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Abstract
Advanced stack-ventilated buildings have the potential to consume much less energy for space conditioning than typical mechanically
ventilated or air-conditioned buildings. This paper describes how environmental design considerations in general, and ventilation considerations in
particular, shape the architecture of advanced naturally ventilated (ANV) buildings. The attributes of simple and advanced naturally ventilated
buildings are described and a taxonomy of ANV buildings presented. Simple equations for use at the preliminary design stage are presented. These
produce target structural cross section areas for the key components of ANV systems. The equations have been developed through practice-based
research to design three large educational buildings: the Frederick Lanchester Library, Coventry, UK; the School of Slavonic and East European
Studies, London, UK; the Harm A. Weber Library, Elgin, near Chicago, USA. These buildings are briefly described and the sizes of the as-built
ANV features compared with the target values for use in preliminary design. The three buildings represent successive evolutionary stages: from
advanced natural ventilation, to ANV with passive downdraught cooling, and finally ANV with HVAC support. Hopefully the guidance, simple
calculation tools and case study examples will give architects and environmental design consultants confidence to embark on the design of ANV
buildings.
# 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Low energy buildings; Advanced natural ventilation; Ventilation areas; Case studies; Downdraught cooling
0378-7788/$ see front matter # 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2006.05.004
K.J. Lomas / Energy and Buildings 39 (2007) 166181 167
Fig. 1. The CO2 emissions from 20 buildings and ECON19 [32] benchmarks.
evidence for the UK, although rather weak, suggests that ANV controlled, an air flow can be assured at all times when there is
can keep buildings comfortable though the next century in all an internal source of warmth, including at night. In fact, in an
but the hottest (London) region [2,3]. unconstrained displacement flow regimen, where heat sources
Conventionally conceived NV buildings are shallow plan generate isolated plumes of warm air, the flow rate is directly
with an extended perimeter, and facade openings which provide proportional to the strength of the source, and the interface
the fresh air inlet and exhaust air outlet (Table 1). These between the cooler air the warm air above remains fixed [4].
features can be incompatible with the planning constraints With heat sources distributed over a surface, the air flow is also
imposed by tight urban sights and the noise and pollution in city dependent on the source strength in steady state conditions [5].
centres. The use of manually operated windows can This happy coincidence, between heat input and air flow rate,
compromise security, increasing concerns about theft by enables rather simple but robust control of air flow and makes
building occupants (a particularly important consideration prediction of performance at the design stage comparatively
for library buildings of the type described in this paper). reliable. Further, the interface between the cool and warmer air
Mechanically controlled perimeter windows enable night can be designed to lie above head height.
ventilation but the building may then be vulnerable to break- The benefits of control-ability and predictability, which stack
in or other malicious acts. driven natural displacement ventilation offers, can be lost if wind
At the design stage an ability to reliably predict the likely pressures begin to dominate the flow. An inability to harness
internal conditions in a building, for example by using dynamic these pressures is not a disadvantage; after all it is during still
thermal models and computational fluid dynamics programs, warm summer conditions when it is most difficult to keep ANV
can be reassuring and it is important to have a clear idea of how buildings thermally comfortable. Therefore, designing the
the internal conditions in the finished building will be buildings to be wind neutral is a useful guiding principle.
controlled. Relying, as they do, on variable and ill defined In a recent paper [2] a taxonomy was proposed, in which
pressure differences set up across the building by the wind, the stack ventilated buildings were divided into four main types
likely performance of simple NV buildings is hard to predict (Fig. 2). The edge-in, centre-out approach (E-C) is exemplified
and control. by the Queens Building at De Montfort University, Leicester,
ANV buildings that utilise the stack effect, in which air UK [69] and the edge-in, edge-out strategy (E-E) by the UK
warmed by internal sources of heat drives the air flow, do not Building Research Establishments (BRE) Energy Efficient
necessarily rely on wind pressures. If properly designed and Office of the Future [10].
168 K.J. Lomas / Energy and Buildings 39 (2007) 166181
Table 1
Characteristics of different simple and advanced natural ventilation strategies (after [2])
Simple natural ventilation Advanced natural ventilation (ANV)
Single Cross Edge-in Edge-in Centre-in Centre-in
sided flow edge-out (E-E) centre-out (E-C) edge-out (C-E) centre-out (C-C)
Architectural implications
Air inlet objecta No No No No Yes Yes
Exhaust stacksb No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Plan depthc 2.5 (5) 5 10d 10d 5
Deep plane No No No Yes Yes Yes
Indoor air quality provided
Occupant inlet control Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Close control No No Possf Possf Yes Yes
Displacement vent possible No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Draught control Poor Poor Poor Poor Good Good
Performance predictability Poor Poor Good Good Very good Very good
Protection from local environment
Urban noise attenuation Poor Poor Poor Poor Good Good
Perimeter security Poor Poor Poor Poor Good Good
Robustness to climate change
Night vent cooling Yes f Yesf Yesf Yes f Yes Yes
Possible mech vent assistg No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Comfort cool Difficult Difficult Difficult Difficult Easy Easy
Heat recovery No No No No Noh Noh
a
Such as plenum and lightwell.
