created by temperature difference; height of

the two openings;

• Wind driven determined by wind speed; the position of the opening in

relation to the direction of wind incidence; the location of the opening
in relation to the building as a whole; surrounding buildings; topology
of the terrain; the height of the openings

Q4 The right chart in Figure 10.6 shows the relationship among

three variables: the possible airflow speed in a vertical shaft
with two openings at its two ends; the height difference of the
two openings and the temperature difference between the air in
and outside the shaft.

Use this chart and determine the airflow speed in a shaft where
the temperature is 15˚C higher than the ambient temperature
outside the shaft and two openings are 75m apart.

Q5 An open plan office is designed to accommodate 15 office

workers each with a PC. Each person plus a PC produces
250W heat into the space. The major indoor heat gain is the
solar penetration from the window, which accounts 3100W at
the time. The net interior space of the room is 12m×8m×3.5m
and all the other heat gains are negligible.

(a) Determine the air change per hour of the fresh air needed

Unit 10 - 24 Heriot-Watt University

 Ventilation

when the office is fully occupied and each occupant needs 8.0
l s-1 fresh air.

(b) Calculate the total heat to be removed by ventilation.

(c) Calculate the air change rate of the supply air at 16 °C to

maintain the indoor air temperature at 24 °C,

(d) discuss the two air change rates calculated above(This is

advanced question).

Answers
(a) fresh air required = 15(people)*8.0l/s = 120l/s = 120*3600/1000 =
432,3m3/hour
Volume of the space =8*12*3.5=336m3
The change rate = 1.29 air change per hour.

(b) Q=250*15+3100W

(c) Determine the supply air flow rate:

Qnet = 0.33NV∆T = 0.33 × N × 12 × 8 × 3.5 × (24 − 16) = 6850
N=7.7 ACH

(d) for cooling more supply air is needed than for fresh air. Therefore if
only air of 1.29 ACH, 1.29 / 7.7 = 17% is taken from the outdoor and rest
from room recycled, a large energy saving can be made.

Unit 10-25