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4 VENTILATION

Ventilation is the process by which fresh air is introduced intentionally to displace the
room air from an occupied space.

The purposes are:

• a continuous supply of oxygen for breathing; human respiration requires 0.1- 0.9
l/s per person depending on metabolic rate;
• dilution of gaseous contaminants to achieve maximum permissible concentrations
or threshold limit values (TLVs) for carbon dioxide, odour and vapours of
harmful chemical compounds;
• removal /dilution of artificial contaminants produced within the ventilation space
by process work i.e. cooking, combustion etc. e.g. products are SO2, C02, H2O,
petrol vapour, dust and fumes etc.;
• removal of excess / unwanted heat and water vapour etc. to prevent condensation
to occur;
• to provide air movement without too much draughts such that occupants obtain a
feeling of freshness and comfort;
• to satisfy local legislative requirement.

There are two basic design principles: natural ventilation and mechanical (forced)
ventilation.

Natural ventilation is un-powered airflow through open windows, doors, and other
intentional openings in the building envelope with the present of pressure different
and/or temperature different across the building envelope (free of charge but
sometimes uncontrollable).

Mechanical ventilation is intentional, powered air exchange by a fan. It affords the

greatest potential for controlling air exchange rate and air distribution within a
building through the proper design and operation of the ventilation system.

4.1 VENTILATION REQUIREMENT AND STANDARDS

Ventilation rate is a primary factor in ventilation design. It determines the sizes of

fans, openings and air ducts, and hence the initial costs and running costs of the
system.

In air-conditioned buildings, the ventilation and infiltration rates affect the selection
of air-conditioning equipment and the average or seasonal energy consumption. Air
exchange typically accounts for 20 to 40% of the building’s thermal load.

The 3 common approaches to determine ventilation rate are:

i) ventilation standards, like CIBSE Guide, ASHRAE 62-2001, government
regulations
ii) heat removal method,
iii) contaminant removal method.

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Some useful formulae for determining required ventilation rate V&s ,

(i) Air Change Rate:

V * ACH
V&s =
3600
(4.1)

where V – room volume, ACH – air change per hour

(ii) Heat removal equation:

Q
V&s = (4.2)
ρCpa (Tr − To )

where Q - heat generated inside the space, kW

Tr - design room temp, oC
To - design outdoor air temp, oC
ρ - density of air; kg/m3
Cpa - specific heat of air, kJ/(kg.oC)

(iii) Dilution equation:

G
V&s = (4.3)
Ca − C f

where,
G - generation rate of a specific contaminant in the room
Ca - maximum allowable concentration of the contaminant in room
Cf - concentration of contaminant in the ventilating air stream

4.2 MECHANICAL VENTILATION SYSTEMS

Mechanical ventilation can change the airflow through the envelope by affecting the
internal pressure. This requires the installation of fans, and often ducts and auxiliary
equipment to form a complete system.

4.2.1 Supply only [Figure 4.1 (a)]

Air is delivered by a fan to a room space and is exhausted through purposely provided
openings or other leakage path. This type of ventilation system maintains a positive
pressure within the ventilated space and so can prevent infiltration and ingress of
extraneous materials. Normally this is for the assurance of oxygen supply e.g. for
industrial process, combustion process etc., in the cases of boiler room, office, and
certain types of factories.

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4.2.2 Exhaust only [Figure 4.1 (b)]

Air is extracted by fan; replacement/make-up air enters though any available gaps or
purposely provided openings. The primary function is to remove unwanted
contaminant or waste to maintain a negative pressure within ventilated space, and to
prevent escape of contaminants to adjoining space e.g. plant room, kitchen, lavatory,
refuse room, processing area etc. In an industrial context, local extraction of fumes or
contaminants by exhaust hoods is more effective and economical.

4.2.3 Balanced system [Figure 4.1 (c)]

With the combined use of supply and exhaust fans, this system is more costly.
However, large openings on building envelope are not required and a close control of
environment is made possible. There are two design concepts that determine the
relative pressure conditions:

(a) A surplus of supply air over extracted air

A slightly positive pressure is created at the ventilated space. This minimizes the
infiltration of untreated and uncontrolled outside air into the space. The ratio of the
supply air rate to the extract air rate usually falls between 1 : 0.75 and 1 : 0.9. This
concept is commonly applied in relatively clean spaces where no fumes or smells are
generated, e.g. living rooms, offices, etc.

(a) Supply system (b) Extract system (c) Balanced system

Figure 4.1 Types of Mechanical Ventilation Systems

(b) A deficiency of supply air with respect to extracted air

This creates a slightly negative pressure at the space to avoid any contaminant
generated inside to spread to outside. The supply to extract air ratio is usually within
1 : 1.1 to 1 : 1.2. Typical applications are for carparks, boiler rooms, laboratories, etc.

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4.3 References

- Chapter 4, Indoor air quality - comfort and health, Heating, Ventilating, and Air
Conditioning Analysis and Design by F.C. McQuiston, J.D. Parker.
- Ventilation in Building, Awbi
- Advanced Design of Ventilation Systems for Contamination Control by H.D.
Goodfellow, Elsevier 1985, p.445-449

Worked Examples

Example 4.1

Recommended ventilation rate for a toilet is 15 ACH. For a toilet of dimensions 6 m x 3 m x

2.5 m., determine the design ventilation rate.

Solution
V&s = (6 x 3 x 2.5 x 15) / 3600 = 0.1875 m3/s

Example 4.2

A plant room with heat a source of 20 kW is to be ventilated by a mechanical system.

Calculate the air flow rate required to maintain indoor air temperature at or below 38oC, with
outdoor design temperature of 33oC in summer.

Solution

Since Sensible heat (kW) = ρ V&s Cpa (Tr –To)

V&s = 20 / [1.2 x 1.02 (38 –33)] = 3.27 m3/s

Example 4.3

If human activity is at 1.2 met, where G = 0.3 l/min of CO2 per person, find the outdoor air
supply rate required per person to maintain max. allowable CO2 conc. (Ca) below 1000 ppm.
Assume that Cf = 400 ppm (note: Cf for rural area is around 300ppm, but in urban area of
Hong Kong Cf is much higher; 400ppm is used in this example).

Solution

V&s = 0.3 / 60 ( 0.001 – 0.0004 ) = 8.33 l/s

Note: make sure that units used must be consistent for Ca and Cf.

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