b
Might utilise other feature, such as an exhaust air lightwell.
c
Rules of thumb (e.g. CIBSE, 2001)based on multiples of the floor-to-ceiling height. For single sided vent this is the room depth, but for cross-flow vent it is the
floor plate width perimeter-to-perimeter.
d
With a row of centrally located stacks, exhausting both sides of the building (E-C), or a central air inlet shaft supplying both sides of the building (C-E), the
perimeter-to-perimeter depth may be 10.
e
Exceeding, about, 20 m perimeter-to-perimeter.
f
If mechanically controlled perimeter air inlets are used.
g
E.g. fan in a stack or fan pressurised supply.
h
However, since the air is exhausted through discrete vertical stacks, heat recovery is possible when a mixed mode variant of the building is operated in mechanical
mode (e.g. HAWL).
In both building types, cold winter air can be drawn in over ventilation). With centrally located stacks (E-C), deep-plan
perimeter heating elements to pre-warm it and in summer buildings are possible, as in the Queens Building. Whilst
operable windows can be used to enhance airflows, and create air centrally located atria can, in principle, assist buoyancy driven
movement, without disrupting the basic airflow strategy. flow, stacks require less space, have more reliable ventilation
Mechanically operated air inlets permit night ventilation (and performance, can have terminations which are less susceptible
in the Queens Buildings lecture theatres, also daytime to wind effects and can, if necessary, incorporate low-powered
axial fans to encourage airflow under particularly adverse
conditions (as in the BRE office). The disadvantage of the
edge-in strategy is that the perimeter inlets are susceptible to the
noise, pollution and security concerns associated with design on
urban sites (Table 1).
The three case study buildings described in this paper, for
which the author provided strategic design advice and
performance evaluations, on behalf of the client and the
architect, Short and Associates, all utilise a centre-in ANV
strategy: the centre-in, edge-out (C-E) strategy is exemplified
by the School of Slavonic and East European Studies building
(SSEES) building, London, UK [2,1113]; the larger, very
deep-plan, Frederick Lanchester Library (FLL), in Coventry,
UK employs both the C-E and C-C strategy [2,3,11,1319];
whilst the Harm A Weber Library (HAWL), in Elgin, near
Chicago, Illinois, USA [20,21] uses the C-E approach with
Fig. 2. Schematic diagrams of the different forms of stack ventilation. localised E-E ventilation of perimeter offices.
K.J. Lomas / Energy and Buildings 39 (2007) 166181 169
1 2
Appendix A presents Manchester data for the FLL as this is the nearest TRY The third hottest year recorded in London (Heathrow) between 1976 and
site to Coventry. 1995: the London Design Summer Year is 1989.
170 K.J. Lomas / Energy and Buildings 39 (2007) 166181
Fig. 4. Frederick Lanchester Library showing air supply strategy (left) and air exhaust strategy (right) (after [13]).
Fig. 6. School of Slavonic and East European studies building showing the
natural ventilation cooling strategy (after [13]).
Fig. 8. Harm A Webber Library showing the natural ventilation strategy (after
[20]).
control to stop the ambient air, and in the case of the SSEES and Exhaust air enters the stacks through dampered openings set
HAWL buildings the cooled air, being heated. The FLL and the below the ceiling soffit. The stacks are vertical and well
HAWL have an enclosed greenhouse formed by a horizontal insulated to keep the air in them warm and buoyant. They
glazed screen just above the air inlet to the top-most floor. The discharge above roof level to provide the necessary stack height
greenhouses have moving blinds and can be copiously and to position the terminations (which are to be neutral to wind
ventilated to remove solar-originated heat in summer. The effects) out of the turbulent airflow zone at roof level. The
SSEES building uses the same principle, but the greenhouse terminations are louvered to prevent the ingress of precipitation
takes the form of an upper and lower ETFE cushion. There is no and they contain bird or insect mesh. Above the roofline the
blind system, but the space between the cushions can be stacks have a rectangular cross section, which simplifies the
ventilated and the lightwell top is tilted towards the north. The design of the dampers which seal each stack at roof level.
lower ETFE layer has dampers around its perimeter with In the HAWL the stacks discharge into a sloped roof plenum
cooling batteries below. In spring and summer the dampers which exhausts via five ridge-mounted terminations: a position
admit ambient air for ventilation cooling and if necessary the air which the client preferred to the more dramatic perimeter
can be chilledpassive downdraught cooling. location for stacks.
