Ventilation and Heat Gains

Worked Examples
November 2013

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Ventilation and Heat Gains. Worked Examples. November 2011

Example 1:

A small school assembly hall holds a maximum of 85 occupants, all seated at rest (80 children and 5
adults of which 2 are male and 3 are female). Its main orientation is south west / north east and on both
south west and north east facades there is a single strip of glazing (double glazing, low-e soft coated,
metal frame) on each faade, each window 4m long and 2m high. The hall is situated between the
playground and the staff car park therefore the glazing is well away from any obstacles.
During assemblies (which last for 1 hour per day), the lights are switched on. In total there are 20 x C5
Fluorescent lights.
The desired comfort temperature for the assembly hall is 21oC. The suggested air supply rate for each
occupant is 10l/s per person.

Question 1: What should the air change rate be for the hall to maintain air quality?
Question 2: Assuming that the hall is cross ventilated and that the prevailing wind comes from the south
west, how large do the window openings need to be to achieve the desired ait change rate (for air
quality)? In this case, assume that the prevailing wind is blowing at an average of 3.7ms-1
Question 3: The hall itself is situated in an urban area in Nottinghamshire. How will this impact on
opening sizes? For this assume that the opening height is the same as the building height.
Question 4: Assuming the room is ventilated to the ideal ventilation rate to maintain air quality, what is
the heat loss coefficient (HLCvent, W/K) for this room?

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Ventilation and Heat Gains. Worked Examples. November 2011

Question 5: The architect has worked out that the total heat loss coefficient for the envelope (including
walls, windows, roof, floors, doors and also including both geometric and perimeter bridging) is 100W/K
(HLCenvelope). What is the total heat loss coefficient of the room (i.e.for both ventilation and envelope).
Assume that the HLC for ventilation is to maintain air quality (i.e. the result from question 4). Comment
on this difference in HLCs.
Question 6: Calculate the heat gains to the building in January. Assume that the hall is fully occupied and
that the lights are on.
Question 7: The desired comfort temperature for the assembly hall is 21oC. On one day that the
assembly takes place (in January) the external temperature is 0oC. What is the total heat loss from the
hall and how is this split between the building envelope and ventilation for air quality?
Question 8: Comment on the role that gains may play in this.
Question 9: Building on question 7, the assembly takes place on a morning in May , the desired comfort
temperature is still 21oC and the external temperature is 10oC. What is the total heat loss from the hall
and how is this split between the building envelope and ventilation for air quality?
Question 10: Similar to question 8, comment on the role that gains may play on this.
Question 11: How could we go about improving the design of our building overall to reduce energy
consumption?

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Ventilation and Heat Gains. Worked Examples. November 2011