Abstract
Building air-tightness has been increased to make energy efficient buildings. However, various indoor air quality issues can be caused by high building air-tightness because it allows low air and moisture transmission through building envelop. In order to solve and prevent these issues, mechanical ventilation systems can be used to control the indoor humidity level. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the performances of the Relative Humidity (RH)-sensor based auto-controlled centralized exhaust ventilation systems to manage indoor air quality and thermal comfort of multi-family residential buildings in South Korea. A series of field tests were performed for different target zones and for various moisture source scenarios. As a result, it was found that the auto-controlled centralized exhaust ventilation systems were able to control indoor air quality and to maintain the zones thermal comfort faster than the baseline cases that did not operate exhaust vents. The results presented in this paper can show the potential and the feasibility of the auto-controlled centralized exhaust ventilation systems for multi-family residential buildings in South Korea. It is expected that the results presented in this paper would be useful for building owners, engineers, and architects when designing building systems.
Highlights
In South Korea, air-tightness has been an important energy conservation measure to have energy efficient multi-family residential buildings by reducing energy loads for space cooling and/or space heating
Even though the auto-controlled centralized exhaust ventilation systems were operated with an Relative Humidity (RH)-sensor, it was important to use the humidity ratios to compare and to analyze the results of different cases due to relative humidity values, which were affected by moisture level as well as air temperature
It was observed that (1) the centralized exhaust ventilation system in Bath 1 could isolate the generated moisture within the shower booth and discharge the humid air to outside directly, (2) the stabilization times of the cases using the auto-controlled exhaust vent to return to the initial indoor air quality were faster than the cases not using the vent systems, and (3) the indoor thermal comfort was related to the indoor air quality, such as air temperature, humidity level, and enthalpy, and the thermal comfort levels of the cases with using the vent systems were within the thermal comfort range
Summary
In South Korea, air-tightness has been an important energy conservation measure to have energy efficient multi-family residential buildings by reducing energy loads for space cooling and/or space heating. High air-tightness of buildings could cause various indoor air quality issues, such as condensation, mold, mildew and fungus, and thermal comfort of residents, because of low air exchanges between indoor and outdoor. Condensation occurs when the indoor air humidity level is not readily controlled and water vapor in the indoor air is accumulated around exterior walls and/or doors and windows. Condensation is closely associated with various factors, such as outdoor and indoor air conditions, building construction, and behavior of occupants. The effects of building construction factors, such as heat transfer through building envelop and thermal bridges, can be controlled by using proper building envelop insulations, and the effects of occupant behavioral factors on indoor humidity level can be managed by ventilation to exhaust humid indoor air generated by various activities, such as cooking, shower, or laundry [5]
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