In all three buildings air is supplied to the lightwell(s) via a Experience from CFD analyses has indicated that, unless
horizontal plenum located between the ground floor and the perimeter stacks extend above the level of the top floor inlet a
basement. The plenum feeds all sides of the lightwell, in the long way, which can be costly and impractical, stale air from
SSEES and HAWL, but just two sides of each lightwell in the lower floors can re-enter the top most floor [15]. Thus dedicated
FLL. Vertical drops from the plenum supply fresh air to top floor exhaust paths have become a feature of these ANV
basement areas in the SSEES and HAWL, which are exhausted buildings: separate short stacks in the HAWL; short stacks plus
by stacks. Because the basements are partially earth-bound and partitioned perimeter stacks in the FFL; and partitioned stacks
are poorly day lit, they tended to house unique (support) spaces at the rear, but dedicated partitioned chimneys at the front, in
(e.g. book archives and computer rooms), some of which may the SSEES.
require air conditioning. (For example, the whole of the FLL
basement is a 24 h access computing suite.) 3. Preliminary sizing of advanced natural ventilation
The plena are supplied with ambient air via dampered slots system components
at the buildings perimeter (FLL and HAWL) or by air supply
corridors and discreet inlets (SSEES). Each plenum has inlets 3.1. Preliminary design
located on more than one side of the building so that the
dampers at one or more inlets can be closed in adverse wind In the preliminary design phase the geometry of a building
conditions whilst retaining an open air inlet elsewhere. The can be extremely fluid as the architect grapples with a multitude
inlets are heavily louvered and incorporate either bird and of design constraints and design driversstructure, space
rodent mesh (SSEES, HAWL) or insect mesh (HAWL). Heater planning, fire, safety, cost, etc. This might include considering
batteries pre-heat the air and are located either across the base the number of storeys, the disposition of open plan and cellular
of the lightwell (FLL) or behind the air inlets (SSEES, HAWL). spaces and the external visual appearancein particular the
The latter strategy avoids insulating the plenum and enables the position, size and number of stacks and the style of the roof top
bottom of the lightwell to be clear glazing, thereby providing exhaust air terminations.
natural light to the basement. Under such circumstances it is helpful if the design team can
The perimeter stacks are an architecturally striking feature of work with simple equations and guidelines. In the context of
these ANV buildings and are crucial the ventilation strategy. In centre-in ANV buildings, these need to assist with sizing and
all three buildings they are reasonably uniformly distributed locating the main components: the plena; the lightwell(s); the
around the perimeter, which: assists with aesthetics; enables the stacks; and the air inlets and outlets to and from these. The
stacks to contribute to solar shading of windows; creates thermal critical measure is the free area available for air flow and so the
buffers between the inside and outside; helps to ensure zones of equations that follow generate target structural areas for
warm stale air do develop in the building; and offers planning preliminary design, i.e. the size of the opening to be created by
flexibility by enabling perimeter cellular spaces to be easily the architect (and into which any air flow control, heating and
locked into an exhaust stack. This latter benefit is fully other equipment will be inserted). The target areas are
exploited in the SSEES building, which has many offices: the rear expressed as a percentage of the floor area to be ventilated,
stacks, of triangular shape, cover the entire back wall and a which enables them to be used with buildings of arbitrary size
double facade runs right across the front face.3 There are draught and shape.
lobbies to entrance doors which prevent the stacks drawing in The air flow rates required to maintain thermal comfort
ambient air, which is particularly important in winter when the during warm, still summer conditions invariably dictate the
stack forces are greatest and the draught risk higher. maximum free area of opening required (some spaces have
higher ventilation needs, see e.g. [24], but in these specialist
buildings, natural ventilation is probably inappropriate).
3
The outer front facade was designed to harmonise with the Georgian Initially, the free areas are calculated on the basis of the
architecture of the surrounding area. overall expected internal heat gain in the particular building
K.J. Lomas / Energy and Buildings 39 (2007) 166181 173
Table 2
Estimated structural inlet and outlet areas for use at the preliminary design stage of advanced natural ventilation systems
Total heat gain Airflow rates Target structural areas as percentage of area of floors served (%)
(W/m2) 1 a 1 b
(ls ) (ach ) Lightwell Lightwell, plenum Plenum
outletsc outlet and stacks d inlete
20 2.4 2.5 1.6 0.5 1.0
30 3.6 3.7 2.4 0.7 1.4
40 4.8 4.8 3.2 1.0 2.0
50 6.0 6.0 4.0 1.2 2.4
60 7.1 7.4 4.8 1.4 2.8
Values in bold are target area for preliminary design purposes.
a
Air flow rate required for ventilation cooling per m2 of floor area.
b
Assumes 3.5 m floor to ceiling height.
c
Eq. (8) assumes gross structural area is twice the free area and the air speed is limited to 0.3 m/s.
d
Eqs. (3), (4), (9) and (10) presume no obstruction by grills, dampers, meshes, louvers, etc. and an air speed of 0.5 m/s.
e
Eq. (7) assumes gross structural area is twice the free area and the air speed is limited to 0.5 m/s.
