A mixing ventilation system integrated with a ceiling cooling system is a potential advanced heating, ventilation and air conditioning system for modern office buildings with a high sensible cooling load. This paper presents an evaluation of the effect of sensible cooling load on the indoor air distribution in a typical office room with mixing ventilation and ceiling cooling. The vertical distributions

The traditional widely used Chinese Kang heating system has been gradually becoming obsolete, due to the coal or wood burning emission that causes poor indoor air quality. In the interest to preserve the rural life, this study evaluated the performance of a retrofitted traditional Kang heating system with the use of alternative clean energy in a rural-dwelling in Xi'an, China. An air source heat pump

The manual control of windows is one of the common adaptive behaviours for occupants to adjust their indoor environment in homes. The cross-ventilation by the window opening provides a useful tool to control the thermal comfort and indoor air quality in homes. The objective of this study was to develop a modelling methodology for predicting individual occupant's behaviour relating to the manual control

Background Bringing features of nature indoors can positively influence indicators of human stress. Since wood is a natural material, it may produce similar benefits. The objective of the review was to (1) examine the influence of visual (real or virtual) contact with either real or imitated indoor wooden surfaces on certain stress indicators, that is affective, physiological or cognitive performance

In this article, a comparative study on the outdoor air pollutant prevention and indoor thermal comfort for different types of ventilation was carried out. Both objective experiment, subjective experiment and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation were conducted to investigate the differences in air pollutant prevention and thermal comfort between four common ventilation methods, namely supplying

Volatile organic compounds, several of which may impact health, have many possible indoor sources. To further investigate this, we tested the association between indoor concentrations of 47 passively collected volatile organic compounds and both home characteristics and occupant behaviours in a Canadian population-based sample of 3454 participants. Homes with smokers were excluded from analysis. Homes

For large space buildings like industrial plants with huge heat generation, the role that surface-source plumes play becomes more crucial. To study the air distribution and movement of plumes, the first step is to quantify how the airflow gets distributed in chambers. The experiment was carried out in a thermostatic chamber where there was no ventilation. Four hundred flow field snapshots (in each

Refuge floors are fire safety requirements for tall buildings in many Asia-Oceania cities. However, there are concerns on the adequate provision of cross-ventilation and drencher system to openings on refuge floors. To review the existing situation, a survey of 44 building developments involving 51 blocks of both residential and non-residential tall buildings was conducted. A new fire safety parameter

A nearly zero energy building (NZEB) can achieve significant energy saving by reducing its air-conditioning load greatly. At the same time, an NZEB should also achieve a comfortable thermal environment. In this paper, a parallel-pipe type natural heat transfer air-conditioning terminal device is proposed and studied for use in NZEB. The terminal device is able to provide both heating and cooling (including

This study aims to assess the physicochemical characteristics of the particulate matter ≤10 µm (PM10) at both congested and non-congested areas of Lahore, the second-largest city of Pakistan. PM10 samples from 10 urban sites in Lahore were analysed for source apportionment. The techniques of scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM/EDX) and inductively coupled plasma-optical

Abstract Sand is one of the main materials used in the construction industry. Elevated concentrations of terrestrial radionuclides in sand may cause great harm to dwellers. Present study determines concentrations of terrestrial radionuclides in sand that is widely used as a raw material in the construction industry in Bangladesh, via conventional HPGe γ-ray spectrometry. The average activity concentrations

Abstract Light reflectance value (LRV) of indoor surfaces impacts on electricity consumption for lighting. For this reason, inner surface reflectance is one of the parameters required by building energy efficiency codes and standards. In countries with advanced building energy certification processes, the LRV of coatings and paints is given by manufacturers. However, at regional and local level, these

The well-known service quality measurement (SQM) models, Importance-Satisfaction (I-S) model and Improvement index (Ii) model, have been recently proved useful in the analysis of soundscape quality. By combining the concepts of soundscape and quality management, this paper proposes an improved SQM model for soundscape assessment in urban public open spaces. Instead of using the I-S model, the Preference-Satisfaction

Aircraft cabin thermal environment is a key issue on flight selection by passengers, especially for long-haul flights. Currently, there have been some studies on the passengers’ thermal comfort in civil aircraft cabins. However, information is still limited on the changes in passenger thermal expectation with flight time. In this study, an aircraft cabin mockup was built, and three experiments involving

Abstract Indoor air quality (IAQ) is a key factor that could affect the indoor environment and people's health. In this study, we report a comprehensive study on IAQ in 30 dwellings in the temperate zone in China. Thirty naturally ventilated dwellings were selected in the urban area of Kunming, which is the largest city in temperate zone in China. In four seasons, short-term measurement of formaldehyde

Abstract Exposure to radon is recognised as the second-leading cause of lung cancer after tobacco smoke. The passive measurements typically take up to three months to be representative of the annual radon concentration. A recently developed approach depressurises a dwelling to heighten the convective radon flux determining radon entry rate coefficients. The current study characterises the ventilation

