One of the main problems about air flows pattern studies remains the experimental validation of numerical codes developped for interzone air flow and polluant diffusion prediction. A few years ago, CETHIL developped a real scale experiment made of a 88m² dwelling built in our laboratory hall in a controlled climatic environment.
The ventilation rate in a building depends on many things, one of which is the air temperature. The air temperature in turn depends in part on the ventilation rate. The effects of this relationship are generally overlooked in both thermal and ventilation models. To study this effect a model has been developed which integrates the models GAINE and SILONA developed at CSTB. This allows the prediction of the natural ventilation rates caused by the actual temperatures in the building.
Experiments were carried out in four naturally ventilated offices to measure the indoor environmental parameters such as air velocity, turbulence intensity and air temperature at three vertical levels, Air change rates for various indoor and outdoor climates were detetmined. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the room was monitored. Subjective assessment was made to evaluate the thermal comfort and indoor air quality in the offices. The effect of opening windows and doors on the indoor comfort conditions was also investigated.