Construction News
29/05/2012
WindowMaster Educates Engineers With Irish Natural Ventilation Seminar
More than 50 engineers representing architects, consultancies and BMS providers from across Ireland recently joined WindowMaster (www.windowmaster.co.uk) for an important seminar on natural ventilation.
A team from Europe’s largest provider of natural comfort and smoke ventilation solutions delivered the two-hour seminar and workshop as part of Engineers Ireland’s (www.engineersireland.ie) CPD programme.
The seminar sought to make the case for natural ventilation by outlining items and calculations that should be considered for every building. Its aim was to enable attendees to gain an understanding of how air can flow within a building in a comfortable way and to demonstrate how to make informed decisions when deciding on a control strategy.
UK & IE Business Development Manager Peter Connolly said: "The seminar provided a comprehensive overview of natural ventilation. It covered the principles of natural ventilation, how it is achieved and how to incorporate it within the design and strategy of a building.
"Discussions also highlighted the advantages of natural ventilation in terms of performance, cost, environmental and sustainability issues. In addition, we looked at the importance of precisely controlling how natural ventilation works, night cooling, analysis and calculations of things like thermal buoyancy, wind speed and pressure coefficients, and building modelling. The seminar was rounded off with a review of case studies, completed projects and analysis."
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The seminar was delivered by Peter Connolly, UK and IE market manager Richard Arnott and WindowMaster NV consultant Jannick Karsten Roth.
As part of the seminar, WindowMaster's Richard Arnott outlined how careful design and precise control for natural ventilation are essential in the delivery of a compliant natural ventilation strategy.
Richard said: "There is a widely held misconception that natural ventilation is not satisfactory to provide adequate indoor air quality in schools. It is believed to be too hot, too cold or too stuffy. It is also said to create high energy bills and to give unpredictable results.
"Post occupancy studies have found that naturally ventilated Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects in the UK are using 300 per cent more energy than expected. There are also perceived issues around acoustics, health and security.
"This is because designs are poorly specified or ‘value engineered’. Properly designed, specified and installed systems do not have these problems.
"Currently, performance specifications tend to be based on products and not on the building, its location or specific client needs. Effective natural ventilation solutions must be aligned to these factors.
"Natural ventilation depends on the ability to open and close windows as necessary to ensure sufficient air changes to maintain optimum indoor climate quality. Millimetre by millimetre control of façade and roof windows is essential so that they automatically open and close according to fixed values for the desired room temperature and CO2 levels, as well as external temperature, rain and wind speed.
"Precise control within the first five centimetres of window opening is crucial to the control of temperature, carbon dioxide and noise. It also reduces draughts and improves building security."
WindowMaster is a registered training provider for the Engineers Ireland CPD programme throughout 2012.
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