scholarly journals Guidance to assess ventilation performance of a classroom based on CO2 monitoring

2022 ◽  
pp. 1420326X2110587
Author(s):  
Dadi Zhang ◽  
Er Ding ◽  
Philomena M. Bluyssen

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the ventilation of school buildings has attracted considerable attention from the general public and researchers. However, guidance to assess the ventilation performance in classrooms, especially during a pandemic, is still lacking. Therefore, aiming to fill this gap, this study conducted a full-scale laboratory study to monitor the CO2 concentrations at 18 locations in a classroom setting under four different ventilation regimes. Additionally, a field study was carried out in two Dutch secondary schools to monitor the CO2 concentrations in the real classrooms with different ventilation regimes. Both the laboratory and field study findings showed that CO2 concentrations varied a lot between different locations in the same room, especially under natural ventilation conditions. The outcome demonstrates the need of monitoring the CO2 concentration at more than one location in a classroom. Moreover, the monitored CO2 concentration patterns for different ventilation regimes were used to determine the most representative location for CO2 monitoring in classrooms. For naturally ventilated classrooms, the location on the wall opposite to windows and the location on the front wall (nearby the teacher) were recommended. For mechanically ventilated classrooms, one measurement location seemed enough because CO2 was well-mixed under this ventilation regime.

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 259
Author(s):  
Ádám László Katona ◽  
István Ervin Háber ◽  
István Kistelegdi

A huge portion of energy consumption in buildings comes from heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Numerous previous works assessed the potential of natural ventilation compared to mechanical ventilation and proved their justification on the field. Nevertheless, it is a major difficulty to collect enough information from the literature to make decisions between different natural ventilation solutions with a given situation and boundary conditions. The current study tests the passive air conduction system (PACS) variations in the design phase of a medium-sized new winery’s cellar and production hall in Villány, Hungary. A computational fluid dynamics simulation based comparative analysis enabled to determine the differences in updraft (UD) and downdraught (DD) PACS, whereby the latter was found to be more efficient. While the DD PACS performed an air change range of 1.02 h−1 to 5.98 h−1, the UD PACS delivered −0.25 h−1 to 12.82 h−1 air change rate. The ventilation performance of the DD version possessed lower amplitudes, but the distribution was more balanced under different wind incident angles, thus this version was chosen for construction. It could be concluded that the DD PACS provides a more general applicability for natural ventilation in moderate climates and in small to medium scale industry hall domains with one in- and one outlet.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 201
Author(s):  
Pau Chung Leng ◽  
Gabriel Hoh Teck Ling ◽  
Mohd Hamdan Ahmad ◽  
Dilshan Remaz Ossen ◽  
Eeydzah Aminudin ◽  
...  

The provision requirement of 10% openings of the total floor area stated in the Uniform Building By-Law 1984 Malaysia is essential for natural lighting and ventilation purposes. However, focusing on natural ventilation, the effectiveness of thermal performance in landed residential buildings has never been empirically measured and proven, as most of the research emphasized simulation modeling lacking sufficient empirical validation. Therefore, this paper drawing on field measurement investigates natural ventilation performance in terraced housing with an air-well system. The key concern as to what extent the current air-well system serving as a ventilator is effective to provide better thermal performance is to be addressed. By adopting an existing single-story air-welled terrace house, indoor environmental conditions and thermal performance were monitored and measured using HOBO U12 air temperature and humidity, the HOBO U12 anemometer, and the Delta Ohm HD32.3 Wet Bulb Globe Temperature meter for a six-month duration. The results show that the air temperature of the air well ranged from 27.48 °C to 30.92 °C, with a mean relative humidity of 72.67% to 79.25%. The mean air temperature for a test room (single-sided ventilation room) ranged from 28.04 °C to 30.92 °C, with a relative humidity of 70.16% to 76.00%. These empirical findings are of importance, offering novel policy insights and suggestions. Since the minimum provision of 10% openings has been revealed to be less effective to provide desirable thermal performance and comfort, mandatory compliance with and the necessity of the bylaw requirement should be revisited.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 3168
Author(s):  
Gioia Fusaro ◽  
Xiang Yu ◽  
Zhenbo Lu ◽  
Fangsen Cui ◽  
Jian Kang

