Ventilação Natural 3

DESIGN R U L E S OF T H U M B FOR N A T U R A L L Y V E N T I L A T E D OFFICE
BUILDINGS IN C A N A D A
by
CRAIG EDWARDS
B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, 1988
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN P A R T I A L F U L F I L M E N T OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE D E G R E E OF
M A S T E R OF A D V A N C E D STUDIES IN A R C H I T E C T U R E
in
THE F A C U L T Y OF G R A D U A T E STUDIES
School of Architecture
We accept this thesis as conforming

to the required standard
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH C O L U M B I A
November, 2000
© Craig Edwards, 2000

In p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t of the requirements
f o r an advanced degree at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, I
agree t h a t the L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r r e f e r e n c e
and study. I f u r t h e r agree t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e c o p y i n g of
t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may be g r a n t e d by the head of my
department or by h i s or her r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s u n d e r s t o o d t h a t
c o p y i n g or p u b l i c a t i o n of t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n s h a l l not
be a l l o w e d without my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n .
Department of /^)r o-^\ .' /t-C- r^*j -g-
The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia
Vancouver, Canada
Date Pn_ c /V Too Q

ABSTRACT
Using natural ventilation to provide ventilation and/or cooling in commercial buildings

has a number of direct benefits to the environment, building occupants, building owners,
and architects. Despite advances now occurring in design methods, major obstacles still
need to be overcome before a wide spread adoption of natural ventilation technologies
will be seen. Most importantly, simple tools that can be used by architects in the initial
stages of design of naturally ventilated buildings are required.
Existing natural ventilation design rules of thumb were identified from published
literature and building codes and standards. A computer model, capable of simulating
both naturally induced airflow rates and building thermal performance, was used to
evaluate natural ventilation performance in terms of ability to avoid overheating and
provide ventilation for indoor air quality.
First the effect of changes to building design parameters on the natural ventilation
performance of a base case office building were investigated. Secondly, the validity and
limitations of existing rules of thumb were evaluated. The base case building was a three
story cross ventilated office building surrounded by large local wind and solar
obstructions, simulated with climate data for the cities of Vancouver and Toronto.
It was found that the development of most of the existing rules of thumb has been based
on incomplete research, and the conditions under which they can be applied are poorly
defined. When the limitations of these rules of thumb were investigated, it was found
that the original rules of thumb are generally not accurate for either the climates of
Vancouver or Toronto. More accurate ranges of applicability were developed for each
rule of thumb for each of the two climates.
The relative influence of design parameters on reducing overheating and increasing

ventilation rates for indoor air quality were also established, and can be used to provide
guidance into how changes made to the building form and fabric can effect overheating
and indoor air quality.
T A B L E OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ii
LIST OF T A B L E S v
LIST OF FIGURES vi
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Need for Simple Design Tools for Architects 7
13 Thesis Objective 8
1.4 Scope 8
1.5 Methodology 9
2 Fundamental Principals of Natural Ventilation 10
2.1 Air Density Differences 10
2.2 Wind 11
2.3 Combined Stack and Wind Effects 12
3 Existing Natural Ventilation Design Rules of Thumb, Regulations, and Standards. 14
3.1 Rule 1 - Cross Ventilation 15
3.2 Rule 2 - Stack Ventilation 17
3.3 Rule 3 - Night Cooling Ventilation 18
3.4 Rule 4 - Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality - United Kingdom
19
3.5 Rules 5a,b,c - Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor A i r Quality - North
America 19
4 Natural Ventilation Performance Criteria 22
4.1 Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Performance Criteria 24
4.2 Summer Overheating Performance Criteria 29
5 Natural Ventilation Performance Modelling 33
5.1 Multizone Airflow and Thermal Modelling Tools 33
5.2 NatVent Model 34
6 Natural Ventilation Modelling Design Parameters 36
6.1 Base Case Building 36
6.2 Natural Ventilation Design Parameters Investigated 39
7 Base Case Building Performance 44
7.1 Vancouver and Toronto Climates 44
7.2 Base Case Building Performance 46
8 Parametric Analysis of Variables Effecting Thermal Comfort and Indoor A i r Quality
48
8.1 Thermal Comfort Parametric Analysis 48
8.2 IAQ Ventilation Rate Parametric Analysis 57
9 Analysis of Rule of Thumb Limitations 62
9.1 Cross Ventilation Depth Limit 63
9.2 Stack Ventilation Depth Limit 73
iii
9.3 Night Cooling Ventilation 83
9.4 Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality 86
10 Conclusions 91
11 Recommendations For Further Work 102
iv
LIST OF TABLES
Table 6-1 Modelled Building Design Parameters 41

Table 6-2 Active Thermal Capacity of Structures per m Gross Floor Area
2
42
Table 7-1 Vancouver and Toronto Climate Data 44
Table 7-2 Base Case Building Overheating Performance 46
Table 7-3 Base Case Building Ventilation for IAQ Performance 47
Table 9-1 Thermal Depth Limits of Cross Ventilated Office Buildings 65
Table 9-2 IAQ Depth Limits of Cross Ventilated Office Buildings 69
Table 9-3 Thermal Depth Limits of Stack Ventilated Office Buildings 75
Table 9-4 IAQ Depth Limits of Stack Ventilated Office Buildings 79
Table 9-5 Night Cooling Vent Size Requirments for Cross Ventilated Office Buildings 83
Table 9-6 Trickle Vent Size Required to Achieve 10 L/s per person Airflow for 99% of
Occupied Hours 86
Table 9-7 Ventilation Performance with Trickle Vent Size of 4 cm per m of Floor Area
2 2
87
v
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2-1 Stack Ventilation and the Neutral Pressure Plane 10

Figure 3-1 Cross Ventilation Rule of Thumb 15
Figure 3-2 Stack Ventilation Rule of Thumb 17
Figure 3-3 Minimum Airflow Opening Area Required in Internal Partitions 21
Figure 4-1 A S H R A E Summer and Winter Comfort Zones 29
Figure 6-1 Base Case Building Layout 36
Figure 6-2 Base Case Cross Ventilation and Stack Ventilation Configurations Used For
Parametric Analysis 37
Figure 6-3 Base Case Cross Ventilation and Stack Ventilation Configurations Used for
Rule of Thumb Analysis 38
Figure 8-1 Thermal Comfort Parametric Analysis Results 49
Figure 8-2 IAQ Ventilation Rate Parametric Analysis Results 58
Figure 9-1 Base Case Cross Ventilation Configuration Used for Rule of Thumb Analysis
63
Figure 9-2 Cross Ventilation Thermal Depth Limits 64
Figure 9-3 Range of Applicability of Cross Ventilation Rule of Thumb from a Thermal
Comfort Perspective 66
Figure 9-4 Cross Ventilation IAQ Depth Limits 68
Figure 9-5 Range of Applicability of Cross Ventilation Rule of Thumb from a Thermal
Figure 9-6 Base Case Stack Ventilation Configuration Used for Rule of Thumb Analysis
73
Figure 9-7 Stack Ventilation Thermal Depth Limits 74
Figure 9-8 Stack Ventilation Rule of Thumb - Range of Applicability of from a Thermal
Figure 9-9 Modified Stack Ventilation Rule of Thumb - Range of Applicability from a
Thermal Comfort Perspective 77
Figure 9-10 Stack Ventilation IAQ Depth Limits 78
Figure 9-11 Stack Ventilation Rule of Thumb - Range of Applicability of from an IAQ
Perspective 79
Figure 9-12 Modified Stack Ventilation Rule of Thumb - Range of Applicability from an
IAQ Perspective 81
Figure 9-13 Night Cooling Rule of Thumb Range of Applicability 84
Figure 9-14 Trickle Vent Rule of Thumb Range of Applicability 88
vi
1 Introduction
1.1 Background
Non domestic buildings in North America today are primarily designed with the indoor
environment isolated from the outdoor environment. The indoor environment is typically
controlled by artificial lighting, mechanical ventilation, and mechanical heating and
cooling systems. Recently however, building occupants and designers are recognising
the need to reduce the impact of buildings on local and global environments, create
higher quality indoor working environments, and reduce capital and operating costs.
Natural ventilation can assist the achievement of these goals by utilising the outdoor
environment to create an acceptable indoor environment whenever it is beneficial.
Natural ventilation can be used to provide ventilation for indoor air quality, or
summertime cooling, or both. It can provide ventilation or cooling on its own, or as an
integral part of hybrid or mix mode systems that use mechanical ventilation or cooling
systems as a backup to natural ventilation.
Natural ventilation on its own or as part of hybrid systems can have a number of direct
benefits to the environment, building occupants, building owners, and architects. These
benefits can include:
> Reduced energy consumption

> Reduced or eliminated use of ozone depleting substances
> Improved quality of working environments
> Improved indoor air quality and reduced causes of sick building syndrome
> Reduced capital and operating costs
> Increased level of control for architects over the design of the quality of
indoor environments
1.1.1 Reduced Environmental Impacts of Energy Consumption

Greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels are leading to global
warming with potentially major negative environmental and economic impacts. The
energy used to cool, light, and heat buildings is a large contributor to this problem. As
part of the Kyoto Agreement of 1997, Canada has committed to reducing greenhouse gas
emissions to 6% below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. But by 1997, the latest year
for which energy consumption data is available, greenhouse gas emissions from the
commercial building sector were approximately 9% higher than in 1990 . 1
Energy consumed by buildings has many other negative environmental impacts such as
regional air pollution from the combustion of fossil fuels, damage to wildlife habitat from
the construction of large hydroelectric dams, and the dangers associated with nuclear
power plants and their waste disposal.
1
Energy Efficiency Trends in Canada, Natural Resources Canada, January, 2000.
1
Office buildings in Canada consume on average approximately 35% of their total annual
energy for lighting, cooling, and ventilation fan motors. This energy use could be cut by
50% or more in many buildings by the use of integrated natural ventilation, daylighting,
and passive cooling designs.
Naturally ventilated buildings can reduce energy consumption and the associated
negative environmental impacts by reducing or eliminating the energy consumed to drive
ventilation fans and operate cooling equipment. Even with hybrid natural ventilation
systems, mechanical cooling can be significantly reduced or completely eliminated, and
ventilation fan operation can be reduced to only those times when augmentation of
natural ventilation airflow rates is required.
Energy consumed for lighting, which makes up a large proportion of total energy
consumption in office buildings, can also often be significantly reduced in naturally
ventilated buildings. While lighting and natural ventilation are not directly connected,
when natural ventilation is used to provide cooling in office buildings it is essential that
electric lighting energy use be minimised to reduce cooling loads. Lighting energy can
also often be reduced due to the inherent narrow plan width of most naturally ventilated
buildings, which allows for a greater use of daylighting.
Care must be used in designing naturally ventilated buildings to ensure that these energy
reduction benefits are not offset by increased energy losses due to excessive airflow rates
during the heating season. It is difficult to precisely control natural ventilation flow rates
because of fluctuations in wind and outside air temperatures. However it is possible to
control these airflow rates in naturally ventilated buildings as long as vents are carefully
designed or mechanical ventilation is used during the coldest weather.
1.1.2 Reduced Use of Ozone Depleting Substances

CFC and H C F C based refrigerants used in air conditioning systems are damaging the
earth's protective ozone layer, leading to negative human health impacts such as
increased rates of cancer due to ultraviolet radiation. Naturally ventilated buildings can,
in some cases, provide summer cooling without the need for mechanical air conditioning
and its associated negative environmental impacts.
1.1.3 Improved Quality of Working Environments

Naturally ventilated buildings can produce higher quality working environments that lead
to greater worker satisfaction and potentially higher productivity of staff. Since the total
operating cost of a building is usually dominated by the salary costs of the building
occupants, the economic benefit of improving the quality of the environment for workers
is becoming well recognised. A British study surveyed 480 office occupiers covering all
2
business sectors and found that 89% preferred buildings which were not air conditioned.
2
7. Ellis, R. "The British Office Market - The Workplace of Tomorrow; the Consumers View", The Harris
Research Center, 1994.
2
The most important factors in the design of the building were reported as natural
ventilation via opening windows and good daylighting.
The provision of user control has also been shown to increase the satisfaction of
occupants with the quality of their environment, and natural ventilation typically requires
user involvement. A Canadian study suggests that there is a link between increased
3
productivity and the occupants' perception of having control over their environment.
1.1.4 Improved Occupant Health

Naturally ventilated buildings can improve indoor air quality and eliminate a number of
potential causes of sick building syndrome . They can eliminate indoor air quality
4
problems and noxious smells associated with mold and toxins contained within poorly
maintained air conditioners, humidifiers, filters, and other mechanical systems. Properly
designed naturally ventilated buildings can also provide higher air change rates than
poorly designed naturally or mechanically ventilated buildings. Sound from ventilation
units of poorly designed or maintained mechanically ventilated buildings has also been
linked to sick building syndrome, and can potentially be eliminated in naturally ventilated
buildings.
1.1.5 Reduced Capital and Operating Costs

Building capital costs can be significantly reduced through the downsizing or elimination
of mechanical ventilation and cooling equipment. Ventilation equipment can be
eliminated in all natural ventilation systems, and in hybrid systems can often be replaced
with simple extract fans that are used to augment airflow rates. Cooling equipment can
often be eliminated, or at least reduced in size, reducing capital costs. Capital costs of
lighting equipment are also often reduced in naturally ventilated buildings, either as a
result of taking advantage of increased daylighting opportunities with narrow buildings,
or as a consequence of improved designs necessitated by the need to reduce cooling
loads.
The mechanical systems of naturally ventilated buildings can also be simpler and more
robust, resulting in lower maintenance costs. In well designed naturally ventilated
buildings that eliminate air conditioning, eliminate ventilation systems, or use simpler
ventilation systems, there can be fewer failure modes due to the reduction in the number
of components that are susceptible to failure. However natural ventilation systems can
also be very complex depending on the design of control systems, and have the potential
for increasing maintenance costs if not well designed.
3
Raw, G.J., Roys, M.S., and Leaman, A.J., "Further findings from the office environment survey", Proc.
5 International Conf. Air Quality and Climate, Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation, Toronto,
th
1990.
4
Daniels, Klaus, "The Technology of Ecological Building", Birkhauser Verlag, Berlin, 1997.
3
1.1.6 Greater Role for Architects in Designing Quality Indoor Environments
Naturally ventilated buildings rely on the design of the building form and building
envelope components to control indoor environmental conditions. As a result, they have
the potential to return to architects the responsibility that they once had for design of
interior environmental control.
Until about the mid 19 century, the practices of building operation and environmental
th
control were an integral part of architectural design. While comfort expectations were
much lower than they are today, the form and envelope of buildings were designed by
architects to take advantage of local outside environmental conditions for interior climate
control, to the extent possible.
For example, in temperate climates of Europe, citadels and castles built before the mid
19 century were designed with small windows and massive structure. The small
th
windows increased comfort in the winter by reducing direct heat loss and air leakage
through the openings. While heating systems were poor, the design of the building
envelope lowered the heating requirements. In the summer the small size of the windows
reduced solar gains, and the massive building structure offered high heat storage capacity.
Most thermal energy coming from the outside or produced in the building was absorbed
by the building masses. As a result, these buildings had minimal cooling loads and
remained cool in the summer.
While no additional summer cooling was necessary in these buildings, and draughty
building construction provided enough ventilation to meet occupants needs, natural
ventilation techniques were eventually developed in Europe to distribute heat throughout
buildings. One of the first installations of such a system in a public building was in the
Derbyshire Infirmary, completed in 1810, which used a 70 yard underground passageway
to preheat air in the winter and cool it in the summer before passing through a furnace
and into the rest of the building. To distribute the heat throughout the building and
provide sufficient buoyancy usually required massive air ducts, and ventilation towers or
stacks. These towers and stacks became common design features in public and private
buildings constructed throughout the 19 century in Europe. They were generally
th
successfully integrated into the architectural aesthetic considerations of the buildings.

Some architects used exhaust towers for expressive purposes. Architect Sir Charles
Barry, when designing the new Houses of Parliament in London (built in 1850's) was
quite willing to accommodate the great central tower exhaust stack because he admitted
that it improved his design. Another architect of the time, J.C. Louden, delighted in the
imagery of using intake and exhaust towers for expression. In one instance he designed a
group of cottages, all heated by a single fire at the base of a great stack located at the
exact centre of the quadrangle complex.
In hot arid climates such as Northern Africa the development of building forms in
response to local climate conditions was quite different. The tendency in these areas was
initially to locate living areas underground to utilise the coolness of the earth, and to
further improve thermal comfort by using natural ventilation through the use of
buoyancy. B y the middle ages buildings grew taller and as solid and massive as they
4
were in Central Europe. Heat gains were minimised by the use of small windows and
small roof areas. Natural ventilation techniques became more sophisticated in the use of
ventilation shafts to expel warm air at the top of the structure and create a suction to draw
cool fresh air into the building from cooler covered entrance areas. Another technique
which was commonly used was the use of wind-catchers to capture cooling breezes.
In hot humid climates the vernacular architecture which developed relied mainly on the
use of natural ventilation for improving comfort levels. Houses were designed to
maximise the movement of air through the building, thus providing relief from the heat
and humidity by comfort ventilation. Houses were elevated to maximise exposure to
prevailing breezes, and were built with large light-mass roofs to provide shading and rain
protection, and light mass walls with large openings to maximise cross flow ventilation.
With the start of the industrial revolution however, the practice of architecture became
increasingly divorced from the practice of environmental control. Industrialisation in the
19th century in Europe brought people together at higher concentrations, produced new
industrial wastes that resulted in air pollution inside buildings, and increased demands for
better comfort. Raynard Banham, in his book "The Architecture of the Well Tempered
Environment" argues that at this time the architectural profession failed to take
5
responsibility for the maintenance of decent environmental conditions, and the

responsibility fell to everybody from plumbers to consulting engineers.
Indoor air quality declined due to increased levels of air pollution inside buildings and
outdoors, increased crowding, and reduced air exchange rates. The rising availability of
piped coal gas after the middle of the 19 century began a great increase in the use of
th
coal gas lanterns. The length of the workday increased and required the unprecedented
use of inefficient, polluting artificial light in above ground structures. Other factors
degrading indoor air quality were the increased crowding of buildings and the grit and
dusts of the urban atmosphere. At the same time heating systems improved substantially
and central boilers with heating by steam or hot water became common. This resulted in
the disappearance of chimneys in heated spaces, leading to a significant reduction in air
exchange rates. Windows and building envelope components also became better sealed
to take advantage of the improved heating systems, further reducing sources of accidental
ventilation.
Medical practitioners were the first to take action in response to health concerns over
poor indoor air quality. They were influential in the construction of ventilation systems
for public buildings such as hospitals, churches, meeting halls, and theatres, as well as
houses. Their writings often reveal an intimate knowledge of the environmental
performance of buildings, an expressed contempt for the architectural profession's
apparent indifference to such matters, proposals for the improvement of building design,
and even the construction of better designed buildings by doctors themselves.
5
Banham, Raynard, "The Architecture of the Well Tempered Environment" University of Chicago Press,
1984, pg9.
5
At the same time ventilation techniques were being developed by industry to provide air
supplies in mines to extend extraction limits, evacuate noxious gasses from industry, and
to improve industrial processes such as greenhouses and English and Scottish maltings.
Fan driven ventilation systems using steam engines were developed in the mid 1800's and
were used mainly for ventilating mines, ships, and for industrial processes. Then electric
motor driven fans were invented in the 1880's. B y the end of the century, mechanical
ventilation was seen as a much more reliable method of providing the required ventilation
rates, and was becoming common in large buildings.
The availability of mechanical ventilation systems (and other technologies) ushered in a

new era where technology could be used to help solve design problems that were created
by the architectural design. New concepts of space were developing which were the
beginnings of the concept of architectural modernity. One of the first such examples is
Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Glascow School of Art, built in 1904. The provision of a
mechanical ventilation system was necessary to offset the thermal discomfort from the
effects of the huge north facing windows in winter.
As air conditioning systems became readily available, mechanical ventilation and cooling
systems were almost universally adopted as the preferred method of improving comfort,
and led to dramatic changes in the built form of buildings. A futurist-inspired belief in a
better environment through the exploitation of machine technology became widespread.
This led to the interior climates of most commercial buildings being designed by
mechanical engineers to exclude the outside environment as much as possible, and
relying completely on energy intensive mechanical ventilation, heating, and air
conditioning systems.
Recent demands for buildings that reduce their environmental impacts, improve the
quality of working environments, and allow greater user control (especially openable
windows) have led to a re-evaluation of the opportunities for natural ventilation.
Architects are currently responding to the push towards meeting these challenges through
a renewed interest in the use of naturally ventilated buildings. However, the successful
use of natural ventilation requires the integration of building form and building envelope
components into the natural ventilation design strategy. Because architects are typically
responsible for design of the building form and envelope components, by taking
responsibility for design of these components in a naturally ventilated building, they
automatically regain control over the design of the interior environment. Instead of
handing over the responsibility of adding environmental control systems onto the
building after the architectural design is completed, they become responsible for design
of both the aesthetic and environmental control qualities of the building. The practices of
building operation and environmental control once again become an integral part of
architectural design, much as they were prior to the mid 19 century.
th
6
1.2 Need for Simple Design Tools for Architects
Recent research into natural ventilation design methods has led to substantial
improvements in building design and the ability to predict performance. Advances in
computer technology have made possible the simulation of internal air movement and
interior temperatures. Computer simulation and building control advances allow large
buildings to be designed using natural ventilation to provide effective ventilation and
summer cooling while eliminating the traditional drawbacks - such as overheating - that
originally led to the decline of natural ventilation.
Despite the advances now occurring in design methods, major obstacles still need to be
overcome before a wide spread adoption of these technologies will be seen:
> Design methods are still too complex, time consuming, and expensive to use, and
> Architectural practices generally do not have qualified and experienced staff that can
carry out complex natural ventilation computer modelling and design work.
Simple tools that can be used by architects in the initial stages of design of naturally
ventilated commercial buildings are required. Many of the decisions about building form
are made very early in the design process and therefore rules of thumb are critical at that
stage. Simple natural ventilation design rules of thumb would increase the confidence of
architects in proposing natural ventilation strategies for their projects and provide
guidance in development of initial building form concepts. This thesis attempts to
compile and critique natural ventilation design rules of thumb to make them useful to
Canadian architects.
7
1.3 Thesis Objective
The objective of this thesis is to identify and critique existing design rules of thumb that
can be used in the initial stages of design of naturally ventilated commercial buildings,
and use current modelling tools to investigate their validity and limitations when applied
to two distinct Canadian climate conditions.
Specific objectives are:
1. To identify and critique existing rules of thumb, regulations, and guidelines that may
be useful as rules of thumb for the design of naturally ventilated buildings.
2. To develop criteria for evaluating natural ventilation building performance to clarify

the minimum acceptable level of performance of naturally ventilated buildings.
3. To use current natural ventilation software modelling tools to investigate the relative
importance of key design parameters in their ability to effect performance of naturally
ventilated buildings under conditions of two distinct Canadian climates.
4. To use results of the parametric analysis to investigate the applicability and

limitations of natural ventilation design rules of thumb for the same two distinct
Canadian climates.
1.4 Scope
The following defines the scope of the study:
> Type of Buildings - Commercial and Institutional Office Buildings (although the
results may also apply to other types of buildings with similar form and layout,
internal gains, and hours of operation).
> Size - Low to mid-rise (1 to 5 stories)
> Geographic Region - Two Canadian climates as represented by climates of
Vancouver, B C , and Toronto, Ontario.
The results of this thesis are primarily directed towards architects and H V A C designers.
8
1.5 Methodology
The research process for this study involved the following nine steps:
1. Existing rules of thumb for the design of naturally ventilated office buildings were
identified from published international research. Building code regulations,
standards, and guidelines that could be presented as rules of thumb were also
identified.
2. The primary intent of each rule of thumb and the assumptions and performance
criteria used in its development were investigated.
3. Minimal criteria for acceptable performance of naturally ventilated buildings were
developed to clarify the minimum acceptable level of performance of naturally
ventilated buildings, and develop a performance baseline for investigating limitations
of existing rules of thumb.
4. State of the art software modelling tools that could be used to simulate the
performance of naturally ventilated buildings according to the performance criteria
developed above were identified. The most appropriate modelling tool for meeting
the objectives of this thesis was selected.
5. Design parameters were developed for a base case building based on a typical low
rise office building in Canada that would be a prime candidate for using natural
ventilation.
6. Practical limits of key building design parameters were developed. These limits were
used to set boundaries on the degree of modification made to parameters when
measuring their impact on natural ventilation performance.
7. A software model of the base case building was created and its performance modelled
using reference year climate data for the Canadian cities of Vancouver and Toronto.
8. A parametric analysis was performed to investigate the impact of modification to key
building design parameters on natural ventilation performance. Using the software
model, building design parameter modification were each applied to the base case
building in isolation from one another, and their effect on natural ventilation
performance indicators identified.
9. Existing rules of thumb were critiqued by modelling the base case building to find the
limitations to combined changes to building design while maintaining minimum
acceptable natural ventilation performance levels. The validity of existing rules of
thumb for each climate were investigated, and limitations and mitigating factors
effecting natural ventilation design identified.
9
2 Fundamental Principals of Natural Ventilation
Natural ventilation can be defined as airflow induced by pressure differences between the
inside and outside of the building. The driving forces are wind and air density
differences. The magnitude and pattern of natural air movement though a building
depends of the strength and direction of these natural driving forces and the resistance of
the flow path.
Natural ventilation is a whole building design concept, centred on the appropriate

application of fundamental principals of using wind and temperature induced pressure
difference to supply outside airflow to building interiors, even when windows are closed.
2.1 A i r Density Differences

