Heat and Air Flow Behavior of Naturally Ventilated Offices in a Mediterranean Climate

Abstract

Air changes per hour (ach) rates for windows of different sizes and opened in different ratios were studied to establish natural ventilation concepts in offices with a Mediterranean climate. Dynamic thermal simulations were carried out in EDSL Tas for whole year investigations of an office. The office lost 0.01 W of heat during the winter but gained 0.01 W of heat during the summer. Annual average heat gain was 2.4 W. The heat gain via an external opaque wall was 138.9 W during the winter and 227.3 W during the summer, with an annual average of 190.7 W. The heat gain via an external glass surface was 128.9 W during the winter and 191 W during the summer, with an annual average of 161.5 W. The office had an average of 170.0 ach during the winter and an average of 144.7 ach during the summer, with an annual average of 157.4. The maximum annual ach performance was 480.4 ach when the external wall was fully glazed and the window was fully open, and the minimum annual ach performance was 9.8 when only 10% of the external wall was glass and 20% of the window area was open.