Acoustical Improvements with Natural Air Ventilation in the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-122
Author(s):  
Zohreh Razavi ◽  
Max Richter ◽  
Murray Hodgson ◽  
Alireza Khaleghi

Low speech privacy in shared and private offices in one of the early generation of a “green” building resulted in occupants' dissatisfaction. This problem is experienced in Liu institute with a natural-ventilation system. Such a system requires low air-flow resistance which is achieved by large openings which will result in noise transmission between various spaces within the building. The poor acoustical quality in this building resulted in occupants' noise complaints which were further investigated by way of relevant acoustical measurements. CATT-Acoustic software was utilized to modify the acoustical quality of the building without any disturbance to the occupants. The optimized design of the transfer box above the office door was selected based on CATT-Acoustic predictions. The acoustical measurements were conducted after installation of the transfer box above the office door. The measurements' results agreed with the predictions which led to improved speech privacy to an acceptable level between the office and the corridor in Liu Institute. More work should be done to improve the acoustical quality of natural-ventilated building to conform to ANSI standards.1The results of this study strongly support including acoustics in “green” building designs with natural ventilation to avoid users' complaints.

Author(s):  
Marek Telejko ◽  
Ewa Zender-Swiercz

Most primary school buildings in Poland rely on natural ventilation. This fact is attributed to the age of these buildings constructed more than dozen or even several tens of years ago. Few of them were fitted with a mechanical ventilation system allowing for the adjustment of microclimate parameters. The national requirements for gravity ventilation provide general guidelines, specifying strict description only for the airtightness of windows and doors and the minimum airflow to be supplied to the rooms. The minimum airflow supplied is independent of the number of occupants and purpose of the room. Low indoor air quality (IAQ) can impact occupants’ health and lead to poor productivity or low academic performance. Therefore the provision of good IAQ in classrooms and laboratories is very important. This paper presents the results of the investigation devoted to the quality of indoor air in classrooms of selected Polish primary school. Six primary school in a town with a population of 200 000 inhabitants were involved in the investigations. The participating school buildings were built between 1976 and 1994 and had gravity ventilation systems. The variability of basic IAQ parameters, i.e., temperature, relative humidity and carbon dioxide level, was analysed and the assessment of the classrooms in terms of microbiological purity was performed. The outcomes confirmed the low quality of the indoor air in these buildings. The maximum value of CO2 concentration amounted to more than 4000 ppm. Certain modifications aimed at improving IAQ were proposed during the investigations. Two solutions were implemented. The results of this study indicate that the proposed solution offers the potential to improve IAQ within classrooms.


1997 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey D. DeBell ◽  
Barbara L. Gartner

Abstract Information on stem characteristics of western redcedar (Thuja plicata) grown in managed stands is quite limited. Stem characteristics are important because they influence the quality of logs and lumber produced. We measured branch diameter, number of branches, taper, and fluting severity on the first 5m log of stems grown at spacings of 1.8 to 4.6 m in a 35-yr-old spacing trial on the University of British Columbia Research Forest. Average branch diameter increased from 15 mm to 25 mm as tree spacing increased from 1.8 m to 4.6 m. Number of branches per unit of stem length was unaffected by spacing. Trees at wider spacings tended to be more tapered and have more butt swell than those at narrower spacings. At wider spacings, more trees showed fluting, and that fluting was more severe than at narrower spacings. However, most trees had no fluting or only mild fluting even at the 4.6 m spacing. Branch diameter, taper, and fluting were all related to stem diameter. Smaller diameter stems tended to have smaller branches, less taper, and were less likely to have severe fluting than large diameter stems. Branch diameter was larger at wider spacings even for trees of the same stem diameter. West. J. Appl. For. 12(1):9-14.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 2845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Gładyszewska-Fiedoruk ◽  
Vasyl Zhelykh ◽  
Andrii Pushchinskyi

