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Buildings with mechanical ventilation use fans to supply air to, and exhaust air from,
the rooms.
Depending on demand, the supply air may be heated, cooled, humidified, or dehumidified.
The ventilation system may be equipped to recover heat from the exhaust air.
The system may also re-circulate extract air. Windows may be sealed or operable.
During the last decade, major developments have taken place or been further refined,
such as various kinds of demand controlled ventilation, systems with improved air
flow characteristics at room level (e.g. displacement ventilation), heat recovery
systems with efficiencies up to 90%, major developments in fan characteristics (e.g.
direct current and inverter drive variable speed fans), low pressure air distribution
systems, etc.
Because of supply and exhaust air fans the system is more flexible in respect to building
design, and more energy efficient than other systems if heat recovery means are used.
However, studies in many European countries have shown that mechanical ventilation
systems also may cause adverse health effects. The reasons for those are not yet well
known, but the following have been suspected: air handling system may itself be a source of
pollution, moisture in air handling system can cause mould growth, ventilation system
generates and transfers noise, ventilation air supply is poorly controlled, occupants cannot
influence the ventilation. These issues have to be solved to achieve good indoor air quality.
Poor maintenance, inappropriate location of air intakes and a lack of understanding of the
importance of ventilation.
Abbreviation
Definition
outdoor air
ODA
supply air
SUP
3
4
indoor air
transferred air
IDA
TRA
5
6
extract air
ETA
recirculation air RCA
7
8
exhaust air
secondary air
EHA
SEC
leakage
LEA
10
infiltration
INF
11
exfiltration
EXF
12
mixed air
MIA
Human occupancy
Table C1.1a3 Rates of outdoor air per person (EN 13779:2004)
Category
Unit
smoking area
typical
range
default
value
typical
range
default value
72
20
> 108
> 30
144
40
IDA 1
m3 h-1 person-1
Ls-1 person-1
> 54
> 15
IDA 2
m3 h-1 person-1
Ls-1 person-1
36 54
10 15
45
12.5
72 108
20 30
90
25
IDA 3
m3 h-1 person-1
Ls-1 person-1
22 36
6 10
29
8
43 72
12 20
58
16
IDA 4
m3 h-1 person-1
Ls-1 person-1
< 22
< 6
18
5
< 43
< 12
36
10
Category
Description
IDA 1
IDA 2
IDA 3
IDA 4
Human occupancy
CO2 is a good indicator for the emission of human bio-effluents and is therefore
suitable for use as a proxy indicator of IAQ within buildings that are occupied by
people. Classification by the CO2-level is well established for occupied rooms, where
smoking is not allowed and pollution is caused mainly by human metabolism. Typical
specifications for the total CO2-concentration in rooms, mainly caused by people.
Category
default value
IDA 1
400
350
IDA 2
400 600
500
IDA 3
600 1 000
800
IDA 4
> 1 000
1200
Known emissions
q v , suo =
qv,sup
G
cida
csup
G
c ida c sup
c ida (t ) = c sup
cida(t)
csup
qv,sup
G
Vr
t
1 e
+
q v ,sup
qv , SUP
Vr
c pa ida sup
Table C1.2 Design values for extract air rates (EN 13779).
Kind of use
Unit
Kitchen
- simple use (tea kitchen)
-
Default value
for design
Ls
> 20
30
Ls
-1
> 6.7
10
Ls-1m -2
> 1.4
2.0
professional use
Toilet/Washroom **
- per room
(minimum)
- per floor area
-1
Typical range
In a balanced mechanical ventilation system with supply and extract air, the extract air flow rate is
given by the supply air flow rate and the pressure conditions needed.
For extract air systems the extract air flow rates shall be calculated according to the principles
given in previous chapters. Typical design values for kitchen and toilets/washrooms are given in
table C1.2. The extract air can be replaced by outside air or by transfer air from other rooms.
