Indoor Environmental Quality in Naturally Ventilated
Office Buildings
and its Impact on their Energy Performance
A. M.
Papadopoulos and A. Avgelis
Laboratory
of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Box 483, Aristotle University Thessaloniki, 54124
Thessaloniki, Greece.
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Abstract
During the last two decades the significance of
indoor environmental quality in buildings has been appreciated, not only
in relation to thermal comfort, but also to indoor air quality.
Ventilation is an important tool for securing both a good indoor climate
and air quality. However, in buildings without mechanical ventilation and
air conditioning systems (which comprise the majority in most European
countries) natural ventilation presents the only means to satisfy indoor
air quality needs. Natural ventilation is, however, a process that is
difficult to control, whilst its impact is difficult to quantify by the
buildings’ occupants in real life. A field survey, carried out by the
authors, is described in this paper. This highlights both the potential
and the constraints of natural ventilation in office buildings. The survey
focused on the two main parameters, which determine indoor environmental
quality, namely thermal comfort and air quality. The data collection
strategies employed were in-situ measurements to determine and evaluate
the prevailing conditions, and questionnaires, which monitored and
evaluated the perceptions held by the buildings’ users in relation to
those conditions. The latter confirmed the occupants’ difficulties and
dissatisfaction with respect to controlling prevailing thermal comfort
conditions, whilst the former demonstrated the role of natural ventilation
in reducing CO2 and particulate matter concentrations. The
survey also underlined the ineffectiveness of natural ventilation when
attempting to control relative humidity levels and the overall
difficulties in achieving a satisfactory energy performance of the
building.
Key words: Indoor air quality, thermal
comfort, energy performance, natural ventilation, office buildings,
occupant survey.
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