Thermal Comfort Performance Assessment of Natural Ventilation, Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery in Non-Domestic Passivhaus Context in the UK Climate.

This study has used validated CFD model by field measurements to assess ventilation performance in high internal heat gains low ceiling auditorium. CFD predicted spatial temperature was compared to three thermal comfort standards. The CFD results show that, for 84W/m2 and 124W/m2 of internal heat gains, MV provides thermally comfortable environment at outdoor temperature range of 17°C – 26°C to 14°C – 26°C , and NV provides it at outdoor temperature range of 20°C – 29°C to 17°C – 29°C. When NV and MV exposes to same outdoor temperature, NV provides less possibility of local thermal discomfort due to reduced temperature stratification compared to MV. Moreover, for NV to work effectively, all openings within and at the perimeter of the domain should have adjustable effective areas. It was concluded that NV extends summer ventilation operating temperature range up to 6°C, whilst MVHR extends it 8°C in winter. However, neither MVHR nor NV is sufficient to provide thermally acceptable indoor environment alone or combined. Thus, a mixed mode approach is necessary.