SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT - Vol. I – Natural, Mechanical and Hybrid Ventilations - H. Yoshino, F.

Haghighat

NATURAL, MECHANICAL AND HYBRID VENTILATIONS

H. Yoshino
Department of Architecture and Building Science, School of Engineering,
Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan

F. Haghighat
Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia
University, Montreal, Canada

Keywords: ventilation, ventilation requirement, hybrid ventilation, indoor air

quality, airflow, modeling, wind, stack effect, airtightness

Contents

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1. Introduction

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2. Mechanisms of airflow
2.1 Natural ventilation
2.1.1 Ventilation due to wind effect
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2.1.2 Ventilation due to buoyant effect
2.2 Mechanical ventilation
3. Airtightness and ventilation
4. Ventilation design
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4.1 Calculation of ventilation requirement

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4.2 Ventilation Airflow Path

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5. Ventilation systems
5.1 Natural ventilation system
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5.1.1 Opening area and location of ventilation inlet

5.1.2 Passive ventilation system
5.2 Mechanical ventilation systems
5.2.1 Mechanical supply and exhaust system
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5.2.2 Centralized mechanical exhaust system

5.2.3 Central mechanical supply system
5.3 Hybrid ventilation systems
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6. Predictive models
6.1 Thermal buoyancy
6.2 Wind pressure
6.3 Mechanical ventilation systems
6.4 Total pressure
6.5 Flow equation
6.5.1 Small openings
6.5.2 Duct components
6.5.3 Large openings
7. Solution methods and airflow network
8. Conclusions
Glossary
Bibliography
Biographical Sketches

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SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT - Vol. I – Natural, Mechanical and Hybrid Ventilations - H. Yoshino, F. Haghighat

Summary

The aim of this section is to give an overview of natural, mechanical and

hybrid ventilation applications intended for residential buildings. It begins with
the basics of ventilation: why ventilate and what produces airflow. It discusses
the relationship between ventilation and airtightness. The concept of the
ventilation design is also presented. Three main approaches to ventilating
residential buildings are explained in detail. Finally, it presents the airflow
modeling.

1. Introduction

Ventilation is the process of supplying or removing air to or from any space.

Historically, ventilation of residential buildings has served two purposes: to
remove or dilute contaminants, odors and/or moisture to ensure proper indoor

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air quality (IAQ), and to provide a thermally-comfortable indoor environment.

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Both objectives contribute to the fundamental purpose of housing: to sustain a
healthy and comfortable environment for its occupants.
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In warm or temperate climates, larger airflows in dwellings generally improve
both IAQ and comfort. However, in regions characterized by climatic extremes,
such as hot/arid, hot/humid or extreme cold, an increase in ventilation rates
would usually cause an increase in energy consumption due to the necessary
air-conditioning processes. In such instances, a balance is often sought between
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energy and environmental conservation on one hand whilst the health and well-
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being of occupants on the other. In fact, this duality has remained the focus of
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much research and development in the building sciences and industry since the
sharp rise in oil prices in the 1970's.
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2. Mechanisms of airflow
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Airflow occurs when a pressure difference exists on either side of an opening

or airflow path. A distinction is made between natural and mechanical forces.
Airflow caused by wind pressures, or wind force ventilation, and by differences
in indoor and outdoor temperature, or buoyant force ventilation, is considered
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natural, while airflow produced by fans is referred to as mechanical

ventilation.

For a more detailed presentation of the physics behind natural and mechanical
ventilation, one should consult ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals (1997),
Aynsley, Melbourne and Vickery (1977), Etheridge and Sandberg (1996), as
well as Allard (1998).

2.1 Natural ventilation

There are three main mechanisms that act together to produce natural airflow
through an envelope: differences in static pressure, in kinetic energy, also
referred to as dynamic pressure, as well as in temperature. Their relationship in

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SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT - Vol. I – Natural, Mechanical and Hybrid Ventilations - H. Yoshino, F. Haghighat

a steady, incompressible and non-viscous flow is given by Bernoulli’s

equation:
P stat + ½ρv² + ρgz = CONSTANT,

where: P stat = static pressure

ρ = air density
v = wind speed
g = gravitational force
z = reference height

2.1.1 Ventilation due to wind effect

The interactions between wind and urban as well as natural environment

produce energy exchanges between the static and dynamic components of the
Bernoulli equation. The magnitude of the pressure differences is affected by

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several factors such as wind speed, wind direction, local topography and

