Optimising Louver Location to Improve Indoor Thermal Comfort based on Natural Ventilation

Energy usage in building accounts for more than a quarter of Australia's greenhouse gas emission with space cooling alone being responsible for more than 26% of the total electrical energy usage on extreme hot days. With the goal of achieving reduction in energy usage in buildings, natural ventilation is receiving greater attention and has become an increasingly important consideration of ventilating buildings on milder days. While not being able to replace active cooling or heating systems of air conditioning altogether, a greater understanding and improvements in natural ventilation analysis techniques can widen the ambient condition at which satisfactory thermal comfort can be achieved without using active cooling and heating systems.Traditionally, natural ventilation system has been designed based on guidelines and past experiences but without any means to measure the likely outcome prior to completion of the building. In this paper, we explore a method of determining indoor flow conditions based on statistical climate data, including temperature, wind direction and wind pressure. A case study was conducted on a medium sized double storey building with an adjoining atrium. Various natural ventilation opening configurations and sizes were investigated to find the most effective and economical design. It was found that, with optimal placement of the openings, the indoor temperature can be kept to within one degree Celsius above or below of the peak ambient temperature on a critical design day. The decrease in number of hours required from traditionally heating and cooling system and implications on savings in energy bills is also discussed.