Warm air is less dense than cold air, and air density in a column of air decreases with
height. If two columns of air at different temperatures are separated by a boundary, there
will be a difference in pressure across that boundary due to the different pressure
gradients on either side. If it is warmer inside the building than outside, the pressure
difference acts inwards at the bottom of the building and outward at the top. When
openings are placed in the boundary separating the two air columns, an upward airflow
will be created through the building, exhausting warm air at high level and replacing it by
cooler air at low level. This is known as stack effect. The pressure difference between
each side of the airflow opening is a function of the temperature difference and the height
between the opening and the neutral pressure plane.
Figure 2-1 Stack Ventilation and the Neutral Pressure Plane
The neutral pressure plane is the elevation within the height of the building where inward
airflow changes to an outward airflow. In Figure 2-1 the neutral pressure plane is
between the second and third levels of the example building. The height of the neutral
pressure plane is a function of the density difference between the two air columns and the
vertical distribution of openings. Therefore, the reduced driving force at upper floors
10
needs to be counteracted by increasing the area of ventilation openings. In the example
shown, the ratio of facade openings between upper and lower floors is too small, resulting
in stale air from the first and second levels passing through the occupied space within the
third level. This could be avoided by raising the neutral pressure plane above the third
level either by increasing the size of the roof vent opening or by reducing the size of the
openings on the first and second levels.
Stack effects do not only occur over the height of the building. Stack pressures will be
exerted over any vertically spaced openings which are inter-connected. For example, in a
large window opening, air will tend to flow in at the bottom of the window and out at the
top. This creates an air exchange mechanism for the room, even in single sided
ventilation configurations. In a building designed to promote stack induced flows, these
local stack effects will be superimposed on the overall pattern of air movement.
As inside and outside temperatures become equal the stack pressure approaches zero and
there is no driving force for ventilation. The worst case scenario for a stack driven
ventilation strategy is therefore during times when the outside air temperature is equal to
the inside temperature.
2.2 Wind
Wind driven ventilation is caused by differences in wind pressures acting across the
external surfaces of the building. Air will flow through a building from areas of high
surface pressure to areas of low pressure. The magnitude of the wind pressure at any
location on the surface of the building depends on the wind velocity at that location and
increases as the square of the wind velocity. The wind velocity at each location and the
resulting distribution of wind pressures acting on the building depend on:
> The shape of the building

> Height above ground of the location of interest
> Roughness of the terrain surrounding the building
> Local wind obstructions adjacent to the building
A wind pressure coefficient is a number used to represent these effects for each location
on the surface of the building for a single wind direction.
The shape of the building and the direction of the wind in relation to the building effect
the magnitude and direction of the wind pressure at each location on the building surface.
Generally, building surfaces facing into the wind will experience positive pressures, and
leeward surfaces and those parallel to the wind direction will experience negative
pressures. However the magnitude and distribution of wind pressures vary greatly
depending on the overall building shape and localised variations in building form . This
provides an opportunity for the architectural form and detailing to enhance the potential
for wind driven ventilation.
11
Wind velocity increases with height above ground due to the slowing of wind speeds near
the earth's surface (the boundary layer effect). The type of terrain surrounding the
building (eg. open country versus city centre) effects the boundary layer profile, and
therefore wind speeds at the building site. The presence of local wind obstructions (other
buildings, trees, etc) also effect local wind speeds. This provides an opportunity for site
layout and landscaping to enhance wind driven ventilation. Careful orientation of a
building in relation to the topography of the site can maximise the potential for wind
driven ventilation.
The two main strategies for applying wind driven ventilation to building design are:
> Single sided ventilation, and

> Cross ventilation.
Single sided ventilation relies on airflow through openings on only one side of an
enclosed space. With a single ventilation opening in the room the main driving force for
natural ventilation is wind turbulence. Compared to other strategies, lower ventilation
rates are generated and the depth of penetration of the airflow into the space is limited. If
more than one ventilation opening is provided and openings are located at different
heights, the ventilation rate can be enhanced by stack effect. Stack induced flows
increase with the vertical separation of openings. If more than one ventilation opening is
provided and openings are separated by a horizontal distance, the ventilation rate is
enhanced by flow from one window to the other due to the difference in wind pressures
coefficients at the location of each window.
Cross ventilation relies on airflow between ventilation openings on opposite sides of a

space. As the air moves across a cross ventilated space it picks up heat and pollutants.
Therefore there is a limit to the depth that can be cross ventilated, which generally leads
to buildings with a narrow plan depth.
The worst case scenario for wind driven ventilation strategies is obviously during calm
wind conditions.
2.3 Combined Stack and Wind Effects

The most common situation is that both wind and stack pressures act on a building
simultaneously due to the existence of non zero wind speeds, and outside air temperatures
that are not equal to indoor air temperatures. Rates of airflow may be alternatively
dominated by one effect or the other depending on the magnitude of outside air
temperature and wind speed.
Cross ventilation is a wind driven ventilation strategy, but under most climate conditions
wind driven airflow rates are enhanced or reduced by stack effect ventilation acting over
the floor to ceiling height of individual levels, or over the entire height of the building.
12
The air change rate of cross ventilated buildings is effected by stack ventilation acting
over the floor to ceiling height of individual floors. Rates of airflow into the building are
increased at openings near the bottom of the room height and rates of airflow out of the
building are increased at openings near the top of the room height whenever the outside
temperature is less than the inside temperature. The overall effect is a floor to ceiling
height dependent increase in air change rates above that expected for wind driven cross
ventilation alone.
The stack effect acting over the entire height of the building also effects cross ventilation
airflow. It will increase or decrease rates of airflow into the building depending on the
location of the airflow opening. On lower levels the stack effect due to colder outside air
temperatures will increase rates of airflow into the building on the windward side of the
building, and reduce airflow out of the building on the leeward side. On upper levels
above the neutral pressure plane the stack effect will reduce rates of airflow into the
building on the windward side of the building, and increase airflow out of the building on
the leeward side.
Stack effect acting over the entire height of the building occurs in all buildings, but the
magnitude of the effect is reduced significantly in buildings that are well sealed between
floors. It is not possible to reduce the building height stack effect completely because
even in well sealed buildings there is some airflow into stairway and elevator shafts
through imperfect seals, and opening and closing of doors. The building height stack
effect is greatest in buildings with large airflow openings between floor levels such as in
buildings with each floor connected to a central atrium.
In buildings with combined stack and wind effects, stack pressure differences are reduced
with increasing height, moving towards the height of the neutral pressure plane.
However, this effect may be partially compensated for by the increasing wind pressure at
upper levels due to increasing wind speed with height.
13
3 Existing Natural Ventilation Design Rules of Thumb, Regulations,
and Standards
Published research papers and design guidelines were reviewed to identify existing
natural ventilation design rules of thumb. Building regulations and standards were also
reviewed to identify accepted criteria or guidelines that could be presented as rules of
thumb.
The following rules of thumb have been selected for further analysis. They are all simple
to use formulas based on common building component dimensions, and can be used at
the initial stages of the building design process without requiring in-depth performance
modelling or analysis. For each rule selected, the assumptions and performance criteria
used in its development were first investigated to discover how the rule of thumb was
intended to be used and what, i f any, are the intended limitations on its applicability.
The selected rules of thumb cover the following types of natural ventilation design
strategies:
> Cross ventilation

> Stack ventilation
> Night cooling ventilation, and
> Ventilation for indoor air quality
The majority of selected rules of thumb originate from recent publications and design
guides produced by building research organisations located in Northern European
countries. Very little research into design of naturally ventilated buildings has been
carried out in North America, resulting in limited North American based design guidance.
The one exception to this is indoor air quality requirements for naturally ventilated
buildings provided by existing or developing North American building standards and
codes.
In general, although many of these rules of thumb exist in either building codes and
design guidelines, the assumptions and performance criteria used to develop them are not
explicitly defined. As a result, the conditions under which the rules may or may be
applicable are also not explicitly defined. Only one rule of thumb selected for evaluation
in this study explicitly states the assumptions used in its development and conditions
limiting its validity.
14
3.1 Rule 1 - Cross Ventilation
The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) in the U K
recommends the following rule of thumb for the design of cross ventilated buildings : 6
Cross ventilation is effective up to five times the floor to ceiling height.
Building Depth = 5x1-1

•I
Figure 3-1 Cross Ventilation Rule of Thumb
The conditions under which this rule was intended to apply are not explicitly defined.
The CIBSE Applications Manual references development of this rule to research
presented in B R E Digest 399 . However, the only condition for this rule that is stated
7
explicitly in the B R E Digest is that it applies to buildings with moderate to high heat
gains - i.e., heat gains from people, lighting, and equipment falling into the range of 20 to
50 W/m . If the internal heat gains are lower then deeper spaces can be ventilated
2
naturally.
Because the main condition associated with the rule is that it applies to buildings with
moderate to high heat gains, the intention of the rule must be to address the issue of
appropriate building design to avoid summertime overheating. B R E Digest 399 implies
that adherence to this rule of thumb will satisfy ventilation requirements and avoid
overheating in U K climates, but does not explicitly state what ventilation airflow rate and
internal temperature limits are used for acceptable performance criteria. It also does not
state the method used to develop the rule of thumb but implies that it was developed
using simple equations contained in CIBSE Guide A and BS 5925 to estimate cross
8 9
ventilation airflow rates. The CIBSE Applications Manual states that research in B R E
Digest 399 is based on wind speed and temperature conditions from south east England,
where the external summer design temperature is 27°C.
6
"Natural Ventilation in Non Domestic Buildings, Applications Manual AM10", CIBSE, London, 1997.
7
"Natural Ventilation in Non Domestic Buildings", BRE Digest 399, Building Research Establishment,
GarstonUK, 1994.
8
"Environmental Criteria for Design, CIBSE Guide A l " , Chartered Institution of Building Services
Engineers, London, 1978. (Reprinted 1986)
9
"Code of Practice for Ventilation Principals and Designing for Natural Ventilation, BS 5925", British
Standards Institution, 1991.
15
In another B R E research paper, Walker and White state that this rule of thumb is based
10
on guidance from the CIBSE Guide . The CIBSE guide advises that air distribution will
11
be 'reasonable' in naturally ventilated buildings with room depths of up to 6 m on either

side of a central corridor, resulting in an effective limit for the depth of a cross ventilated
building of about 15m.
Walker and White investigate the air distribution in deeper plan offices and show that
airspeeds and unmixed air currents generally only penetrate to a depth of about 6 m into a
space from exterior windows. But they also find that the air is well distributed and local
ventilation rates are evenly spread in much deeper spaces due to mixing. They conclude
that the rule of thumb depth limit can be significantly extended beyond 6m if air
distribution within the space alone is considered, but that the overall ventilation rate and
overheating must also be taken into account.
A n important aspect of this rule of thumb is that the depth limit is based on the floor to
ceiling height of the naturally ventilated space. The CIBSE applications manual that
presents this rule does not provide an explanation for why the rule is based on floor to
ceiling height. It states that "increased floor to ceiling heights will increase stratification
in the space which can then lift the pollutants above the occupied zone". It is easy to
understand how increased floor to ceiling height will increase temperature stratification
and therefore increase the maximum overheating depth limit due to the concentration of.
hot air above the occupied region of the space. But it is difficult to understand how
raising the floor to ceiling height will lift pollutants above the occupied zone. Increased
floor to ceiling height stack effects will result in higher air exchange rates that will extend
the building depth limit by reducing interior temperatures and increase ventilation for
indoor air quality, but they make no mention of these effects.
10
Walker, R.R., and White, M.K., "The Efficiency of Single-Sided and Cross Ventilation in Office
Spaces", Building Research Establishment, Garston, England, 1996.
11
"Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers Guide: Part B2 - Ventilation and Air Conditioning
(Requirements)", CIBSE, London, 1988.
16
3.2 Rule 2 - Stack Ventilation
The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) , also recommends
the following rule of thumb for the design of buildings that make use of stack ventilation:
Stack ventilation can be effective across a width of 5 times the floor to ceiling
height from the inlet to where the air is exhausted to the stack.
5 xH 5x H
< •
<———w
Figure 3-2 Stack Ventilation Rule of Thumb
This rule is based on a building with a large stack or atrium running down the centre of
the building and spaces on either side of the stack having a maximum depth limit of 5
times the floor to ceiling height of individual levels. For example, a building with a floor
to ceiling height of 3m on each level would be limited in depth to 15m between the
perimeter of the building and the stack. This results in a maximum depth building of
30m plus the depth of the central stack or atrium.
The CIBSE Applications Manual states that the depth limit on either side of the stack is
based on the effective limit for the width of a cross ventilated building as discussed in
Section 3.1. Thus the conditions under which this rule applies are the same as for the
cross ventilation rule - buildings with moderate to high heat gains (20 to 50 W/m heat 2
gains from people, lighting, and equipment), and wind speed and temperature conditions
from south east England, where the external design temperature is 27°C.
17
3.3 Rule 3 - Night Cooling Ventilation
The European NatVent Project is a seven nation consortium of organisations that studied
ways of overcoming technical barriers to low-energy natural ventilation in office-type
buildings in moderate and cold climates. They developed the following rule of thumb for
the design of naturally ventilated buildings that use night cooling ventilation to maintain
adequate summertime thermal comfort levels":
A vent opening of 2% of thefloorarea (200 cm per m floor area) should generally

be adequate for night cooling when there is cross ventilation.
As a key activity of the NatVent Project, Van Paassen, Liem, and Groninger developed 14
a computer model - S I M U L I N K - to simulate the ventilation processes and thermal

behaviour of office buildings that use night cooling ventilation for summer comfort.
They used the model to investigate two aspects of night cooling ventilation - required
night cooling vent opening areas, and night cooling vent control strategies - to maintain
acceptable thermal comfort in one climate of the Netherlands. Based on the outputs of a
large series of simulation runs, they developed two "user friendly" design tools: a stand-
alone graphical chart, and a spreadsheet that uses a set of simplified equations. Both
tools quickly enable the determination of the required effective (i.e. unobstructed)
ventilation opening areas for night cooling based on key building design parameters.
Two criteria were used to determine minimal acceptable thermal performance:
> that there be no more than 100 hours in a year with an internal temperature
above 25.5°C, and
> no more than 25 hours in a year with an internal temperature above 28°C.
Results of the study show that minimum night cooling vent opening areas required to
avoid overheating in the Netherlands vary between approximately 1% and 3% of the
floor area depending on internal heat gains, glazing areas, shading strategies, and control
strategies. They concluded that the optimal night cooling strategy was to use a night
cooling vent area of 2% of the floor area combined with the following limitations on key
design variables:
> Limited internal heat gains from people, lighting, and equipment - a maximum of
33 W / m for high exposed interior thermal mass buildings and 26 W / m for
2 2
medium exposed interior thermal mass buildings.

> Maximum glazing area of 40% of facade area
> External shading of windows by louvers or other shading devices
> Automatic control of night cooling vents
13
"Natural Ventilation for Offices", NatVent Project Report, BRE and the NatVent Consortium, Garston
UK, 1999.
14
Van Paassen, AHC, Liem, SH, Groninger, BP, "Control of Night Cooling with Natural Ventilation -
Sensitivity Analysis of Control Strategies and Vent Openings", Laboratory of Refrigeration Engineering
and Indoor Climate Technology, Faculty of Design, Engineering and Production, Delft University of
Technology, Holland, 1998.
18
3.4 Rule 4 - Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality - United Kingdom
Both the CIBSE Applications Manual "Natural Ventilation in Non Domestic Buildings" 75
and the European NatVent Project Report * recommend the following rule of thumb for
7
the control of winter ventilation rates for indoor air quality:
2 2
Trickle ventilators with an openable area of 4 cm per m of floor area, with a
minimum provision of 40 cm in each room, should adequately provide the
necessary background ventilation to meet occupants needs.
This rule has been adopted from "The Approved Document for Part F of the U K Building
Regulations" , and is required in many European building codes. It is based on the
17
provision of approximately 5 L/s per person of 'background ventilation' during winter

months under climate conditions found in the U K . It is not intended that the trickle
ventilators supply rates of fresh air that meet all occupant and pollutant loads at all times,
but that they are used in conjunction with other types of ventilation opening such as
operable windows. The 24 hr use of trickle ventilation is intended to provide a reservoir
of fresh air which may be sufficient to maintain air quality throughout the day. However
during periods of high pollutant loads ,'rapid ventilation' by opening windows or with
mechanical ventilation may be required.
3.5 Rules 5a,b,c - Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality - North America
Three rules of thumb for achieving acceptable ventilation rates for indoor air quality can
be derived from the prescriptive requirements for naturally ventilated buildings that are
currently being reviewed as a possible addendum to A S H R A E Standard 62-1999,
"Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality." * The draft addendum, entitled
7
"Addendum j " replaces the current performance requirement for natural ventilation
systems with a prescriptive requirement that is similar to many model building codes.
For naturally ventilated buildings to achieve acceptable indoor air quality the draft
addendum suggests adherence to the following requirements for size and location of
natural ventilation openings:
Naturally ventilated spaces shall be permanently open to and within 8 m (25 ft) of
operable wall or roof openings to the outdoors, the openable area of which is a
minimum of 4% of the net occupiable floor area. Where openings are covered with
louvers or otherwise obstructed, openable area shall be based on the free unobstructed
area through the opening. Where interior spaces without direct openings to the
15
16
UK, 1999.
17
"The Building Regulations, Approved Document F: Ventilation", London: HMSO, 1995.
18
"ASHRAE Standard 62 - 1999", American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
Engineers Inc., Atlanta, Georgia, 1999.
19
outdoors are ventUated through adjoining rooms, the opening between rooms shall be
permanently unobstructed and have a free area of not less than 8% of the area of the
interior room nor less than 2.3 m (25 ft ).
2 2
A n exception to this rule is provided that removes requirements for the size and location
of openings for 'engineered' natural ventilation systems that have been approved by the
building permit authority having jurisdiction. This exception is added to "allow
specifically engineered systems such as those that use wind power, stack effect, and other
natural forces to move air through conduits other than windows". The exception also
may be used to show compliance for a room that exceeds 8m in depth but which can be
shown to be "sufficiently ventilated" by perimeter windows. The requirements for
"sufficient ventilation" are not defined.
Three separate rules of thumb can be derived from the above prescriptive requirements:
Rule 5a - Naturally ventilated building spaces should be limited to a depth of 8m

from exterior wall or roof openings.
The first part of the prescriptive requirements states that naturally ventilated building
spaces should be limited to a depth of 8m from exterior wall or roof openings. This
would imply that the depth of a typical office building with offices on either side of a
central corridor should be limited to 16m (or possibly as much as 18m with the addition of
2m for a corridor).
This requirement is similar to Rule 1 presented earlier, which limits the depth of a cross
ventilated building to approximately 15m, assuming a floor to ceiling height of 3m.
However, the intention of this requirement is to address the issue of ventilation for
acceptable indoor air quality while the intention of Rule 1 is to address the issue of
avoidance of overheating (and although not explicitly stated, possibly acceptable indoor
air quality as well).
The proposed "Addendum j " allows for extension beyond the 8m depth limit i f an
'engineered' natural ventilation design solution is utilised, such as those that use "wind
pressure, stack effect, and other natural forces to move air through conduits other than
windows." This means that the rule of thumb would apply to buildings that do not
contain trickle ventilators or are specifically designed to take advantage of wind or stack
effects, other than meeting the minimum requirements for opening areas in the exterior
envelope and interior partitions. Therefore the rule implies that buildings that use
engineered natural ventilation design solutions such as trickle ventilators could achieve
ventilation for adequate indoor air quality at greater building depths.
Rule 5b - Openable areas in exterior walls and roofs should be at least 4% of the
net occupiable floor area
The second rule of thumb requires an openable area in exterior walls and roofs of at least
4% of the net occupiable floor area. This openable area requirement is similar to
20
ventilation requirements for naturally ventilated residential and commercial buildings that
are found in building codes of many North American and European countries. For
example, building code regulations in England and Wales require that conventional
cellular offices should have an openable window area of l/20th (5%) the floor area. The
Canadian 1995 National Building Code has a similar requirement for residential
buildings but not commercial buildings (See Section 4.1 for a more thorough discussion
of Canadian building code requirements for naturally ventilated buildings).
While the requirement for a minimum openable window area is the most commonly
found rule of thumb for naturally ventilated buildings, and is often the only requirement
found in building codes, its usefulness for designers of naturally ventilated buildings is
limited. It addresses the amount of 'rapid ventilation' that can be achieved by opening
windows but does not address the supply rates of fresh air required to meet occupant and
pollutant loads at times when windows are closed.
Rule 5c - Interior partitions or walls between naturally ventilated spaces and outside
ventilation openings should have permanent openings of at least 8% of the floor area
of the interior portion of the space, with a minimum opening area of 2.3 square meters.
The third rule of thumb that can be derived from the proposed addendum is that interior
partitions or walls between naturally ventilated spaces and ventilation openings to the
exterior should have permanent openings of at least 8% of the floor area of the interior
portion of the space, with a minimum opening area of 2.3 square meters. As a result, an
opening equivalent in size to that of a large single doorway (2m x 1.15m) would meet the
minimum required opening area. The minimal 2.3 m opening would meet the
2
requirements for office spaces that have up to approximately 29 m of floor area

2
contained on the interior side of the interior partition (See Figure 3-3). Larger spaces on
the interior side of the partition require larger openings in interior partitions (equal to 8%
of the floor area).
Up To 29rrf Floor Area

