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The First International Workshop on Natural Ventilation
Tokyo Polytechnic University, 31st October
2003
With the increasing
seriousness of environmental problems caused by global warming, definite
technologies need to be developed to establish a sustainable society.
Attention is now focused on the effective utilization of natural
ventilation to reduce energy consumption for the ventilation, heating and
cooling of buildings. However, in order to effectively promote the
utilization of natural ventilation, many technological problems must be
solved, such as establishing a reliable method for predicting ventilation
flow rate as a basic technique.
To promote greater
international collaborative work, “The First International Workshop on
Natural Ventilation” was held on October 31 and November 1, 2003, at the
Tokyo Polytechnic University in Atsugi City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
The workshop was organized under the auspices of the Tokyo Polytechnic
University, the Tokyo University of Science, and the Building Research
Institute. The primary purpose of this workshop was to provide ideal
venues for the free exchange of information on the current status of
natural ventilation research activity, and also to convey attractive
features of ventilation study to young researchers.
The following six persons
were invited from overseas to participate in the workshop as chairman and
guest speakers: Professor Per Heiselberg (Aalborg University, Denmark),
Assistant Professor Yuguo Li (The University of Hong Kong, China),
Professor David Etheridge (University of Nottingham, United Kingdom),
Professor Qingyan Chen (Purdue University, U.S.A.), Professor Mats
Sandberg (University of Gävle, Sweden), and Dr. Martin Liddament (VEETECH
Co., Ltd., United Kingdom). A group of specialists from Japan, including
the following four lecturers, participated and presented speeches in the
workshop: Professor Shinsuke Kato (Institute of Industrial Science,
University of Tokyo), Senior Researcher Takao Sawachi (Building Research
Institute), Professor Takashi Kurabuchi (Tokyo University of Science), and
Professor Masaaki Ohba (Tokyo Polytechnic University). State-of-the-art
research work in each specialized field in natural ventilation was
presented, and the participants were given the chance to take part in
active discussions on various items.
On the first day, the
lectures in the technical session were open to the public. Under the
chairmanship of Dr. Martin Liddament, the researchers presented their
research ideas and scientific results. There were far more participants
than originally expected. In all, 119 persons participated in the workshop
from a wide area including engineers and technical staff, research staff,
and students.
The contents of the
lectures on natural ventilation could be classified into four fields,
consisting of practical ventilation design procedure, experimental
approach, numerical simulations, and ventilation modelling. Each lecturer
was allowed to present his research results for an average duration of 35
– 45 minutes. The presentations were given in English, while the
introductions of the presenters and general outlines of the papers were
given in Japanese prior to each presentation because most of the audience
were Japanese. With the help of interpreters, questions were received and
answers were given, and detailed information was exchanged without feeling
a language barrier.
On the second day, the
restricted conference was held in closed session style. In the morning,
all participants were invited to join a technical tour of the Wind
Engineering Centre of the Tokyo Polytechnic University, and young
researchers were given the chance to present their research work. In the
afternoon, the conference continued, mainly based on discussions relating
to natural ventilation.
In the presentation by
young researchers, Dr. Shigeki Nishizawa (Research Staff, Building
Research Institute), Mr. Tomoyuki Endo (Graduate School, University of
Tokyo), and Yoshihiko Akamine (Graduate School, University of Tokyo)
introduced their research results. In the discussions, emphasis was
focused on several topics including the IEA Annex 44 Workshop, hybrid
ventilation, future study proposals, etc.
The International Workshop
on Natural Ventilation was the first of its kind in Japan. There were many
imperfections and faults due to inexperience and to the modest scale of
organization and management. However, we believe that the primary aims of
the International Workshop were fully accomplished. It offered the
opportunity to exchange information on the state-of-the-art in natural
ventilation study and to introduce attractive features of ventilation
study to young researchers and students. We are planning to organize this
type of international workshop again in future to expand and promote
international collaborative works among researchers beyond national
borders and to contribute further to the advancement and the development
of ventilation study.
The First International Workshop on Natural Ventilation
Secretary
General: Masaaki Ohba
The Program Committee for the Workshop
Masaaki Ohba, Takashi Kurabuchi, Takao Sawachi, Martin
Liddament and Shigetake Nishizawa
Secretariat for the Workshop
Tomoyuki
Endo and Yoshihiko Akamine
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