Typically, ventilation of a building has been achieved by driving flow using either mechanical forcing systems, or naturally, by exploiting pressure differences due to density variations or prevailing winds. Natural ventilation is a particularly attractive method as, at least in theory, it can significantly reduce the energy consumption required to maintain comfort. Such reductions are becoming increasingly important on both economic and environmental grounds.

In practice, natural ventilation has proved most successful in temperate climates where temperature variations are not too extreme. However, in many parts of the world the prevailing climate means that natural ventilation alone is unable to maintain interior conditions in a satisfactory range year round. There has recently been much interest in mixed-mode ventilation systems, harnessing natural forces to work in tandem with mechanical forcing systems to reduce the energy consumption required.

This project will examine the use of natural and mixed-mode ventilation for low energy building design. Experimental fluid dynamics will be combined with well-established reduced numerical models to investigate time-dependent ventilation flows. Different mechanical systems and ventilation strategies will be assessed to quantify the potential energy savings associated with mixed-mode ventilation.

Project staff and support

Imran Coomaraswamy (Postgraduate Associate, University of Cambridge)
Colm Caulfield (Academic supervisor, University of Cambridge)
Gavin Davies (Industrial supervisor, Arup)
David Allwright (Technology Translator, Industrial Mathematics KTN)

This project is being carried out at the University of Cambridge, in conjunction with Arup. It is supported by an EPSRC industrial CASE award, made available through the Knowledge Transfer Network for Industrial Mathematics. Start date: October 2006; duration: 3.5 years.