Behind Partition
Minimum of 2.3 rrf Opening in

Internal Partition
Exterior Wall Airflow Openings
Figure 3-3 Minimum Airflow Opening Area Required in Internal Partitions
21
4 Natural Ventilation Performance Criteria
For any natural ventilation design rule of thumb to be useful, the criteria used to define a
minimum acceptable level of natural ventilation performance must be established, in
addition to the design conditions under which the rule can be applied. Existing natural
ventilation rules of thumb presented in the previous chapter state that "ventilation is
effective", "cooling is adequate", or "background ventilation is adequate" under a defined
set of building design conditions. Only one rule, the night cooling ventilation rule of
thumb, explicitly states the criteria used to define what is meant by an adequate,
effective, or sufficient ventilation rate or level of natural ventilation performance. It is
critical to define natural ventilation performance criteria when computer modelling tools
are used to investigate the importance of design parameters on natural ventilation
performance, or to identify limitations to rules of thumb.
It is also valuable to investigate what is considered to be an accepted minimum level of

performance for naturally ventilated buildings, and the variance in what is considered
acceptable between North America and Europe, since the rules of thumb investigated in
this study are mainly based on European design guidance.
4.0.1 Functions of Natural Ventilation

First it is essential to clearly identify what is meant by the term 'naturally ventilated
building', and to make a distinction between types of naturally ventilated buildings and
their intended functions.
There are two main functions of naturally ventilated buildings:
1) To provide "adequate" indoor air quality by supplying air to occupied spaces and
removing and/or diluting pollutants. This concept is called 'Natural Ventilation
for Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Control'. Air quality is controlled through the
use of ventilation supply and exhaust openings (e.g., trickle ventilators), using
wind and stack effect as the primary driving forces. No fan energy is required to
provide ventilation (unless mechanical extraction is applied in hybrid systems) but
during the heating season energy is needed for heating the supplied outside air.
Supplied airflow rates depend on wind and temperature conditions and can vary
over time. Design optimisation is essential to combine "good" indoor air quality
with low energy demand.
2) To provide a mechanism to remove excess heat gain from inside the building and
provide adequate summer thermal comfort to occupants. This concept is called
'Natural Ventilation for Control of Summer Overheating'. Cooling can be
achieved by one of three methods:
a) Using natural ventilation to maximize ventilation rates of outside air when the
outside air temperature is below the indoor air temperature.
b) Using natural ventilation to increase indoor air speeds. This method is called
"comfort ventilation". Increasing the flowrate of the air increases the upper
22
limit of the comfort zone for still air conditions, and can provide a direct
physiological cooling effect even when the air is rather warm, up to a limit of
about 32° C. Comfort ventilation is also effective when humidity levels are
high since the higher air speeds increase evaporative cooling of sweat on the
skin thus minimising the discomfort of wet skin.
c) Cooling a high thermal mass building at night by ventilating the building with
cool night air. This method is called "nocturnal cooling" or "night cooling."
The cooled thermal mass serves as a heat sink, so that the building heats up
much more slowly during the daytime when exposed to solar gains, internal
' gains, and high outside air temperatures. The interior air temperature is
lowered through convection with the cool surfaces and the cooled building
thermal mass also provides a radiant cooling benefit. With the radiant cooling
benefit the same level of thermal comfort is achieved at a higher air
temperature level than a building with a moderate air temperature and surfaces
at the same temperature.
Naturally ventilated buildings may be designed to serve one or both of these two
functions. In summer cooling strategies, the required air flow rates are of a higher order
of magnitude than those required for IAQ control. As a result, the required openings are
also of a higher order of magnitude in size. Generally, summer cooling airflow rates are
designed to be as high as possible, within the limits of problems caused by drafts from
high airspeeds or under-cooling in the early morning hours. Precise control of the air
flow rate for cooling is much less important than required for IAQ control, because
energy for heating of outside air is not required.
If the building is designed to perform both functions, it is generally easier to achieve

greater control over performance i f separate airflow openings are provided for each of the
two functions (e.g. openable windows and large vents for summertime control of
overheating and trickle vents for IAQ ventilation).
4.0.2 En ergy Efficien cy

It could be argued that a third main function required of natural ventilation systems is to
reduce building energy consumption below that of mechanically cooled and ventilated
buildings. However, while improved energy efficiency is certainly a desirable benefit,
naturally ventilated buildings can provide other benefits without increasing the level of
energy efficiency over mechanically cooled and/or ventilated buildings. But naturally
ventilated buildings that do not provide ventilation for adequate indoor air quality or
avoid overheating are not meeting basic requirements expected for all buildings.
It is also difficult to set a minimum performance requirement for increased energy

efficiency because the potential to reduce energy consumption depends greatly on the
characteristics and performance of a reference building against which a naturally
ventilated building is being compared. For example, a naturally ventilated building that
provides summer cooling without air conditioning will significantly reduce energy
consumption over an air conditioned reference building, but much less over a non air
conditioned reference building.
23
4.1 Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Performance Criteria
When the intended function of a naturally ventilated building is to provide adequate

indoor air quality, the criteria used to measure natural ventilation performance is the rate
of supply of outdoor air, measured in litres per second (L/s). However, due to inevitable
fluctuations in wind speed and outdoor air temperature, natural ventilation systems
cannot provide a constant flow rate of ventilation air at all times. Therefore criteria for
determining acceptable indoor air quality performance are more difficult to define than
for mechanically ventilated buildings.
4.1.1 ASHRAE Standard 62 - 1999, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality
In North America, the most widely accepted standard for designing ventilation systems to
achieve acceptable indoor air quality in buildings is ' A S H R A E Standard 62-1999,
Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality'. A S H R A E Standard 62-1999 sets out
prescriptive requirements for minimum ventilation rates in mechanically ventilated
buildings. For mechanically ventilated buildings, it requires that one of the following
two procedures be used to demonstrate that "adequate" ventilation rates have been
provided to minimise the adverse health affects of indoor air contaminants:
a) Ventilation Rate Procedure - Acceptable air quality is achieved by providing

ventilation air of a specified quality and quantity to the space. Table 2 in the
Standard specifies minimum flowrates of outside air for various types of
building use. For office spaces, a minimum outdoor air flowrate of 10 L/s per
person is required.
b) Indoor Air Quality Procedure - Acceptable air quality is achieved by

providing ventilation air that will control known and specifiable contaminants
to acceptable concentration levels. The Standard does not specify a minimum
fixed ventilation rate, but requires the designer to calculate a minimum
ventilation rate that will maintain the contaminants at acceptable levels. A
number of contaminants are listed in Table 3 of the Standard with
recommended maximum concentration levels. Other contaminants are listed
for which precise limits have not been set, and adequacy of control must rest
on subjective evaluation. The indoor air quality procedure could result in a
ventilation rate lower than would result from the ventilation rate procedure,
but the presence of a particular source of contamination may result in
increased ventilation requirements.
The only requirement in the current Standard for naturally ventilated buildings is that
"when natural ventilation and infiltration are relied upon, sufficient ventilation shall be
demonstrable". "Sufficient ventilation" for naturally ventilated buildings is not explicitly
defined in the 1999 Standard.
24
However, in 1993 A S H R A E published an official interpretation in response to the
19
explicit question of what is meant by "sufficient ventilation" for naturally ventilated

buildings. Unfortunately, the wording of the interpretation is confusing, and does little to
clear up what is meant by "sufficient ventilation" for naturally ventilated buildings.
The interpretation says that for a naturally ventilated building to have sufficient
ventilation, it does not have to meet the ventilation rates specified in Table 2 (which
requires 10 L/s per person for office spaces), but does have to maintain the concentration
level of contaminants within limits provided in Table 3. That is, it does not have to meet
the requirements of the Ventilation Rate Procedure (requiring a minimum constant
ventilation rate) but does have to meet the requirements of the Indoor Air Quality
Procedure (setting out maximum allowable concentrations of contaminants).
The Indoor Air Quality Procedure does not help in setting indoor air quality performance
criteria in naturally ventilated buildings. To use the indoor air quality procedure, the rate
of release of a fixed number of contaminants, which will vary from building to building,
must be specified. Then a fixed ventilation rate must be calculated that will dilute
contaminants to acceptable concentration levels. But currently there exists no standard
rate of contaminant release for buildings, and therefore it is not possible to specify
minimum acceptable ventilation rates that could be used as criteria for adequate indoor
air quality in naturally ventilated buildings.
The interpretation further states that demonstration of ventilation rates specified in Table
2 of the Standard is another acceptable method of demonstrating sufficient ventilation.
That is, the Ventilation Rate Procedure can be used i f so desired. But the ventilation rate
procedure specifies a fixed ventilation rate, and changes in wind speed and outdoor
temperature cause the ventilation rate in naturally buildings to fluctuate greatly.
In an attempt to clarify how the designer could show that the ventilation rates of Table 2
could be met in a naturally ventilated building, the interpretation says that "acceptable
means of demonstrating natural ventilation include the infiltration methods described in
Chapter 23 - Infiltration and Ventilation - of the 1993 A S H R A E Handbook -
Fundamentals". The methods in the A S H R A E Handbook do describe how to calculate
naturally induced airflow rates in buildings based on wind, stack, and other driving
forces. But they do not describe how to turn a fluctuating natural ventilation flow rate
into a single representative ventilation rate that could be compared to the fixed ventilation
rates of Table 2. The ventilation rate could be compared to a fixed ventilation rate i f a
procedure was specified for calculating a representative "design day" natural ventilation
rate, or for physically measuring ventilation rates over a period of time in constructed
buildings, or for calculating a representative ventilation rate in some other way. Neither
the A S H R A E Standard nor its interpretation clarify such a procedure.
"Interpretation IC 62-1989-8 of ASHRAE Standard 62-1989 Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air
1 9
Quality", American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Inc., Atlanta,
Georgia, September 22, 1993.
25
The interpretation next goes on to say that "Acceptable means of demonstrating openable
areas to the outdoors for natural ventilation are given in the model building codes."
This statement also does not clarify what is meant by "sufficient ventilation".
Prescriptive requirements for openable ventilation areas do not help define performance
based criteria for adequate natural ventilation rates.
Finally, the interpretation states that "Documentation of a background of successful

natural ventilation experience in similar buildings and building uses could also be
considered suitable demonstration." This means that sufficient ventilation is considered
to be provided i f a building's design and use is similar to that of a building with
documented "successful natural ventilation experience". But once again "successful
ventilation experience" is not defined. And because the Standard does not clearly show
how to meet the requirements for sufficient ventilation with the Ventilation Rate
Procedure, the Indoor Air Quality Procedure must be used to provide evidence that the
documented building maintains contaminant levels below maximum allowable
concentration levels.
The current performance requirement for natural ventilation systems specified by the
Standard - i.e. demonstration of sufficient ventilation - is recognised by A S H R A E as
being difficult for designers to understand and use, and difficult to enforce. As a result
they are considering replacing it with a prescriptive requirement, as was discussed
previously in Section 3.5. However, the proposed prescriptive requirement also does not
aid in setting criteria for minimum IAQ performance in naturally ventilated buildings
because it is prescriptive rather than performance based.
4.1.2 Canadian Building Codes

Building codes are the other main source of guidance for ensuring adequate indoor air
quality performance in naturally ventilated buildings. Most current provincial and local
building codes in Canada are based on the 1995 National Building Code of Canada
(NBC). For commercial buildings, Part 6 of the N B C specifies that outdoor air supplied
by ventilation systems must not be less than the rates required by A S H R A E Standard 62.
Then, specifically addressing naturally ventilated buildings, the N B C states that this
ventilation can be provided by natural ventilation for commercial buildings with an
occupant load of not more than one person per 40 m during normal use. Therefore,
2
natural ventilation is only allowed for low occupancy office buildings, and the rate of
natural ventilation has to be at least that required by A S H R A E Standard 62.
For large multi unit residential buildings. Part 6 of the N B C states that it does not allow
natural ventilation as the method of supplying ventilation air. It says that they must use
some form of mechanical ventilation, however it does not explicitly require mechanical
ventilation supply systems, and bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans supplemented with
natural ventilation are commonly used and generally considered to meet this requirement.
For single family buildings. Part 9 of the N B C allows natural ventilation in the non
heating season only, and requires mechanical ventilation in the heating season. For the
26
non heating season it specifies minimum unobstructed openable areas to the outdoors,
based either on the floor area of the space to be ventilated, or the design number of
occupants per space, depending on the type of space. For example, it requires 0.28 m of 2
unobstructed openable ventilation area per room for residential bedrooms, kitchens,
dining rooms, and living rooms. This approach addresses the amount of 'rapid
ventilation' that can be achieved by opening windows but does not explicitly address the
supply rates of fresh air required to meet occupant and pollutant loads at times when
windows are closed. Therefore it provides little direction in setting performance based
criteria that can be used to evaluate acceptable indoor air quality in naturally ventilated
buildings.
4.1.3 European Building Codes and Design Guidelines

Many European building codes contain requirements for naturally ventilated commercial
buildings that set minimum openable areas in exterior walls. These requirements are
valid for both heating and non heating seasons and are similar to Canadian requirements
for single family residential occupancies in non heating seasons. For example,
regulations for England and Wales specify openable window areas of l/20 ofthe floortfi
area for conventional cellular offices .
European design guidance, such as that contained in the CIBSE applications manual for
natural ventilation in non-domestic buildings, recommends that an (unspecified) medium
term time averaged ventilation rate of fresh air be provided. This means that the fresh air
rate can vary without a significant change in indoor air quality due to the reservoir effect
provided by the space. For example, trickle ventilators with a minimum opening size of
4 cm per m of floor area are commonly required by European building codes . This
2 2 27
requirement is based on the provision of approximately 5 L/s per person of 'background

ventilation' during winter months in the U K . A 24 hour period of background
2 2
ventilation is intended to fully purge the air in a space overnight when an office is
unoccupied and provide a reservoir of clean air that, with the continuing background flow
of incoming fresh air, may be sufficient to maintain acceptable indoor air quality
throughout the day. In spaces with high levels of internal air contaminant generation, it
may be necessary to provide rapid ventilation by opening windows for short periods to
replenish the reservoir.
4.1.4 IAQ Minimum Performance Criteria Adopted

In this study, a software model was used to calculate the rate of outside air flowing
though an office space based on wind and stack pressures induced by outdoor wind
speeds and temperature. To address the issue of IAQ airflow rates varying over time, the
2 0
UK, 1999, p8.

21
"The Building Regulations, Approved Document F: Ventilation", London: HMSO, 1995.
"Natural Ventilation in Non Domestic Buildings, Applications Manual A M 10", CIBSE, London, 1997, p
2 2
37.
27
building was modelled for every hour of an entire year using weather data that is
considered to be representative of a typical year for the cities of Vancouver and Toronto.
Since North American minimum performance criteria for acceptable ventilation rates for
IAQ in naturally ventilated buildings are unclear, a very conservative approach was
adopted for this study - the minimum acceptable ventilation rate criteria for mechanically
ventilated office buildings from A S H R A E Standard 62-1999 of 10 L/s per person.
There will of course be extreme instances where winds are calm and there is no indoor to
outdoor temperature difference, and thus no driving forces for natural ventilation. Some
allowance should also be made for the ability of the reservoir effect to dampen the impact
of reduced ventilation rates during these times. Therefore, a conservative cut-off of 1%
of occupied office hours was chosen as a maximum allowable number of hours for which
the naturally induced ventilation rate could fall below 10 L/s per person.
28
4.2 Summer Overheating Performance Criteria
When a building is in a cooling mode, the criteria used to measure natural ventilation
performance is acceptable thermal comfort.
4.2.1 ASHRAE Standard 55 - Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human

Occupancy
In North America, the most widely adopted standard for establishing thermally
acceptable indoor environments is A S H R A E Standard 55, "Thermal Environmental
Conditions for Human Occupancy." This standard specifies conditions or comfort zones
where 80% of sedentary or slightly active persons find the environment thermally
acceptable, as shown in Figure 4-1 below . 2
The extreme maximum acceptable

indoor temperature that falls
within the comfort zone is an
operative temperature of between
26°C and 27°C, depending on
relative humidity levels.
Operative temperature is defined

as the average of the mean radiant
and ambient air temperatures,
weighted by their respective heat
transfer coefficients. It provides a
more accurate measure of comfort
than air temperature alone,
because it also takes into account
the effect of surface temperature
and humidity.
The comfort diagram also shows

the upper acceptable comfort limit
in terms of an effective
temperature of 26°C. The
effective temperature (ET*)
combines temperature and
humidity into a single index.
Figure 4-1 ASHRAE Summer and Winter

Comfort Zones
ASHRAE, "1997 ASHRAE Handbook - Fundamentals", American Society of Heating, Refrigerating,

2 3
and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. Atlanta, Georgia, 1997.
29
Two environments with the same ET* and same level of air movement should evoke the
same thermal response, even though they have different air temperatures and humidity
levels.
Because thermal comfort limits are defined in terms of operative temperature, air
temperatures of greater than 27°C remain within the comfort zone if the radiant
temperature of the space is lowered by cooler interior floor, ceiling, and wall surfaces.
The upper temperature limit of the A S H R A E comfort zone can also be extended with
changes in clothing and indoor airspeeds. The comfort zone diagram specifies summer
comfort zones appropriate for clothing insulation levels of 0.5 clo (e.g. trousers and short
sleeve shirt). Comfort zones for other clothing levels can be approximated by increasing
the temperature borders of the zone by 0.6°C for each 0.1 clo decrease in clothing
insulation. A change to walking shorts and short sleeve shirt (0.36 clo) would extend the
upper operative temperature limit of the comfort chart to approximately 28°C under low
humidity conditions.
Increasing the indoor airspeed increases the upper limit of the comfort zone by increasing
convective and evaporative cooling of the body, and can provide a direct physiological
cooling effect. The summer zone of the A S H R A E Standard 55 comfort diagram is based
on air movements of less than 0.25 m/s. The Standard allows the upper limit of the
comfort zone to be extended by 1°C for each increase of 0.275 m/s in air speed above the
base case of 0.25 m/s, up to a maximum of a 2°C temperature increase at 0.8 m/s
airspeeds.
The net result is that the Standard allows for a maximum operative temperature of
approximately 30°C under low humidity, low clothing insulation, and high air speed
conditions. It sets upper extreme temperature limits under specific climate conditions,
but these limits are difficult to use for evaluating performance in naturally ventilated
buildings because of the inevitable fluctuations in interior temperatures due to fluctuating
climate conditions.
4.2.2 Canadian Building Codes

Canadian building codes do not specify indoor thermal comfort requirements and
therefore they do not aid in setting thermal comfort criteria. The only reference that they
make to the issue is that H V A C systems should be designed to conform to "good
engineering practice" such as described in the A S H R A E Handbooks and Standards,
pointing the designer back to the A S H R A E Standard 55 comfort diagram.
4.2.3 European Building Codes and Design Guidelines

European design methods, standards, and codes generally allow for a greater level of
thermal comfort flexibility than the North American A S H R A E Standard 55. Their
acceptable upper temperature limits are similar to those suggested by the A S H R A E
comfort diagram, however they often provide allowance for the fact that temperatures in
a naturally ventilated building will vary through the day. They therefore encourage the
use of naturally ventilated buildings.
30
For air conditioned buildings, the B R E Environmental Design Manual^ proposes a mean
4
summer dry resultant temperature of 23°C for a formal office (requiring jackets to be
worn at all times) and 25°C for an informal office. A temperature range of +/- 2 degrees
Celsius around this mean is thought to provide satisfactory conditions. The maximum
acceptable indoor dry resultant temperature derived from this standard is then 27°C. Dry
resultant temperature takes into account the effect of radiant heat exchange, similar to the
operative temperature used by A S H R A E . At low air speeds, it can be approximated by
the arithmetic mean of the air and mean radiant temperature of the space.
For non air conditioned buildings, building codes of many European countries specify
that the indoor dry resultant temperature may be allowed to exceed defined thresholds for
specific numbers of hours based on a design weather year. For example, Holland has a
requirement that the dry resultant temperature should not exceed 25°C for more than 5%
of working hours, and should not exceed 28°C for more than 1 % of working hours.
The design weather year is a typical year of weather data used as a common basis for
calculating overheating hours in each particular climate region. It represents average
weather conditions over a number of years rather than a worst case overheating scenario
of extended hot weather. Therefore internal conditions in actual buildings will exceed the
defined overheating hour thresholds due to inevitable periods of warmer weather than
contained in the design weather year.
A number of different typical weather year data formats are available, most of which are
developed using a similar method in which twelve months of observed weather data are
chosen from a database of 30 or more years of data. Typical Meteorological Year
(TMY), Weather Year of Energy Calculations (WYEC), and Canadian Weather for
Energy Calculations (CWEC) are all formats used in North America, and CIBSE
Example Weather Years and C E C Test Reference Years are common formats used in the
U K . C W E C is the most commonly used format in Canada. In it, each month is chosen
by statistically comparing individual monthly with long term monthly means for daily
total global radiation, mean, minimum and maximum dry bulb temperature, mean,
minimum and maximum dew point temperature, and mean and maximum wind speed. It
places additional consideration on the persistence of mean dry bulb temperature and daily
total radiation in selecting months.
Because each weather format differs in how it chooses the most "typical" months of
weather data, they may differ significantly in their sequences of hot weather data.
Unfortunately, there is not a common format that is adhered to internationally, and
therefore overheating hour thresholds will vary depending on the weather data format
chosen.
Petherbridge P, Milbank NO, and Harrington-Lynn J, "Environmental Design Manual", Building

2 4
Research Establishment, Garston England, 1984.
31
The Zurich Canton of Switzerland allows a maximum number of degree-hours that the
internal temperature can exceed a defined over-heating threshold. The number of degree-
hours is defined as the temperature difference between the dry resultant temperature of
the room and the threshold temperature, multiplied by the number of hours that the room
temperature condition prevails. The limit is set at 30 degree-hours and is related to a
variable threshold temperature, which is 28°C for outside temperatures above 20°C. This
approach has been further developed in Scandinavia, where the Swedish Indoor Climate
Institute recommends the use of different thermal quality classes. Three classes are
defined, each with its own maximum operative temperature (25.5°C for class 1 through to
27°C for class 3). As well as temperature standards, there are corresponding
specifications for air velocity, temperature gradient, radiant asymmetry, and rate of
temperature change.
The European NatVent Project suggests an approach similar to that adopted by Holland
for naturally ventilated office type buildings in moderate and cold climates . They 25
suggest that the following dry resultant indoor temperatures not be exceeded for the
specified number of occupied office hours:
• 25.5 °C for not more than 100 hours

• 28°C for not more than 25 hours
4.2.4 Summer Overheating Performance Criteria Adopted

