17 March 2010
Taariq Mauthoor considers natural v mechanical
ventilation…
Building design in 2010 is still all about foretelling the
future. Although advances in materials and construction techniques
ensure that the buildings we erect now will be around for a very
long time, it is still vital that we consider any potential issues
which might affect our work generations hence.
In making building design adaptable we are ensuring that
projects have a greater ability to be a functional space when there
are changes - such as the use of the space, climatic shifts,
increase in equipment use etc - taking place.
Designing buildings with greater flexibility adds value to the
final constructed product. Spaces are no longer regarded as a
static functional area but rather as a spatial strategy that
changes over time to suit varying requirements of the user. The
ubiquitous ambitions to produce sustainably designed developments
also triggers the need to make them as energy and resource
efficient as possible. By reducing energy demand, we improve fuel
energy conservation from non-renewable sources.
There are many features that would assist in achieving all of
this but one that is gathering particular momentum is the use of
mechanical venting with heat recovery (the heat recovery system
recovers heat from room-extracted air and ‘exchanges’ it with cold
incoming supply air, thereby pre-heating it before it actually gets
heated up).
Studies are suggesting that mechanical ventilation with highly
efficient heat recovery uses less energy than natural ventilation
over a typical year. Depending on ventilation requirements,
mechanical ventilation with heat recovery provides us with the
opportunity to deliver appropriate ventilation levels and reclaim
heat energy that would otherwise be 'wasted' under natural
ventilation conditions.
However, two of the greatest strengths that lay with mechanical
vent with heat recovery is that it can be fitted with cooling
capability at a later stage and has the ability to be a lot more
flexible than its natural ventilation counterpart. Therefore,
mechanical venting with heat recovery would typically use less
energy, have increased flexibility to provide good environmental
conditions, and also mitigate against overheating risk potential
due to climate change.
Mechanical venting is undoubtedly a key solution as part of a
wider strategy to make the building design sustainable. Despite
this, natural venting still holds sway over large parts of the
design industry (this is perhaps legacy thinking of how school
buildings were traditionally designed with the ability to open
windows to allow fresh air in, even if it uses more energy than
other design solutions).
The decision to either go mechanical or natural is fundamental.
Which way the design industry goes remains to be seen…
Taariq Mauthoor (Taariq.mauthoor@capita.co.uk)
is Associate Director, Building Services at Capita
Symonds.
Taariq presented 'Future Adaptability of Building
Design' at Ecobuild 2010,
view the slides on SlideShare
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