The new office building of the Ministry of Transport at Terneuzen in the Netherlands is a sustainable and energy efficient building with a good indoor environment. The building is constructed of sustainable materials, well insulated, utilises maximum daylight and is equipped with a minimum of building services. Passive and natural sources have been utilised as much as possible. An advanced natural ventilation system provides fresh air and controls the thermal comfort in summer.
This paper provides a summary of current knowledge about the associations of ventilation types in office buildings with sick building syndrome symptoms. Most studies completed to date indicate that relative to natural ventilation, air conditioning, with or without humidification, was consistently associated with a statistically significant increase in the prevalence of one or more SBS symptoms, by approximately 30% to 200%.
The basic mechanism for natural ventilation in a building involves air flowing through purpose-made ventilator openings. These ventilators must be carefully designed as natural ventilation driving forces are weak compared to the dynamic forces created by mechanical systems. This paper describes a series of experimental parametric studies that investigated how components within a ventilator (in this case louvers and wire mesh screens) interacted. Airflow measurements through the individual louver and mesh components were compared to the airflow through mesh / louver combinations.
Although most of the apartments adopt state-of-the-art convenience facilities, since they have become the most popular housing type in Korea, they depend on natural ventilation for HVAC systems, as traditional floor heating systems (Ondol) are used. On the other hand, the indoor environments of the apartments have become more important, because people stay longer in a room and the room environment is polluted, because of various kinds of interior materials. Accordingly, some apartments apply air conditioning systems using AHU and ventilation systems using heat exchangers.
Increasingly, European building designers have used natural ventilation to control air quality and cool commercial buildings to conserve energy compared to mechanical cooling and fan operation. These advanced natural and hybrid ventilation systems may be adapted to the North American context, but work is needed including consideration of the broader diversity of climates. An approach to the analysis of climate suitability is presented and applied to a number of North American climates.
As part of a graduation research, six case studies were carried out to assess the validity of 10 often heard assumed disadvantages of natural ventilation in offices, including poor IAQ and thermal discomfort. The case studies included a methodic comparison of six buildings based on literature, interviews, field measurements and re-analysis of reports by others. Thus the preconditions for natural ventilation of office buildings and the most important design features could be determined in order to meet the performance standards as in use in the Netherlands.
The potential for natural ventilation is the rating of the possibility to achieve a good indoor air quality by natural ventilation only. The potential for passive cooling can also be defined. These potentials depend on site and building and are based on several parameters. Example of determination in Geneva area is given.
This paper describes the hybrid ventilation system of a new office building (650 employees) in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) equipped with a decentralized building automation and individual controls.
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