In this study, the NatVent thermal comfort criteria was adopted since it provides a limited
allowance for varying indoor temperature, and is simple to use with a software model that
calculates indoor temperatures for each hour of a typical year. However, indoor air
temperature was used rather than dry resultant temperature, because of limitations in the
NatVent software model used to simulate indoor thermal conditions. While the model
calculates both interior surface and air temperatures in its thermal balance equations, it
only outputs air temperature, and therefore does not allow the calculation of dry resultant
temperature. This should produce an error on the conservative side, with an overestimate
of overheating hours because indoor surface temperatures will most often be lower than
indoor air temperatures, particularly in the case of higher thermal mass buildings and
those utilising night cooling. The 25.5°C temperature threshold was also modified to
25 °C, again due to output limitations in the NatVent thermal modelling software
program, also producing slightly higher estimates of the number of overheating hours.
"A Performance Specification for the Energy Efficient Office of the Future", Department of
2 5
Environment, Transport and the Regions. General Information Report 30, DETR, London, 1995.
32
5 Natural Ventilation Performance Modelling
The quantity of airflow entering and exiting a building depends on the size and location
of airflow openings and on the magnitudes of the stack, wind, and mechanically induced
pressure differences. Stack and wind induced pressure differences, which are created by
external driving forces that vary with time and location on the building, cause infiltration
and exfiltration of outdoor and indoor air. Pressure differences induced by operating
mechanical ventilation systems can assist or counteract these airflows.
Empirically determining all of the time-varying pressure differences and airflows for a
multi zone office building is difficult, time consuming, and expensive. Alternatively, a
detailed analysis can be carried out to simulate the multi-compartment pressure
differences and airflows in a computer model of the building.
5.1 Multizone Airflow and Thermal Modelling Tools
Several software models have been developed for predicting airflow, contaminant
dispersal, and fire induced smoke movement in multizone buildings. Feustel and Dieris 26
report 50 different computer programs for multizone airflow analysis. These

mathematical models typically calculate airflows based on mass balance calculations for
individual zones that are connected together in a network.
Two multi zone airflow models that are validated, well supported, and commonly used in
North America are "CONTAM96" developed by the US National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST) and "COMIS" developed by ten scientists in nine countries and
supported by the International Energy Agency's Annex 23. While these models are
excellent tools for predicting natural ventilation airflow, their usefulness is limited for
design of naturally ventilated buildings because they do not also model thermal heat
transfer processes. They cannot predict internal room temperatures and subsequently
enable evaluation of summer overheating performance. And because they cannot predict
internal temperatures, they cannot evaluate the effect of changing interior temperatures
on airflow rates.
A large number of thermal models have also been developed and are commonly used to
evaluate building energy performance (for example DOE 2.1). However these thermal
models are not capable of calculating wind and stack induced airflow rates.
Very few computer models have been developed that can evaluate both airflow and
thermal heat transfer, and link the effect of both processes together, due to the complexity
of linking the two types of models. In the past, this lack of modelling capability has
greatly restricted the ability for designers to estimate the performance of naturally
ventilated buildings.
Feustel, H.E. & J. Dieris. 1992. "A survey of airflow models for multizone structures", Energy and
2 6
Buildings, Vol 18, pp 79-100.
33
Several linked airflow-thermal models have now been developed, are commercially
available, and are being used to aid in the design of naturally ventilated buildings. ESP-r,
developed at the University of Strathclyde in the U K , and TAS, developed by E D S L in
the U K are both commercially available models that allow detailed evaluation of natural
ventilation building designs. Unfortunately, these programs are still fairly complex,
expensive, and require extensive input from the user and specialised building airflow and
thermal modelling expertise.
5.2 NatVent Model

A simplified, easy to use linked airflow/thermal model called "NatVent" has been
developed as part of the European NatVent Project, and has been used to estimate indoor
air temperatures and airflow rates in this study. The NatVent Program is meant to serve
as a pre-design tool that can be used early in the design process before building and
ventilation system details are determined. Assumptions and simplifications about the
building and ventilation system are made in the program. These simplifications make it
valuable to use for initial design work and for this type of study - investigating the
importance of design parameters on natural ventilation performance, and limitations of
existing natural ventilation rules of thumb. The program is limited however, in its
usefulness for evaluating detailed design options.
The model is based upon a single zone approach in which the entire building or a selected
part is represented by a single enclosed space of uniform temperature and indoor air
pressure. A n airflow simulation algorithm is linked to a thermal heat transfer algorithm
to calculate the temperature and the air flow rates into and out of the zone at each one
hour time step.
The airflow model calculates air pressure differences and airflow between the outside and
inside of the building through windows and vents in the facade, passive stacks, supply air
ducts, air fans, and cracks and imperfections in the walls and ceiling. The resulting
airflow is then used in the thermal model.
The thermal model calculates the internal air and surface temperatures from solar
radiation on external walls and the roof, solar gains through windows and skylights,
internal heat gains, heat transfer to indoor air, heat transfer between indoor air and
internal surfaces, heat transfer by ventilation, and heat transfer through external walls,
roof, and windows. The calculated air and interior surface temperatures are then used by
the airflow model in the next time step.
5.2.1 Clint ate Data

The NatVent program uses hourly weather data that can be in the form of:
• summer design weather data used for estimating maximum room temperatures
• winter design weather data used for estimating the size of ventilation openings
needed to achieve acceptable ventilation rates of indoor air quality
• reference year weather data that can be used for estimating interior air
temperature and outdoor air ventilation rates for every hour in the year.
34
Weather data chosen for this study was reference year weather data for the cities of
Vancouver and Toronto, in Canadian Weather for Energy Calculations (CWEC) format.
C W E C format is based on the A S H R A E defined W Y E C 2 format and has been adopted
by the National Research Institute of Canada for the creation of Canadian typical year
weather files for energy calculations.
35
6 Natural Ventilation Modelling Design Parameters
6.1 Base Case Building

To investigate natural ventilation design rules of thumb and the influence of different
design parameters on performance, a "typical" or "base case" office building was created
in which different input parameters could be modified. The base case building was
designed to represent an open plan low-rise office building in Canada with a geometry
and features suitable for using natural ventilation for IAQ and summer overheating
control.
The base case building, with its plan view as shown in Figure 6-1, is a three story office
building located in an urban environment. The following is a description of its features:
> The building measures 40 m long and 15 m in cross-ventilation depth, with the
long walls facing east and west.
> The floor to ceiling height of each level is 3m.
> No internal partitions block airflow between east and west facing walls of the
building.
> A l l exterior walls contain windows that cover 30% of the wall area. The effective
openable area of all windows is equal to 10% of the window area.
> Trickle vents are evenly distributed within exterior walls. These vents could be
considered to be either trickle vents or a very small area of night cooling vents.
> The building has low internal heat gains, a low occupancy ratio, light thermal
mass construction, clear double pane windows, and medium size overhangs over
the windows.
> The occupancy schedule is 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., 5 days per week.
> The building is surrounded by obstructions equal to its height, such as
neighbouring buildings, within a distance of one building height.
> The building is constructed to a high
15 m
level of airtightness (1.6 L/s per m
envelope area @ 50 Pa pressure) with r i
the trickle vents closed.
A single zone within the centre of the building

was selected for natural ventilation
performance analysis. This zone is Modelled
Zone
representative of a 10m wide office in the
centre of the length of the building, open the
entire 15m depth of the building, with solid
partitions isolating airflow between it and
other zones of the building.
Figure 6-1 Base Case Building

Layout
36
6.1.1 Building Form -Parametric Study
The first part of the computer simulation modelling work performed in the study was a
parametric analysis of the effect of building design modifications on natural ventilation
performance. The building configurations used are shown in Figure 6-2. A large atrium
runs down the length of the three storey building. Parameter modifications such as
changes to window size, overhang size, thermal mass, etc. were first made to a cross
ventilated building with no stack on top of the building, as shown in Figure 6-2 (a). As
one of the parameter modifications, a passive stack was added to the top of the atrium as
shown in Figure 6-2 (b).
This base case building configuration enables both wind pressure and stack effects to
induce natural ventilation airflow. It represents the performance resulting from combined
stack and cross ventilation driven airflow through the building since large airflow
openings exist between floor levels. This configuration was chosen because it is a
common configuration found in naturally ventilated low rise office building design. The
C K Choi Building in Vancouver, B C , is an example of this type of configuration. The
parametric analysis was used to provide a broad overview of the relative magnitude of the
impact of a wide range of building design modifications on this type of building
configuration.
Airflow and interior temperatures used to evaluate natural ventilation performance were
measured on the ground floor level only.
Stack Ventilation Base Case

Building
Cross Ventilation Base Case
Building
3 =>
15m Building Depth
(a) (b)
Figure 6-2 Base Case Cross Ventilation and Stack Ventilation Configurations Used
For Parametric Analysis
37
6.1.2 Building Form - Investigation of Rules of Thumb
The second part of the computer simulation modelling work performed in the study was
an evaluation of the limitations of existing rules of thumb. Many of the rules of thumb
presented in Chapter 3 are based on cross ventilation strategies, however the building
configuration shown in Figure 6-2 (a) is strongly effected by stack effects over the entire
building height. Therefore, to evaluate the effect of cross ventilation in greater isolation
of stack effect, the base case building was modified so that individual building floors are
isolated from one another, as shown in Figure 6-3 (a). Airflow and interior temperatures
used to evaluate natural ventilation performance were measured on the ground floor level
only.
The building configuration used to evaluate stack ventilation rules of thumb remained
unchanged from that used for the parametric analysis, as shown in Figure 6-3 (b). The
stack ventilation rule of thumb evaluated is based on the same type of configuration -
representing the performance of combined cross ventilation and stack ventilation airflow.

Building
Building
Variable Building Depth
(a) (b)
Figure 6-3 Base Case Cross Ventilation and Stack Ventilation Configurations Used
for Rule of Thumb Analysis
38
6.2 Natural Ventilation Design Parameters Investigated
A large number of building design parameters effect natural ventilation performance:
> Some building parameters directly effect the rate of ventilation that can be used to
control summer overheating, such as the window opening area, or the height of a
passive ventilation stack.
> Other parameters, such as interior lighting loads, solar shading, or wall and roof
insulation levels do not directly effect rates of natural ventilation airflow, but instead
effect the thermal balance between heat gains and losses within the building. Because
they play a key role in determining the building's ability to avoid overheating, they
are considered indirect natural ventilation design parameters.
> A third grouping of parameters effect the performance of the building in terms of its
ability to provide adequate ventilation rates for indoor air quality. Tickle vent size is
a key variable effecting ventilation rates when windows are closed. Many of the
parameters that effect ventilation rates that control summer overheating also effect
ventilation rates that provide adequate indoor air quality. For example, stack
ventilation parameters and other parameters that effect cross ventilation such as local
wind shielding or building orientation effect rates of airflow through trickle vents.
And parameters that effect the rate of airflow through windows also effect ventilation
for indoor air quality.
6.2.1 Modified Param eters
The following key natural ventilation design parameters, grouped according to the above
categories, were modified to investigate their effect on the natural ventilation
performance of the base case building:
1) Natural Ventilation For Control of Summertime Overheating
a) Parameters that directly effect ventilation rates used to control summer

overheating:
Cross Ventilation
• Openable window area
• Local wind shielding
• Building orientation
• Floor to ceiling height
Stack Ventilation
• Passive Stack Area
• Passive Stack Height
• Building Height
39
Night Cooling
• Night Cooling Vent Size
b) Parameters that effect building thermal balance and therefore summer

overheating:
• Interior lighting and equipment loads

• Occupant Density
• Window glazing area
• Window shading due glass colour or blinds or shading devices
• Window overhang size
• Window type - U Value and transmissivity
• Wall and roof insulation levels
• Interior active thermal mass capacity
2) Natural Ventilation for IAQ Control
Cross Ventilation
• Trickle vent size
• Openable window area
• Local wind shielding
Stack Ventilation
• Passive Stack Area
• Passive Stack Height
• Building Height
Each of these natural ventilation design parameters were modified within their practical
design limitations. In some cases the range of variation of parameters is limited by
physical contraints, and in others it is limited by design practicality or aesthetic
considerations. For example, the total window area within exterior walls was modified
between a maximum of 100% (including window frames) of wall area and a minimum of
10% of wall area. A minimum of 10 % window area was chosen rather than 0% because
it is not likely that a building would be designed with no windows. As another example,
the passive stack height was varied between zero height and 10 m height above the
building. While greater stack heights are possible, a 10 m high stack is already stretching
the limits of practicality in terms of building aesthetics.
The range of variation modelled for each design parameter and values for the base case
building are shown in Table 6-1.
40
Table 6-1 Modelled Building Design Parameters
Modelling Limits
Minimum Maximum
Natural Ventilation Base Case Cooling and/or Cooling and/or
Design Parameter IAQ Performance IAQ
Performance
Cross Ventilation:
Site
Local Wind and Solar Shielding Full Building Height Full Building Height No Obstructions
Obstructions Obstructions
Building Form
Building depth 15 m 50 m 5m
Building height 3 stories 2 stories 10 stories
Window Area 30% of Wall Area 10% of Wall Area 100% of Wall Area
Unobstructed Openable Window Area 3% of Wall Area 1% of Wall Area 10% of Wall Area
Orientation of Window and Airflow Facing East West Facing East - West Facing North - South
Opening Walls
Building Details
Solar Shading Overhang Size (Angle
from centre of window to overhang Medium Overhang No Overhang Large Overhang
edge) (40°) (0°) (60°)
Solar Shading Factor 0.6 1.0 0.2
(Due to Solar Protective Glazing, Interior (Limited solar (No Protective (External Blinds or
Blinds, or Exterior Blinds or Shading protective glazing) Glazing, Blinds, or Shading)
Devices) Shading)
Window Type (Without varying colour) Double Clear Single Clear Double Clear + Low-e
+ Argon
Wall and Roof Insulation Level U=0.35 W/m K 2
U=0.8 W/m K 2
U=0.2 W/m K 2
(RSI = 3) (RSI =1) (RSI = 5)

Thermal Mass - Interior Active Thermal Medium Very Light Very Heavy
Capacity (Wh/K m ) - See Table 6-2
2
(80 Wh/K m ) 2
(40 Wh/K m ) 2
(160 Wh/K m ) 2
Internal Design Conditions

Occupant density 20 m per occupant
2
5 m per person
2
50 m per person
2
Lighting and Equipment Heat Gain 10 W/m 2

60 W/m 2
5 W/m 2
IAQ Ventilation:
Trickle Vent Size 10 cm /m floor area
2 2
0 cm /m floorarea
2 2
16 cm /m floorarea
2 2
(750 cm per wall)*

2
Night Cooling:
Night Cooling Vent Size 0.1% Floor Area 1.3% Floor Area
(750 cm per wall)*
2
No Vents (10,000 c m o r l m 2 2
per wall)
Stack Ventilation:
Stack Height (Fixed area of 2.8 m )
2
No Stack 0 m (Hole in roof) 10 m
Stack Airflow Area (Fixed hgt of 7 m) No Stack Om 2
16 m 2
*The trickle vents and night cooling vents are the same vents in the base case building.
41
The variance in interior thermal mass modelled is shown in Table 6-2, with an example
of the type of interior surface materials that could be used in each thermal mass category.
Interior air and surface temperatures increase over the course of the day due to increased
solar and internal heat gains from occupants, lighting, and equipment. Interior thermal
mass dampens the amplitude of this increase, and delays the time of day when peak
temperatures occur, preferably to a time beyond occupied hours. The effect of thermal
mass increases with the density and thermal heat capacity of interior wall, roof, and floor
materials. The active thermal capacity used by the NatVent model is a product of the
material thermal heat capacity (Wh/kg K), density (kg/m ), and the active volume of
3
material (m ), averaged over the interior of the building and presented on a square meter
3
of floor area basis. The active volume of thermal mass depends on the depth of material
that plays an active role in dampening interior temperatures. This depth depends on the
type of material but is usually limited to a few inches (5 to 10 cm) in depth.
Table 6-2 Active Thermal Capacity of Structures per m Gross Floor Area.
2
Description Internal Construction Active TKermal|Capacity

(Wh/K m )2
Very Light Light walls, floor and ceiling, e.g. steel studs and 40
gypsum board walls, T bar ceiling, carpeted floor
over underlay and plywood, no heavy structures.
Light Some heavy structures, but not well exposed, e.g. 80
concrete slab with wooden floor or light-weight
concrete walls clad in plaster.
Medium Several heavy structures, e.g. exposed concrete 120
slab with brick or concrete walls.
Very Heavy Heavy walls, floor and ceiling made of exposed 160
concrete, brick or stone.
6.2.2 Fixed Parameters

A limited number of parameters were explored in this study to investigate their effect on
natural ventilation performance. Many other parameters can also have significant
impacts, several of which are described below:
> Internal Partitions - The base case building is assumed to have no internal partitions
that inhibit airflow across the depth of the building. Depending on their size and
location, internal partitions can reduce cross ventilation or stack ventilation driven
airflow, and therefore degrade natural ventilation performance.
> Length of the Building - The length of the building was held constant at 40m. The
length of the building effects the wind pressure profile, since the shape of the building
has a direct effect of the magnitude and distribution of wind pressure coefficients (Cp
values). The length of the building also effects solar heat gains through end walls.
The longer the building, the lower the impact due to the averaging of fixed end wall
heat gains over a larger building floor area. For the base case building modelled in
42
this study, with interior temperature evaluated in a central zone within the building, it
was found that as the overall building length was incrementally increased to
approximately 20m the effect of end wall solar gains was reduced. Beyond 20m,
increasing building length showed insignificant impact.
> Occupancy Schedule - The building was assumed to have a fixed occupancy schedule
of 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., 5 days per week. This is a relatively long schedule for an
office building, leading to a conservative estimate of natural ventilation performance,
because overheating performance is based on the number of overheating hours per
year that occur while the building is occupied.
> Factors that Effect Wind Pressure - A number of building and site specific factors that
effect wind pressure coefficients and wind velocities around the building were also
not investigated. These include:
• Building Shape - Wind pressure coefficients for each location on the building
can vary significantly depending on building shape.
• Roof Design - Roof design has a particularly significant impact on roof level
wind pressure coefficients that effect airflow performance of passive stacks.
••• Terrain Roughness - Surrounding terrain roughness (open flat land versus city
centre) effects local wind speeds, which then effect wind driven ventilation
rates. Only city centre type terrain roughness was investigated.
• Local Wind Obstructions - The height and location of local surrounding
buildings and landscape features can significantly effect local wind speeds.
While the effect of changing the height of local wind obstructions was
investigated, the effects of the exact placement of obstructions, which can also
have significant impacts due to wind funnelling, were not modelled.
A l l of these factors can have either positive or negative effects on natural ventilation
performance.
> Occupant Control of Windows - The operation of windows was modelled as being
opened by occupants to provide cooling only during occupied hours, and only when
the indoor temperature is greater than 20°C. Different scenarios of occupant control
could dramatically effect the rates of ventilation airflow, increasing or decreasing
indoor temperature conditions and ventilation rates for IAQ.
43
7 Base Case Building Performance
The base case cross-ventilated building was modelled with the NatVent simulation model
using hourly reference year weather data for the cities of Vancouver and Toronto.
7.1 Vancouver and Toronto Climates

The cities of Vancouver and Toronto were chosen as two example climates because they
represent extremes in summer temperature conditions within Canada. Vancouver has
mild summer temperature conditions and therefore has great potential for naturally
ventilated office buildings. Toronto was chosen to represent a very difficult climate for
using natural ventilation for cooling because it has very hot and humid summer weather.
A n overview of climate characteristics for Vancouver and Toronto, as they relate to

natural ventilation performance, are shown in Table 7-1. Shown in the table are relevant
A S H R A E design climate conditions, and statistics taken from the C W E C reference year
weather data used for natural ventilation performance modelling.
Table 7-1 Vancouver and Toronto Climate Data

. Climate Vancouver Toronto
ASHRAE Design Conditions
1% Summer Design Dry Bulb Temperature (July) 26 32
2.5% Summer Design Dry Bulb Temperature (July) 25 31
Mean Daily Temperature Range (July) 9 11
Prevailing Wind Direction at 2.5% Summer Design Dry Bulb Temperature WNW SW
Prevailing Wind Direction at 97.5 % Winter Design Dry Bulb Temperature East North
C W E C Reference Year Weather Files

Number of hours per year of dry bulb temperature at or above 25°C 6 372
Number of hours per year of dry bulb temperature at or above 28°C 0 121
Mean Annual Wind Speed 12km/hr 15 km/hr
Mean July Wind Speed 11 km/hr 11 km/hr
Percentage of hours per year with zero wind speed 9 7
Percentage of occupied hours (8:00am-6:00pm) per year with zero wind 5 4
speed
7.1.1 Vancouver Climate

For control of summer overheating, Vancouver has a mild climate that is ideal for natural
ventilation. As shown in Table 7-1 the C W E C reference year used to model building
performance shows only six hours per year with outside air dry bulb temperatures
equalling or exceeding 25°C and zero hours per year at or exceeding 28°C. These
numbers are slightly low when compared to historical weather data for Vancouver.
Environment Canada Principal Station Data" complied from all hourly observations
Atmospheric Environment Service, "Principal Station Data" Vancouver International Airport,

2 7
Environment Canada, Downsview, Ontario, 1983.
44
between 1951 and 1980 show the percentage frequency of the dry bulb temperature
equalling or exceeding 25°C at approximately 0.1% in the month of May, 0.5% in June,
2% in July, 1% in August, and 0.1% in September. During all other months the
occurrence of temperatures exceeding 25°C is negligible. This works out to an average
of approximately 27 hours per year with the temperature at or exceeding 25°C. A similar
calculation for the number of hours at or exceeding 28°C reveals an historical average of
approximately 3 hours per year.
This discrepancy is relatively insignificant because both sources show very few hours per
year - out of 8760 total hours per year - with outside air temperatures exceeding 25°C.
The rest of the time outside air is cool enough to provide direct cooling to indoor spaces.
Table 7-1 also reveals information about diurnal temperature differences - effecting the
potential for night cooling - as well as wind speed and direction information useful for
looking at the potential for summer and winter ventilation rates and for orienting the
building. As shown, on average the Vancouver night time outside air temperature in July
decreases by approximately 9°C from the daily maximum temperature, making night
cooling an effective cooling strategy.
During the month of July, when wind is required as a driving force for summer cooling,
the average wind speed is 11 km/hr. The mean prevailing wind direction during the
hottest 2.5% of hours per year is West Northwest. Therefore to take maximum advantage
of wind direction during the hottest weather conditions (although not necessarily also the
best direction from a solar gain point of view), the building should ideally be oriented
with its longest walls facing West-Northwest and East Southeast rather than directly East
and West as in the base case building.
During winter months, when ventilation for IAQ is required but cooling is not, the
prevailing wind direction in Vancouver is from the East. Therefore for provision of
ventilation for indoor air quality, the ideal building orientation is with long building walls
facing East and West as in the base case building. Calm wind conditions in Vancouver
exist for approximately 5% of all occupied hours (8:00 am and 6:00 p.m) in the typical
year weather data used in this study. For the remainder of the time some level of wind is
available to provide a wind pressure driving force that can be used to provide ventilation.
The percentage of hours with no driving force to provide air movement for ventilation
will actually be less than the 5% of hours with calm wind conditions, because during part
of this time there will be temperature differences between the inside and outside of the
building, providing a stack ventilation driving force for ventilation airflow.
7.1.2 Toronto Climate

Toronto has hot summer weather that is less than ideal for control of summer overheating
using natural ventilation. The C W E C reference year used to model building performance
shows 372 hours and 121 hours per year with outside air dry bulb temperatures at or
exceeding 25°C and 28°C respectively.
45
However, on average the night time outside temperature in July decreases by
approximately 11°C from the daily maximum temperature, making night cooling an
effective cooling strategy part of the time.
During the month of July, when wind is required as a driving force for summer cooling,
the average wind speed is 11 km/hr, the same as Vancouver. The mean prevailing wind
direction during the hottest 2.5% of hours per year is Southwest. Therefore to take
maximum advantage of wind direction during the hottest weather conditions, the building
should ideally be oriented with its longest walls facing Southwest and Northeast rather
than directly East and West as in the base case building.
Toronto has weather conditions that are similar to those of Vancouver in terms of
providing driving forces for ventilation for indoor air quality. Calm wind conditions in
Toronto exist for approximately 4% of the time between occupied building hours of 8:00
am and 6:00 p.m. used in this study. During winter months, the prevailing wind direction
in Toronto is from the North. Therefore for provision of ventilation for indoor air
quality, the ideal building orientation is with long building walls facing North and South,
rather than East and West as in the base case building.
7.2 Base Case Building Performance
7.2.1 Summer Overheating

The overheating performance of the base case buildings used to study the effect of
building design modification are shown in Table 7-2. As shown, neither the Vancouver
nor Toronto base case buildings meet the minimum criteria for control of overheating as
set out in Chapter 4. The Toronto base case building greatly exceeds the acceptable
number of overheating hours for both 25°C and 28°C criteria. While the number of
overheating hours in the Vancouver building is much lower than in the Toronto building,
it also shows occupied overheating hours exceeded for both temperature criteria.
Table 7-2 Base Case Building Overheating Performance

