VENTILATION AND AIRMOVEMENT

CONTENTS
Function of ventilation
Provision for ventilation Stack effect
Provision for air-movement Wind effect
Air-flow through buildings

Building

orientation
External features
Cross-ventilation
Position of openings
Size of openings
Control of openings

Air movement and rain

Air-flow around buildings
Air flow and humidity control

FUNCTION OF VENTILATION
Supply of fresh air
Removal of internal heat convective cooling
Heat dissipation from skin physiological cooling

PROVISION OF VENTILATION
STACK EFFECT
Natural air flow is caused by pressure difference:
it will flow from a zone of high pressure towards
a zone of low pressure.
Pressure differences may be due to two effects:
Stack effect:

Occurs

when the air inside a vertical stack is

warmer than the outside air (provided that there are
both inlet and outlet openings). The warmer air will
rise and will be replaced at the bottom of the stack by
cooler outside air.
Ventilating shafts are often used for internal
bathrooms or toilets, which are quite successful in a
cool climate.

VENTILATION DUCT
ARRANGEMENTS

PROVISION OF VENTILATION
STACK EFFECT

PROVISION OF VENTILATION
STACK EFFECT

 Stack

effect can also occur within a room of

significant height, if it has both a high level outlet
and a low level inlet.
The air flow will be proportional to the height
difference between inlet and outlet openings and to
the temperature difference between the air within
the stack (or room air) and the outdoor air.
In low-rise buildings such stack effects are quite
small, but for example in the staircase of a multistorey building it can develop into a strong aircurrent.
In warm climates the outdoor air may be just as
warm as the stack air, so there will be no air flow, or
if the stack air is cooler, it can produce a down-draft.

special case that could be considered as an

enhanced stack effect is the solar chimney, where at
least one side of the stack is exposed to solar radiation
and has a high absorptance.
This will be heated.
It heats the air inside, thus the insideoutside
temperature difference is increased, which in turn
would increase the air flow.

SOLAR CHIMNEY
A solar chimney utilizes the stack effect, as already
described, but here the air is deliberately heated by
solar radiation in order to create an exhaust effect.
The chimney can therefore be designed to maximize
solar gains and the ventilation effects. The
parameters effecting the ventilation rates are:
height between inlet and outlet;
cross-sectional area of the inlet and the outlet;
geometrical construction of the solar absorbing plate;
inclination angle.

The

use of solar chimneys is advisable for

regions where very low wind speeds exist.

SOLAR CHIMNEY EFFECT

WIND TOWER - PRINCIPLE

The

hot ambient air enters the tower through the

openings in the tower and is cooled when it comes in
contact with the cool tower and thus becomes heavier
and sinks down.
When an inlet is provided to the rooms with an outlet
on the other side there is a draft of cool air.
After a whole day of heat exchange, the wind tower
becomes warm in the evening.
During night the reverse happens, i.e., the cooler
ambient air comes in contact with the bottom of the
tower through the rooms; it gets heated up by the
warm surface of wind tower and begins to rise due to
buoyancy, and thus an air flow is maintained in the
reverse direction.

WIND TOWER - APPLICATION

This

system can work very effectively in hot and dry

types of climate, where daily variations in
temperatures are high with high temperature during
day time and low temperature during night time.

PROVISION FOR AIR-MOVEMENT

WIND EFFECT

Wind-shadow

Effect of direction on width of

wind-shadow

AIR-FLOW THROUGH BUILDINGS

EFFECT OF BUILDING
ORIENTATION

Effect of wind direction and inlet opening size on air velocity

distribution inside room

AIR-FLOW THROUGH BUILDINGS

EFFECT OF EXTERNAL FEATURES

AIR-FLOW THROUGH BUILDINGS

EFFECT OF CROSS-VENTILATION

AIR-FLOW THROUGH BUILDINGS

EFFECT OF POSITION AND SIZE OF OPENINGS

AIR-FLOW THROUGH BUILDINGS

EFFECT OF CONTROL OF OPENINGS

AIR-FLOW AROUND BUILDINGS

Wind-shadow

Effect of direction on width of windshadow

AIR-FLOW AROUND BUILDINGS

EFFECT OF HEIGHT OF BUILDING

ON THE BEHAVIOR OF EDDY

EFFECT OF DEPTH OF BUILDING ON

THE BEHAVIOR OF EDDY

EFFECT OF LENGTH OF BUILDING

ON THE BEHAVIOR OF EDDY

Behavior of Eddy on a straight block with different orientation along

and against the wind direction

BEHAVIOR OF EDDY WHEN

STRUCTURES ARE TWO STOREY
HIGH

BEHAVIOR OF EDDY WHEN

STRUCTURES ARE TWO STOREY
HIGH

AIR FLOW AROUND BUILDINGS

AIR FLOW AROUND BUILDINGS IN

LAYOUTS

DESIRABLE ORIENTATION OF THE LONGER

SIDE OF THE BUILDING WITH LARGER AREA
OF WINDOWS

Thank you