The quality of internal air is one of the factors that affect the pace and quality of knowledge acquisition. Therefore, it is important that classrooms have high quality of air. Using computer simulation, the effect of various building ventilation variants on air quality in classrooms was analyzed. Two criteria were analyzed and six variants of ventilation. The analysis was carried out using the CONTAMW program, used for multi-zone analysis of ventilation and air quality in a building. As an indicator of air quality, the concentration of carbon dioxide in school halls was adopted. The analyses show that natural ventilation is not able to provide proper air exchange. Regular airing of classrooms during breaks can reduce the carbon dioxide concentration to 2500 ppm, however, there is a significant reduction in indoor temperature (even below 10 °C). The best control over the internal environment can be obtained by using a supply–exhaust ventilation system with heat recovery. Obtaining a higher stabilization of ventilation is achieved by supplying additional energy to drive fans, however, this is only a small amount of energy compared to the cost of heat for heating the building (maximum 2%).


2019 ◽  
Vol 808 ◽  
pp. 39-45
Author(s):  
Mária Budiaková

The paper focuses on the analysis of reconstruction in terms of CO2 concentration. The reconstruction at the university included the exchange of windows. The original windows were exchanged for the modern wood tight windows. Providing CO2 concentration in the interiors of a university is immensely important for the students of the university. Not exceeding CO2 concentration limits is necessary not only for the physiological needs of students but also for the required performance of students. Teaching is conducted during the whole day in the researched university schoolroom. The short-term natural ventilation during the breaks is noticeably not sufficient. After 15 minutes from the beginning of the lesson, students started complaining about the air quality and they had to open the windows. To point out the unsustainable state of the poor air quality during the day-long teaching and to be able to prove the officials the importance of the continuation of the reconstruction by building mechanical ventilation or air conditioning system, there were carried out the experimental measurements in the schoolroom. The device Testo 480 was used for the measurements. Obtained values of CO2 concentration are presented in the charts. Interestingly, this reconstruction significantly decreased the air quality. The admissible values of CO2 concentration were exceeded after the first hours of teaching. These values were worsening with each additional hour of teaching. Therefore, another reconstruction is needed to enable the transition from natural ventilation to the mechanical ventilation system. In the conclusion of this paper, there are principles how to design new schoolrooms. Furthermore, there are presented recommendations how to operate the existing schoolrooms.


2014 ◽  
Vol 899 ◽  
pp. 256-259
Author(s):  
Mária Budiaková

The paper is oriented on the natural ventilation and forced warm air ventilation systems in offices. The basic element of natural ventilation system in office building is double skin facade. The natural air circulation is undertaken by the right shaping of vertical shafts for exhaust air. Furthermore, the intelligent double skin facade in transitional period contributes to the heating and in summer to natural cooling of offices. Therefore, the forced warm air ventilation, which is provides heating of offices, can operate in saving mode and can be supplemented by radiant floor heating. By the effort to approach to zero energy balance, it is important to undertake thermal comfort. Therefore, I did experimental laboratory measurements for forced warm air ventilation and I also did it because of comparison for radiant floor heating. In this paper, I will present scientific analysis and the outputs from my own measurements. In the conclusion of this paper on the basis of outputs of experimental measurements I will define the principles for designing forced warm air ventilation and radiant floor heating in offices.


Author(s):  
H.F. Machiel Van der Loos ◽  
Antony Hodgson ◽  
Jon Mikkelsen ◽  
Markus Fengler

To provide for professional growth of students and to gain deeper insight into student engagement in the University of British Columbia MECH Capstone Design Project Course, the teaching team has deployed an open-ended reflection opportunity over the past 6 years as an adjunct to the required teaching evaluations. Three years of year-end questionnaires and three years of bi-monthly instructor-led reflection sessions form the datasets. Although the two formats are fundamentally different, the quality of the responses provides evidence of high student awareness of their own learning process and a desire to be a meaningful contributor in the conversation on course improvement.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 007-013
Author(s):  
Dorota Koruba ◽  
Ewa Zender Świercz ◽  
Jerzy Piotrowski ◽  
Łukasz Orman ◽  
Marek Telejko