Minimum
Acceptable Vancouver Toronto Base
Performance Base Case Case Building
Criteria Building
Occupied Hours
per Year over 100 287 406
25°C
Occupied Hours
per Year over 25 30 137
28°C
46
7.2.2 IAQ Ventilation Rates
The IAQ performance of the base case buildings are shown in Table 7-3. As shown,
Vancouver and Toronto base case buildings show identical ventilation rate performance
and neither building meets the minimum acceptable IAQ criteria as set out in Chapter 4.
Modelled with either Vancouver or Toronto weather data, the base case buildings show a
naturally induced ventilation rate falling below the 10 L/s per person criteria for
approximately 4% of all occupied hours over the year.
Table 7 - 3 Base Case Building Ventilation for IAQ Performance

Minimum
Acceptable Vancouver Toronto Base
Performance! Base Case Case Building
Criteria : Building
% of Occupied Hours
per Year with 1% 4% 4%
Ventilation Rate Below
10 L/s per Person
47
8 Parametric Analysis of Variables Effecting Thermal Comfort and
Indoor Air Quality
The base case office building was modelled to determine the relative effect of modifying
key building design parameters on natural ventilation performance. The effect on the
following two performance indicators that were used to set the natural ventilation
performance criteria were investigated:
1. Overheating - measured by the number of occupied hours per year that the
interior air temperature of the building exceeds 25°C.
2. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) ventilation rates - measured by the percentage of

occupied hours during which the naturally induced ventilation rate (i.e. with
no mechanical assistance) falls below 10 L/s per person.
Design parameter modifications were each applied to the base case building in isolation
of one another. The upper and lower limits of each parameter were based on the limits
presented in Table 6-1. Combined effects of parameter modifications were not
investigated. The combined sum of effects will vary greatly depending on interactions
specific to each parameter combination.
8.1 Thermal Comfort Parametric Analysis

The results of modifying parameters that effect thermal comfort inside the building are
summarised in Figure 8-1. The number of occupied hours per year when the internal
temperature exceeds 25°C are shown in separate graphs for Vancouver and Toronto.
The dashed line in each figure shows the number of overheating hours for each of the
base case buildings. Graph bars extending to the left of the dashed line indicate a
reduction in overheating hours from the base case building, and to the right indicate an
increase in overheating hours.
Results of the analysis show that parameters differ significantly in their abilities to reduce
or increase the number of overheating hours in the base case building. Parameters with
the greatest ability to reduce overheating in the Vancouver base case building, ordered
from greatest to least effect, are:
1. Utilisation of night cooling vents

2. Increasing operable window area
3. Addition of a passive stack
4. Decreasing non operable window area
5. Increasing building height above floor level of interest
6. Increasing solar protective glazing, blinds, or other shading devices
7. Decreasing local wind shielding obstruction height
8. Decreasing lighting and equipment loads
48
Figure 8-1 Thermal Comfort Parametric Analysis Results
Parameters Effecting Thermal Comfort

Vancouver Base Case Office Building
Passive Stack Area
Passive Stack Height
Night Cooling Vent Size
Openable Window Area
Non Openable Window Area
Building Height 1 IT
Solar Protective Glazing or Blinds
i IT"" 1
Local Wind Shielding

Lighting and EquipmentLoads
Trickle Vent Size
Wall Insulation
Occupant Density
Increasing Interior Thermal Mass
• - Base C a s e
Window Overhang Size • Positive Effect
Building Orientation H Negative Effect
Window Type
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Occupied Overheating Hours per Year (Above 25C)
Parameters Effecting Thermal Comfort -

Toronto Base Case Office Building
Passive Stack Area

tHHIl
Night Cooling Vent Size
Non Openable Window Area
Building Height i s

Solar Protective Glazing or Blinds
Lighting and EquipmentLoads
Occupant Density
Trickle Vent Size
Building Orientation
Wall Insulation (- — Base Case
Window Overhang Size • Positive Effect
Increasing Interior Thermal Mass 0 Negative Effect
Window Type
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Occupied Overheating Hours per Year (Above 25C)
Parameters with a much lower ability to reduce overheating in the Vancouver base case
building, ordered from greatest to least effect, are:
9. Increasing Wall Insulation

10. Decreasing occupant density
11. Increasing interior thermal mass
12. Increasing window overhang size
13. Changing building orientation
14. Changing window type (with no colour changes)
The following is a brief explanation of how each parameter was modelled, how its
modification effects thermal comfort, and any major differences between Vancouver and
Toronto results. Parameters are presented in the order of greatest to least ability to reduce
overheating within the Vancouver base case building.
8.1.1 Night Cooling Vents

Night cooling vents were added to the east and west facing walls of the base case cross
ventilated building to allow an increase in night time ventilation rates. Cool night air
removes heat that was stored in the building's thermal mass over the course of the day,
and cools the thermal mass so that it can provide direct radiative cooling and reduce
interior air temperatures the following day.
The addition of night cooling vents is the parameter with the most significant ability to
decrease overheating for the Vancouver base case building, and the second most
significant for the Toronto base case building. Figure 8-1 also shows that a decrease in
the small night cooling vent area in the base case building leads to a significant increase
in overheating hours. This decrease in vent area results from the removal of the trickle
vents contained in the base case building.
8.1.2 Openable Window Area

The unobstructed openable area of the windows in the base case building was next
modified. Increasing the openable window area has one of the greatest abilities to
decrease overheating for both Vancouver and Toronto buildings. Increasing the openable
window area increases the rate of cross ventilation and stack ventilation airflow through
the building, removing heat from the interior of the building when the outside air
temperature is below the indoor air temperature. The operation of windows was
modelled as being opened by occupants to provide cooling only during occupied hours,
and only when the indoor temperature is greater than 20°C.
It is easy to understand how increasing operable window area can significantly decrease
overheating in Vancouver because the outdoor temperature is rarely greater than 25°C.
However a very large reduction in overheating hours is also observed for the Toronto
50
building, even though there is a high number of hours that the outdoor temperature
exceeds 25°C.
A possible explanation for this behaviour is that increased window opening areas
preferentially increase airflow of cooler air, due to stack effect. If the building was
subjected to cross ventilation alone, increasing window opening areas would increase
airflow into the building at all times, independent of outdoor air temperature. Whether
overheating increased or decreased would depend on the relationship between heat gain
due to increased flowrates of hot mid day air, versus heat losses and thermal storage
effects (similar to night cooling effects) due to increased flowrates of cool early morning
air. However, the base case building is also subjected to stack effect due to the fact that
individual floors are not completely isolated from one another. Increasing window
opening areas will then also increase the rate of airflow due to stack effect, which occurs
when the outside air temperature is lower than the inside air temperature. Therefore the
rate of airflow at cool temperatures may be increased more than the rate of airflow at
warm temperatures, resulting in greater cooling of the building's thermal mass, leading to
a lower number of overheating hours.
8.1.3 Addition of a Passive Stack

A passive natural ventilation stack was added to the base case building, increasing the
thermal buoyancy driven natural ventilation airflow rate. The base case building already
takes advantage of wind pressures that generate cross ventilation airflow, and thermal
buoyancy driven airflow through the three stories of building height. Adding a passive
stack to the top of the building increases the total height of stack above the ground floor
and enhances thermal buoyancy driven airflow.
A stack was added to the base case building under two scenarios. In the first, a stack with
a small opening area (2.8m ) was added to the roof of the three storey building and
progressively increased in height. Even when a passive stack of zero height is added to
the building (i.e. a simple opening is made in the roof), there is a significant reduction of
overheating. Increasing the height of this small passive stack to a maximum of 10m has
less of an impact than the initial addition of an opening in the roof of the building. This
can be seen in the passive stack height results shown in Figure 8-1, which shows the
range of impact possible from modifying stack height.
In the second scenario a stack of fixed 7 meter height (and initially zero area) was added
to the top of the building and progressively increased in opening area. Results show a
large potential reduction in overheating in both Vancouver and Toronto climates. A large
diameter stack can be thought of as representing the effect of either a traditionally shaped
stack, or the airflow opening areas within an atrium that extends above the height of the
building.
51
8.1.4 Non Operable Window Area
The non-operable or fixed glazing area of all windows was modified by increasing or
decreasing the total window area while maintaining a constant airflow opening area.
Decreasing the fixed glazing area reduces the amount of solar gain entering the building,
and greatly reduces overheating in both Vancouver and Toronto base case buildings.
Increasing glazing area increases overheating in both climates, but the impact is much
greater for the Vancouver building. This would imply that the model predicts that control
of summer solar gains is more important in Vancouver than Toronto, the cause for which
is not clear.
8.1.5 Building Heigh t

Increasing the building height increases the stack effect and results in increased airflow
into the ground floor of the building, the location where thermal performance was
measured in this study. The height of the building was modified from 1 story to a
maximum of 10 stories. The effects of increasing or decreasing overheating by changing
the building height as shown in Figure 8-1 apply to the ground level floor only and
assume that there are large airflow openings between floors offering little airflow
resistance.
The effect of increasing building height is much more difficult to generalise than for
other parameters investigated here, because it is strongly dependent on location within
the building and detailed airflow opening design over the entire exterior surface of the
building. When the outside temperature is lower than the inside temperature, the ground
level receives the greatest airflow and cooling benefit from increased building height
related stack effect. Stack induced rates of airflow are reduced for higher floor levels,
and reversed for floor levels that are located above the neutral pressure plane. However,
the location of the neutral pressure plane is dependent on the complex interaction of
wind, stack, and mechanical ventilation induced pressure differences, and is strongly
effected by the distribution of airflow openings over the entire exterior surface of
building.
Raising the height of the neutral pressure plane to take maximum advantage of stack
effect is a key component of the overall natural ventilation design, particularly in taller
buildings. It is generally accomplished by increasing the size of airflow openings with
height, and/or adding passive stacks to the roof of the building. Such a detailed design
and analysis is not possible with the use of a simplified airflow modelling tool.
Therefore, the analysis results presented here should be understood to be a maximum
possible benefit only, with more detailed modelling, using more sophisticated techniques,
required for specific locations within the building.
8.1.6 Solar Protective Glazing or Blinds

Increasing window solar shading by using solar protective glazing, internal blinds, or
external blinds reduces the amount of solar energy that enters the building interior.
Windows in the base case building are double pane windows with a solar shading factor
52
of 0.6, which is representative of glazing with limited daylight colouring, or clear glazing
with limited use of light coloured internal blinds. Solar shading was increased by adding
significant daylight colouring or external shading devices to the base case windows, and
decreased by removing all colouring.
Increased solar shading resulted in a significant decrease in overheating. The effect was
more pronounced in the Vancouver building that the Toronto building. Similar to results
for the impact of non operable window area, the Vancouver building is more sensitive to
changes in solar gains than the Toronto building.
8.1.7 Local Wind Shielding

Three local wind shielding options were modelled:
> no local wind obstructions

> wind obstructions equal to 1/2 the building height, and
> wind obstructions equal to the full building height.
Obstructions were assumed to be located at a horizontal distance of one building height

from the modelled building.
Decreasing the size of wind obstructions leads to increased local wind speeds at the
building site, increasing wind pressure on the building, and increased natural ventilation
airflow and cooling. As expected, as the height of wind obstructions were reduced from
the base case condition of full building height obstructions, the number of overheating
hours was reduced in both climates.
8.1.8 Lighting and Equipment Loads

Lighting and equipment loads were decreased from 10 W/m in the base case building to
a minimum of 5 W/m , representing an office with very low lighting and equipment
2
loads. They were increased to a maximum of 60W/m , representing an office with very
2
high lighting and equipment loads.
Decreasing lighting and equipment loads has a large effect on reducing summer
overheating. The significance of its impact is actually much greater than indicated by its
placement as eighth in order of ability to reduce overheating because very low lighting
and equipment gains were chosen for the base case building, leaving little room available
for improvement. In a building with high internal heat gains a reduction in these gains
could be the parameter modification with the greatest ability to reduce overheating.
8.1.9 Wall and RoofInsulation

Increased levels of insulation reduce overheating by reducing the rate of conductive heat
transfer through walls and the roof when the outside temperature is greater than the inside
temperature. The Toronto building exhibits a greater reduction in overheating resulting
53
from increased insulation levels. This result is expected since Toronto has higher peak
daytime temperatures than Vancouver.
8.1.10 Occupant Density

Modifications to occupant density change the total internal heat gains. Changes to
internal heat gains due to occupants have the same effect on overheating as changes to
heat gains due to lighting and equipment loads.
8.1.11 Interior Thermal Mass

Increasing or decreasing the interior thermal mass of the building effects its ability to
dampen the amplitude of the interior temperature increase that occurs as a result of
interior heat gains from lighting, equipment, occupants, and solar gains. It also effects
the ability of the building to delay, ideally until after occupied hours, the time of day
when peak internal temperatures occur.
Modelling results show a relatively minor impact on overheating resulting from large
changes to the building's thermal mass, for both Vancouver and Toronto climates. The
impact is probably much greater than shown in these results however, due to limitations
in the reporting format of the computer model. The NatVent model calculates the
damping and storage effects of interior thermal mass, models the interaction between
thermal mass and interior air temperature, and calculates interior surface temperatures at
each time step. However, output from the model reports interior air temperature only.
Surface temperatures are not reported, making it impossible to calculate a resultant or
operative temperature that takes into account both air temperature and surface
temperature. Therefore it is not possible to measure the radiative cooling effect - the true
benefit of increased thermal mass - even though the temperature damping and shifting
effects are likely significant.
8.1.12 Window Overhang Size

The window overhang size effects the amount of solar radiation that enters the building.
Larger overhangs can reduce solar gains and therefore reduce overheating, particularly on
south facing windows. Overhangs are less effective at blocking solar radiation on east
and west facing walls due to low sun angles at the beginning and end of the day.
Overhangs can also reduce day lighting, resulting in a requirement for more electric
lighting and increasing internal heat gains.
Large changes in overhang size were found to have very little impact on overheating in
both Vancouver and Toronto base case buildings. The impact is likely small due to the
form and orientation of the base case buildings and the size of surrounding obstructions.
The base case building is oriented with its long walls facing east and west, with the
modelled zone in the centre of the building length, relatively isolated from solar gains in
the south facing wall. Windows in the west facing walls provide the greatest potential for
increased overheating because of late afternoon solar gains through these windows which
54
coincide with the time of peak internal temperature cycles, due to the delay caused by
thermal mass. However the window overhangs are not very effective at reducing these
solar gains due to the low angle of the sun.
The base case building is also surrounded by local obstructions equal to the building
height. As a result the solar gains are significantly reduced, and therefore the potential
for overhangs to reduce overheating is also significantly reduced. The impact of
overhangs could be much greater for other building designs and orientations with less
solar shielding.
8.1.13 Building Orientation

Changing building orientation can potentially effect overheating due to the net result of
two factors: (a) changes in solar gains, and (b) changes to wind pressures against the
building. In south facing windows, solar gains can be easily controlled with the use of
overhangs. Orienting the building so that more windows face west will increase solar
gains in the later portion of the day, and increase overheating. These solar gains are also
very difficult to reduce with the use of overhangs due to low sun angles.
Rotating the building so that cross ventilation airflow through the building is parallel to
summer prevailing wind conditions will increase airflow rates, due to increased wind
pressure when the wind blows directly towards a surface. The optimum orientation for
airflow would take advantage of the direction of prevailing wind conditions that occur at
night or early and late in the day when air temperatures are lower, rather than at midday
when air temperatures are at their highest.
Changing building orientation was found to have a small impact on overheating in the
base case building, for both Vancouver and Toronto climates. However, solar gains are
significantly reduced in the base case building because it is surrounded by local
obstructions equal to the building height. As a result the potential for changes in building
orientation to reduce overheating is also significantly reduced.
For building sites with less shading from surrounding obstructions, the impact of rotating
the building so that west facing windows face south and solar gains are blocked with
overhangs is much greater. As a comparison, the building was remodelled with local
wind and solar obstructions removed. Using Vancouver weather data it was found that
changes to building orientation resulted in a 5 times greater change in overheating hours
in the non shaded building compared to the building surrounded by local obstructions
equal to the building height.
Another factor that could explain the relatively small impact of orientation on
overheating is the potential for benefits of reduced solar gains to be cancelled out by
reduced airflow rates due to changes in orientation with respect to the prevailing wind
direction. For example, to reduce solar gains the Vancouver building should be oriented
with windows facing south and north instead of east and west. But an east-west
55
orientation of window openings is preferred to increase wind driven airflow rates due to
the prevailing east-west wind direction.
8.1.14 Changing window type (with no colour changes)

The type of window was modified in terms of the number of panes of glazing and overall
insulation rating, without changing the glass colour from clear. Increasing the number of
glazing panes has the effect of reducing solar transmittance, leading to reduced solar
gain. Increasing the number of glazing panes, or other changes that increase the
insulation value of the window, reduces conductive heat transfer through the window and
reduces overheating, similar to the effect of increasing wall insulation levels.
Modelling results found little reduction in overheating due to replacement of double pane
windows with energy efficient argon filled low-e double or triple pane windows. A small
increase in overheating was observed however, from the replacement of double pane
windows with single pane windows. Single pane windows increase solar gains due to
their higher rates of transmittance, and allow greater heat transfer into the building due to
their reduced insulation levels.
56
8.2 I A Q Ventilation Rate Parametric Analysis
A parametric analysis was carried out to investigate the effect of building design
modifications on naturally induced ventilation rates for providing adequate indoor air
quality. Building design modifications included only those that directly effect natural
ventilation airflow rates. Parameters that have little direct effect on airflow rates- such as
internal loads, solar shading, etc were not included in the airflow parametric analysis
because of their low potential impact.
Figure 8-2 shows modelling results for both Vancouver and Toronto climates in terms of
the percentage of occupied hours per year when the naturally induced ventilation rate
falls below 10 L/s per person. The dashed line in each figure shows the performance of
the base case building (4% of occupied hours in both Vancouver and Toronto). Graph
bars extending to the left hand side of the dashed line show the potential for increased
ventilation rates (a reduction in percentage of hours with low ventilation rates), and to the
right indicate the potential for decreased ventilation rates.
Results of the analysis show that parameters differ significantly in their abilities to
increase or reduce ventilation rates in the base case building. Parameters ordered from
greatest to least range of effect on the ventilation rate required to maintain indoor air
quality, for both the Vancouver and Toronto base case buildings, are:
1. Addition of a passive stack

2. Occupant density.
3. Trickle vent size
4. Building height
5. Openable window area
6. Local wind shielding
7. Building orientation
Results for Vancouver and Toronto were found to be very similar, with the same order of
greatest to least impact. The main difference between results for the modelled buildings
in the two climates is a greater negative effect for two parameters - trickle vents and
occupant density - using Toronto weather data.
57
Figure 8-2 IAQ Ventilation Rate Parametric Analysis Results
Parameters Effecting IAQ Ventilation Rate

Vancouver Base Case Office Building
Passive Stack Area
Trickle Vent Size
Building Height - Base Case

• Positive Effect
Local Wind Shielding • Negative Effect
Occupant Density •f-itj
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
% Occupied Hours With Ventilation Less Than 10 L/s.person
Parameters Effecting IAQ Ventilation Rate

Toronto Base Case Office Building
Passive Stack Area
Trickle Vent Size .<ILII&<-
I
Building Height Base Case
• Positive Effect
B Negative Effect
Occupant Density •a.. '' JS£ ..WW •- *)•. 4TT1
-f-
1
0 10 20 30 40 50
% Occupied Hours With Ventilation Lower Than 10 L/s.person
58
The following is an explanation of how the modification of each parameter effects IAQ
ventilation rates, and any major differences between Vancouver and Toronto results.
8.2.1 Addition of a Passive Stack

The effect of adding a passive natural ventilation stack to each of the base case buildings
is shown at the top of each graph shown in Figure 8-2. A stack was added to the base
case building under two scenarios. In the first, a stack with a small opening area (2.8m )2
was added to the roof of the three storey building and progressively increased in height.
In the second scenario a stack of fixed 7 meter height (and initially zero area) was added
to the top of the building and progressively increased in opening area.
The addition of almost any stack - even of zero height or very small diameter - has the
effect of dramatically increasing IAQ ventilation rates, meeting the IAQ ventilation
criteria of a naturally induced ventilation rate of at least 10 L/s per person for a minimum
of 99% of occupied office hours.
This result does not strictly present theresults of adding stack ventilation in isolation to
the building. It shows the effect of adding a passive stack to a building that already
utilises cross ventilation through windows, and stack ventilation resulting from buoyancy
driven airflow through the three stories of building height. This is a much more common
situation than adding a passive stack to a building in isolation of other natural ventilation
mechanisms.
8.2.2 Occupant Density

Occupant density strongly effects indoor air quality when the criteria for ventilation
performance is set out on a flow rate per person basis, such as 10 L/s per person. Using
this criteria, a building with fewer occupants will obviously require a lower rate of total
airflow to maintain 10 L/s per person. The occupant density for the base case building
was set at 20m per person. As occupant densities were gradually decreased, in both
2
Vancouver and Toronto base case buildings the IAQ ventilation criteria could be met at
occupant densities of 25 m per person, (i.e. naturally induced ventilation rate of at least
2
10 L/s per person for a minimum of 99% of occupied office hours).
8.2.3 Trickle Vents

The modelling results show that the use of trickle vents that are open at all times,
independently of whether or not windows are open, can dramatically increase indoor air
quality ventilation rates. As shown in Figure 8-2, without any trickle vents the
Vancouver and Toronto base case buildings have naturally induced ventilation rates that
are less than 10 L/s per person for approximately 27% and 40% of occupied hours per
year respectively. Because the modelling assumed that windows are only opened when
the indoor air temperature is greater than 20°C, the only mechanism for winter ventilation
is air leakage through the building envelope. However a level of airtightness that would
be considered high for new office buildings was assumed for the exterior envelope of the
59
base case building. Less air-tight buildings with no trickle vents would show higher
ventilation rates.
Increased trickle vent size dramatically increases airflow rates. The base case building
2 2
contains trickle vents with an equivalent opening area of 10 cm perm of floor area. In
both Vancouver and Toronto, trickle vents have to be increased to approximately 13 cm 2
per m of floor area to meet the IAQ ventilation criteria of naturally induced ventilation
2
rate of at least 10 L/s per person for a minimum of 99% of occupied office hours.
8.2.4 Building Height

Increased building height increases the stack effect when outdoor temperatures are lower
than indoor air temperatures, resulting in increased airflow into the ground floor of the
building, the location where ventilation performance was measured in this study.
Increased stack effects then increase airflow rates through the trickle ventilators, leakage
areas of the building envelope, and windows (when open).
The height of the building was modified from 1 story to a maximum of 10 stories. It was
found that a height of 4 stories increases the airflow rate on the lower floor to the point
that the IAQ ventilation criteria was met in both Vancouver and Toronto buildings.
8.2.5 Openable Window Area

Increasing the openable window area increases indoor air quality ventilation rates due to
decreased resistance to airflow through window openings. In the modelled building,
windows are assumed to be opened by occupants only to provide cooling when the indoor
air temperature is greater than 20°C. Therefore, increased window opening area does not
effect indoor air quality ventilation rates during a large portion of the year when cooling
is not required. As a result, modifying the openable window area has a relatively small
impact on IAQ ventilation rates compared to other parameters.
8.2.6 Local Wind Shielding

Decreasing local wind shielding increases the wind velocity and wind pressure on the
building. This results in higher airflow rates through trickle ventilators, windows, and
other leakage areas of the building envelope. It was found that airflow rates were
increased, to the point that the IAQ ventilation criteria were met in both Vancouver and
Toronto buildings, when local wind shielding was decreased by lowering the height of
local wind obstructions to Vi building height from the base case condition of full building
height.
The level of local wind shielding is usually determined by existing buildings and natural
features on the building site and within adjacent properties. As a result, changing the
level of local wind shielding is often not a design strategy available to the building
designer.
60
8.2.7 Building Orientation
Rotating the building changes the orientation of open windows and trickle vents in
relation to the prevailing wind direction. In the base case building, walls containing
windows and vents face directly east and west. Rotating the Vancouver building in any
other direction reduces IAQ ventilation rates slightly since the prevailing wind direction
in winter months is from the east. In Toronto the prevailing wind direction in winter
months is from the north. Therefore changing the orientation of the east and west facing
walls to any other direction shows an increase in ventilation rates.
61
9 Analysis of Rule of Thumb Limitations
The base case office building was modelled with the NatVent program to determine the
validity and limitations of existing rules of thumb for use in Vancouver and Toronto
climates. Design parameter modifications were each applied to the base case building
using their upper and lower limits as presented in Table 6-1. Instead of looking at the
effect of parameter modifications individually as was performed in Chapter 8, the effects
of combined parameter modifications were investigated to examine the full extent of rule
of thumb limitations. The criteria used to measure minimum acceptable natural
ventilation performance were those developed in Chapter 4, and are summarised below:
1. Thermal comfort limitations were evaluated according to the criteria that the
following indoor air temperature limits for the specified number of working
hours per year should not be exceeded:
0 25°C for not more than 100 occupied hours

0 28°C for not more than 25 occupied hours
2. Ventilation for indoor air quality limitations were evaluated according to the
criteria that naturally induced ventilation rates should provide 10 L/s of outdoor
air per person for a minimum of 99% of occupied office hours.
62
9.1 Cross Ventilation Depth Limit
The rule of thumb that "cross ventilation is effective up to five times the floor to ceiling
height" was investigated by modelling the natural ventilation performance of the base
case cross ventilated building using both Vancouver and Toronto weather data. The base
case building was modified from the configuration used to carry out the parametric
analysis presented in the previous chapter, to enable more accurate modelling of rules of
thumb that are based on a cross ventilation strategy alone. This was accomplished by
isolating floors from one another to reduce the stack effect due to building height. The
configuration for the cross ventilated base case building is shown in Figure 9-1.