Crucial factors in window performance, such as natural ventilation and noise control, are generally conceived separately, forcing users to choose one over the other. To solve this dualism, this study aimed to develop an acoustic metamaterial (AMM) ergonomic window design to allow noise control without dependence on the natural ventilation duration and vice versa. First, the finite element method (FEM) was used to investigate the noise control performance of the acoustic metawindow (AMW) unit, followed by anechoic chamber testing, which also served as the validation of the FEM models. Furthermore, FEM analysis was used to optimise the acoustic performance and assess the ventilation potential. The numerical and experimental results exhibited an overall mean sound reduction of 15 dB within a bandwidth of 380 to 5000 Hz. A good agreement between the measured and numerical results was obtained, with a mean variation of 30%. Therefore, the AMW unit optimised acoustic performance, resulting in a higher noise reduction, especially from 50 to 500 Hz. Finally, most of the AMW unit configurations are suitable for natural ventilation, and a dynamic tuned ventilation capacity can be achieved for particular ranges by adjusting the window’s ventilation opening. The proposed designs have potential applications in building acoustics and engineering where natural ventilation and noise mitigation are required to meet regulations simultaneously.


Author(s):  
M. F. Mohamed ◽  
M. Behnia ◽  
S. King ◽  
D. Prasad

Cross ventilation is a more effective ventilation strategy in comparison to single-sided ventilation. In the NSW Residential Flat Design Code1 (RFDC) the majority of apartments are required to adopt cross ventilation. However, in the case of studio and one-bedroom apartments, it is acknowledged that single-sided ventilation may prevail. Deep plan studio and one-bedroom apartments may achieve lower amenity of summer thermal comfort and indoor air quality where mechanical ventilation is not provided by air conditioning. Since compliance with the code may allow up to 40% of apartments in a development in Sydney to be single sided, it is important to understand the natural ventilation performance of such apartments. The objective of this paper is to investigate the natural ventilation potential in single-sided ventilated apartments to improve indoor air quality and thermal comfort. This investigation includes simulating various facade treatments involving multiple opening and balcony configurations. Balcony configurations are included in this study because, in Sydney, a balcony is a compulsory architectural element in any apartment building. The study uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to simulate and predict the ventilation performance of each apartment configuration. This study suggests that properly configured balconies and openings can significantly improve indoor ventilation performance for enhanced indoor air quality and thermal comfort, by optimizing the available prevailing wind. However, it is important to note that inappropriately designed fac¸ade treatments also could diminish natural ventilation performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 156 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Omrani ◽  
Veronica Garcia-Hansen ◽  
Bianca R. Capra ◽  
Robin Drogemuller

Author(s):  
Marek Telejko ◽  
Ewa Zender-Swiercz

Most primary school buildings in Poland rely on natural ventilation. This fact is attributed to the age of these buildings constructed more than dozen or even several tens of years ago. Few of them were fitted with a mechanical ventilation system allowing for the adjustment of microclimate parameters. The national requirements for gravity ventilation provide general guidelines, specifying strict description only for the airtightness of windows and doors and the minimum airflow to be supplied to the rooms. The minimum airflow supplied is independent of the number of occupants and purpose of the room. Low indoor air quality (IAQ) can impact occupants’ health and lead to poor productivity or low academic performance. Therefore the provision of good IAQ in classrooms and laboratories is very important. This paper presents the results of the investigation devoted to the quality of indoor air in classrooms of selected Polish primary school. Six primary school in a town with a population of 200 000 inhabitants were involved in the investigations. The participating school buildings were built between 1976 and 1994 and had gravity ventilation systems. The variability of basic IAQ parameters, i.e., temperature, relative humidity and carbon dioxide level, was analysed and the assessment of the classrooms in terms of microbiological purity was performed. The outcomes confirmed the low quality of the indoor air in these buildings. The maximum value of CO2 concentration amounted to more than 4000 ppm. Certain modifications aimed at improving IAQ were proposed during the investigations. Two solutions were implemented. The results of this study indicate that the proposed solution offers the potential to improve IAQ within classrooms.


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