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building shape. Openings in a building's envelope tend to act as short-circuits,
relieving pressure differences between air masses near the building façades,
(Figure 1-a). The energy available near a building's windward façade is the
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sum of the static and dynamic pressure. The energy near the leeward façade is
the static pressure, while the kinetic energy in the jet of air exiting at the
leeward opening represents an energy loss, which is dissipated downstream.
This is the basic mechanism behind cross-ventilation. Similarly, leeward-facing
wind stacks are often designed as exhausts, harnessing the induction effect of
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the wind caused solely by the differences in static pressure (see section 6.2).
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2.1.2 Ventilation due to buoyant effect

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Temperature differences between two air masses produce differences in air

density, which in turn produces differences in pressure. When an indoor space
is heated, the outside pressure near the lower part of the building is generally
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greater than the indoor pressure, whereas the outside pressure near the upper
part of the building is generally lower. This difference in pressure causes
airflow spanning across the building envelope, a phenomenon often referred to
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as the stack effect (Figure 1-b). The level where the pressure difference is zero
is called the neutral zone. Below the neutral zone, the outdoor air enters the
space, while above the neural zone the indoor air exits the space. The airflow
increases as the temperature differences become larger (see section 6.1).

Figure 1: Natural ventilation and forced ventilation

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SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT - Vol. I – Natural, Mechanical and Hybrid Ventilations - H. Yoshino, F. Haghighat

2.2 Mechanical ventilation

Fans are often used for ventilation in a building. Indoor pressure increases
when the ventilation fan is operated to supply outdoor air. On the other hand,
indoor pressure decreases when the ventilation fan is operated to exhaust
indoor air, (Figure 1-c). When ventilation fans are used both to supply outdoor
air and exhaust indoor air, the indoor pressure depends on differences in power
between the supply and the exhaust fan. Figure 2 shows the three types of
mechanical ventilation systems.

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When indoor pressure is positive, indoor moisture may penetrate into the wall,
producing condensation within the envelope. It is therefore better to keep the
indoor pressure slightly negative. However, this may cause contaminants
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contained in the wall to be emitted into the room. In addition, flow reversal
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may occur in chimney flues when the negative pressure is too large, resulting
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in imperfect combustion and poor IAQ, (see section 6.3).

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3. Airtightness and ventilation

As airflow resulting from infiltration or exfiltration is proportional to opening

area, the airtightness of a building envelope becomes a crucial performance
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parameter for energy efficient buildings. The goals of making airtight building
envelopes are as follows:
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1. Improving thermal comfort by preventing draughts;

2. Decreasing space heating and cooling loads due to air infiltration;
3. Preventing vapor condensation inside envelopes; and
4. Minimizing the impact of infiltration on the ventilation performance, such
as intended at the design stage.

It is reasonable to improve thermal comfort by preventing the air infiltration

from leaks and to decrease space heating and cooling loads due to the air
infiltration. Prevention of vapor condensation inside the wall is very important.
In order to take the outdoor air into the rooms from the air inlets, pass the air
along the ventilation path in the building and exhaust the indoor polluted air
through the outlets such as intended at the design stage, it is necessary to make
the building envelope to be airtight.

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SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT - Vol. I – Natural, Mechanical and Hybrid Ventilations - H. Yoshino, F. Haghighat

4. Ventilation Design

Nowadays, a higher living standard has created a greater demand for better
living conditions. A good ventilation design can be used to provide comfortable
environment with minimum energy consumption. Thus, the understanding on
how ventilation design should be implemented is described in this section.

4.3 Calculation of ventilation requirement

The primarily consideration of making calculation for ventilation design is

straightforward. Ventilation design can be preceded as follows:

1. Calculate the ventilation airflow volume required for each room

2. Fix the ventilation airflow path
3. Choose the ventilation system

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4. Select ventilation appliances

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When the aim is to eliminate a specific pollutant, the ventilation airflow
volume can be calculated on the basis of the emission rate and the acceptable
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concentration of the pollutant. Or, when the purpose of ventilation is to remove
heat from a space, the ventilation airflow rate can be calculated based on the
acceptable maximum temperature and the heat generation rate. Usually, the
ventilation airflow volume can be calculated for the purpose of pollutant
removal: in this case, heat can be considered as pollutant. However,
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information on both the emission rate and the acceptable concentration is

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available for a limited number of pollutants. The acceptable concentrations of

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several pollutants are available in regulations and guidebooks of several

countries, such as ASHRAE Standard 62-1999 and SHASE Japan Standard 106-
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1996 (Murakami 1998).

As the information on emission rate is limited, it is difficult to calculate the

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ventilation airflow volume for each pollutant. One solution is to use carbon
dioxide as an indoor air pollution index. The airflow volume is therefore
calculated based on the acceptable concentration of carbon dioxide, i.e. 1000
ppm (Haghighat and Doninni, 1992). The ventilation requirement per person
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becomes 20 to 30 m 3 /h. However, in the case of housing, general ventilation

rates are often prescribed independently of specific pollutants and emission
rates, such as the 0.5 air change rate per hour prescribed in the criteria for
energy conservation of residential buildings in Japan (1999).

