Paper 6: Volume 5 No.3 Dec 2006 Edition
Passive Tracer Gas Measurement of
the Long Term Variation of Ventilation in three Swedish Dwellings
1Hans
Stymne, 2Gunnel Emenius and 3CarlAxel Boman
1University
of Gävle, Dept. of Technology and Built Environment, SE-80176
Gävle
,
Sweden
2Dept of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Inst.,
Stockholm
,
Sweden
3Pentiaq AB,
Gävle
,
Sweden
Abstract
The objective of this study is to investigate how measured ventilation
rates in dwellings vary over the heating season in a Nordic climate. The
aim is to draw conclusions about the possibility to transform a
measurement result obtained during a relatively short period of time into
one which would have been expected as an average over a whole season. If
such normalisation of measurement data is not possible, dwellings may be
misclassified as under- or over-ventilated, a matter which may dilute a
possible relationship between health and air quality in epidemiological
studies.
Passive tracer gas measurements of ventilation were performed in a
detached single-family house and in a flat (apartment) in
Stockholm
during four consecutive winter seasons. Measured averages of air change
rate data are reported for 47 two-week periods for those two naturally
ventilated dwellings. Another measurement using two different tracer gases
was performed in an airtight, extract ventilated detached house over one
year. The variation of ventilation is discussed in terms of variation in
the ventilation driving forces induced by inside-outside temperature
differences. The naturally ventilated house shows a slightly better
correlation between air change rate and indoor-outside temperature
difference than the town flat. It is concluded that the correlations are
not good enough for predictive use for either dwelling. Therefore it does
not seem possible to “normalise” ventilation measurement data. A
slightly better possibility to predict the weather influence exists for
the airtight, extract ventilated house. A possible reason for the lack of
good correlation between air change rate and natural driving forces is a
highly variable influence from occupant behaviour.
Key words: ventilation,
passive tracer gas, dwellings, field measurement, weather correlation.
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Contents
Editorial
Ventilation
for Better Indoor Air Quality: Yuguo
Li
and Xianting
Li
Paper 1
Ventilation
for Better Indoor Air Quality: Yuguo
Li
and Xianting
Li
Paper
2
Performance
of Underfloor Air Distribution in a Field Setting: Fisk, W. J., Faulkner,
D., Sullivan, D. P., Chao, C., Wan, M. P., Zagreus, L. and Webster, T.
Paper 3
Applying
the Local Dynamic Similarity Model and CFD for the Study of
Cross-Ventilation: Hu, C-H.,
Kurabuchi, T. and Ohba, M.
Paper
4
Levels
of Indoor Airborne Microbes Associated with Ventilation Efficiency in
Naturally-Ventilated Residences: Su, H. J., Wu, P. C. and Chien, H. P.
Paper 5
Air
Quality and Thermal Comfort in an Office with Underfloor, Mixing and
Displacement Ventilation:
Cermak, R. and Melikov, A. K.
Paper
6
Passive
Tracer Gas Measurement of the Long Term Variation of Ventilation in Three
Swedish Dwellings: Stymne, H., Emenius, G. and Boman, C. A.
Paper
7
Validation
of a CFD Model for Research into Stratum Ventilation: Lin,
Z., Chow, T. T. and Tsang, C.F.
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