Prediction of the potential of self regulating natural ventilation devices: methodology and practical results.

The performances of self regulating natural ventilation devices (devices of which the openingsection varies as function of the pressure difference across the device) strongly depend on thetype of building and its leakage characteristics. In like manner, the climatic conditionsstrongly impact on the achieved ventilation rates. As a result, it is not possible to express thepotential benefit of self-regulating natural ventilation devices in an unambiguous way. This isnot contributing to a good understanding of the potential of such devices in daily practice. Inorder to increase the transparency of the results, a method has been developed which allowscomparing the performances of various natural ventilation devices (fixed devices, selfregulatingdevices, etc.) for a range of building types and cIimatic conditions. The paperpresents the simulation concept and the possibilities of the VENTEX programme. Resultsobtained for a range of combinations of ventilation devices are presented and discussed.