type, tabulated values for which can be found in design guides close to the ceiling could be about 3 K, or in the case of higher
(e.g. [24]). ceilings, 4 K above the mid-height temperature [24,25]. Thus
Assumptions about the likely internal temperature differ- an assumption that the overall temperature difference, DT, is
ential and air speeds have to be made and, for preliminary 7 K is reasonable. Given this, the volume flows necessary for
design, values are chosen such that the calculated ventilation different heat gains can be found (Table 2, cols 2 and 3).
opening areas are conservative, i.e. over, rather than under, The allowable temperatures rise, DT, could be varied from
sized. Experience indicates that areas set aside for ventilation the value used here, for example 5 K might be more appropriate
(stacks, lightwells, etc.) at preliminary design, can be readily in buildings with a lower ceiling height (and vice-versa). The
surrendered for other purposes as the design evolves, but trying effect would be to proportionally increase (or decrease) the
to reclaim space, to compensate for under sizing early in the target volume flows of air, and hence the target opening areas,
design process, can be very difficult. required.
The target areas calculated are, of course, merely the starting The mass flow rate can be converted into a free area of
point. As the design evolves, the free areas can be refined, by re- ventilation opening, A, via:
using the equations but with the improved knowledge about the m
use which will be made of spaces and thus the likely heat gains. A m2 (2)
v
Detailed design can involve more accurate manual calcula-
tions, such as the application of stack effect equations (see, for where v (m/s) is the assumed air speed.
example [24]), and, later in the design process, the use of The achievable air speed will decrease as the stack height
sophisticated computer-based methods such as thermal decreases, all other factors being equal. Assuming that
simulation and computational fluid dynamics analysis (see dedicated ventilation provision is made for the top floor of
Appendix A for the analyses used in designing the case study the building (as in the case studies) then the top-but-one floor
buildings). Indeed, it is experience gained through the use of will have the shortest stack height, say 6 mthe height of the
these methods that has informed the development of the simple floor above plus the height from the roof level to the stack
equations and guidelines presented here. termination. Using this value, and a DT of 7 K, it can be shown
(e.g. equations in [24], pp. 411) that a value for v of 0.5 m/s is
3.2. Displacement and stack ventilation reasonable. Experience from CFD analysis corroborates this
rough assumption (e.g. [21]).
The sizing equations are based on considerations of a simple
stack-driven displacement ventilation regimen; that is, a low 3.3. Location and size of lightwell
level inlet supplying the space to be cooled and a high level
outlet into a stack. The volume flow of air, m (m3/s), required to It is generally most appropriate to position the lightwell in
provide ventilation cooling for different internal heat gains is the middle of the floor plates which are to be ventilated:
given by: although circumstances can arise which dictate otherwise, for
example when a building abuts its neighbours so that exhaust
QA
m m3 =s (1) stacks cannot be located on all sides.
C c DT
The volume flow of air required up the lightwell, ml, can be
where Q is the heat gain (W/m2), A (m2) the floor area, DT (K) calculated on the basis of total area of the building to be
the allowable temperature rise, and Cc is the volumetric heat ventilated from the lightwell, Ab, and the expected daily
capacity of air (1200 J/m3 K). average heat gain density in these areas, Qb. A building-average
Typically, the supply air temperature would be 23 K below heat gain is appropriate for lightwell sizing even if peak gains in
the target temperature for the occupied zone. The temperature individual spaces are known, because, whilst some zones might
174 K.J. Lomas / Energy and Buildings 39 (2007) 166181
be at full occupancy, it is unlikely that all spaces will be so determines the plenum depth, Dp:
simultaneouslypeople move around redistributing the heat
Apo
sources (and the stack system will automatically draw more Dp m (6)
air to the more densely occupied, and thus warmer, zones). Pl
Periods of particularly dense occupancy also tend to be short where P1 (m) is the length of the lightwells perimeter. Because
lived (especially at the whole building level) and a thermally a shallow plenum is desirable, as this reduces the overall
massive building, in which occupants can radiate heat to a building height (and increases the head height in a basement
night-cooled ceiling slab, can simply ride out periods of dense below), it is advantageous to make maximum use of the
occupation (the time history of thermally massive buildings can perimeter available by connecting the plenum to all sides of
be in the order of several days). the lightwell (as in the SSEES and the HAWL).
The lightwell cross sectional area, Al , can be expressed as a The plenum can be supplied with ambient air either by a slot
percentage of the whole building floor area by combining around the buildings perimeter (FLL, HAWL) or by air
Eqs. (1) and (2): corridors (e.g. SSEES). The structural opening to these should
be sufficiently large that the necessary obstructions, dampers,
Al Qb
100 % (3) heater batteries and bird or insect meshes, do not inadvertently
Ab vC c DT reduce the free area. Therefore, the structural area of inlet to the
Using the values of 0.5 m/s, 1200 J/m3 K, and 7 K for v, Cc plenum is given by:
and DT, respectively, yields the ratio of the lightwell area to that Api Qb
of the total floor area ventilated (Table 2), e.g. 0.7% and 1.2%, 100 % (7)
Ab vC c DTbpi
for heat densities of 30 and 50 W/m2, respectively.