Building
3 ==!> = > = >
=*?-=> => =>

^1 • _ a—»»»> ^•
|^ Variable Building Depth ^|
Figure 9-1 Base Case Cross Ventilation Configuration Used for Rule of Thumb
Analysis
Natural ventilation performance was based on temperature and airflow measurements

observed on the lower floor of the three story cross ventilated building. To investigate
the effect of floor to ceiling height, two scenarios were modelled - one with a typical
office building floor to ceiling height of three meters and another with an exaggerated
floor to ceiling height of nine meters.
9.1.1 Cross Ventilation Overheating Depth Limit

Maximum depth limits achievable in the base case cross ventilated building without
causing overheating are shown in Figure 9-2. The figure shows how the depth limit of an
office building, under the two different floor to ceiling height scenarios, can be extended
through the progressive cumulative addition of eight cross ventilation parameter
modifications. While a cut off of 50m building depth is presented in the figures, in
certain cases building depths of greater than 50 m were achieved while maintaining
acceptable thermal comfort conditions. These are represented with an extended dashed
line.
63
Cross Ventilation Thermal Depth Limit
Vancouver
Base Case Building
Increase Openable Window Area 1.
Increase Wall and Roof Insulation 2.
Significant Solar Protective Glazing 3.
Increase Window Overhang Size 4. • 3 m Floor to|

Ceiling
Increase Thermal Mass 5. Height
• 9 m Floor to|
Improve Orientation 6.
Ceiling
Height
Add External Window Shading 7.
Decrease Local Wind Shielding 8.
10 20 30 40 50
Overheating Depth Limit (m)
Cross Ventilation Thermal Depth Limit

Toronto
B a s e C a s e Building
c
2
Increase Openable Window A r e a 1.
Increase Wall and R o o f Insulation 2.
Significant Solar Protective Glazing 3.

• 3 m Floor |
to Ceiling
Increase Window Overhang Size 4.
Height
Increase Thermal M ass 5. • 9 m Floor |

to Ceiling
Improve Orientation 6. Height
E
C A d d External Window Shading 7.
Decrease Local Wind Shielding 8.
0 10 20 30 40 50
Figure 9-2 Cross Ventilation Thermal Depth Limits
64
Before the addition of any parameter modifications, the 3 m floor to ceiling height
building was found to have a maximum building depth achievable, without exceeding the
overheating performance criteria, of 5m and 3m for Vancouver and Toronto buildings
respectively. For the 9 m building the same depth limits were found to be 1 Om and 6m
for Vancouver and Toronto buildings respectively.
Each parameter was modified to its practical maximum cooling limit as presented in
Table 6-1. The order of addition of parameter modifications was based on an assumed
level of difficulty of implementation in new building design, from easiest (1) to hardest
(8), based on practicality and cost. Several parameters that have little impact on
extending thermal depth limits were not included. For example, even though they can
have a significant impact on overheating, the effects of decreasing occupant density and
lighting and equipment loads were not included because in the base case building these
parameters are already close to their limits of lowest impact on overheating.
The resulting cross ventilation thermal depth limits were converted into a ratio of
building depth to floor to ceiling height. These results are presented in Table 9-1. The
effect of local wind shielding was presented separately because, unlike other parameter
modifications carried out in the analysis, it is a site dependent variable rather than a
building design variable and has such a large impact on natural ventilation performance.
Decreasing local wind shielding is not usually possible in urban environments.
Parameters 1 though 7 however could be fairly easily implemented in most cross
ventilation building design projects.
Overheating Depth Limit j

With Local Wind Shielding Without Local Wind Shielding
Reduction Reduction,
Depth Depth/Floor to Depth Depth/Floor to
(m) Ceiling Height : (in) Ceiling Height
Vancouver 3m floor to ceiling height 49 16 27 9
Vancouver 9 m floor to ceiling 100 11 56 6
height
Toronto 3m floor to ceiling height 22 7 12 4
Toronto 9 m floor to ceiling height 32 4 20 2
Table 9-1 Thermal Depth Limits of Cross Ventilated Office Buildings
65
A graphical summary of the resulting ranges of overheating depth limits for Vancouver
and Toronto climates are shown in Figure 9-3.
Cross Ventilation Overheating Depth Limit Range
Bat
^Original Rul£ of Thumb
1 1
0 ' 5 10 15 20
Overheating Depth Limit (Ratio of Building Depth / Floor to Ceiling Height)
Figure 9-3 Range of Applicability of Cross Ventilation Rule of Thumb from a

Thermal Comfort Perspective
9.1.1.1 Vancouver
What these results show is that from an overheating perspective, the Vancouver building
was able to easily achieve, and go far beyond, the depth limits suggested by the cross
ventilation rule of thumb. Using cross ventilation alone, the Vancouver building is able
to maintain adequate thermal comfort conditions for building depths far greater than 5
times the floor to ceiling height, for both floor to ceiling height scenarios modelled, and
whether or not local wind shielding was reduced from that of the base case building. In
the best case scenario, the 3m floor to ceiling height Vancouver building is able triple the
building depths suggested by the rule of thumb.
9.1.1.2 Toronto
Modelling results using Toronto weather data show that in this climate it is also possible
to achieve an overheating depth limit of five times the floor to ceiling height using cross
ventilation alone. However, it is difficult to extend this limit significantly. The rule of
thumb depth limit was only achieved using the combined effect of all cross ventilation
parameters modelled, including the reduction in local wind shielding, and only for the
lower floor to ceiling height scenario. The rule of thumb depth limit was not achieved for
the larger floor to ceiling height scenario, or for any scenario where the effect of reduced
local wind shielding was not included.
9.1.1.3 Floor to Ceiling Height Effects

The modelling results show that cross ventilation depth limits are not dependent on cross
ventilation airflow alone, but are highly influenced by stack effects as well. As floor to
ceiling height increases, the thermal buoyancy driven stack effect increases over the
height of space. The rate of airflow into the building through windows and openings near
66
floor level is increased, as is the rate of airflow out of the building at ceiling level. The
result is a greater rate of airflow and increased cooling, leading to a greater overheating
depth limit.
However, modelling results shown in Figure 9-2 show that increased floor to ceiling
height is not directly proportional to increased thermal depth limits. Results for both
Vancouver and Toronto show that an increase in floor to ceiling height of three times
leads to less than a doubling in corresponding thermal depth limits. Therefore, this non
direct proportionality should be taken into account when using the cross ventilation rule
of thumb based on floor to ceiling height.
9.1.2 Cross Ventilation IAQ Depth Limit
The base case office building was modelled with the NatVent program to determine how
the depth of the building could be increased by modifying key natural ventilation
building design variables, while maintaining adequate ventilation rates for acceptable
indoor air quality.
The occupancy rate in office buildings is typically specified in terms of a ratio of floor
area per occupant. Therefore as the building depth is increased, the number of occupants
increases, resulting in a greater required volume of ventilation airflow into the building.
Modelling results of maximum depth limits achievable in the base case building while
maintaining ventilation rates of 10 L/s per person for 99% of time are shown in Figure
9-4.
Before the addition of parameter modifications to the 3m floor-ceiling height base case
building, it was found that the criteria of maintaining ventilation rates of 10 L/s per
person for 99% of time was not achievable, no matter how much the building depth was
reduced, in both Toronto and Vancouver. In the 9 m floor-ceiling height base case
building, the building depth could be increased to a maximum of approximately 12m in
Toronto and 13 m in Vancouver, while maintaining the IAQ ventilation rate criteria.
These results show that the cross ventilation airflow rates are significantly augmented
with increasing floor to ceiling height.
Figure 9-4 also shows how the depth limit of an office building, under the two different
floor to ceiling height scenarios, can be extended through the progressive cumulative
addition of cross ventilation parameter modifications that improve ventilation rates. Each
parameter was modified to its practical maximum limit of benefit, as presented in Table
6-1. The order of addition of parameter modifications is based on an assumed level of
difficulty of implementation in new building design, from easiest (1) to hardest (5), in
terms of cost and practicality.
The resulting cross ventilation IAQ depth limits were converted into a ratio of building
depth to floor to ceiling height. These results are presented in Table 9-2.
67
C r o s s Ventilation IAQ Depth Limit
Vancouver
B a s e C a s e Building • 3 m Floor
to Ceiling
Increase Openable Window A r e a 1.
Height
Increase Trickle V e n t S i z e 2. • 9 m Floor
to Ceiling
Improve Orientation 3.
Height
D e c r e a s e O c c u p a n t Density 4.
D e c r e a s e L o c a l Wind Shielding 5.
10 20 30 40 50
IAQ Depth Limit (m)
C r o s s Ventilation IAQ Depth Limit

Toronto
B a s e C a s e Building
|Q3ITI Floor
Increase Openable Window A r e a 1. to Ceiling
Height
Increase Trickle V e n t S i z e 2. 19 m Floor
Improve Orientation 3. to Ceiling

Height
D e c r e a s e O c c u p a n t Density 4.
D e c r e a s e L o c a l Wind Shielding 5.
10 20 30 40 50
IAQ Depth Limit (m)
Figure 9-4 Cross Ventilation I A Q Depth Limits

. IAQ Ventilation Depth Limit
Depth (m) Depth/Floor-Ceiling Height

Vancouver 3m floor to ceiling height 25 8
Vancouver 9 m floor to ceiling height 50 6
Toronto 3m floor to ceiling height 25 8
Toronto 9 m floor to ceiling height 50 6
Table 9-2 IAQ Depth Limits of Cross Ventilated Office Buildings
and Toronto climates is shown in Figure 9-5.
C r o s s Ventilation IAQ D e p t h Limit R a n g e
Toronto
, Original Rul£ of Thumb
Vancou\er
0 10 15 20
IAQ Depth Limit (Ratio of Building Depth / Floor to Ceiling Height)
Figure 9-5 Range of Applicability of Cross Ventilation Rule of Thumb from a

9.1.2.1 Vancouver and Toronto

What these results show is that, from an indoor air quality perspective, it is possible to
achieve the five times floor to ceiling height depth limits set out by the cross ventilation
rule of thumb, under both floor to ceiling height scenarios, in both Vancouver and
Toronto climates. The scenario with the greatest ratio of depth to floor-ceiling height is
the 3m floor to ceiling height building with the combined benefit of all cross ventilation
parameter modifications. In this scenario the depth limit was extended to 8 times the
floor to ceiling height. The results also show that indoor air quality depth limits were
found to be almost identical using typical year weather data for Vancouver and Toronto
climates.
9.1.2.2 Three Meter Floor to Ceiling Height

It was found that the 3m floor to ceiling height base case building had difficulty
achieving the ventilation rate criteria under any depth limit, even with successive
cumulative modifications to building design parameters. Using the combined benefits of
69
maximised window opening and trickle vent areas, and optimised building orientation for
airflow, the building still could not meet the ventilation rate criteria under any depth
limit. Only by reducing the occupancy ratio to between 40 and 50 m per person, or by
2
eliminating local wind shielding was it possible for the 3m floor to ceiling height building
to meet the ventilation rate criteria, and achieve building depth limits equal to or greater
than those specified by the rule of thumb.
This is a very interesting result because it agrees very closely with requirements for
naturally ventilated commercial buildings contained in the 1995 National Building Code
of Canada (NBC). The N B C specifies that outdoor air supplied by ventilation systems
must not be less than the rates required by A S H R A E Standard 62, and that this
ventilation can be provided by natural ventilation only for commercial buildings with an
occupant load of not more than one person per 40 m during normal use.
2
The conclusion that can be made is that the modelled results from this study agree with
the N B C limitations on occupancy density in commercial buildings that are naturally
ventilated, for cross ventilated buildings with floor to ceiling heights of 3m, located in
urban environments with local obstructions of full building height.
9.1.2.3 Nine Meter Floor to Ceiling Height

The cross ventilated building with 9m floor to ceiling height was found to have much
higher ventilation rates. Before the addition of any parameter modifications, it was found
that this base case building was able to achieve the ventilation rate criteria up to depth
limits of 13m and 12m for Vancouver and Toronto climates respectively (less than 2
times the floor to ceiling height). Increased trickle vent size, or decreased occupant
density, or decreased local wind shielding were all found to extend the depth limit to and
beyond the limitation of the cross ventilation rule of thumb. In the best case scenario
with all of these parameter modifications combined the IAQ depth limit was extended to
6 times the floor to ceiling height.
9.1.2.4 Floor to Ceiling Height Effects

Similar to modelling results for cross ventilation overheating depth limits, it was found
that cross ventilation IAQ depth limits are not dependent on cross ventilation airflow
alone, but are highly influenced by stack effects. As floor to ceiling height increases, the
thermal buoyancy driven stack effect increases over the height of the space.
Changes to floor to ceiling height were found to have a much greater influence on
ventilation for IAQ depth limits than they had on overheating depth limits. The
relationship between floor to ceiling height and ventilation depth limit is roughly directly
proportional in the case of modifications to occupancy density. For other parameter
modifications it is not possible to evaluate this relationship because no depth limit existed
for the 3 m floor to ceiling height scenarios.
70
9.1.3 Cross Ventilation Rule of Thumb Mitigating Factors
A number of influences other than the design parameter modifications modelled in this
study can directly effect cross ventilation performance and application of the cross
ventilation rule of thumb. These include:
0 Internal heat gains - The original rule of thumb is based on office buildings in the
U K with moderate to high heat gains (20 to 50 W/m heat gains from people,
2
lighting, and equipment). The rule states that deeper spaces are possible i f heat
gains are lowered. In this study, internal heat gains of approximately 14 W/m 2
were assumed, which represents a building with low internal loads. Higher
internal heat gains would reduce the cross ventilation overheating depth limits
presented above. Ideally the rule of thumb should be presented for building's
with low internal heat gains because high internal heat gains should be avoided as
part of the overall design strategy.
0 Surface temperatures - Indoor air temperature was used to measure overheating

performance rather than dry resultant or operative temperature, because of output
data reporting limitations in the NatVent software model. This should produce an
overestimate of overheating hours and an underestimate of overheating depth
limits, because indoor surface temperatures will most often be lower than indoor
air temperatures, resulting in lower dry resultant or operative temperatures.
0 Location within the building - Overheating and ventilation performance was

evaluated on the lower level of a three storey cross ventilated building. Wind
speeds increase with height above ground, and the effect of local wind
obstructions decrease. Therefore cross ventilation airflow rates will be higher on
higher floor levels of the building. Cross ventilated buildings that are isolated
from stack effects over the height of the building will have extended overheating
and ventilation depth limits on higher floor levels of the building.
0 Non isolated floors - The building modelled was assumed to have floor levels
completely isolated from one another. If floor levels are connected by atriums,
open stairways, or other airflow openings, then stack ventilation will increase
airflow rates and increase the overheating and ventilation depth limits on floor
levels below the neutral pressure plane.
0 Internal partitions, the effect of which were ignored in this study, can greatly
reduce cross ventilation airflow for ventilation and cooling. Overheating and
ventilation depth limits will be reduced for buildings that have internal partitions
that obstruct cross ventilation airflow.
0 Temperature stratification - Increased floor to ceiling height can lead to

temperature stratification, isolating the hottest air on each floor level from the
71
occupied zone. Temperature stratification was not taken into account in this
study. If it was, overheating depth limits could be extended.
0 Occupancy schedule - The building occupancy schedule can have significant

impacts on the overheating depth limit. The base case building was considered
occupied from 8 am to 6 p.m., five days per week. Reduced occupancy hours
would reduce the number of overheating hours, particularly i f occupancy is
reduced at the end of the day when overheating is most likely to occur due to
building thermal storage delays. This would lead to extended cross ventilation
overheating depth limits.
0 Local terrain roughness - The surface roughness of local terrain will have large
effects on wind speed at the building site. The base case building modelled is
located in an urban terrain setting. As a result, wind speeds at the site are
significantly reduced due to boundary layer effects. Locations that are more open
will receive higher wind speeds, resulting in increased ventilation rates and
increased IAQ and overheating depth limits.
0 Drafts - Drafts associated with trickle ventilators in cold climates can be an issue.
If drafts are too high, windows and vents may be closed by occupants, decreasing
the maximum thermal and IAQ depth limits. However, designs that properly
slow and temper the incoming air can eliminate problems associated with drafts.
The main strategy to avoid problems is to temper and slow the incoming air by
incorporating it into the heating system, or by providing contact with the
building's thermal mass.
72
9.2 Stack Ventilation Depth Limit
The rule of thumb that "stack ventilation can be effective across a width of 5 times the
floor to ceiling height from the inlet to where the air is exhausted to the stack" was
investigated by modelling the natural ventilation performance of the base case stack
ventilated building using both Vancouver and Toronto weather data. The base case
building is a three story office building with a large atrium running down its centre. The
atrium forms a passive stack by extending above the roof of the building. Office spaces
on either side of the atrium are directly connected to the atrium and stack. The
configuration for the stack ventilated base case building is shown in Figure 9-6.

Building
OI
•s 1
a
=*=>
=> t
a
2 i
'5
X
•~...|
Figure 9-6 Base Case Stack Ventilation Configuration Used for Rule of Thumb
Analysis
The rule of thumb as stated implies that the maximum depth limit is directly proportional
to the floor to ceiling height of individual floors. However the rule was originally
developed based on a building configuration with office spaces open to a large atrium,
such as that shown in Figure 9-6. With this type of configuration there is a continuous
column of air running from the base of the building to the height of airflow openings in
the stack on top of the building. As a result, the magnitude of stack effect induced
pressure differences on the lower floor depend on the height of the column of air over the
entire height of the building plus the height of the stack above the building. Therefore
the stack effect depends on the building height and stack height, but not the floor to
ceiling height of individual floors.
To explore the limitations of the rule of thumb the building performance was modelled
first with no stack and then with the tallest and largest size stack that was modelled in the
previous parametric study - a passive stack with a height of 7m above the height of the
building and an airflow opening area of 16 m . Because the natural ventilation
2
performance is also highly dependent on building height, two building height scenarios
were also modelled:
73
a) A building height of 3m, representing a one story building with a typical office
building floor to ceiling height of 3m, and
b) A building height of 9m, representing a three story office building with a floor to
ceiling height of 3m on each level.
In the case of the three story stack ventilated building the natural ventilation performance
was evaluated based on temperature and airflow measurements observed on the lower
floor. On higher floor levels the stack induced airflow rates will be reduced, resulting in
lower overheating and IAQ ventilation depth limits.
9.2.1 Stack Ventilation Overheating Depth Limit

The maximum depth limits achievable without causing overheating are shown in Figure
9-7. The figure shows how the total depth limit of a stack ventilated office building can
be extended through the addition of a passive stack, under the two different building
height scenarios, each with a passive stack with a height of 7m above the top of the
building and an airflow opening area of 16 m . 2
Stack VentilationOverheating Depth Limits

Vancouver and Toronto
Toronto Base Case, No Stack • One
Story
Toronto - Passive Stack • Three
Story
Vancouver Base Case, No Stack
Vancouver - Passive Stack
10 20 30 40 50
Figure 9-7 Stack Ventilation Thermal Depth Limits
Before the addition of the passive stack, in the one storey base case building it was found
that the maximum building depth achievable without exceeding the overheating
performance criteria was 5m in the Vancouver building and 3m in the Toronto building.
For the three story base case building the depth limits were found to be 10m and 6m for
Vancouver and Toronto buildings respectively. These results show that the stack induced
airflow rates and resulting overheating depth limits on the lower floor of the building are
significantly augmented with increasing building height, even without the use of a
passive stack on top of the building.
Once a passive stack is added to each building, the stack induced ventilation rates and
resulting overheating depth limits are significantly increased for both the one and three
74
story buildings. These modelled stack ventilation thermal depth limits were converted
into a ratio of building depth to (a) floor to ceiling height, (b) building height, and to (c)
total building plus stack height, and are presented in Table 9-3. The ratio of building
depth to floor to ceiling height was calculated using an assumed floor to ceiling height of
3m in both one story and three story buildings.
5 (a) (b) ir (c) •:

Overheating Depth/ Depth/ • Depth/
Depth Limit > Floor-Geiling Building Building Plus
• (in) T Height Height * Stack Height
Vancouver One Story 42 14 14 4.2
Vancouver Three Story 100 33 11 6.3
Toronto One Story 12 4 4 1.2
Toronto Three Story 18 6 2 1.1
Table 9-3 Thermal Depth Limits of Stack Ventilated Office Buildings
A graphical summary of the resulting ranges of overheating depth limit to floor to ceiling
height ratios for Vancouver and Toronto climates are shown in Figure 9-8. The original
rule of thumb is shown as a ratio of overheating depth limit to floor to ceiling height of
10. This ratio results from using the rule of thumb of 5 times the floor to ceiling height
on either side of the stack, without taking into account the width of the stack.
Stack Ventilation Overheating Depth Limit R a n g e
Toronto
Original Rul^ of Thumb
Vancouver
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Overheating Depth Limit (Ratio of Building Depth / Floor-Ceiling Height)
Figure 9-8 Stack Ventilation Rule of Thumb - Range of Applicability of from a

9.2.1.1 Vancouver
What these results show is that from an overheating perspective, the Vancouver base case
building with an added passive stack was able to achieve and exceed the depth limits
suggested by the stack ventilation rule of thumb, but the Toronto building was not.
75
The Vancouver base case building is able to maintain adequate thermal comfort
conditions for building depths equal to and much greater than 10 times the floor to ceiling
height, for both building height scenarios modelled. A maximum depth limit of
approximately 33 times the floor to ceiling height was achieved in the taller 3 story
building scenario, using an assumed floor to ceiling height of 3 m.
9.2.1.2 Toronto
Modelling results using Toronto weather data show that in this climate it is not possible
to achieve an overheating depth limit of 10 times the floor to ceiling height using stack
ventilation alone added to the base case building. Maximum depth limits of
approximately 6 times the floor to ceiling height were achieved with the taller 3 story
building scenario, representing building depths of slightly greater than one half of that
suggested by the rule of thumb.
Stack ventilation is much more effective at providing cooling in Vancouver than Toronto
because Vancouver has lower summertime outdoor air temperatures. Stack ventilation is
only effective when the outdoor air temperature is lower than the indoor air temperature.
Vancouver summer daytime temperatures rarely exceed 25 °C, resulting in effective stack
ventilation flow rates of cool air for all but very rare occasions.
9.2.1.3 Building Height and Stack Height Effects

