Continuous Mechanical Ventilation in Housing ⬜ Understanding the Gap between Intended and Actual Performance and Use

Magnitude, Causes, and Solutions of the Performance Gap of Buildings: A Review

“…Wilde [5]; Ahmad et al [21]; Stazi et al [22]; Yan et al [23]; Gunay and O'Brien [24]; Harish and Kumar [25]; Foucquier et al [26]; Vasquez-Hernandez and Alvarez [27]; Olivia and Christopher [28] Definition of the gap Wilde [5]; Baborska-Narozny and Stevenson [29]; Johnston et al [30]; Menezes et al [31]; Calì et al [32]; Peterson and Hviid [33]; Herrando et al [34]; Demanuele et al [35]; Fokaides et al [36]; Burman et al [37] Magnitude of the gap Wilde [5]; Turner and Frankel [12]; Menezes et al [31]; Calì et al [32]; Petersen and Hviid [33]; Herrando et al [34]; Fokaides et al [36]; Burman et al [37]; Magalhães and Leal [38]; Hens et al [39]; Fedoruk et al [40]; Marjanovic-Halburd et al [41]; Tronchin and Fabbri [42]; Stoppel and Leite [43]; Pegg et al [44]; UCL (University College London) Energy Institute [45]; Green Construction Board and Buildings Working Group of Arup [46]; Galvin [47]; Binks [48]; Salehi et al [49]; Gupta and Kapsali [50]; Ballarini and Corrado [51] Determination of the gap Wilde…”

“…Allegrini et al [98]; Yaghoobian and Kleissl [99]; He et al [100]; Kruger et al [101]; Kesten et al [102]; Han et al [103]; Hsieh et al [104]; Bouyer et al [105]; Yi and Peng [106] Design vs. as-built Stoppel and Leite [13]; Johnston et al [30]; Asdrubali et al [107] Solutions to bridge the gap Baborska-Narozny and Stevenson [29]; Johnston et al [30]; Menezes et al [31]; Herrando et al [34]; Demanuele et al [35]; Burman et al [37]; Fedoruk et al [40]; Green Construction Board and Buildings Working Group of Arup [46]; Gupta and Kapsali [50]; Mehta [69]; Corry et al [108]; Bordass et al [109]; Robinson et al [110]; Calì et al [111]; Niu et al [112]; Grossmann et al [113];…”

“…Among these performance aspects, the building industry and research presently focus on the energy performance; this might be due to the fact that energy metering is more prevalent and easier to implement than measurement of the other aspects [5]. Research works that study the non-energy performance gap can also be found, examples being the ventilation performance gap [29] and the building envelope performance gap [30]. This review focuses on the energy performance gap of buildings without losing sight of other non-energy performance gaps.…”

“…Therefore, it was concluded that careful design coupled with the implementation of appropriate quality control system, such as those required to attain Passivhaus certification, may be conducive to delivering dwellings that bridge the gap between measured and predicted fabric performance. Baborska-Narozny and Stevenson [29] studied continuous mechanical ventilation in housing and pointed out that reducing the gap between design intention and actual performance and use of continuous mechanical ventilation partly depends on the improvement of the continuous MV model to allow for a better match with inhabitants needs.…”

Energy Balances and Payback Time for Controlled Mechanical Ventilation in Residential Buildings

“…According to a survey, the main reason for not adopting a MV system, even if available, is the high cost of operation for about 58 % of responders; other main concerns are the difficulty of operation (21 %) and the noise produced by the fan (8 %) [10]. Another remarkable study [11], conducted in UK over 20 buildings equipped with heat-recovery double-flow ventilation, points out that less than 10 % of the occupants keep their MV system continuously in operation throughout the year; about 50 % of them keep the system constantly switched off, and prefer to open windows at will.…”