English

A summary of the evaluation of an air flow and contaminant model as part of the IEA-ECBCS Annex 23; Mullizone Airflow Modelling' is presented. Evaluation rather validation, is the goal. The most important points of the cases analyzed during this project are presented and commented from the point of view of analytical evaluation, comparison with experimental data and user sensitivity. The conclusion addresses the need for user-friendly tools and guidelines for the analysis of simulation output

In order to help the development of energy efficiency building standard in Brazil , to demonstrate state of art technologies and to encourage the use of hourly energy simulation tools the National Energy Conservation Program (PROCEL) has started the "6 Cities Project". The project is being developed in six cities around the country. For this project a standard methodology was developed and applied. The methodology consists of a survey in the local utilities to establish the highest energy consumers in the commercial and public sector.

In the IEA-ECBCS Annex 23 'Multizone Air Flow Modelling,' a sensitivity analysis procedure, that included both the Monte Carlo and Fractional Factorial analyses, was defined to evaluate COMVEN, a multizone air flow code. This procedure is here applied to evaluate COMVEN, when the simulation of the ventilation of a detached house is performed for the case of ventilation driven mainly by stack effect.

This paper describes a methodology based on computational and analytical modelling techniques in the prediction of building internal pressure gain functions. It first involves computational modelling of the transient response following a sudden opening, which predicts both the Helmholtz frequency and the damping characteristics fairly accurately. The parameter derived by fitting the analytical model to the computed response are then used in the prediction of the gain function.

Newly constructed residential houses in Japan are better insulated and more airtight than their predecessors to increase energy conservation. Although reduced energy consumption was expected, the energy performance of these buildings has not yet been clarified. Therefore, the indoor thermal environment and energy consumption in 300 well-insulated and airtight houses newly constructed in the Tohoku District, the northern part of Honshu Island, were investigated by a questionnaire survey.

IEA Annex 32 Integral Building Envelope Performance is developing a number of test procedures and measures that can be used to compare and rate the thermal performance of alternative whole-wall construction technologies for residential structures. In this paper, we address sustainability issues and potential impacts building materials may have on the environment. Specifically, we describe the development of a whole-wall sustainability index.

The Elizabeth Fry Building was conceived as a benchmark environmentally benign project, but the design team was allowed no extra capital to achieve this. Could it be done? David Olivier reports

Epidemiological studies have consistently shown an association between particulate air pollution and not only exacerbations of illness in people with respiratory disease but also rises in the numbers of deaths from cardiovascular and respirator y disease among older people. Meta-analyses of these studies indicate that the associations are unlikely to be explained by any confounder, and suggest that they represent cause and effect.