Organic solvents frequently lead to substantial occupational health issues in secondary industries. This study examined the xylene diffusion process in painting workshops as a case study to develop a control of indoor air quality in manufacturing workshops. Three-dimensional simulations of xylene emission were built based on a ventilated chamber test to provide the source term for the mathematical

This study combined on-site measurement and model simulation to characterize the spatial distribution of indoor particulate matter (PM) in a single room with stratified flow fields. The concentration of PM spatially distributed in a single room with natural ventilation was measured at different heights for different PM sizes. This study revealed that the PM concentration varied with height and time

This Special Issue contains 12 papers focusing on current up-to-date research into different perspectives and technologies of ventilation. These are expanded versions of selected papers presented at the 14th International Conference on ROOMVENTILATION 2018 that was held at Aalto University in Finland on 2 to 5 July 2018. This conference merged together SCANVAC’s RoomVent conference with Ventilation

An environmental chamber was built up and characterized at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The chamber consists of a 6 m3 poly tetrafluoroethylene-co-perfluoropropyl vinyl ether Teflon film reactor inside a stainless-steel enclosure stocked with a series of online gas-phase and aerosol-phase analytical instruments. Temperature and relative humidity are controllable and can be set to a range of

A new experimental methodology is presented to show the effect of water supply temperature, mass flow rate and thermal load distribution on the radiant ceiling capacity and thermal comfort conditions. Computerized fluid dynamics simulated vertical temperatures and velocities profiles were validated by a comparison with experimental results and the difference was within 10%. Uniform surface temperature

In this study, the performance of a micro-environment system was analysed and compared with diffused ceiling ventilation. In the analysed micro-environment low velocity radiant panel system, two low velocity units and radiant panels were installed above workstations to supply directly clean air to occupants and to cover the cooling power required. With diffused ceiling ventilation, all cooling demand

Due to the modernization and advancement in the society, the improvement of people’s living standard and the creation of comfortable and healthy indoor thermal environment has been a global concern for architects and building scientists.1 The ventilation system, which supplies air to meet the hygiene and thermal requirement of indoor occupants as well as to remove indoor pollutants, plays an important

Human-centred thermal environment conditioning can guarantee thermal comfort needs of human occupants in their micro-environments by using localized heating/cooling devices. Meanwhile, less intensified thermal conditioning of unoccupied surrounding environments can achieve heating/cooling energy efficiency. The concept was originated from task/ambient conditioning, which was developed for personal

Nowadays, people spend most of their times indoors; accordingly, plants are increasingly used in these environments, including residential areas, due to their psychological benefits and aesthetic values. However, there is little evidence on how to maximize the inhabitants' indoor greenery (IG) preferences. The present study analysed the preferences of 363 inhabitants of two residential complexes with

The influence of occupants'’ movements should be considered when analysing local thermal comfort. This study presents the effect of human movement on airflow characteristics and local thermal conditions with diffuse ceiling ventilation by experimental studies. A simulated person moving was used to study the human movement in an office. In these experiments, three moving speeds were studied: 0.3, 0

Liquid desiccant dehumidifiers (LDDs) can be improved by adding internal cooling. However, the addition of excessive cooling power may deteriorate the system‘s cost-efficiency, whereas the addition of insufficient cooling power leads to negligible performance improvements. The objective of this study is to determine the suitable cost-efficient cooling power range for improving the performance of internally

The study aimed to assess the effect of indoor air temperature on cognitive work performance of acclimatized people during the middle of heating season in severely cold region in China. How does temperature affect work performance was also investigated through subjective surveys. Eighteen acclimatized and healthy participants (10 males and 8 females) carried out tasks in a climate chamber under six

Human activities have been proven to be one of the most important sources of indoor volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, especially in densely occupied environments. However, characterization of temporal variation and its impact analysis of indoor total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) have not been presented adequately. In this study, indoor concentrations and temporal variation of TVOC concentrations

The aim of this study is to evaluate the cooling effect of a spray fan in an indoor hot environment. An experimental workplace with a thermal environment of high temperature and radiation intensity was set up. The hot environment of the experimental workplace could not meet occupational health requirements when the heat source temperature exceeded 150°C. The effects of air velocity and relative humidity

Buildings consume large amounts of energy, and lighting consumes a substantial amount of this energy. Therefore, an alternative technology that depends more on natural lighting is needed in order to reduce the building energy consumption. In this paper, based on the excellent properties of light guiding and elasto-optic effect of optical fibre, a novel transparent concrete with plastic optical fibres

This paper develops an integrated design framework of adaptive building façades (ABFs) to respond to photobiological and thermal needs of occupants, biophilic factors, energy requirements and climatic features in Northern Canada, i.e. near and above 50°N. The paper discusses the importance of biophilic and photobiological factors and ABFs to improve occupants’ health and human–nature relations and

A comfortable mattress can create a good sleep environment, but the thermal behaviour of the interaction between the human body and mattress materials is still not well understood. The effect of mattress materials on human–mattress interface temperature and human thermal state was evaluated by subjective questionnaire and measurements to detemine the human–mattress interface temperatures of the whole