For a lightwell fed by a plenum (as in the FLL and HAWL), where bpi is the proportion of the plenum inlet that is
the cross sectional area calculated is, in fact, for the bottom of obstructed.
the lightwell. From an air supply standpoint, a bottom-fed For preliminary design purposes, it is reasonable to assume
lightwell could taper because the air volume to be carried that bpi is 0.5. Methods of reducing blockage at the air inlet
diminishes floor-by-floor. However, from an interior day- include: raking the heater batteries (SSEES and HAWL) or
lighting standpoint, it is better to have a lightwell with a large enlarging the mouth of the plenum (HAWL). Whilst the plenum
aperture at the top (and a larger aperture is almost certainly can carry services these should not unduly restrict the free area
needed if the lightwell is (also) to be fed by from above in or hinder maintenance.
ventilation cooling mode, e.g. the SSEES building). Also, as If the air entering the plenum serves only the lightwell (and
will be seen later, it tends to be the available area of lightwell not, for example, the basement below) then Qb and Ab are the
perimeter, rather than the cross sectional area of the lightwell, same as in Eqs. (3) and (4). However, if some of the air entering
which begins to dictate its size. Therefore, in practice, air the plenum is used to ventilate a basement (as in the HAWL and
supply lightwells (even those fed with air from the bottom only) the SSEES) or other areas (such as the perimeter offices, in the
tend to have vertical sides: this can also be less costly than HAWL) then the value of Ab in Eq. (7) will be larger than the
sloping sides. value used in Eqs. (3) and (4). To produce the target areas in
Table 2 it has been assumed that all air entering the plenum
3.4. Sizing the air inlet plenum supplies only the lightwell.
If the lightwell is fed only from the bottom, the plenum 3.5. Sizing air outlets from lightwell
needs to be able to deliver all the air the building needs. Thus,
The gross structural area of the outlets from the lightwell to
Apo Qb each floor, Alo, can be given by:
100 % (4)
Ab vC c DTbpo
Alo Qf
100 % (8)
where bpo is the proportion of the plenum outlet that is blocked Af vo C c DTblo
(0, fully blocked; 1, no blockage), Apo the free cross-sectional
area of the plenum outlet into the lightwell and v and DT are where Af is the area of the floor to be ventilated; Qf the heat load
again 0.5 m/s and 7 K, respectively. If there is no obstruction at density on the floor (W/m2); blo the proportion of the inlet that
the interface between the lightwell and plenum and, in fact, no is blocked by obstructions; and vo is the speed of the air leaving
airflow control device is needed at this point, the free cross- the outlets (m/s). At preliminary design stage the value of Qf
sectional area Apo is equal to the gross structural area, giving: might simply be taken as Qb and refined as the occupancy for
each floor becomes better defined.
Apo Al (5) The air outlets from the lightwell are located adjacent to
occupied areas. In fact, the available daylight and fresh air,
Because the building perimeter, which is the location for the together with a structure (the lightwell) on which to mount
plenum inlet, is longer than the lightwell perimeter, it tends to services, makes the lightwell perimeter an ideal place to locate
be the outlet from the plenum into the lightwell which work surfaces. Care must be taken, therefore, to avoid cold
K.J. Lomas / Energy and Buildings 39 (2007) 166181 175
draughts, especially in winter. Thus the air speeds must be whole building (Ast) will be given by
limited (and, in winter, the air temperatures not too low) but a
Ast Qb
displacement flow regimen, supplying all the occupied floor 100 % (10)
Ab vC c DT
area, must be achieved. In general, guides (e.g. [24]) suggest an
upper value of air speed of about 0.15 m/s. However, in summer values for different Qb are given in Table 2.
cooling mode, which is the design condition being considered Ideally, the stacks should be vertical and straight and
here, the speed can be higher (because the supply air terminate above the roof line; as noted above, the top floor may
temperature will be elevated) therefore, for these sizing need to be ventilated separately and/or the stacks might be
purposes a value for the air speed, vo , of 0.3 m/s has been internally partitioned.
assumed (Table 2). The stack-top terminations can become rather large because
The structure associated with the lightwell, the reheating they must provide the same free area as the stacks which they
devices, and the dampers with their framing and louvers (or surmount but also: prevent rain penetration; and include insect
other flow control objects), will introduce blockage. This might or bird mesh, dampers and devices to overcome unwanted wind
mean that only 50% of the structural opening is actually free pressures. They must also have a suitable aesthetic appearance
area so a reasonable value for blo at preliminary design stage is as they may be the most striking visual feature of stack-
0.5. ventilated buildings.
