DAYLIGHTING AND NATURAL VENTILATION

Daylight Factor
Daylight Analysis
Daylight and Shading Devices
Ventilation and Building Design
Types of Ventilation

VENTILATION
TYPE OF VENTILATION
Natural Ventilation
Air Flow, Bernoulli Effect, Stack
Ventilation and Building

Effect,

Mechanical Ventilation
VENTILATION AND BUILDING DESIGN

VENTILATION
A process of removing or supplying air by natural or mechanical

means to and from a air source or any space

Adequate ventilation is essential to maintain the temperature limits
inside the building and to remove the air, vitiated by the products of
respiration, bacteria and all objectionable or unpleasant odours.
Poor ventilation gives rise to a feeling of discomfort to the
inhabitants because it causes increase in temperature and humidity
which leads to perspiration or sweating. The want of fresh air
produces nausea, headache, sleepiness, laziness and unattentiveness
An unventilated room is subjected to unsuitable living and working
condition because of increased dust amount, excessive content of
carbon dioxide, unsuitable humidity or relatively uncontrollable air
movements present.

NECESSITY OF VENTILATION
To prevent an undue concentration of body odours, fumes dust and other

industrial products
To prevent an undue concentration of bacteria carrying particles
To remove products of combustion, and in some cases to remove body heat
and the heat liberated by the operation of electrical and mechanical
equipment
To create air movement so as to remove the vitiated air or its replacement
by the fresh air
To create healthy living conditions by preventing the undue accumulation
of carbon dioxide and moisture and depletion of the oxygen content of the
air. For comfortable working conditions the content of carbon dioxide
should be limited to about .6% volume
To maintain conditions suitable to the contents of the space
To prevent flammable concentration of gas vapour or dust in case
industrial buildings

FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF A
VENTILATION SYSTEM
1.

2.
3.
4.

5.

Rate of supply of fresh air

Air movements or air changes
Temperature of air
Humidity
Purity of air

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RULES FOR

NATURAL VENTILATION

1.

2.

Inlet openings in the buildings should be well distributed and should be

located on the windward side at a low level. The outlet openings should be
located on the leeward side near the ceiling in the side walls and in the
roofs
Inlet and outlet openings should be equal size for greatest air flow, but
when outlet is in the form of a roof opening the inlet should be larger in
size.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RULES FOR

NATURAL VENTILATION
3.
4.
5.
6.

7.

Where the wind direction is variable, openings should be provided in

all walls with suitable means of closing them
Inlet openings should not be obstructed by adjoining buildings, trees,
signboards, partitions or other obstruction in the path of air flow
Increased height of the room gives better ventilation due to stack
effect
The long narrow rooms should be ventilated by providing suitable
openings in short sides
The rate of air-change in a room mainly depends on the design of
opening location of inlet and outlet and the difference in temperature
between the inside and outside air. The cooler air enters from the
bottom and after becoming hot during its stay in the room, it leaves
from the top.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RULES FOR

NATURAL VENTILATION
8.
9.
10.

11.
12.

The efficiency of roof ventilation depends on their location, wind

direction and the height of the building.
The ventilation through windows can be improved by using them in
combination with a radiator, deflector and exhaust duct.
For cross-ventilation, the position of outlets should be just opposite to
inlets. The openings over the doors of back walls create good
conditions for cross ventilation
Windows of living rooms should either open directly to an open space
or open space created in buildings by providing adequate courtyards
If the room is to be used for burning gas or fuel, enough quantity of air
should be supplied by natural ventilation for meeting the demands of
burning as well as ventilation of the room

TYPES OF VENTILATION
Natural Ventilation
Air Flow, Bernoulli Effect, Stack
Effect, Ventilation and Building

Mechanical Ventilation

NATURAL VENTILATION
Air Flow
Bernoulli Effect
Stack Effect
Ventilation and Building

AIR FLOW
To design successfully for ventilation in the summer or for wind protection in the winter, the following
principles of air flow should be understood
Air flows either because of natural convection currents, caused by differences in temperature, or
because of differences in pressure.
Types of Air Flow Laminar, Separated, Turbulent and eddy currents
Air flow changes from laminar to turbulent when it encounters sharp
obstructions such as buildings
Eddy currents are circular air flows induced by laminar air flows
Inertia Since air has some mass moving air tends to go in straight
line. When forced to change direction, air streams will follow curves
but never right angles
Conservation of Air Since air is neither created nor destroyed at
the building site, the air approaching a building must equal the air
leaving the building. Air streams should be continuous

High and low pressure area As air

hits the windward side of a building it
compresses and creates positive pressure
(+). Air sucked away from the leeward side
at the same time is negative pressure (-).
Air deflected around the sides will also
create negative pressure.
Pressure not uniformly distributed
The type of pressure created over the roof
depends on the slope of the roof.
These pressure areas around the building
determine how air flows through the
building.
High and low pressure areas are not
necessarily places of calm but also of air
flow in the form of turbulence and eddy
currents.
These currents reverse the air flow in
certain locations.

