Ventilation is a necessity for many buildings. It helps provide fresh air to the interior of the facility ridding stale air. It also helps regulate heat by allowing the wind outside to cool the interiors and frees the insides of bad smells, moisture, smoke, and other harmful contaminants.
Natural ventilation cools and ventilates a building by utilizing outside airflow and pressure differences. Cooling breezes remove heat from a structure by replacing hot internal air with cooler exterior air, effectively lowering the temperature of interior rooms.
It’s also beneficial to have continuous ventilation. Anything that obstructs airflow in your building can harm the building’s integrity (if moisture builds up due to a lack of airflow) and increase risks for health hazards. One of the explanations that ventilation is so crucial is it regulates the amount of moisture in your property.
Here are some of the tips you might consider:
1. Choose Different Window Designs to Guide or Deflect Air Flow
Airflow dynamics and the direction of how air moves or deflects have to do with the size and design of windows. Casement windows, which have hinged frames that swing inwards or outwards like a door, are the most conventional window type. When fully opened, they provide optimal ventilation, but they might restrict air movement when not fully extended.
2. Utilize Natural Ventilation Systems that Adjust the Openings Automatically
Depending on the temperature inside, automatic ventilation systems can activate and close windows. It permits ventilation inside and releases and regulates heat, which is especially important if you are out of the building for most of the day. An automatic system can assist in minimizing overheating in homes.
3. Position Doors and Windows According to the Climate and Location
The property’s orientation on a site should take advantage of the favorable breezes, which vary depending on the area, climate, time of day, and scenery. For instance, in coastal regions, breezes blow onshore; in steep and hilly areas, they usually blow downslope; specific marine locations have notably high winds.
Cool breezes are most common in the late afternoon and early evening. Outside a building, walls and plants can help channel winds through windows or doors while screening heavier breezes.
4. Cross-ventilation Openings Should Be in Strategic Locations
Although some may believe that wind will blow through a structure, it goes into places (pulled or sucked in) with lower air pressure. As a result, windows should be in a strategic position that allows breezes to pass through. It entails placing holes for cross ventilation on two (at most) sides of a space, on either opposite or neighboring walls.
Multiple wind-flow pathways should be present throughout a room or house. Cooling winds are most significant in open-plan or narrow layouts. Internal windows can aid in deeper structures, although it still requires cross ventilation.
5. Stimulate the Movement of Convective Air
Convective ventilation utilizes the temperature variations to move air, also known as stack ventilation. Warm air is much more buoyant, so it rises through higher openings and exits there while attracting cooler air via the lower ones. Many designers are aware of this knowledge and consider how to utilize and stimulate such movements.
Since hot air escapes through the top areas, you may utilize your installed equipment roof hatches as ventilation to cool down the building. Though roof hatches function as a vent, they are typically for facilities that deal with heavy smoke or gas. You may use your roof hatches this way.
6. Make the Most of the Cold Night Air
When hot air radiating from a building gets replaced by the colder night air, buildings typically cool down at night. Leaving windows open at night will aid in purging warm air and the ventilation of interior spaces for the following day. Because hot air escapes through elevated openings, double-hung and clerestory windows are suitable for this purpose.
Having airflow is a must, especially in places where people reside to work. Instead of risking high costs using an HVAC system, these structures must incorporate designs that allow for natural ventilation. Ask a licensed professional for more details and information before making any significant decisions.
In case you need more information about HVAC design and ventilation systems, feel free to contact us!
Author’s Bio
Chris Jackson is an experienced Business Development Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the construction industry. He is currently employed by Best Access Doors, an access door supplier in the US and Canada, and has been working for the company for more than 12 years now. His area of expertise is on Negotiation, Roofers, Sales, Project Estimation, and Facility Management (FM)