The calculated free area for outlets, e.g. 2.4% of floor The inlets to each stack will be located at high level, just
area for an internal heat gain of 30 W/m2 (Table 2) does not below the ceiling soffit in order to drain warm, stale stratified
seem large. However, the inlets serving an entire floor will air, and they will contain dampers to control the airflow. Thus
cluster around the perimeter of the lightwells and the top of the structural area of the openings into each stack will exceed
the inlet may need to be no more than about 0.7 m above the the area of stacks calculated from Eq. (9) in proportion to the
floorto ensure a displacement flow and to fit below work degree of blockage caused by the dampers, e.g. by 50%. At
surfaces. Thus, the length of a lightwells perimeter may preliminary design stage it is unnecessary to size these
limit the free inlet area achievable, which can lead to the openings; however, if the number of stacks provided on a given
lightwells being enlarged to accommodate the outlet areas floor is small and if the stacks present a narrow face towards the
required.4 In very deep-plan buildings, the lightwell space, it may be difficult to get the necessary outlet area into the
perimeter may be insufficient and so multiple smaller stack. The stacks in the HAWL and especially the SSEES
lightwells may be used, rather than a single large lightwell building overcome such difficulties by presenting a wide stack
(e.g. the FLL). face towards the occupied spaces.
3.6. Sizing the stacks and air outlets 4. Comparison of as-built and target opening areas
The stacks themselves are likely to be free of blockage and, It is instructive to compare the as-built areas of the openings
as noted above, it is reasonable to assume an air speed in them, in the three case-study buildings with the target areas suggested
during ventilation cooling operation, of 0.5 m/s. Therefore the by the above sizing method for a number of reasons: to
total area of the stacks As exhausting a floor can be given by: understand which of the target opening areas are, in practice,
the most difficult to achieve; to illustrate the extent to which
As Qf opening areas deviate from the target figures; to illustrate how
100 % (9) design ingenuity can enable the desired free inlets to be
Af vC c DT
achieved in difficult circumstances; and, finally, to act as a
As noted above Qf might simply be taken as Qb for springboard for discussion of the finer points of these buildings
preliminary design. The required area can be distributed designs.
around a number of equally sized stacks or in some other way From the as-built dimensions (as given in Appendix A) it is
(the FLL has stacks and a central lightwell, the HAWL stacks possible to obtain: the total floor area to be ventilated from the
of differing cross-section and the SSEES stacks and a double lightwell, Ab; the cross-sectional area of the lightwell, Al; the
facade). feasible maximum area of the outlets from the lightwell, Alo; the
As successive floors exhaust into each stack, the volume area of the outlet from the plenum into the lightwell, Apo; the
flows of air to be carried increases, thus the cross-sectional gross area available for ambient air to enter the plenum, Api; and,
areas could increase up the building. The central lightwell of finally, the cross-sectional area of the stacks available to exhaust
the FLL visibly illustrates this; it enlarges from 36 m2 on the the air from the building, Ast (see Table 3). These as-built areas,
ground floor to 82 m2 at the roof topa form which is expressed as a percentage of Ab, are compared with the target
consistent with daylighting considerations. At the level of the areas intended for preliminary architectural design (Table 2) in
stack terminations, the total area of all the stack outlets from the Table 4. The target areas are calculated using Qb values of 30 W/
m2 for the FLL and SSEES and 45 W/m2 for the HAWL, which
4
The authors and architect have considered articulating lightwell perimeters were the values adopted at the preliminary design stage.
to artificially increase their perimeter lengthbut this can be costly, construc- It is evident (Table 4) that, in all three buildings, the as-built
tionally difficult and in conflict with interior planning ideas. cross-sectional area of the lightwells exceeds the target free
176 K.J. Lomas / Energy and Buildings 39 (2007) 166181
Table 3
As-built areas of main airflow apertures in the three case study buildings
FLL SSEES HAWL
2
Building Gross floor area of building (m ) 8161 3380 3468
Gross areas of floors 2228 m2 (G-2) 303 m2 (G) 665 m2 (14) 1165 m2 (G-2)
Lightwells Total building floor area serveda (m2) 4 1858 2936 2283
Cross sectional area (m2) 4 38 36 73
Perimeter lengthb 24.4 m (G-2) 12.2 m (3) 24 m (G-4), 19 (5) 34 m (G-2)
Total feasible maximum outlet areac (m2) 4 60 76 71
Plenum Depth at outlet into lightwell (m) 1.5 0.80 0.93
Gross area at outletd (m2) 4 18 19 h 32
Depth at inlet at building perimetere (m) 1.4 n/a 1.45
Gross area at inletf (m2) 4 36 15 55
Stacks Cross sectional areasg (m2) 160 33 47.4
2
Values in bold, rounded to the nearest 1 m , are used to calculate as-built statistics for comparison with preliminary design target values in Table 4.
a
Excludes the lightwell itself and all areas not ventilated from the lightwell(s), e.g. stair wells, mechanically ventilated areas (e.g. WCs), the basements and, in the
HAWL, perimeter offices directly ventilated from the facade.
