Cooling-energy reduction in air-conditioned offices by using night ventilation

Abstract

Night ventilation has been applied successfully to many passively-cooled or low-energy office buildings. This paper investigates the applicability of night ventilation in air-conditioned office buildings. A thermal and ventilation simulation model, together with suitable weather data were used to examine the potential for energy savings and/or improved internal comfort conditions by applying night ventilation cooling. It was found that natural ventilation strategies could save cooling energy in typical air-conditioned offices. However, the use of mechanical ventilation could lead to increased energy-consumption. If typical offices are modified to incorporate features assisting the application of night ventilation, then cooling energy could be saved when mechanical ventilation is used and further reduced in the case of natural ventilation. Such features would include exposed thermal mass or offices designed to ‘best practice’ guidelines, such as airtight construction and minimisation of internal and solar heat gains.