English

Describes a climatic chamber used to measure the concentration of formaldehyde and other volatile substances which may be emitted by furnishing and building materials. The equipment consists of 4 climatic chambers of stainless steel, with a volume of 1.00 m3. The chambers are supplied with air at a constant temperature and constant relative humidity by an air handling installation. This installation can supply air within a temperature interval of 17-27 plus or minus 0.5degrees C, and relative humidity between 30-65% plus or minus 2%.

Sets out the results of research into ventilation and radioactive radiation in 20 private dwellings. All the houses had radon daughter contents in excess of 800 Bq/m3. One of the reasons for these high levels is infiltration of radon from the ground. Tests various methods for tracing the points where radon infiltrates into the house, and proposes measures for reducing the concentration of radon daughter products in the indoor air.

BECA-B assesses the technical performance and economics of energy conservation retrofit measures. The data collected represents measured energy savings and retrofit costs for over 65 North American residential retrofit projects. The sample size within each project ranges from individual homes to 33000 dwellings participating in a power company sponsored program. The medium value of space heating energy savings is 24% of the pre-retrofit consumption.

Data on energy use was compiled for 223 retrofitted US commercial buildings and analysed for average savings, average retrofit costs, correlation between cost and savings, type of retrofit attempted etc. Dominant building types were schools and offices. Nearly all buildings included operations and maintenance changes as part of the retrofit. 89% of the buildings which saved energy by retrofitting achieved a payback (simple) in less than 3 years. 9% of the buildings failed to save (generally because of improper maintenance). Average savings for the entire sample were 20%.

Presents the contents of a memorandum of evidence to the Royal Commission of Environmental Pollution. Treats exposure of the community to radiation caused by radon decay products in indoor air, which contributes about a third of the overall effective dose equivalent received annually by an average person in the UK. Treats surveys to improve the estimate of indoor exposure. Discusses the possibility of a radon limitation scheme.

States that draughtproofing offers the shortest payback period of any form of energy conservation. Describes sources of draughts in industrial buildings, including entrance doors, and how heat losses through these can be minimized. Discusses recent developments in the domestic market which have encouraged weatherstripping. Briefly reviews different types of weatherstrip materials and how they should be applied.

Describes several types of door closing or air containment devices for use in industrial buildings, including automatic doors, flexible doors and air curtains. Discusses various forms of air curtain and lists factors that need considering when installing one, such as geographical location, size of door, use of premises, tightness of building etc.

Describes a computer program developed for the analysis of residential building thermal loads and space heating and cooling energy use. It is capable of modelling the simultaneous heat balances on multiple spaces, building air flows by infiltration and natural and forced ventilation, including thermostatically controlled through the house ventilation, detailed solar gain, part load performance of central and unitary heating and cooling systems, and thermostat droop and cycling characteristics.

Compares wind pressures measured on a 1:25 scale model of a mobile home with results from a full-scale investigation. The modelling technique used exaggerates the surface roughness in order to match the full-scale turbulence intensity at the model height. Shows that there is reasonable agreement of themean and RMS pressure coefficients between model and full scale, when the pressure coefficients are normalized by the local dynamic head at the building height.

Defines requirements for suitable indoor air quality and examines the technical and economical possibilities of suitable methods of ventilation. Differentiates between densely populated places (meeting places) and others of low occupancy, such as offices and living rooms. Finds that the most efficient way of satisfying hygiene requirements is by controlled air renewal, and that to achieve this mechanical ventilation according to DIN 1946 should be installed.