An Experimental Approach to Optimizing Natural Ventilation in Public Spaces of Complex Buildings

High performance buildings such as hospitals and laboratories require intensive ventilation in order to meet operational demands. One way of reducing cooling in these types of buildings is to incorporate hybrid ventilation in public spaces. Depending on a variety of criteria such as internal and external conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity and required loads) these public spaces can be more appropriately cooled through hybrid ventilation than mechanical cooling. This research establishes an experimental approach to collect and analyze data from an occupied high performance building utilizing hybrid ventilation (HV) in public spaces. To optimize the use of HV, the research focuses on tracking three performance criteria: energy savings, occupant comfort and indoor-air quality. This experimental approach is illustrated through a case study example that recorded cooling load savings of 22Wh/m₂ per day and resulted in the selection of an ideal hybrid ventilation strategy for the particular space studied.