4.4 Ventilation Airflow Path

Ventilation airflow path describes the route of the ventilation air from the
inlets to the outlets through various spaces in a residential unit. Essentially, the
outdoor air should be supplied into spaces, referred to as clean zones, where
the generation rate of pollutants, odors, vapor and heat is minimal, such as
living rooms and bedrooms. Indoor air of spaces such as kitchens and
bathrooms, referred to as dirty zones, where the generation is greater should be

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SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT - Vol. I – Natural, Mechanical and Hybrid Ventilations - H. Yoshino, F. Haghighat

directly exhausted outside, without passing through clean zones.

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It is difficult to satisfy the ventilation requirement in all rooms in a naturally
ventilated building. Figure 3 shows three typical ventilation airflow paths.
Here, the airflow path through the kitchen is independent from the other
airflow path because the airflow volume of the kitchen fan is so great that the
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indoor environment in the living room and the bedrooms are disturbed in terms
of thermal comfort and the operating period is very short.
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Type A takes the outdoor air from the inlets installed on the walls of the living
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room and the bedrooms. But as outdoor air entering the room may cause cold
drafts, it is necessary to pay attention to the location and the shape of the air
inlets. The system is not stable compared to the others. It is influenced by the
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wind effect and the stack effect. Although it is easy to install and considered
inexpensive, it is considered difficult to control airflow volume.
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Type B ventilates each room independently. Ventilation fans should be installed

in each room. Control of the airflow volume in each room is available.

Type C is a central ventilation system with supply ducts. The outdoor air is
mechanically supplied to the living room and bedroom. A warm air heating
system may be easily integrated. Control of the airflow volume in each room
however is difficult.

Choosing one of the three types is a complex decision. It is necessary to take

into account several parameters, such as climatic conditions, building plan,
space heating system, and envelope airtightness level. It can be seen, in Fig. 3,
that the airflow path for each unit of the house is independent from each other.
For instance, the amount of airflow rate for the kitchen can be decreased, and
then the centralized ventilation system can be used even in the kitchen area.

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SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT - Vol. I – Natural, Mechanical and Hybrid Ventilations - H. Yoshino, F. Haghighat

It is better to make the ventilation airflow path go through the closets to

prevent vapor condensation and air pollution in these spaces. When the air
pollution in the crawl space is suspected, indoor air should be also exhausted
through the crawl space.

5. Ventilation systems

To date, ventilation system used around the world can be classified into 3
categories. They are known as Natural Ventilation System, Mechanical
Ventilation System and Hybrid Ventilation System. Detail of these systems is
described as follows.

5.1 Natural ventilation system

Table 1 shows various ventilation systems (Limb 1994) applied to residential

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buildings in various countries.

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Country Climate Ventilation and air conditioning system

Natural Opening Passive Mechanical Mechanical

and Chimney Exhaust Central
shutting
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of
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Norway Temperate, O O O
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Polar
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Sweden Temperate, O O
Boreal

Finland Temperate O O O
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Belgium Temperate O O O

Switzerland Temperate O
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Denmark Temperate O

Germany Temperate O

Britain Temperate O

Netherlands Temperate O

France Temperate O O O
Subtropical

Italy Temperate O
Subtropical

Table 1: Ventilation and air-conditioning systems used in various countries

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SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT - Vol. I – Natural, Mechanical and Hybrid Ventilations - H. Yoshino, F. Haghighat

5.1.1 Opening area and location of ventilation inlet

In order to ventilate naturally, it is necessary to install an adequate air inlet

opening area at the suitable location in building envelope. Revised Japanese
energy conservation guideline for residential buildings prescribed the opening
area should be more than 4 cm 2 per floor area.

5.1.2 Passive ventilation system

Passive ventilation is a particular natural ventilation system with a vent,

without a ventilation fan. The driving forces are the stack effects as well as the
inducing effect of the outside wind. To optimize stack effect; the top of the
exhaust vent should be installed as high as possible, while the air inlet should
be installed as low as possible. Figure 4 shows an example of a passive
ventilation system.

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Figure 4: Example of Passive Ventilation System (Honma (1997))

The ventilation airflow volume varies due to changes in wind speed. Passive
pre-heating of outdoor air is possible through the sub-floor or tubes embedded
under the ground. However, air pollution in these spaces remains an issue. This
system is installed in 30% of houses in Sweden. In Japan, this system is a
popular choice in new residential buildings because there is no ventilation fan
needed.

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Bibliography

Allard, F. ed. (1998) Natural Ventilation in Buildings: A Design Handbook. London, James
& James.