Most important principle in the design for good indoor air quality is to try to avoid
unnecessary pollutant generation and spread of pollutants in or between rooms. To
achieve this
low pollution products and material should be used whenever possible
escape of pollutants from processes to the room air should be prevented by
sealing the processes as much as possible
the processes causing pollution shall be equipped with local exhaust systems
pollution generating processes should be located in separate rooms whenever
possible to minimise the spread of pollutants to other rooms
the air balance (difference between supply and exhaust air flows) of the rooms
should be so that air flows from less polluted rooms to more polluted rooms
supply air jets should be directed so that they do not increase the spread of
pollutants but decrease it.
The air balance principle of the ventilation means that air always flows from room with
higher air quality to the rooms with lower air quality and higher pollution generation.
This means that clean air is supplied in the cleaner rooms and exhausted from the
polluted rooms, and air is transferred from clean to dirty rooms.
In residential building this means that outdoor air is supplied to bedrooms and living
rooms and exhausted from kitchens, bathrooms and toilets, etc.
In commercial buildings air is supplied to the occupied zones and exhausted from rooms with
pollution generation so that air balance is positive in the occupied rooms and negative in rooms
with higher pollution generation. The following principles should be applied. They are illustrated in
Figure below:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Qvent = c pa
cpa
Qvent
qm
tsup
tout
(t s tu )
In practice the density of the air is assumed usually constant and the
relation is used in the following format:
When the air flow is constant, the formula gets the form:
Temperature. C
(tsup tout )
Ventilation affects also the pressure differences over the building structures. This can be beneficial or harmful.
In situations with no special requirements or emissions, ventilation systems should be designed for neutral
pressure conditions in the building.
One of the most important issues in respect of healthy buildings is to keep building structures dry and prevent
the condensation in and on structures. In cold climates the water content of the air is usually higher indoors
than outdoors. If the pressure is higher indoors the air with high moisture content may flow into the cold
structure and water vapour may condense and cause mould growth, reduce the thermal insulation properties
and lead to other harmful effects. To decrease the risk of condensation these buildings should have higher
exhaust flow rates than supply flow rates.
A slight under pressure in relation to outdoors especially in severe climates can help to avoid damage to
structure caused by moisture but should not exceed 20 Pa. In hot, humid climates, the problem is reversed,
and supply air flow should be greater than the exhaust air flow.
The pressure difference may cause other harmful effects. If the pressure inside is lower than that of outside
the pollutants in the structures or in the other side of the structures may be drawn in. One example of this is
the entry of radon into the buildings from the ground in houses with basement or slab on the ground
construction or poorly ventilated crawl space. This is a common problem in the buildings with exhaust
ventilation built on ground with high concentration of radon in soil gas. A similar problem is faced if the house
is constructed on polluted ground such as old dumpsite.
Moisture damage in the structure often causes the growth of mould. If the air flows through the mouldy
structure it may carry also harmful pollutants inside. It has been shown that the mould spores can be carried
inside through a base floor in a building with mould growth in the crawl space.
Certain spaces (including buildings for human occupancy) should be designed for overpressure in relation to
outdoors or adjacent spaces. Clean rooms, rooms for sensitive electronic/data processing equipment and
operating theatres in hospitals are examples for such spaces.
Pressure conditions should be continuously monitored in spaces where heavy emission of impurities occurs.
The air pressures in stairways, corridors and other passages should be designed so that they will not cause
airflows from one room or apartment to another.
Questions
8.
9.
10.
with supply air flow of 30 m3/h without cleaning the supply air flow
with supply air flow of 30 m3/h and a filter in supply air flow reducing
the concentration of dust in outdoor air with 50% efficiency
with supply air flow of 60 m3/h and outdoor air flow of 15 m3/h and a
filter with efficiency of 50% in outdoor air flow and a filter with
efficiency 80% in recirculation air flow
The heated air volume of a house is 300 m3. What is the heating
demand for ventilation of 0.6 ACH (air changes per hour), when
the design indoor temperature is 21 C and the design outdoor
temperature is 10 C?
What is the annual heating energy use for ventilation in the
previous problem, when the average outdoor temperature is 10 C
during the heating period and the average indoor temperature is
21 C, and the heating period is from Nov 1 to March 31.