b
Stated perimeter length includes curved corners of SSEES lightwell, length excluding corners is 18 m (G-4).
c
Presumes inlet heights are a maximum of 0.7 m (i.e. below desktop). Curved lightwell corners are not a feasible outlet location in the SSEES building. E.g. FLL
0.7 (3 24.4 + 1 12.2) = 60 m2; 24.4 m perimeter on G, 1 and 2 and 12.2 m perimeter on floor 3.
d
E.g. FLL = 1.5 12.2 = 18.3 m2 as only two sides of each lightwell served from plenum. The perimeter, excluding the curved corners, is used for SSEES.
e
Depth of plenum slot at the perimeter of the building for FLL and HAWL, not applicable at SSEES which has discrete air corridors and apertures as inlets.
f
Structural area, i.e. excluding any obstruction from louvers, dampers, grills, mesh, etc.
g
Area of all stacks at level of terminations, except HAWL which is area at entry to roof plenum, FLL includes area of the central lightwell.
h
Additionally there is 26 m2 of inlet at the head of the lightwell.
area by a considerable amount. For example, in the HAWL, the The air supply lightwells in the FLL occupy about 6.8%, of
target area for preliminary design is 1.1% of the floor area the gross area of the ground to second floor, the SSEES
ventilated, whereas the actual cross-section of the lightwell is lightwell occupies 12% of the (reduced area) ground floor and
3.2% of the area ventilated. The target free areas presume that 5.4% of floors one to four, and the HAWL lightwell 6.3% for all
there is no obstruction to airflow, however in the FLL, the heater above ground floors. In addition to providing fresh air, the
batteries across the base of the lightwell reduce the effective lightwells admit daylight which brings both functional and
free area by about 50%, i.e. to 1.0% of the floor area ventilated, physiological benefits to otherwise deep plan spaces.
which is much closer to the target of 0.7%. Nevertheless, it is The feasible maximum area of outlets from the lightwells
evident that the cross-sectional area of these lightwells should are much closer to the target areas, with the HAWL actually
not, in practice, act as a constraint to the flow of ventilation air. having a maximum feasible opening area that is less than the
Table 4
Comparison of as-built areas and target structural areas for use in preliminary design
Gross areas as percentage of floor area served (%) a
FLL SSEES HAWL
b c b c
As-built Target As-built Target As-builtb Targetc
Lightwell Gross cross sectional aread 2.0 i 0.7 1.2 0.7 3.2 1.1
Feasible maximum area of outletse 3.2 2.4 2.6 2.4 3.1 3.6
Plenum Outlets into lightwellf 1.0 0.7 0.7j 0.7 1.4 1.1
Inlet from ambientg 1.9 1.4 0.5j 1.4 2.4 2.2
Stacks Cross sectional area at terminationsh 2.2 0.7 1.1 0.7 2.0 1.1
a
Areas rounded to nearest 0.1%.
b
Areas used to calculate as-built values taken from Table 3, methods of calculation are given below.
c
Target areas from Table 2 using whole building design heat loads of 30 W/m2FLL and SSEES and 45 W/m2 HAWL. These do not, necessarily, concur with the
heat loads used later in the design process when occupancy had been more accurately defined.
d
As percentage of floor area served, e.g. FLL 38/1858 = 2.0%.
e
Excludes curved lightwell corners in the SSEES, e.g. FLL 60/1858 = 3.2%.
f
Outlet from plenum to lightwell as percentage of floor area served by lightwell(s), e.g. FLL 18/1858 = 1.0%.
g
E.g. FLL 36/1858 = 1.9%.
h
Includes central lightwell in FLL, e.g. FLL = 160/(4 1858) = 2.2%.
i
But the horizontal heater batteries reduce the free cross-sectional area by 50%, to 1% of the floor area served.
j
Additional 26 m2 of inlet in the head of the lightwell for ventilation cooling giving an extra inlet area of 0.9% of the floor area served.
K.J. Lomas / Energy and Buildings 39 (2007) 166181 177
target value (i.e. 3.1% compared to the target of 3.6%). This offices enable these spaces to be ventilated directly from
arises because the single lightwell is supplying air to a large ambient, thereby overcoming any restriction imposed by the
surrounding floor plate. (Note, that in the HAWL the maximum plenum inlet.
horizontal air inlet to outlet distance is 15.7 m, but in the other Because the plenum inlet area was barely large enough in the
two buildings it is only 12 m, see Appendix A.) The HAWL also SSEES and HAWL, particular care was taken to reduce the
has a higher design internal heat gain, i.e. 45 W/m2 compared to blockage caused by heater batteries, by positioning them at a
30 W/m2 in the other two buildings. To overcome the limitation raked angle (e.g. Fig. 8). In the HAWL, the potentially severe
in available area, top-hung canopy windows operated by long restriction of the insect mesh, rather than bird/rodent mesh, was
push bars are used at the outlets from the lightwell. limited by folding the mesh (effectively extending the plan
Additionally, the top-floor, a design studio, has operable length over which it was distributed).
