English

In contemporary architectural design, the indoor climate receives little attention. Most architects are not familiar with the typical problems and solutions involved in climate design. However, it is this relation that provides much control over the initial climate conditions and can prevent costly artificial solutions. As a result, many design decisions are made without insight into the consequences on the indoor climate.

The control of thermal environment is complicated in buildings with glass-covered atriums. Numerical simulation can play an important role in the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning (HVAC) design of atriums. Many researches have developed various computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods to accurately predict the thermal environment in atriums. However, a simple, reliable and fast method to deal with complex building construction is more suitable for building designers and engineers to take as a routine assistant tool of HVAC design.

Traditional residential buildings in Anhui, Southern China, maintain comfortable indoor thermal conditions in the summer without any air-conditioning. To understand this phenomenon, the building thermal environment was simulated to study the physical principles for maintaining natural thermal comfort. Measured data such as outside temperatures, solar radiation intensities, the thermal characteristics of the structure, and the interior gain were used as the boundary conditions.

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.

Efficient energy utilization and indoor air quality (IAQ) inside office premises and other public places have become issues of increasing concern in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The Government of HKSAR has launched a territory wide consultation in 1999 on the proposed Indoor Air Quality Management Programme for offices and public places. This paper briefly introduces the proposed Indoor Air Quality Management Programme and its proposed target objectives.

Thirty female subjects were exposed for 280 minutes to four conditions in balanced order of presentation: to 20 C/40%, 23 C/50%, 26 C/60% RH at10 L/s/p outside air, and to 20 C/40% RH at 3.5 L/s/p. They performed simulated office work throughout each exposure and repeatedly marked a set of visual-analogue scales to indicate their perception of environmental conditions and of the intensity of SBS symptoms at the time. They were repeatedly reminded to adjust their clothing so as to remain in thermal comfort, and succeeded in doing so.

Relationship between sick building symptoms and type of heating system were investigated through a questionnaire in 4815 dwellings from 231 multi-family buildings built before 1961. Results do not demonstrate that energy savings measures in general increase the risk of sick building syndrome, but major reconstruction of old dwellings may increase this risk.

A 2x2 replicated field intervention experiment was conducted in a call-centre providing a public telephone directory service: Outdoor air supply rate was 8% or 80% of the total airflow of 430 L/s providing 3.5 h-1; and the supply air filters were either new or used (i.e., used in place for 6 months). Each of these 4 conditions was maintained for a full working week at a time. Room temperature and humidity averaged 24 C and 27% RH.

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 contaminant emission rate is an important parameter describing the potential for materials to affect indoor air quality through the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Emission rates have traditionally been inferred from gas-phase concentration measurements obtained through chamber studies. However, models suggest that the rate at which VOCs are emitted by diffusion-controlled materials may be influenced by ventilation rates.