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Allen, C., (1984), Wind Pressure Data Requirements for Air Infiltration Calculations,

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Technical Note AIC, Air Infiltration Centre, UK.

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Aynsley, R. M., Melbourne, W. and B.J. Vickery (1977) Architectural Aerodynamics.
London, Applied Science.
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ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamental (1997), American Society of Heating, Refrigerating
and Air Conditioning Engineers, Atlanta, USA

ASHRAE Standard 62-1999, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, pp.18-21.
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American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.

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ASTM E 779-87, (1987), Standard Test Method for Determining Air Leakage Rate by Fan
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Pressurization, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, USA.

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Bietry, J., Sacre, C. and Simiu, E. (1978) "Mean Wind Profiles and Change of Terrain
Roughness", J. of the Structural Division, ASCE 104, PP. 1585-1593.

Davenport, A.G. (1961) "The Spectrum of Horizontal Gustiness Near the Ground in High
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Wind". J. of Royal Meteorol. Soc., Vol. 87.

Etheridge, D. W. (1977), "Crack Flow Equation and Scale Effects", Building and
Environment, Vol. 12, PP. 181-189.
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Etheridge, D. W. and Gale, R., (1983) "Theoretical and Experimental Techniques for
Ventilation Research in Buildings", Reprint from Int. Gas Research Conf. London.

Etheridge, D. and Sandberg, M. (1996) Building Ventilation : Theory and Measurement.

Chichester, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Feustel, H.E. and Raynor-Hoosen, A. (Edited) (1990), Fundamentals of the Multizone

Airflow Model - COMIS, Technical Note AIVC 29, Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre,
UK.

Haghighat, F. and Megri A.C. (1996), "A Comprehensive Validation of two Airflow Models-
COMIS and CONTAM", Indoor Air, Vol. --, PP.

Haghighat, F. and Donnini, G., (1992) "IAQ and Energy-Management by Demand Controlled
Ventilation", Environmental Technology, Vol. 13, pp. 351-359.

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SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT - Vol. I – Natural, Mechanical and Hybrid Ventilations - H. Yoshino, F. Haghighat

Haghighat, F., Jiang, Z., Wang, J.C.Y. and Allard, F., (1992) "Air Movement in Buildings Using
Computational Fluid Dynamics", The ASME Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 114, No. 2, pp.
84-92.

Haghighat, F. and Rao, J. (1991) “Computer Aided Building Ventilation System Design: A
System-Theoretic Approach”, Energy and Building, vol. 17, pp. 147-155.

Honma, Y. (1997). Selection of Ventilation Systems, Kenchiku-Gijyutu.

Limb, M. J. (1994). Current Ventilation and Air-Conditioning Systems and Strategies,

Technical Note AIVC 42, pp.23. Air Infiltration and Ventilation Center.

Architecture Institute of Japan, (2001). Encyclopedia of Sick House, pp.91. Gihodo

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Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and Ministry of Construction, Japan, (1999).
Criteria Owner’s Judgment on the Energy Efficient Utilization in Residential Building.

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Murakami, S., Kobayashi, N., Yoshino, H. and Kato, S. (1998). Outline of Ventilation
Standard for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality of SHASE, 19 th Annual AIVC Conference, Oslo,

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Norway.

Tanaka, S., Takeda, H., Adachi, T. and Tsuchiya, T., (1999), New Building Environmental
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Engineering, Revised Issue 2, pp. 143-144. Inoue-shoin Ltd.

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Walton G. N. (1983), Thermal Analysis Research Program reference Manual, NBSIR 83-
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National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), USA.

Biographical Sketches
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Dr. Hiroshi Yoshino received his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo, Japan in 1976. Since
then, he has been working in the area of indoor environment, ventilation and energy
conservation in buildings. He has published extensively in scientific journals and via
conference presentations. Dr. Yoshino holds the position of full professor at the Department
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of Architecture and Building Science, Tohoku University, Japan. He acted as chairman of

many national and international committees, and represented Japan in many international
meetings. Dr. Yoshino received many awards for his research contributions to the area of
indoor environment, ventilation and energy conservation in buildings.

Dr. Fariborz Haghighat holds the position of full professor at the Department of Building
Civil and Environmental Engineering – Concordia University. Dr. Haghighat earned his
B.Sc. degree from Arya-Mehr University, Tehran – Iran and M.A.Sc. degree from the
University of Arizona –USA and Ph.D. from Waterloo University – Canada. He is a member
of the Professional Engineers of Ontario, The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating
and Air-conditioning Engineers, and the International Society of Indoor Air Quality. He has
been representing Canada at the International Energy Agency Meetings since 1988, and has
authored over hundreds articles in the scientific journals and presented at numerous
conferences.

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