Although well-established technologies can remove certain toxins from indoor environments, methods capable of eliminating all of them do not yet exist. Biological methods, however, which are based on plants and their associated microorganisms, could hold significant promise. To achieve high toxic remediation, utilization of the soil microorganisms in the root zone of the plant is vital. Moreover, evidence

This study examined the effects of lighting with different spectra on humans, as measured by mean arterial pressure, heart rate and visual comfort. Twenty subjects were recruited and tested under 12 different lighting spectra, produced by self-made luminaires respectively. In order to evaluate the shape similarity between the measured spectrum and the solar spectrum, a full-spectrum index E (0–100)

This paper examines the effects of occupants’ behaviour on the thermal environment in air-conditioned rooms. Typical occupants’ behaviours were determined from survey results in the hot summers and cold winters region of China. The temperature setpoint, intermittent operation and door opening were determined as influencing factors in a theoretical model for maintaining thermal comfort with minimal

Strict and simultaneous space temperature and humidity controls are often required in many applications, such as hospitals, laboratories, cleanrooms for pharmaceutical and semiconductor manufacturing. The energy intensity in such applications can be up to 100 times than typical office buildings, mainly due to the improper system design and control. Although some uncertainty-based design methods have

The thermal comfort inside heritage buildings in China is mostly achieved with the use of split air conditioning and radiator heating system. Due to inefficiencies in the design of those systems, the regulation of air temperature is generally inadequate. To meet the thermal comfort requirements of the partial significant room, which is the meeting hall area, and to preserve the external walls and facade

The risk of Legionella transmission from rain water harvesting (RWH)-fed water toilet flushing was investigated. Experiments monitored RWH tanks to determine Legionella spp. presence which was successfully isolated from three of four of RWH tanks (site 1: 3600 CFU/dm3 in February and 3600 CFU/dm3 in May; site 2: not detected; site 3: <940 GU/dm3; site 4: 44,000 GU/dm3), and to determine whether toilets

Designing school settings that provide a satisfying experience of nature and enhance well-being could be advantageous for children and teachers, though in cold climates prolonged periods of precipitation, restricted sunshine and low temperatures represent non-ideal conditions for fostering a connection with nature. This paper reviews research into the relationships between principles of biophilic design

The use of indoor electric lighting has consequences for both human wellbeing and the environment. With regard to health, light influences sleep and circadian regulation,1–3 alertness4,5 and mood.6–8 This suggests that indoor lighting technologies, providing the right amount of light with the right spectrum at the right time, have the potential to add health benefits to the image-forming effects of

Symmetrical hospital buildings often use a colour-zoning differentiation strategy to vary the repetition and monotony of their architectural structures. However, there is scarce scientific evidence or systematized research regarding the cognitive effects of interior colour schemes applied to the entire building. The present study investigated the effect of colour schemes combined with geometric plan

The influence of work groups (the number of occupants sharing an office) on occupant satisfaction with workplace environments was compared between commercial buildings and academic buildings. Using the Building Use Studies (BUS) methodology, a sample of 5000 surveys was collected over a 12-year period from 67 buildings around the world. In both academic and commercial buildings, solo offices (single

The static headspace method using a small enclosed chamber has been extensively used to estimate the emission characteristics of formaldehyde, e.g., emission rates from building materials. The formation of the transient formaldehyde concentration by emission, diffusion and sorption in a small confined chamber was investigated using three-dimensional modelling and numerical analyses. Here, five types

To monitor changes in building tilt angles more accurately and efficiently and to safeguard the people's safety and property, a new tilt angle monitoring method was proposed in this paper. This method adopts double square artificial marks and a plumb line determined by MATLAB to record changes in the building tilt angle based on image processing technology. Two black square artificial marks with the

The floor heating system with phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal storage is an effective approach to increase the floor thermal capacity and reduce indoor temperature fluctuation range. A two-dimensional numerical model of the floor heating system combined with PCM was developed to investigate its dynamic thermal performance in winter. To verify the reliability of the model, an experimental

All over the world, populations are ageing. People live longer and are generally in better health, free from disabilities and impairments, than previous generations. In the member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,1 the population share of older adults is expected to rise to 25.1% in 2050. Cities in particular have large numbers of older inhabitants, and understanding

The 2019 Novel Wuhan Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic (namely COVID 19) was first reported and confirmed on 31 December 2019, in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, which is one of China’s largest cities and a major domestic transport hub (located in the central part of China, as shown in Figure 1).1 The epidemic is attracting worldwide concern due to its rapid spread and transmission rate between humans

For achieving building energy efficiencies and savings, most countries include in their standard regulations either required or recommended minimum airtightness levels.1,2 Good building airtightness levels may allow installation of smaller heating and cooling capacities to achieve a better thermal comfort performance3 and allow prevention of outdoor pollutants, e.g. particulate matters (PMs), from

Radon is a radioactive pollutant that could pose hazards to the surrounding environment and people due to its radioactive decay progenies. In this study, numerical simulations of radon dispersion were conducted under natural and mechanical ventilation with an air-purifier for radon. Factors such as the air supply speed, position and air supply angles of the purifier were considered. Results showed