Controlled background ventilation for large commercial buildings†

Abstract

A preliminary study was carried out on a naturally ventilated office built as a low-energy building. The study uses a multi-zoned prediction program to determine a ventilation strategy to provide controlled background ventilation. Full-scale, whole-building pressurisation measurements are used to provide envelope leakage characteristics. The surface wind pressure coefficient data are provided through measurements carried out in the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Wind Tunnel. This study assessed the effectiveness of permanent but controllable background ventilators in naturally ventilated office-type buildings with various envelope tightnesses. Preliminary results show that, during the heating season, it is possible to provide adequate background ventilation for occupant comfort by incorporating commercially viable, manually controllable trickle ventilators within each room. Recommendations for possible consideration may be that 4000 mm2 open-area ventilators could be used in rooms with floor areas less than 10 m2, and 400 mm2 per m 2 (of floor areas) for those which are larger.