The article demonstrates the results of research on the indoor air quality (IAQ) in one of chosen preschools. In such facilities, the standard solution is a system of natural ventilation. Only a small percentage of such buildings is equipped with a mechanical ventilation system with adjustable parameters of the microclimate. The article presents the results of indoor air quality in the local preschool located in Kielce. In the present facility natural ventilation system was used. Preliminary studies confirmed the poor quality of indoor air in a subjected building. During the study, two improvements aimed at improving air quality were proposed. The first improvement was to increase the supply air stream. The second one concerned the installation of equipment for the treatment of indoor air. The results indicate that under certain guidelines it is possible to improve indoor air quality. As an indicator of indoor air quality, concentration of carbon dioxide was adopted. In addition, microbiological tests were performed indoors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 110-117
Author(s):  
Chi Van Dao ◽  
Ha Xuan Tran ◽  

Quang Hanh coal mine is currently operating at two areas with 11 longwalls having the annual production of 1.5 million tonnes. In recent years, the mine has used 4 conjugate fan stations for air ventilation. To assess the quality of ventilation operation at the Quang Hanh coal mine, the paper surveyed the ventilation quality at longwall faces, roadway faces, ventilation works and main fans. The results show that the ventilation at longwall and roadway faces basically satisfies the requirements. However, in some areas, the fresh air has not been sufficiently supplied, the temparature and humidity are high, the air leakage is serious, and the total intake air lacks an amount of 26.4 m3/s (8%). Based on these the findings, the paper the proposes proper solutions to the air ventilation system at the Quang Hanh coal mine in the near future.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 484-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kęstutis Valančius ◽  
Sabina Paulauskaitė ◽  
Violeta Motuzienė

The paper presents experimental study of apartment buildings' ventilation parameters which was carried out during the heating season. The results show that the existing apartment buildings often don‘t guarantee the hygienic conditions that are directly related to the indoor air ventilation. Also article contains an analysis of possibilities to upgrade the ventilation systems of apartment buildings. Four ventilation systems‘ upgrade options were examined. The economic analysis showed that according to the economic aspect the best solution for mechanical ventilation in the typical apartment houses is a centralized ventilation system which operates in combination with ground heat pump when supply ducts are mounted on the building facade, and extraction takes place at existing natural ventilation system channels. Straipsnyje pateikiami daugiabučių gyvenamųjų namų vėdinimo parametrų eksperimentiniai tyrimai, kurie buvo atlikti šildymo sezono metu. Tyrimų rezultatai rodo, kad esamuose daugiabučiuose namuose dažniausiai nėra užtikrinamos higieninės sąlygos, kurios yra tiesiogiai susijusios su šių namų vėdinimu. Taip pat straipsnyje pateikiama daugiabučio vėdinimo sistemų atnaujinimo galimybių analizė. Ekonomiškai išnagrinėti keturi vėdinimo sistemų atnaujinimo variantai. Atlikus ekonominę analizę, nustatyta, jog ekonominiu aspektu geriausias mechaninio vėdinimo sprendimas tipiniame daugiabučiame name yra centralizuota vėdinimo sistema, veikianti kombinuotai su gruntiniu šilumos siurbliu, kai tiekiamieji ortakiai montuojami ant pastato fasadų, o ištraukimas vyksta esamais natūralios vėdinimo sistemos kanalais.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-30
Author(s):  
Olena Savchenko ◽  
Vasyl Zhelykh ◽  
Hendrik Voll

Abstract The most common ventilation system in residential buildings in Ukraine is natural ventilation. In recent years, due to increased tightness of structures, an increase in the content of synthetic finishing materials in them, the quality of microclimate parameters deteriorated. One of the measures to improve the parameters of indoor air in residential buildings is the use of mechanical inflow and exhaust ventilation system. In this article the regulatory documents concerning the design of ventilation systems in Ukraine and Estonia and the requirements for air exchange in residential buildings are considered. It is established that the existing normative documents in Ukraine are analogous to European norms, which allow design the system of ventilation of residential buildings according to European standards. However, the basis for the design of ventilation systems in Ukraine is the national standards, in which mechanical ventilation, unfortunately, is provided only for the design of high-rise buildings. To maintain acceptable microclimate parameters in residential buildings, it is advisable for designers to apply the requirements for designing ventilation systems in accordance with European standards.


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