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A smart ventilation system is able to continually adjust itself to provide the desired indoor air quality (IAQ) while minimizing energy use, utility bills, thermal discomfort and noise. A smart ventilation system is also responsive to e.g. occupancy, outdoor conditions, direct sensing of contaminants and can provide information about e.g. IAQ, energy use and the need for maintenance or repair. Technically, all components for such systems are available in the market.  

The serious social and health crisis faced as a result of the spread of SARS-Cov 2 has highlighted the weaknesses of human beings but has mainly highlighted the inadequate static response of existing buildings; all those confined spaces characterised by the simultaneous presence of a large number of people, such as classrooms, have shown, over the past two years, how unhealthy are because of the high possibility of contraction of the virus inside them.

Airborne transmission has been widely proven to be the main means of contagion of SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) , as multiple studies have established (Greenhalgh et al., 2021; Miller et al., 2021; Lidia Morawska & Cao, 2020; Tang et al., 2021; World Health Organization, 2021), Furthermore, the main documented COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred indoors (Qian et al., 2021; Randall et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2022), with medium and long-range transmission —beyond 1.5 m— as a especially relevant transmission way in poorly bad ventilated spaces (Li, 2021; Z.

This paper touches on historic indicators of good hospital design such as sun, daylight and natural ventilation. Evidence is provided that recent trends in hospital design that lean towards more highly serviced buildings with fixed windows lead to higher levels of Sick Building Syndrome, nosocomial infections and SARS CoV-2 related infections and deaths than in naturally ventilated buildings with opening windows.

EN 16798-7:2017 considers that windows on roofs that have a pitch below 60° are not included on the windward side whatever their orientation. It means that roof windows are accounted for, but only on the leeward side when using the existing standard for calculation of air flows, EN 16798-7.

Therefore, in the specific case of a room only equipped with roof windows (e.g. an attic) and aeraulically independent from the rest of the building, whatever the orientation of the roof windows, only the simplified “singlesided” calculation method of EN 16798-7:2017 is applicable.

In Austria the lack of guidelines or standards has caused many discussions and disputes on the question if “sufficient ventilation” can be ensured with window airing only, in particular in newly constructed, airtight residential buildings. This work presents the development of a calculation method aiming to provide a simple-to use tool to estimate the risk of mould growth and the window airing interval required to ensure good indoor air quality assuming a range of different boundary conditions and occupant behaviours.

Wind-driven single-sided ventilation (SSV) is present in many existing buildings across Europe and with new Near Zero Energy Building (NZEB) regulations for the refurbishment of the existing building stock, its attractiveness as a non-invasive, low energy solution is set to continue. As a strategy, however, in addition to its air change rate capacity, the distribution of fresh air is an important evaluating criterion for its performance.

Occupants in residential buildings usually control natural ventilation through window openings. However, few studies have developed simple rules based on the outdoor weather forecast that can inform the occupants to predict the indoor condition by applying natural ventilation for thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ). This paper describes a model based on indoor/outdoor correlations, derived through simulations using EnergyPlus and CONTAM, to help occupants maintain internal environmental quality manually or through simple controls.

In future years the frequency, duration and magnitude of extreme heat events, such as heat waves, is expected to increase due to climate change. The population is exposed to higher thermal discomfort and risk at home and, at the same time, high external temperatures make it more difficult to cool their household through natural ventilation.

In order to propose adaptive measures, research should first assess the thermal resilience of the existing residential buildings when exposed to prolonged heat stress. Poorly insulated and non-equipped buildings typical of Southern

In the context of climate change, Building Performance Simulations are used to assess the ability of passive buildings to maintain acceptable comfort conditions, or to limit the air conditioning energy consumption during heatwaves. Climate projection data, including heatwaves, are needed to feed the Building Performance Simulation tools. A building, located in a given location, is likely to experience several heatwaves with different characteristics in the coming decades.