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One of the aims of the Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre is to encourage the collection and dissemination of air infiltration and airflow data as well as energy use data arising from programmes of research and experimental investigation. This task can be made much easier and more effective if the relevant test information and results are presented in a comprehensive and uniform manner.
These reporting guidelines have been produced to provide a common reference for research workers, wishing to plan experimental work or catalogue their experimental data. Thus making complete information available for entry into a numerical database (Ref. 1) for subsequent analysis or mathematical model development. The guidelines have been designed to provide the necessary parameters for the calculation of airflow and airflow models, including those that emphasize pollutant factors, and for the validation of thermal models of building energy use. These parameters vary with the application and this has been taken into account in the guidelines. The basic reference for these guidelines is AIVC-TN 6, Ref.2, aided by work in Annex XX.
The guidelines structure is purposely rather loose, to cater to the differing interests of the various investigators who will be using it. It has been made as comprehensive as possible but should not be regarded as exclusive. Correspondingly, the user should not feel impelled to fill in all the sections; however, if the results are entered in the order given, it immediately becomes apparent which items of information are present and which absent. Some parameters are more important than others, and this has been highlighted using the Applicability Coding which is described next.
The Applicability Code is stated in the parenthesis following each item, as follows:
R = Required, I = Important, U = Useful.
If these codes are listed alone they are assumed to apply to all applications. Individual applications are:
-1= Parameters for airflow measurements and models; e.g. model validation, stock characterisation or design studies.
-2= Additional parameters for air flow models that include pollutant factors; e.g. indoor air quality work.
-3= Additional parameters for thermal measurement and models, e.g. model validation, energy use calculations. If the requirement is for cooling models only it will he noted as -3C;
-4- Additional parameters for comfort-related questions that involve: temperature stratification, room airflow, ventilation effectiveness, radiation, etc.
Thus an important parameter that would be applied to an airflow model involving pollutants would be listed as (1-2).
These guidelines may be used directly for entering results and should also serve as a useful checklist to aid those who are initiating projects. Recognising that experimental data today relies heavily upon the computer for both collection and storage, the guidelines have taken this into account. Using a compiled dBase IV application developed by the Centre, text data may be entered in the structure of the guidelines, stored on disk in dBASE IV format and a report produced. This application is available from the centre on 3" or 5" disk so that data entry can be further streamlined and made more uniform. Any numerical data supplied to the Centre should be backed up by a report produced according to these guidelines, preferably on disk.
Sections of this Technical Note cover:
- General Information, emphasising the purpose and approach used and how to contact the project leaders.
- Test Site Description, including geographic and climatic information.
- Building Description, including leakage paths, heating and ventilation systems, etc.
- Operation/Function of Building, including occupancy and pollutant sources.
- Measurements, procedures, equipment characteristics and accuracy.
- Economic Factors, especially energy savings evaluations.
- Numerical/Computer Models, plus comparison to measurements.
- Disk Data Files, describing data files, formats, and contents.
- General Remarks, and the opportunity to supply conclusions.
- Examples of Reporting Guidelines Application.
The contents of each section are printed on the right-hand pages of the report and are accompanied by explanatory notes on the left-hand pages. Points relevant to the use of various measurement methods are raised in the notes. Also included are details of minimum standards of measurement where these have been indicated by past experience or are predicted to be future requirements.