BERNOULLI EFFECT
An increase in the velocity of a fluid decreases its static
pressure. Because of this phenomenon, there is negative
pressure at the construction of a venturi tube.
A gabled roof is like half a venturi tube. Air will be sucked out
of any opening near the ridge.
The effect can be made even stronger by designing the roof to
be like a full venturi tube.
The velocity of air increases rapidly with height above ground.
The pressure at the ridge of a roof will be lower than that of
windows at ground level. Consequently even without the help
of the geometry of a venturi tube, the Bernoulli effect will
exhaust air through roof openings.

STACK EFFECT

The stack effect can exhaust air from a building by the action of
natural convection.
The stack effect will exhaust air only if the indoor temperature
difference between two vertical openings is greater than the
outdoor-temperature difference between the same two opening.
To maximize the weak effect, then openings should be as large as
far apart vertically as possible.
The air should be able to flow freely from the lower to the higher
opening.
The shape of the roof and the increased wind velocity at the
roof can all combine to ventilate a building naturally.
Roof monitors and ventilators high on the roof are especially
helpful because of stratification, the hot test indoor air is
exhausted first.

SOLAR CHIMNEY
Stack effect is a function of temperature differences heating
the indoor air increases the air flow.
The solar chimney heats the air after it leaves the buildings
The stack effect is increased but without additional heating of
the building.

STACK EFFECT
The stack effect causes the lower part of a building
with an atrium to have a negative pressure and the
upper part to have a positive pressure.
In between will be the neutral axis.
Hot air from the lower stories enters the upper
floors.
To avoid this problem, the neutral axis must be raised
above the top floor.

ADVANTAGE
The stack effect over the Bernoulli effect is that it does
not depend on wind.
DISADVANTAGE
It is a very weak force and cannot move air quickly.

VENTILATION AND BUILDING LAYOUT

FACTORS DETERMINING THE PATTERN OF AIR FLOW

THROUGH A BUILDING

Pressure distribution around the buildings

Direction of air entering windows
Size, location and details of windows
Interior Partition details

SITE CONDITION

Adjacent buildings, walls and vegetation on the site will greatly affect the air flow
through a building.

WINDOW ORIENTATION AND WIND DIRECTION

Winds exert maximum pressure when they are perpendicular to a surface and
the pressure is reduced about 50 percent when the wind is at an oblique angle of
about 45o.
The indoor ventilation is better with the oblique winds because they generate
greater turbulence indoors.

VENTILATION AND BUILDING LAYOUT

WINDOW ORIENTATION AND

WIND DIRECTION

The need for summer shade and winter

sun calls for a building, orientation with
the long axis in the east-west direction
The range of wind directions that works
well with that orientation.
When winds are east-west the solar
orientation usually has priority because
winds can be rerouted more easily than
the sun

WINDOW LOCATION

Cross-ventilation is so effective because air is both pushed and pulled through

the building by a positive pressure on the windward side and by a negative
pressure on the leeward side.
Ventilation from windows on adjacent walls can be either good or bad
depending on the pressure distribution which varies with wind direction.

VENTILATION AND BUILDING LAYOUT

WINDOW LOCATION

Ventilation from windows on adjacent walls can be either good or bad depending on
the pressure distribution which varies with wind direction.
Some ventilation is possible in the asymmetric placement of windows because the
relative pressure is greater at the center than at the sides of the windward walls.

FIN WALLS

Fin walls work best for winds at 45o to the window wall. Casement windows can
act as fin walls at no extra cost.

Fin walls can increase the

ventilation through windows on the
same side of a building by changing
the pressure.

VENTILATION AND BUILDING LAYOUT

FIN WALLS

Ventilation from windows on adjacent

walls can be either good or bad
depending on the pressure
distribution which varies with wind
direction.

A fin wall can be used to direct the airstream through the center of the room