TN 53: Occupant Impact on Ventilation

In recent years a substantial number of monitoring exercises have been made to determine the way in which occupants react to and/or are affected by the indoor environment. These cover a diverse range of aspects including:

• indoor air quality;
• moisture and condensation;
• radon ingress;
• the build up of pollutants;
• energy use;
• thermal comfort;
• draughts;
• the impact of airtightness and reduced ventilation rates;
• the actions of occupants in controlling their environment.

Many of these studies have highlighted the significance of, and the control of ventilation in securing a good indoor environment.

Several IEA ECBCS, European and other national programmes have also explored this area. A key consideration has been the degree of control that occupants have over the indoor environment, which very much depends on the type of building and on the adequacy of control measures provided. Where direct control is not available to occupants, much use has to be made of occupant feedback via surveys or even direct health measurements to evolve optimum solutions. This report aims to focus on some recent studies where general practical guidance can be obtained. An annotated bibliography of further related work is presented as an Appendix.

Particular emphasis in this report is laid on quantifying the effects of occupant interaction on:

• the influence that occupants have in controlling their environment;
• factors beyond the control of occupants;
• health;
• energy use;
• thermal comfort;
• draught.

The report concentrates on case study examples to emphasise occupant response and to show what has proved successful and where problems might occur. It also looks at demonstrated problems and solutions. The intended audience includes designers, architects, building owners and occupiers, and the information media.

The contents include:

• a general review of occupant and building needs, including a summary of air quality control mechanisms and the sphere of influence over which occupants have control;
• an analysis of ventilation options including an outline of the occupant/control interface for each strategy;
• brief discussions on energy, indoor air quality and climate;
• factors influencing different building types;
• guidance and practical methods by which occupants can improve both their environment and energy efficiency;
• commissioning and maintenance issues;
• simple design measures proven to make buildings more occupant friendly;
• information on design tools and algorithms for design and evaluation as available;
• general conclusions;
• an Appendix of relevant annotated literature separated according to building type.