BLOCK A

Natural and Hybrid Ventilation

Chapter A9 Controlling
Natural and Hybrid Ventilation

Reasons for Control

Maintain good indoor air quality;
Prevent the unnecessary loss of heated (or mechanically cooled) air
by excessive air change;
Provide high rates of air change in summer to cool the structure at
night (night cooling);
Switch between natural and hybrid ventilation according to need.

Manual control
Advantages:
Inexpensive low technology solution;
Occupants often stress that a benefit of natural ventilation is access to
openings;
Could work if windows are vents are well designed and occupants are
motivated to adjust openings.

Disadvantages:
Difficult to judge what the ventilation rate is, ideally the occupant should
have a carbon dioxide concentration display to provide basic
information. Now increasingly common in Scandinavia, relatively robust
and inexpensive CO2 monitors are beginning to be used elsewhere.
Ventilation adjustments may be used to control thermal comfort rather
than controlling such comfort by adjusting the heating system.
Often vents and window opening are of insufficient quality to provide
good manual ventilation control.

Manual control: example of results

Figure A9.1 Variation of window opening

with outdoor temperature.

Figure A9.2 Impact on window

opening of sunny and cloudy weather.

Automatic Controls
Sensor

Controller

Actuator:
- openable area
- dampers
- fan operation
- fan speed

CO2
Humidity
Temperature
Precipitation

Basic ventilation control system based on the use of sensors.

Control Sensors

Carbon Dioxide

Infra Red Sensors (PIR)

Advantages: Very inexpensive; Over-ride easy; Easy to connect to control mechanism.

Disadvantages: Not suitable for variable occupancy.

Humidity Sensors

Advantages: Very inexpensive; Easy to connect to control mechanism.

Disadvantages: Usually need to detect constant change. Therefore the system could shut
down in a sedentary (e.g. small office environment).

Timer

Advantages: Reliable control for basic occupant needs; Can easily be linked to a control
mechanism;
Disadvantages: Relatively expensive but prices are reducing; Not suitable to deal with
cooling control.

Advantages: Very inexpensive; Easy to connect to control mechanism.

Disadvantages: Potential drift in accuracy.

Thermal Sensors

Advantages: Very inexpensive; Easy to connect to control mechanism.

Disadvantages: None, no suitable alternative.

Noise sensors

Smoke/ Fire sensors

Rain Sensors

Sensor Location

Choosing a sensor location is particularly difficult, especially since there may only be
one sensor available to control the system.

In mechanical systems, IAQ sensors are normally located at the air exhaust point but,
in the case of natural systems this is not possible.

For basic natural and hybrid systems it is necessary to assume that, on average,
monitored pollutant will be fairly uniformly mixed in the space but certain places need
to be avoided including:
In the vicinity of open windows or vents where air is likely to enter the space;
In the direct breathing zones of individual occupants (CO2 monitoring) where
there may be direct contact between exhaled air and the occupant.

A suitable solution could be a pendant sensor suspended in the centre of the room
or, failing this, a wall mounted sensor either (in the case of single sided ventilation) on
the wall furthest from the vent openings or (in the case of a cross flow system)
midway between the vent openings.

Sensor Location

In the design process it may be necessary to consider various configurations to

attempt to optimise the most suitable position. If there is poor ventilation efficiency
(i.e. some areas in a space are poorly ventilated) then the control strategy can
breakdown. However, this would be more associated with a design failure of the
ventilation system.

Humidity sensors must, obviously, be located in individual rooms subjected to high

humidity (bathrooms, kitchens etc). They should not be located where they could,
themselves, get wet.

Temperature sensors, again, should accurately reflect air temperature in the

occupied space. They should thus be located away from sunlight or artificially cooled
areas (e.g. close to pre cooled air diffusers). Unfortunately common thermometers do
not respond to infra red radiation from walls thus thermal discomfort can often be
greater than that indicated by a thermometer. For this reason, radiant wall sensors
might also need to be considered.

Natural Ventilation Control Rules

Control rules must take into account the following:

Easy to understand by occupants and maintenance staff;

Unobtrusive in operation;
Provision for occupant interaction;
Rapid feedback;
Winter (indoor air quality) control;
Summer (passive cooling reduced refrigerative cooling) control;
Shoulder season (mixed heating and cooling) control;
Maximise air quality and energy efficiency.

IAQ Control Strategies

Passive (Night) Cooling Control Strategies

Night Cooling control strategy

CONDITION
At all times: Outside temperature >
Internal temperature

At night: Inside temperature greater than

outside temperature AND inside
temperature greater than ~ 20C

At night: Internal temperature falls below

~20 C.
At night: rainfall
Daytime (Especially during the
morning):
Inside temperature greater than outside
temperature AND inside temperature
greater than 20C

ACTION
Ventilation restricted to the provision of
air quality needs only. Limit window and
vent opening, control by CO 2
concentration.
Maximise ventilation according to chosen
approach (e.g. window and vent opening
and/or mechanical assistance. The
approach must be aimed at cooling inside
thermal mass rather than just flushing the
building of hot air. Therefore good
thermal contact with the thermal mass is
essential.
Suspend night cooling
Suspend night cooling ventilation if rain
can penetrate through passive openings
Continue night cooling approach.