Advanced simulations of energy demand and indoor climate of passive ventilation systems with heat recovery and night cooling

In building design the requirements for energy consumption for ventilation, heating and cooling and the requirements for increasingly better indoor climate are two opposing factors. This paper presents the schematic layout and simulation results of an innovative multifunctional ventilation concept with little energy consumption and with satisfying indoor climate. The concept is based on using passive measures like stack and wind driven ventilation, effective night cooling and low pressure loss heat recovery using two fluid coupled water-to-air heat exchangers developed at the Technical University of Denmark. Through building integration in high performance offices the system is optimized to incorporate multiple functions like heating, cooling and ventilation, thus saving the expenses of separate cooling and heating systems. The simulation results are derived using the state-of-the-art building simulation program ESP-r to model the heat and air flows and the results show the feasibility of the proposed ventilation concept in terms of low energy consumption and good indoor climate.