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In the design of a commercial kitchen ventilation system, it is very important to maintain the capture efficiency of exhaust hoods and ensure smooth removal of heat, moisture, and odor. The capture efficiency is affected by the kitchen ventilation system and the cooking appliance usage condition. To identify an appropriate ventilation system design method for commercial kitchens in Japan, surveys were conducted as follows.
The first survey was conducted on kitchen hoods, cooking appliances, and air supply openings in 35 mid-sized commercial electrical kitchens in Japan. In this survey, design drawings were collected, and field inspections were conducted. It is important to know the usage conditions and load factors of cooking appliances, which influence the capture efficiency. Therefore, the second survey was conducted to determine how cooking appliances were used. The load factors were studied based on the electricity consumption data of various cooking appliances used in ten mid-sized commercial kitchens in Japan.
The design load factors are utilized to determine the conditions of the standard test method for the capture efficiency of exhaust hood and are the basic data for calculate cooling loads in kitchens. The proposed design method using the load factor can be referred to as smart kitchen ventilation.
This study also demonstrates the application of Building Information Modeling (hereafter BIM) technology in commercial kitchens. Information on the cooking appliance and exhaust hood included in the BIM can be used to calculate the ventilation rate. This method can improve the design efficiency and reduce human error. The ventilation designer can compare the ventilation rate of several design methods, such as the conventional and proposed methods. In this study, an example procedure for ventilation rate calculation with BIM is demonstrated. Further, the scope for futures studies are discussed.