The ratios (a), (b), and (c) calculated in Table 9-3 show that while the rule of thumb is
based on a ratio of building depth to floor to ceiling height, a much better relationship is
the ratio of building depth to the height of the building plus the height of the stack above
the building.
The ratio of building depth to floor to ceiling height as shown in column (a) of Table 9-3
was calculated using an assumed floor to ceiling height of 3m in both one story and three
story buildings. The resulting depth limit ratios vary greatly between the one story and
three story buildings. Because the ratio varies greatly, this shows that there is a poor
correlation between building depth limits and floor to ceiling height. This result is
expected because each floor level is open to the atrium, and therefore stack effects are
dominated by the height of the column of air in the atrium rather than the height of the
column of air on each floor level.
The overheating depth limit is highly dependent on the total height of the column of air
that acts as the stack in the building, as shown in column (c). This total height is made up
of the height of the building above the location of interest plus the height of the stack
above the roof of the building. The relationship between overheating depth limit and
total stack height is roughly directly proportional, at a ratio of approximately 5:1 in
Vancouver and 1:1 in Toronto. Because of this good relationship, the rule of thumb
should be based on this total stack height rather than on floor to ceiling height.
The ratio of depth limit to building height, as shown in column (b), shows greater
variance between one story and three story buildings than the ratio of depth limit to
76
building plus stack height. This is due to the fact that the depth limits are based on using
the same size stack on top of both the one story and three story buildings. Therefore the
one story building has a stack that is proportionally larger compared to building height
than the three storey building. A maximum stack height of 7m above the roof was used
for both buildings based on the assumption that the limits to stack height are based on
aesthetics alone, and 7m was assumed to be a reasonable limit for either building height.
The stack ventilation rule of thumb for overheating could be improved by basing it on the
relationship between thermal depth limits and building plus stack height. A graphical
summary of modelling results presented using this ratio are shown in Figure 9-9.
Stack Ventilation Overheating Depth Limit R a n g e
Toronto
Vancouver
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Overheating Depth Limit (Building Depth / Building Plus Stack Height)
Figure 9-9 Modified Stack Ventilation Rule of Thumb - Range of Applicability from a
As shown, the overheating depth limit of the base case building could be extended to 1.2
times the building plus stack height in Toronto, and to 6.3 times the building plus stack
height in Vancouver. Using these results a modified stack ventilation rule of thumb was
developed as:
> Stack ventilation can be effective for overheating control across a building
width of 6 times the building plus stack height in Vancouver and 1 times the
building plus stack height in Toronto.
This rule is valid for buildings up to three stories in height with parameters similar to the
base case building. The modelling results are based on airflow and temperature
conditions found on the ground floor of the building. Therefore in buildings with more
than one floor level, the stack induced airflow rates, and hence overheating depth limits
presented, are reduced with increasing height within the building.
77
9.2.2 Stack Ventilation IAQ Depth Limit
A passive stack was added to the base case office building to determine how much the
depth of the building could be increased while maintaining adequate ventilation rates for
acceptable indoor air quality.
Figure 9-10 shows modelling results of how the IAQ depth limit of office buildings, of
one and three story heights, can be extended through the addition of a passive stack,
while maintaining ventilation rates of 10 L/s per person for 99% of time. The passive
stack on top of the building measures 7m in height above the roof of the building and has
an airflow opening area of 16 m . 2
Stack Ventilation IAQ Depth Limits

Vancouver and Toronto
Toronto Base Case, No Stack
Toronto - Passive Stack

• One
Story
- • Three
Vancouver Base Case, No Stack Story
-
Vancouver - Passive Stack
10 20 30 40 50
IAQ Depth Limit (m)
Figure 9-10 Stack Ventilation I A Q Depth Limits
Before the addition of the passive stack to the one storey base case building, it was found
that the criteria of maintaining ventilation rates of 10 L/s per person for 99% of time was
not achievable, no matter how much the building depth was reduced, in both Toronto and
Vancouver. In the three story base case building, the building depth could be increased
to a maximum of approximately 12m in Toronto and 13 m in Vancouver. These results
show that the stack induced airflow rates on the lower floor of the building are
significantly augmented with increasing building height, even without the use of a
passive stack on top of the building.
Once a passive stack is added to each building, the stack induced ventilation rates are
significantly increased for both the one and three story buildings. These modelled stack
ventilation thermal depth limits were converted into a ratio of building depth to (a) floor
to ceiling height, and (b) total building plus stack height, and are presented in Table 9-4.
78
The ratio of building depth to floor to ceiling height was calculated using an assumed
floor to ceiling height of 3m in both one story and three story buildings.
• •••fi' • r -(aF-"-'";fV (b)

IAQ Depth Depth/ Depth/
Limit (hi) Floor-Geiling % Building Plus
Height Stack Height
Vancouver One Story 50 17 5
Vancouver Three Story 100 33 6
Toronto One Story 50 17 5
Toronto Three Story t 80 27 5
Table 9-4 IAQ Depth Limits of Stack Ventilated Office Buildings
A graphical summary of the resulting ranges of IAQ depth limit to floor to ceiling height
ratios for Vancouver and Toronto climates are shown in Figure 9-11. The original rule of
thumb is shown as a ratio of IAQ depth limit to floor to ceiling height of 10. This ratio
results from using the rule of thumb of 5 times the floor to ceiling height on either side of
the stack, without taking into account the width of the stack.
Stack Ventilation IAQ Depth Limit Range
Toronto
141- HI
Original Rule of Thumb ;
Vancouver
1 1 — i 1 1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
IAQ Depth Limit (Ratio of Building Depth / Floor to Ceiling Height)
Figure 9-11 Stack Ventilation Rule of Thumb - Range of Applicability of from an IAQ
Perspective
9.2.2.1 Vancouver and Toronto

What these results show is that from an indoor air quality perspective, the Vancouver and
Toronto base case buildings with added passive stacks were both able to achieve and
exceed the depth limits suggested by the stack ventilation rule of thumb.
79
The Vancouver base case building was able to maintain adequate IAQ ventilation rates
for building depths up to a maximum of approximately 33 times the floor to ceiling
height - in the case of the three storey building with an assumed floor to ceiling height of
3m. The Toronto base case building was able to maintain adequate IAQ ventilation rates
for building depths of up to a maximum of 27 times the floor to ceiling height under the
same scenario.
The stack effect has a greater influence on extending IAQ depth limit in Vancouver than
Toronto. This is due to the fact that summertime outside air temperatures are cooler in
Vancouver, leading to a stronger stack effect.
9.2.2.2 Building Height and Stack Height Effects

Similar to stack ventilation rule of thumb overheating depth limits, it was found that
while the rule of thumb is based on a ratio of building depth to floor to ceiling height, a
much better relationship is the ratio of building depth to the height of the building plus
the height of the stack above the building.
The ratio of building depth to floor to ceiling height as shown in column (a) of Table 9-4
was calculated using an assumed floor to ceiling height of 3m in both one story and three
story buildings. The resulting depth limit ratios vary greatly between the one story and
three story buildings (range of 17 to 33). The variance shows a poor correlation between
building IAQ depth limits and floor to ceiling height.
As expected due to the interconnection between individual floors and the atrium, the IAQ
depth limit is highly dependent on the total height of the column of air that acts as the
stack in the building, as shown in column (b) of Table 9-4. This total height is made up
of the height of the building above the location of interest plus the height of the stack
above the roof of the building. The relationship between overheating depth limit and
total stack height is roughly directly proportional, at ratios varying between 5:1 and 6:1.
The stack ventilation rule of thumb for IAQ ventilation could be improved by basing it on
the relationship between IAQ depth limits and building plus stack height. A graphical
summary of modelling results presented using this ratio are shown in Figure 9-12.
As shown, the IAQ depth limit of the base case building could be extended to
approximately 5 times the building plus stack height in Toronto, and to approximately 6
times the building plus stack height in Vancouver. Using these results a modified stack
ventilation rule of thumb for IAQ ventilation was developed as:
> Stack ventilation can be effective for IAQ ventilation across a building width
of 6 times the building plus stack height in Vancouver and 5 times the
building plus stack height in Toronto.
80
Stack Ventilation IAQ Depth Limit Range
Toronto
Vancouver
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
IAQ Depth Limit (Building Depth / Building Plus Stack Height)
Figure 9-12 Modified Stack Ventilation Rule of Thumb - Range of Applicability from
an I A Q Perspective
This rule is valid for buildings up to three stories in height with parameters similar to the
base case building. The modelling results are based on airflow and temperature
conditions found on the ground floor of the building. Therefore in buildings with more
than one floor level, the stack induced airflow rates, and hence overheating depth limits
presented, are reduced at increasing height locations within the building.
9.2.3 Stack Ventilation Rule of Thumb Mitigating Factors
A number of other influences that can directly effect stack ventilation performance
include:
0 Cross Ventilation Parameters - Stack ventilation strategies also rely on cross

ventilation between air inlets on the exterior walls of the building and the
stack. Limits of the stack ventilation rule of thumb were investigated based
on the base case building with no cross ventilation parameter modifications.
As a result, all factors that effect cross ventilation overheating and IAQ
performance will effect stack ventilation overheating and IAQ performance.
Cross ventilation parameter modifications were found to greatly extend
overheating and IAQ depth limits of the cross ventilated base case buildings,
and would have similar effects on extending depth limits of the stack
ventilated base case buildings.
0 Stack outlet design - Good design of the stack outlet can improve stack
ventilation performance. The form of the stack outlet can increase wind
81
speeds, creating a negative pressure at the top of the stack (venturi effect) and
aiding stack ventilation. Negative wind pressures can also be created with
multiple stack vents controlled to take maximum advantage of leeward
negative pressure effects.
0 Building form - The roof profile and overall building form will also effect the
wind pressure coefficient at the stack outlet. Stack performance is enhanced
with designs that use the building form to increase wind speeds and create
negative pressures at the top of the building. Aerodynamic design of the
entire building form and roof profile can be done to maximise this effect.
0 Stack temperature (solar chimneys) - The temperature of air in the stack or

atrium effects stack ventilation performance, with higher air temperatures
creating higher stack pressures. The stack temperature is effected by heat
losses, which are determined mainly by the quantity of exposed surface area
and the level of insulation. The stack temperature is also effected by its
exposure to heat gains, and its ability to absorb those heat gains. Exposure to
solar gains depends on stack orientation, with exposed south facing stacks
being best for absorbing solar radiation. Solar chimneys are designed to
maximise solar radiation gains, and increase the effectiveness of absorbing
solar energy, particularly in spaces above the occupied zones.
82
9.3 Night Cooling Ventilation
The rule of thumb that "a vent opening of 1/5 Oth or 2% of the floor area (200 cm per m 2 2
floor area) should generally be adequate for night cooling when there is cross ventilation"
was investigated by modelling the natural ventilation performance of the base case cross
ventilated building using both Vancouver and Toronto weather data. No passive stack
was included in the building design because the rule is based on cross ventilation only.
However, two scenarios were modelled to
investigate the effect of floor to ceiling Cross Ventilation Base Case
height on night cooling performance - one a Building
cross ventilated building with a typical
office building floor to ceiling height of 3m .
and another with a much higher floor to
ceiling height of 9m.
Two scenarios were also modelled to

investigate the effect of building depth on
night cooling performance - a 15m building
depth and a 50 rri building depth. 15
9.3.1 Minimum Vent Size Requirements

The minimum night cooling vent size required to avoid overheating for each scenario is
shown in Table 9-5.
Night Cooling Vent Size (cm /rri floor area)

15 in Depth 50 m Depth
Table 9-5 Night Cooling Vent Size Requirments for Cross Ventilated Office
Buildings
and Toronto climates is shown in Figure 9-13.
83
Required Night Cooling Vent Area
Toronto
Original Rule of Thumf)
Vancouver
1 I 1
2 4 6 8 10
Night Cooling Vent Size (% of Floor Area)
Figure 9-13 Night Cooling Rule of Thumb Range of Applicability
These results show that in Vancouver, a vent opening of approximately 2.5% of the floor
area is adequate for night cooling in cross ventilated buildings similar to the base case
building. In Toronto, a larger night cooling vent size of approximately 5% of the floor
area is required.
Increased floor to ceiling height was found to dramatically reduce the night cooling vent
size required to avoid overheating. This indicates that increased floor to ceiling height
increases stack pressure differences between the inside and outside of the building,
increasing airflow rates though night cooling vents. The difference in size requirements
for night cooling vents between the two floor to ceiling height scenarios is much greater
in the Vancouver building. This indicates that stack pressure differences have a much
greater effect in Vancouver than Toronto over the course of the cooling season due to
lower night time outside air temperatures.
The size of night cooling vents required to avoid overheating was also found to decrease
with increasing building depth. The base case building represents a zone within the
centre of a long building. As the building depth is increased, solar gains through
windows do not increase in this zone because the building zone is not exposed to the
exterior along its sides. Therefore as building depth increases, the ratio of internal gains
to floor area decreases, resulting in a lower average cooling load, requiring a lower ratio
of cooling vent area to floor area.
9.3.2 Night Cooling Vent Rule of Thumb Mitigating Factors
Night cooling strategies generally rely on cross ventilation between night cooling vents
• on opposite or adjacent exterior walls of the building. As a result, the previously
discussed factors that effect cross ventilation overheating performance will also effect
night cooling effectiveness.
A number of other mitigating factors can directly effect night cooling performance
including:
84
0 Interior thermal mass storage capacity - The thermal mass storage capacity of
inside surfaces will directly effect night cooling. Night cooling relies on the
cooling of internal surfaces with cool night air. The ability of these surfaces
to provide radiant cooling the next day is strongly dependent on their total
thermal mass capacity.
0 Thermal mass rate of heat transfer - The heat transfer rate into and out of the
thermal mass effects its ability to be cooled and to cool occupants the
following day. The characteristics of the material in terms of its thermal
conductivity, thickness, location, emissivity, and surface area in relation to the
night cooling ventilation air path all effect its rate of heat transfer.
85
9.4 Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality
9.4.1 Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality - The United Kingdom
The rule of thumb that "trickle ventilators with
an openable area of 4 cm per m of floor area, Cross Ventilation Base Case
with a minimum provision of 40 cm in each 2
Building
room, should adequately provide the necessary
background ventilation to meet occupants
needs" was investigated by modelling the 3 3
natural ventilation performance of the base
case cross ventilated building using both 3 3
Vancouver and Toronto weather data. Similar
to the analysis performed for other rules of
thumb, two scenarios were modelled to 3 =>
investigate the effect of floor to ceiling height

on ventilation performance - one a cross
ventilated building with a typical office
building floor to ceiling height of 3m and another with a much higher floor to ceiling
height of 9m.
In each scenario the trickle vent size was increased until the ventilation criteria of 10 L/s
of outdoor air per person for a minimum of 99% of occupied hours was met. The trickle
vent size results are shown in Table 9-6.
Trickle Vent Size

2 2
Vancouver 3m floor to ceiling height

(cmNot
/machieved
floor area)
Vancouver 9 mfloorto ceiling height 12
Toronto 3m floor to ceiling height Not achieved
Toronto 9 m floor to ceiling height 14
Table 9-6 Trickle Vent Size Required to Achieve 10 L/s per person Airflow for 99% of
Occupied Hours
The base case building with a floor to ceiling height of 3m was not able to achieve the
IAQ ventilation criteria - of 10 L/s of outdoor air per person for a minimum of 99% of
occupied hours - no matter how much the trickle vent size was increased, in either
Vancouver or Toronto. As was discussed previously in Section 9.1.2, the only way that
the 3m floor to ceiling height base case cross ventilated building could meet the
ventilation criteria was by decreasing the occupancy rate to approximately 40 m per2
person, by decreasing local wind shielding, or using additional stack ventilation to

increase airflow rates.
The ventilation rate criteria was met in 9m floor to ceiling height base case buildings with
2 2 2 2 *
trickle vent opening areas of 12 cm per m of floor area in Vancouver and 14 cm /m in
86
Toronto. Therefore, based on this initial examination, it could be concluded that to meet
the ventilation criteria adopted in this study trickle vent sizes in the range of 12 to 14 cm 2
per m of floor area are required. Additionally, the building must be designed to use
2
some level of stack ventilation (such as increased floor to ceiling height) to increase
airflow rates above those achieved with cross ventilation alone in a standard floor to
ceiling height building.
However, the trickle vent rule of thumb of 4 cm per m of floor area originates from
British building code requirements that are based on the provision of approximately 5 L/s
per person of 'background ventilation' during winter months in the U K . This rate of
ventilation is intended to fully purge the air in a space overnight, providing a "reservoir"
of clean air. A reservoir of clean air, combined with the continuing background flow of
incoming fresh air, and rapid ventilation by opening windows for short periods to
replenish the reservoir, is intended to maintain acceptable indoor air quality throughout
the day.
The performance of the base case building was re-evaluated using this 5 L/s per person
ventilation rate criteria and the rule of thumb vent size of 4 cm per m of floor area. The
2 2
percentage of occupied hours that the ventilation rate does not achieve the criteria of 10
L/s per person and 5 L/s per person were measured, and are shown in Table 9-7.
% of Occupied Hours Not Meeting the

Ventilation Rate Criteria
10 L/s per person 5 L/s per person
Table 9-7 Ventilation Performance with Trickle Vent Size of 4 cm per m of Floor 2 2
Area
These results show that when the criteria of 10 L/s per person is used to evaluate
ventilation performance, the base case building with a trickle vent size of 4 cm per m of
2 2
floor area provides an inadequate ventilation rate for a large percentage of occupied hours
(27 to 39%) in both floor to ceiling height scenarios, in both Vancouver and Toronto
climates.
When the ventilation rate criteria is reduced to 5 L/s per person, ventilation in the 9m
floor to ceiling height building meets the criteria most of the time (97% of the time).
However, the 3m floor to ceiling height building falls short of meeting the criteria for a
large portion of time (20 to 27%).
Therefore it can be concluded that if the ventilation rate criteria of 10 L/s per person is
adhered to, the rule of thumb of 4 cm of trickle vents per m of floor area is not valid
under any of the scenarios modelled in either Vancouver nor Toronto. Greater trickle
87
vent sizes of 12 to 14 cm per m of floor area can achieve the ventilation rate criteria, but
2 2
only with assistance from stack ventilation.
If the ventilation rate criteria of 5 L/s per person is used instead, then the rule of thumb of
4 cm of trickle vents per m of floor area is not valid for standard floor to ceiling height
2 2
buildings with no stack ventilation assistance. However it is roughly valid (as long as not
meeting the criteria for 3% of occupied hours is considered acceptable) in buildings
where some level of stack ventilation, such as increased floor to ceiling height, is used to
assist cross ventilation airflow.
A graphical summary of the resulting ranges of applicability of the rule of thumb are
shown in Figure 9-14. These ranges take into account both the 5 and 10 L/s per person
ventilation rate criteria.
Required Trickle V e n t Area
Toronto
. Original Rule of Thumb .
Vancouver
Li i i I
0
5 10 15 20
Trickle Vent Size (cm /m2 Floor Area)
2
Figure 9-14 Trickle Vent Rule of Thumb Range of Applicability
The rule of thumb would be valid under the scenarios modelled in this study if its
wording was modified to reflect the identified limitations. A new wording that is more
appropriate is:
Trickle vents of 4 cm per m of floor area provide a ventilation rate of 5 L/s per person
2 2
for the majority of the time in buildings that use the combined effect of cross ventilation
and stack ventilation.
88
9.4.2 Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality - North America
Three rules of thumb for achieving acceptable ventilation rates for indoor air quality were
derived from North American prescriptive building code requirements for naturally
ventilated buildings. Natural ventilation performance was not modelled for any of these
rules of thumb - either because the rule of thumb is similar to those previously analysed,
or because performance modelling was beyond the scope of this project. The potential
validity and limitations of each rule are discussed to the extent possible below.
9.4.2.1 Rule 5a - Naturally ventilated building spaces should be limited to a depth of

8m from exterior wall or roof openings.
This rule suggests that to achieve adequate indoor air quality, cross ventilated building
spaces should be limited to a depth of approximately 16m. This requirement is similar to
the cross ventilation rule of thumb presented previously, which limits the depth of a cross
ventilated building to approximately 15m, assuming a floor to ceiling height of 3m. The
analysis and discussion for the cross ventilation rule of thumb, as it applies to indoor air
quality ventilation rates, also applies here.
This analysis concluded that for buildings with 3m floor to ceiling heights as typically
found in office buildings, it is difficult to meet this depth limit while maintaining the
ventilation rate criteria adopted in this study. The only viable options for meeting the
criteria in the 3 m floor to ceiling height base case building studied were found to be
decreasing occupancy rates to below approximately 40 m per person, by decreasing local
wind shielding, or by using additional stack ventilation to assist ventilation rates.
However it was found to be relatively easy to meet and vastly exceed this depth limit in
buildings with greater floor to ceiling heights, or buildings that make use of additional
passive stacks.
9.4.2.2 Rule 5b - Openable areas in exterior walls and roofs should be at least 4% of
the net occupiable floor area
Modelling performed in this study showed no effect of openable window area on the
number of hours with ventilation rates of less than 10 L/s per person, unless the openable
window area was reduced to the size of vents used to provide trickle ventilation. In any
event, the performance of openable windows cannot be described or measured in these
terms.
The size of openable window area addresses the amount of 'rapid ventilation' that can be
achieved by opening windows. It does not address the supply rates of fresh air required
to meet occupant and pollutant loads throughout the year, because openable windows are
closed most of the time during cold weather. The specification of a minimum trickle vent
89
size would be much more effective at achieving the goal of adequate IAQ ventilation
rates.
Examination of the validity of this rule requires a study of the flushing potential of
openable windows, which beyond the capability of the predictive tool used in this study.
This analysis could be done with a multizone airflow modelling tool and the development
of minimum performance criteria.
9.4.2.3 Rule 5c - Interior partitions or walls between naturally ventilated spaces and
outside ventilation openings should have permanent openings of at least 8% of
the floor area of the interior portion of the space, with a minimum opening
area of 2.3 square meters.
The effect of internal partitions was not addressed in this study, and therefore it is not
possible to comment on the validity or limitations of this rule.
9.4.3 Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality Mitigating Factors
The provision of outside air ventilation for IAQ relies on cross ventilation or stack
ventilation to provide the airflow rates through trickle vents, windows, or other openings
in the exterior of the building. As a result, all of the parameter modifications and
mitigating factors that effect cross and stack ventilation airflow rates for IAQ, as
discussed in previous sections, will also effect the applicability of the IAQ ventilation
rules of thumb discussed in this section.
90
10 Conclusions
Simple natural ventilation design rules of thumb were compiled and critiqued in an
attempt to make them useful to Canadian architects, and provide much needed design
aids for the initial stages of natural ventilation building design.
The following conclusions can be made from the findings of this study:
a) Limitations of rules of thumb as applied to Canadian climates were found to

differ greatly from original rules of thumb.
Simple natural ventilation design rules of thumb were compiled from published literature
and building codes and standards. The development of most of these existing rules of
thumb were found to be based on incomplete research, and the conditions under which
they are meant to apply are either not stated or are poorly defined. The limitations of
applicability of these rules of thumb were investigated in this study using computer
modelling analysis. Natural ventilation parameter modifications were applied to an
example three storey office building located in an urban setting using weather data for the
cities of Vancouver and Toronto.
The computer model used to simulate building performance is a linked airflow/thermal

model called NatVent. It is a comprehensive model in its procedure for calculating
interior temperatures and airflow rates. At one hour time steps it calculates interior air
temperatures, taking into account the effects of thermal mass and surface temperatures. It
then uses interior air and surface temperatures in its calculations of airflow rates. It was
chosen to perform the natural ventilation analysis because of its ability to link interior
temperature and airflow rate calculations, and because it is a pre design tool that is easy
to use because it defaults many of the detailed design parameters. While it should
provide much more accurate estimates of interior temperatures and airflow rates than
other natural ventilation design models and procedures that have been available in the
past, its results have not been validated against field test measurements, and therefore
should be used with caution.
Modelling results showed that the limitations stated by many of the original rules of
thumb are not accurate when applied to the two Canadian climates investigated. Results
of computer modelling found limitations that differ greatly from those presented in the
original rules of thumb. In some cases original rules of thumb were found to be
conservative and in other cases they were overly optimistic in representing ventilation or
cooling performance.
The limitations of each rule of thumb were also found to vary greatly depending on
assumptions used for the base case building, and on complex interactions between
specific combinations of parameters. As a result, it is more appropriate to define rules of
thumb in terms of ranges of applicability, with an understanding that the presented limits
of these ranges could also be extended under specific combinations of building design
parameters. Therefore the performance of natural ventilation systems in any unique
91
building requires confirmation by additional modelling with conditions that are specific
to that building.
A comparison between original rules of thumb and the ranges of applicability found
through modelling the performance of the base case building are shown below:
Original Rule # i - Cross ventilation is effective up to five times the floor to ceiling
height.
C r o s s Ventilation O v e r h e a t i n g D e p t h Limit R a n g e C r o s s Ventilation IAQ D e p t h Limit R a n g e
Toronto
Toronto
19 :
^ O r i g i n a l Rul£ of Thumb Original Rul£ of Thumb
Vancouver Vancouver
I
i 1
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20
Overheating Depth Limit (Ratio of Building Depth / Floor to Ceiling Height) IAQ Depth Limit (Ratio of Building Depth / Floor to Ceiling Height)
The cross ventilation overheating depth limits were extended to the upper limits shown
(farthest extension to the right) under the following conditions:
> Base case building with a floor to ceiling height of 3m.