clerestory windows, so that it can be ventilated with cool air In all three buildings, the cross-sectional area of the stacks at
directly from ambient (see Fig. 8). the level of the terminations (and in the case of the FLL, the
Overall, these results illustrate the more general point that it stacks plus the central lightwell) are in excess of the target
tends to be the length of the lightwell perimeter necessary to areas; in the FLL by a factor of 3 (2.2% compared to a target
achieve a desired outlet area, rather than the cross-sectional value of 0.7%). These larger cross-sectional areas are the result,
area of the lightwell itself, that determines the overall lightwell in part, of adjusting the areas in line with the stack ventilation
dimensions. Put another way, at the preliminary design stage calculationsby enlarging the outlets, relative to the inlets, the
the size of the lightwell is likely to be determined by the area of neutral pressure level can be encouraged to settle higher up the
outlet needed around the perimeter (Eq. (8)) rather than the free stacks reducing the likelihood of back flow into upper floors.
area required for the lightwell itself (Eq. (3)). This was a particular concern during the design of the FLL.
In all three buildings, the area of the outlet from the plenum Whilst the stacks in the HAWL seem amply sized, they also
into the lightwell is close to, or in excess of, the target area. In ventilate the basement and the perimeter offices, which are fed
the SSEES building, the as-built area only just meets the target with fresh air directly from the plenum rather than from the
value (0.7% of floor area), but this free area was difficult to lightwell.
attain because the level of the basement and ground floor were Overall, it is evident that the as-built structural opening areas
set by the site levels and, of course, head height had to be in the SSEES building and the HAWL are rather closely aligned
retained within the basement. to the target areas proposed for preliminary design purposes,
The inlets to the plenum at the building perimeter were whereas in the FLL, the opening areas are conservatively larger.
larger than the target value in the FLL and HAWL but much This general difference results, in part, from the growth in
smaller in the SSEES building (0.5% as-built, compared to the confidence of the design team with successive buildings. The
target value of 1.4%); again, this was due to the difficult site SSEES and HAWL also have supporting mechanical summer-
configuration. The vehicle delivery route at ground level, which time cooling systems which can be activated when the natural
loops round the back of the building (see Fig. 6), prevented the displacement ventilation cooling fails to achieve the desired
use of a slot-type plenum inlet (as used in the FLL and HAWL); internal temperatures.
so air corridors were used at the back of the building and four
large apertures at the front. The restricted area of inlet is 5. Design development
overcome when the building is in natural ventilation cooling
mode through the provision of air inlets at the head of the The forgoing sections have shown how to calculate the
lightwellthese inlets provide an additional 26 m2 of opening, overall sizes of the components of the ANV systems at the
equivalent to 0.9%, of the floor area ventilated by the lightwell. preliminary design stage. However, as designs develop, other
Thus the total inlet area in this mode of operation is 1.4%, factors must also be considered, for example: the provision of
which is comparable to the target area. The area of inlets to the air transfer ducts, or labyrinths, to enable air to flow into (at low
SSEES plenum is, in fact, just sufficient to meet the fresh air level) or out of (at high level) cellular spaces, as in all three of
needs of occupants and it is during this winter time mode of the buildings discussed here (Figs. 4, 6 and 8); the introduction
operation that the air needs pre-heating before delivery to the of acoustic absorbers, especially between spaces with different
lightwell.5 noise level expectations (e.g. in the stacks of the HAWL
Although, in the HAWL, the as-built gross inlet area to the between the design studio (floor 2) and the library and office
plenum is marginally larger than the target value, not all the air floors below); and, of course, the fine adjustment of the areas of
serves the lightwell; some ventilates the basement and some is inlets and outlets, to and from, individual spaces to reflect their
fed up to perimeter offices (Fig. 8). However, when the building individual design heat loads and the different stack heights.
is in natural ventilation cooling mode, the clerestory windows These area adjustments can be made by recalculating the target
to the top floor studio and the operable windows to perimeter areas in Table 2 using the actual heat loads in the individual
spaces (in conjunction with the floor area of the space). The
5 outlet areas into the stacks can be further refined by, in effect,
Assuming a ventilation requirement of 10 l/s per person, and that each
person occupies 10 m2 of building floor area, the target gross area of inlet using more realistic air flow velocities for the stacksthese can
required is 0.4% of the floor area served; which is comparable to the area be calculated using the well known stack ventilation equations
provided of 0.5% (Table 4). (e.g. [24]).
178 K.J. Lomas / Energy and Buildings 39 (2007) 166181
Appendix A. Comparison of key features of the three advanced naturally ventilated buildings
Building name Frederick Lanchester School of Slavonic and East Harm A Webber
Library (FLL) European Studies (SSEES) Library (HAWL)
Appendix A (Continued )
Air exhaust pathsj
Climateo