ABSTRACT

In today’s world, we spend most of our time indoors. Building air tightness plays an important role in indoor
thermal control. Urban areas are nowadays continuously polluting air quality which affects both human and
environmental sustainability. Poor air quality outside the building creates barriers to promoting acceptable indoor
air quality. Thus, it’s necessary to understand the different aspects of ventilation.

Ventilation is one of the main elements responsible for the HVAC system of buildings. It impacts the air quality and
energy efficiency, and proper ventilation for odors and dilute gases and inhibits the spread of respiratory disease. In
the case of buildings where many people gather like institutes, healthcare & offices, ventilation plays a crucial role in
the indoor environment. The improper ventilation system is nowadays the cause of increasing sickness problems due
to inappropriate thermal control & ventilation rate.

This research addresses the current scenario & future development of the ventilation aspect of buildings, correlating
to the past. The study of different parameters affecting ventilation rate is done. Also, it has been analyzed that how
the past passive technique’ s can be used to improve sustainability and efficiency of modern developments. This
study focusses on different methods and the impacts of ventilation of hot & dry regions for India.

About ventilation

The building makes up man’s shield against nature’s varying climate. From the first primitive living quarters to
modern, the technique of controlling and adjusting our indoor climate has been an indispensable aspect of human
comfort. Human physiology dictates the desired indoor climate, in which our ‘creature comforts’ and health criteria
are focal. We spend around 90% of our time indoors so it's important to ensure a macroclimate for human comfort.
The important factor for that indoor climate is described below-

a) Indoor air quality- it includes major factors like air change & relative humidity

b) Thermal comfort – it includes parameters like temperature, heat, etc

c) Visual comfort- it includes parameters related to light control

d) Acoustics comfort- it includes factors that affect sound & noise

The most important aspect of indoor climate is indoor air quality. IAQ is the air quality around and within the
building. It affects the health, comfort, and well-being of the occupants, which, in turn, affects the productivity of the
occupant. Various research shows that poor IAQ has bad health impacts on the occupant. There are two ways to
achieve the IAQ at the best level, as given below-

a) Infiltration – the natural flow of air into and out of the house through openings and cracks in walls and joints and
around doors and windows. In energy-efficient homes with airtight windows and doors and high R-value insulation,
infiltration is minimal. In these homes, ventilation (see below) is required to maintain Indoor Air Quality.

b) Ventilation – the deliberate, assisted exchange of air between the inside and outside of a house. Ventilation can
be achieved naturally, by opening windows or doors, or mechanically. Mechanical systems range from very simple
exhaust systems to advanced energy-ventilation and heat-recovery ventilators.
 Fig 1 (a) interaction among ventilation, IAQ, and thermal comfort

The general purpose of ventilation is to provide healthy air for breathing by diluting the pollutants originating in the
building and removing the pollutants from it. The basic elements of ventilation are given below-

a) Ventilation Rate

It is the rate at which external air flows into the building

b) Airflow direction

Airflow is the movement of air according to pressure from higher to lower areas.

c) Airflow pattern

The airflow pattern describes the path air follows in different seasons & climate contexts.