> The following parameters cumulatively modified to their practical limits:
• Increased openable window area.
• Increased wall and roof insulation.
• Significant solar protective glazing.
• Increased window overhang size.
• Increased thermal mass.
• Optimised orientation.
• External window shading.
• Decreased local wind shielding.
The cross ventilation IAQ depth limits were extended to the upper limits shown under the
following conditions:
> Base case building with a floor to ceiling height of 3m.

> The following parameters cumulatively modified to their practical limits:
• Increased openable window area.
• Increased trickle vent size.
• Optimised orientation.
• Decreased occupant density.
• Decreased local wind shielding.
92
Original Rule #2 - Stack ventilation can be effective across a width of 5 times the floor
to ceiling height from the inlet to where the air is exhausted to the stack.
S t a c k Ventilation O v e r h e a t i n g D e p t h Limit R a n g e S t a c k Ventilation IAQ D e p t h Limit R a n g e
Toronto
• Orijginal Rute of Thumb
Toronto
„ Original Rule of Thumb .
Vancouver Vancouver
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Overheating Depth Limit (Ratio of Building Depth / Floor-Ceiling Height) IAQ Depth Limit (Ratio of Building Depth / Floor to Ceiling Height)
The stack ventilation overheating and IAQ depth limits were extended to the upper limits
shown under the following conditions:
> Base case three story building.

> Each floor connected to a central open atrium.
> Floor to ceiling height of individual floors of 3m.
> A passive stack is added to the building as an extension of the central atrium
and has a height of 7 m above the top of the building and an airflow opening
area of 16m .
> Performance is based on conditions on the lower level of the three storey
building.
While the original rule of thumb is based on a ratio of building depth to floor to ceiling
height, a much more representative relationship was found to be the ratio of building
depth to the height of the building plus the height of the stack above the building. The
range of limitations of the rule of thumb using this modified relationship are shown
below. The stack ventilation overheating and IAQ depth limits were extended to the
upper limits shown under the same conditions used to extended limits of the original rule
of thumb, as presented above.
S t a c k Ventilation O v e r h e a t i n g D e p t h Limit R a n g e S t a c k Ventilation IAQ D e p t h Limit R a n g e
Toronto Toronto
Vancouver Vancouver
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Overheating Depth Limit (Building Depth / Building Plus Stack Height)! IAQ Depth Limit (Building Depth / Building Plus Stack Height)
93
Original Rule #3 -A vent opening of 2% of the floor area (200 cm per m floor area) 2 2
should generally be adequate for night cooling when there is cross ventilation.
Required Night Cooling Vent Area
Toronto
Original pule of Thumf)
Vancouver
2 4 6 8 10
Night Cooling Vent Size (% of Floor Area)
The upper limits of night cooling vent size requirements are based on the following
conditions:
> Base case three story cross ventilated building.

> Building depth of 15m.
The lower limits of night cooling vent size requirements are based on the following
conditions:

> Building depth of 50m.
2 2
Original Rule #4 - Trickle ventilators with an openable area of 4 cm per m of floor
area, with a minimum provision of 40 cm in each room, should adequately provide the
2
necessary background ventilation to meet occupants needs.
Required Trickle V e n t A r e a
Toronto
Original Rule of Thumb
Vancouver
0
r 5 10 15 20
Trickle Vent Size (cm /m2 Floor Area)

2
94
The upper limits of trickle vent size requirements shown are based on the following
conditions:

> IAQ ventilation rate criteria of 10 L/s of outdoor air per person for a minimum
of 99% of occupied hours.
> Stack effect assistance (Ex. - Extension of Floor to ceiling height of individual
floors to 9m).
The lower limits of trickle vent size requirements are based on the following conditions:

> IAQ ventilation rate criteria reduced to 5 L/s of outdoor air per person for a
minimum of 97% of occupied hours.
> Stack effect assistance (Ex. - Extension of Floor to ceiling height of individual
floors to 9m).
b) The relative order of importance of natural ventilation parameters was

identified for one example building configuration. This ranking of importance
can aid designers in prioritising design changes for improving natural
ventilation thermal or indoor air quality performance.
Single natural ventilation design parameters were modified in the base case building to
examine their ability to reduce overheating, or increase ventilation rates for IAQ. The
following parameters were able to reduce overheating in the base case building, ordered
from greatest to least effect:
1. Utilisation of night cooling vents.

2. Increasing operable window area.
3. Addition of a passive stack.
4. Decreasing non operable window area.
5. Increasing building height above floor level of interest.
6. Increasing solar protective glazing, blinds, or other shading devices.
7. Decreasing local wind shielding obstruction height.
8. Decreasing lighting and equipment loads.
9. Increasing wall insulation.
10. Decreasing occupant density.
11. Increasing interior thermal mass.
12. Increasing window overhang size.
13. Changing building orientation.
14. Changing window type (with no colour changes).
The effect that many of these parameters can have on reducing overheating can change
significantly due to interactions with other parameters. Several parameters also have
95
greater potential impacts than presented due to limitations in the ability of the NatVent
model to show their impacts. Those parameters that could potentially show the greatest
variance from presented results are:
> Lighting and equipment loads - Very low lighting and equipment gains were
assumed for the base case building, leaving little room available for improvement.
In buildings with high internal heat gains a reduction in these gains could
potentially be the parameter modification with the greatest ability to reduce
overheating.
> Interior thermal mass - Modelling results show a relatively minor impact on
overheating resulting from large changes to the building's thermal mass, for both
Vancouver and Toronto climates. The impact is probably much greater than
presented however, due to limitations in the reporting format of the computer
model. The NatVent model does not output resultant or operative temperature
values so is not possible to measure the radiative cooling effect - the true benefit
of increased thermal mass - even though the temperature damping and shifting
effects are likely significant.
> Orientation and solar shading - The base case building is assumed to be
surrounded by large local obstructions which reduce solar gains within the base
case building. Changes to building orientation, overhang size, and other solar
shading techniques will have greater effects on buildings that are less shaded.
> Building height - Temperature and airflow performance was measured on the
lowest level of multi story buildings. As a result, overheating hours on higher
floor levels would be higher in stack ventilated buildings due to the reduction in
stack induced pressure differences and thus airflow rates with increasing height.
Overheating hours in cross ventilated buildings with isolated floors would be
lower on higher floor levels because of the effect of increasing outdoor wind
speeds with height.
The following parameters were able to increase indoor air quality ventilation rates,
ordered from greatest to least effect:
1. Addition of a passive stack.

2. Decreasing occupant density.
3. Increasing trickle vent size.
4. Increasing building height.
5. Increasing openable window area.
6. Decreasing local wind shielding.
7. Optimising building orientation.
The effect that many of these parameters can have on reducing overheating can change
significantly due to interactions with other parameters. Several parameters also have
greater potential impacts than presented due to limitations in the ability of the model to
show their impacts. Those parameters that could potentially show the greatest variance
from presented results are:
96
> Building orientation - The base case building is assumed to be surrounded by
large local obstructions which reduce wind speeds around the base case building.
Changes to building orientation that orient airflow openings towards prevailing
wind directions will have greater effects on buildings that are less wind shielded.
> Building height - Airflow performance was measured on the lowest level of multi
story buildings. As a result, ventilation rates on higher floor levels would be
lower in stack ventilated buildings due to the reduction in stack induced pressure
differences and airflow rates with increasing height. Ventilation rates in cross
ventilated buildings with isolated floors would be higher on higher floor levels
because of the effect of increasing outdoor wind speeds with height.
c) While the accuracy of modelling results is limited by the accuracy of the model
and base case building parameter assumptions, the results provide a first order
evaluation of limitations of existing rules of thumb and the relative importance
of design parameters in Canadian climates.
The NatVent model is more accurate than many other natural ventilation design methods
because of three major advantages:
> It is a linked airflow and thermal model that uses interior air and surface
temperatures in its calculation of airflow rates.
> It takes into account thermal interactions of interior thermal mass, and
> It can evaluate interior air temperatures and airflow rates on an hour by hour
basis over an entire year.
However its accuracy is also limited by the following factors:
> The building is modelled as having a single zone only. Temperature and
airflow performance is always measured on the lowest level of multi story
buildings. As a result, winter IAQ ventilation rates that would occur on
higher floor levels are overestimated due to the stack effect enhancement of
airflow rates. Overheating hours on higher floor levels would be higher in
stack ventilated buildings due to the reduction in stack induced pressure
differences with increased height. Overheating hours in cross ventilated
buildings with isolated floors would be lower on higher floor levels because of
the effect of increasing outdoor wind speeds with height.
> The model only reports air temperature, rather than effective temperature,
even though it calculates surface temperatures and uses them in its
calculations of indoor air temperature. As a result, the number of overheating
hours are overestimated since cool interior surfaces will generally lower the
effective temperature below the air temperature.
> The model uses a simplistic representation of building details, and doesn't
allow detailed placement of airflow openings. This means that the effect of
97
features such as internal partitions are not taken into account. It also does not
allow evaluation of airflow and temperature conditions at different locations
within the building.
> The model doesn't allow detailed modification of wind pressure coefficients.
Default wind pressure coefficients taken from wind tunnel experiments are
used for several generic building shapes. While these are accurate for the
original building shapes, their modification for alternative building shapes is
not possible.
> The model's predictions have not been validated against other models or field
data measurements, therefore its results have to be used with caution.
Development of linked airlfow/thermal models has only begun recently, and
none of the models created to date have been extensively validated due to the
difficulty and expense of doing so.
Parameter assumptions used for the base case building also have a strong influence on the
accuracy of the results presented here. There are complex interactions between natural
ventilation parameters that have significant effects on natural ventilation performance.
Some parameters are strongly dependent on other parameters, with their full performance
benefits achieved only with modification of another dependent variable. Therefore it is
difficult to define a "typical" base case building to which modifications are made.
The limitations of the software model and choice of base case building clearly effect the
outcome of results. Therefore care must be used in interpreting and applying the results
of this study. However, these results do provide a good first look at the validity and
limitation of existing rules of thumb. They show that the rules of thumb differ greatly by
climate for overheating, but not for IAQ ventilation. They also show general ranges of
applicability for each rule of thumb for overheating and indoor air quality performance,
for the two example cities.
The results also show the relative importance that different design parameters have on
overheating and indoor air quality performance for the example base case building. Used
with an understanding of the base case building design to which they have been applied,
these results can aid designers in focusing their efforts on the design of parameters with
the greatest impact, and provide guidance into how changes made to the building form
and fabric can effect overheating and indoor air quality.
With this information, building designers can now use these rules of thumb as a starting
point for natural ventilation building design in Canada.
98
d) Criteria for evaluating minimum acceptable performance of naturally ventilated
buildings in North America are poorly defined.
A number of European countries have well defined requirements for thermal comfort that
allow for a level of fluctuation in interior temperature. Similar North American standards
that allow for the inevitable fluctuation in interior temperature in naturally ventilated
buildings do not exist. One European standard was adopted in this study and could be
adopted for use in North American. However to do so would first require further
investigation into levels of thermal comfort deemed acceptable by North Americans. It is
often speculated that North Americans have lower levels of tolerance towards indoor
temperature fluctuations and would demand cooler indoor temperature limits, so it is not
clear whether or not the European overheating hour limits would be accepted or not.
In North American we are also lagging Europeans in development of well defined

"design weather year" weather data that has been specifically designed for simulating
natural ventilation performance using computer models. A number of different typical
weather year data formats are available in every country, most of which are developed
using a similar method in which twelve months of observed weather data are chosen from
a database of 30 or more years of data. Because each weather format differs in how it
chooses the most "typical" months of weather data, they may differ significantly in their
sequences of hot weather data. They generally represent average weather conditions over
a number of years rather than a worst case overheating scenario of extended hot weather.
Therefore internal conditions in actual buildings will definitely exceed the defined
overheating hour thresholds in some years due to inevitable periods of warmer weather
than contained in the design weather year.
In the U K the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has

developed "design weather year" weather data for a wide number of locations that
specifically addresses this problem by ensuring that weather data files contain appropriate
sequences of extended hot weather, developed using a common format. This ensures a
common method of comparison to thermal comfort criteria based on a set number of
hours per year exceeding a defined temperature threshold. In North America we do not
have design weather year data files developed on this basis, and so our typical weather
year data does not necessarily include periods of extended hot weather, and performance
modelling results would not be consistent from location to location.
While North American and European countries have well defined requirements for
ventilation rates for adequate indoor air quality in mechanically ventilated buildings,
neither have developed ventilation rate performance criteria that allow for a limited level
of fluctuation in ventilation rates provided by naturally ventilated buildings. Without
established ventilation rate requirements it is not possible to evaluate indoor air quality
performance. As a result, a criteria for minimum acceptable ventilation rates that takes
into account some level of flexibility for naturally ventilated buildings was developed in
this study. The criteria developed was based mainly upon standard North America
requirements for ventilation rates in mechanically ventilated buildings. Not surprisingly,
upon evaluation of natural ventilation design options it was found that most natural
99
ventilation building designs have difficulty meeting this criteria. This may imply that the
developed criteria is overly conservative, however further study that is beyond the scope
of this study is required to make that evaluation.
e) It is possible to meet the natural ventilation performance criteria set out in this
study with a broad range of building designs and natural ventilation design
strategies.
This study looked at an example three story office building located in an urban setting
and showed that before any modifications were made to it, its performance in terms of
avoiding overheating and providing ventilation for IAQ fell far short of the adopted
natural ventilation performance criteria in both Vancouver and Toronto climates.
In Vancouver, it was shown that a broad range of design parameters could be modified,
either singly or in combination with other parameters, to easily meet the minimum
performance criteria for both overheating and IAQ.
Toronto has much higher summertime temperatures and therefore naturally ventilated
buildings have greater difficulty meeting the overheating criteria. However it was shown
that with specific combinations of parameter modifications it is also possible to design an
office building that meets both IAQ and overheating requirements in this climate.
f) This study investigated the limitations of strictly naturally ventilated buildings.

Mixed mode or hybrid ventilation systems can eliminate any shortcomings of
naturally ventilated buildings and may ultimately be the preferred system of
choice.
This study looked at the performance of buildings that were cooled and ventilated
without the assistance of any mechanical cooling or ventilation equipment. Because of
the inevitable fluctuations in outside air temperatures and wind speed conditions it is not
possible to guarantee natural ventilation performance at all times. Hybrid systems that
use mechanical ventilation or cooling equipment to provide backup to natural ventilation
systems can eliminate this performance uncertainty, while maintaining most of the
potential benefits.
The difficulty in using natural ventilation alone to provide ventilation for IAQ was shown
in this study. This is essentially a worst case scenario because IAQ performance can be
substantially improved with the use of small mechanical ventilation backup systems. The
simplest systems use central exhaust fans located in passive stacks and are connected to
sensors that turn on the fans at specific CO2 setpoints. The exhaust fans then provide
assistance to,the natural ventilation systems only when needed, and ensure that
inadequate ventilation rates never occur. Another option is to use mechanical ventilation
systems exclusively during cold weather to avoid the difficulty of designing natural
ventilation systems that do not over ventilate, and lead to excessive energy consumption.
100
Mechanical cooling can also be used in hybrid systems. Air conditioning can be used as
a backup to natural ventilation to reduce the number of overheating hours. Used in
conjunction with natural ventilation, the size and cost of this backup cooling equipment
can be substantially reduced due to reduced cooling loads. Alternatively the air
conditioning equipment can be used to provide cooling only to specific zones that require
tighter temperature control.
101
11 Recommendations For Further Work
The following are recommendations for future work that should be performed to improve
the results of this study and the usefulness of simplified natural ventilation design tools:
Confirmation of results - The validity and limitations of rules of thumb were investigated
using a computer model that simulates natural ventilation performance. These results
should ideally be confirmed with field measurements of airflow rates and indoor
temperatures in built offices in Vancouver and Toronto.
Development of improved ventilation rate performance criteria — While North American

and European countries have well defined requirements for ventilation rates for adequate
indoor air quality in mechanically ventilated buildings, neither have developed
ventilation rate performance criteria that allow for a limited level of fluctuation in
ventilation rates provided by naturally ventilated buildings. As a result it is not possible
to evaluate indoor air quality performance in terms of established ventilation rate
requirements.
European design guidance recommends that a "reservoir effect" should be taken into
account when designing ventilation for indoor air quality in naturally ventilated
buildings, and that a medium term time averaged ventilation rate of fresh air be provided.
Recommended values of medium term ventilation rates and the time period over which
they are measured must be developed for this concept to be useful.
Similarly, North America's A S H R A E Standard 62 should provide a limited allowance for

fluctuation of ventilation rates in naturally ventilated buildings. To do this, a method
must be developed to turn a fluctuating natural ventilation airflow rate into a single
representative ventilation rate that could be compared to the fixed ventilation rates of
Table 2 in the Standard. The ventilation rate could be compared to a fixed ventilation
rate i f a procedure was specified for calculating a representative "design day" natural
ventilation rate, or for specifying a fixed maximum number of hours that modelled
ventilation rates can be below a set limit, or by physically measuring ventilation rates
over a period of time in constructed buildings.
Development of North American thermal performance criteria and design weather years
specifically for design of naturally ventilated buildings - A number of European countries
have well defined requirements for thermal comfort that allow for a level of fluctuation in
interior temperature. Similar North American standards that allow for the inevitable
fluctuation in interior temperature in naturally ventilated buildings must be developed.
However these standards should take into account the levels of thermal comfort deemed
acceptable by North Americans.
"Design weather year" weather data, that has been specifically designed for simulating
natural ventilation performance using computer models, must also be developed for
North American locations. While a number of different typical weather year data formats
are available, they differ in their representation of sequences of hot weather data. They
102
generally represent average weather conditions over a number of years rather than a
worst case overheating scenario of extended hot weather. A new format for weather data
should be developed in North America that specifically addresses this issue by ensuring
that weather data files contain appropriate sequences of extended hot weather developed
using a common format.
Investigate the Effect of Partitions - The rule of thumb that specifies a minimum
allowable airflow opening area in partitions within naturally ventilated spaces was not
investigated in this study, due to limitations within the model used to measure natural
ventilation performance. The validity and limitations of this rule when applied to
Canadian climates could be fairly easily investigated with multizone airflow modelling
analysis. If the validity of this rule of thumb were confirmed, then it would provide an
extra level of information on conditions for validity of other rules of thumb.
103

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DESIGN R U L E S OF T H U M B FOR N A T U R A L L Y V E N T I L A T E D OFFICE

B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, 1988

We accept this thesis as conforming

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH C O L U M B I A

© Craig Edwards, 2000

Department of /^)r o-^\ .' /t-C- r^*j -g-

Date Pn_ c /V Too Q

Using natural ventilation to provide ventilation and/or cooling in commercial buildings

The relative influence of design parameters on reducing overheating and increasing

Table 6-1 Modelled Building Design Parameters 41

Figure 2-1 Stack Ventilation and the Neutral Pressure Plane 10

> Reduced energy consumption

1.1.1 Reduced Environmental Impacts of Energy Consumption

1.1.2 Reduced Use of Ozone Depleting Substances

1.1.3 Improved Quality of Working Environments

1.1.4 Improved Occupant Health

1.1.5 Reduced Capital and Operating Costs

successfully integrated into the architectural aesthetic considerations of the buildings.

responsibility for the maintenance of decent environmental conditions, and the

The availability of mechanical ventilation systems (and other technologies) ushered in a

Specific objectives are:

2. To develop criteria for evaluating natural ventilation building performance to clarify

4. To use results of the parametric analysis to investigate the applicability and

Natural ventilation is a whole building design concept, centred on the appropriate

2.1 A i r Density Differences

Figure 2-1 Stack Ventilation and the Neutral Pressure Plane

> The shape of the building

> Single sided ventilation, and

Cross ventilation relies on airflow between ventilation openings on opposite sides of a

2.3 Combined Stack and Wind Effects

> Cross ventilation

Cross ventilation is effective up to five times the floor to ceiling height.

Building Depth = 5x1-1

be 'reasonable' in naturally ventilated buildings with room depths of up to 6 m on either

A vent opening of 2% of thefloorarea (200 cm per m floor area) should generally

a computer model - S I M U L I N K - to simulate the ventilation processes and thermal

Two criteria were used to determine minimal acceptable thermal performance:

medium exposed interior thermal mass buildings.

the control of winter ventilation rates for indoor air quality:

provision of approximately 5 L/s per person of 'background ventilation' during winter

Rule 5a - Naturally ventilated building spaces should be limited to a depth of 8m

requirements for office spaces that have up to approximately 29 m of floor area

Up To 29rrf Floor Area

Minimum of 2.3 rrf Opening in

Exterior Wall Airflow Openings

Figure 3-3 Minimum Airflow Opening Area Required in Internal Partitions

It is also valuable to investigate what is considered to be an accepted minimum level of

4.0.1 Functions of Natural Ventilation

There are two main functions of naturally ventilated buildings:

If the building is designed to perform both functions, it is generally easier to achieve

4.0.2 En ergy Efficien cy

It is also difficult to set a minimum performance requirement for increased energy

When the intended function of a naturally ventilated building is to provide adequate

a) Ventilation Rate Procedure - Acceptable air quality is achieved by providing

b) Indoor Air Quality Procedure - Acceptable air quality is achieved by

explicit question of what is meant by "sufficient ventilation" for naturally ventilated

Finally, the interpretation states that "Documentation of a background of successful

4.1.2 Canadian Building Codes

4.1.3 European Building Codes and Design Guidelines

area for conventional cellular offices .

requirement is based on the provision of approximately 5 L/s per person of 'background

4.1.4 IAQ Minimum Performance Criteria Adopted

UK, 1999, p8.

4.2.1 ASHRAE Standard 55 - Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human