MODULE CODE: BENVGEF3

Energy: Theory, Measurement and Interpretation

Coursework

by

Bruno Figueira Arcuri

14th January 2016

Paper submitted in part fulfilment of the

Degree of Master of Research in Energy Demand Studies
Energy Institute
University College London
Word count: 2919 (without bibliography)

Explorationofsolaroverheatingcontrolledbybuoyancy
drivenventilationintwosimplebuildings
Abstract
Naturalventilationisapassivemethodtoremoveheatfromtheinsideof
buildingsandcontroloverheatingcausedbyasourceofheatsuchassolar
radiation. This paper uses the theory of solar overheating and thermal
buoyancydrivenventilationtostudytheimpactsontheindoortemperature
ofbuildingsintwosimplecases,asingleroomandatwostoreyhouse.The
results for the two cases are compared and discussed using overheating
definitions,commonrecommendationstoavoidit,anditsimplicationon
thethermalcomfortinsummer.

1. Introduction
Sunlight in the summer is a heat source that can raise the internal air
temperature ofbuildingstoalevelinwhichthe thermalcomfortofthe
dwellersisaffected.Notonlythecomfortbutalsothehealthofthedwellers
mightbeaffectedbyoverheating.Overheatingisthetermusedtoquantify
andqualifythetemperatureandpeopleexposurelevelsinwhichdiscomfort
andrisksaresignificant.
Whenaheatsourcewarmstheinternalair,colderandheavierairliftsup
warmeraircausingpressuredifferencesbetweentheupperandlowerzones
ofthebuilding.Thesepressure differences cause inside air to go out of the
building through the upper zone opening, and outside air to come in through
the lower zone opening. The mechanism of thermal buoyancy driven
ventilation allows air toflow naturally in buildings, thus removing heat
fromtheinsidetotheoutside.
The purpose of this paper is to undertake a comparison of solar driven
overheatingandthermalbuoyancyventilationintwocases:asingleroom
withasinglewindowfacingsouthandatwostoreyhousecomprisingof
twosingleroomsconnectedbyastairway.Thesingleroomsinthesecond
casehavethesamespecificationsofthesingleroominthefirstcase.
In both cases, it is assumed that the mean south facing vertical surface
insolationinthesummeris100W/ m2 , windowsareopen,thereisnot
windandsolargainistheonlysourceofadditionalheatintheroom.
Thetheoryandequationsofthermalbuoyancydrivenventilationareused
to estimate the mean temperature excess in summer and discuss the

implicationsofsolardrivenoverheatingforthermalcomfortinsummer,
comparingandcontrastingthetwocases.
2. Thermalcomfortinsummer

Althoughthereisnocleardefinitionofthetermoverheating,the NBHC
Foundation(2012)definesitastheextentofwarmthaccumulatedwithina
building that causes discomfort to the occupants. However, there are
methodologiesandtoolstoquantifyandqualifyoverheatingindomestic
buildingsintheUnitedKingdom.
AnevidencereviewpublishedbytheZeroCarbonHub(2015)reviewsall
the methodologies and tools available to predict overheating risk in
domesticandnondomesticbuildings.TheStandardAssessmentProcedure
(SAP) Appendix P (DECC, 2013) calculates an average internal
temperatureforthebuilding,comparesittoathresholdtemperatureand
classifiesoverheatingriskfromhightolowlevels.Anothermethodology,
bytheCIBSEGuideA(2006),definesoverheatingbylimitingthenumber
ofoccupiedhoursperyearinwhichtemperaturelevelsareabove28Cfor
livingareasand26Cforbedroomsto1%.
Hackeretal(2005)suggeststemperaturelevelsinwhichthermalperception
andcomfortofpeopleareaffected.Itsuggeststhatat25Cpeoplebeginto
feelwarm,at28Ctheybegintofeelhotandat35Cthereisasignificant
riskofheatstress.TheAmericanSocietyofHeating,RefrigerationandAir
conditioningEngineers(2001)sets35Castheheatstressdangerline
whenrelativehumidityis50%.
Thehealthimpactsofoverheatingcanincludeanincreasedriskofillness
fromrespiratoryandcardiovasculardisease.Johnsonetal(2005)statesthat
2,000extradeathswereattributedtothesummerheatwaveof2003inthe
UK,whichledtheDepartmentofHealthtoannuallypublishtheHeatwave
PlanforEnglandsince2004(PublicHealthEngland,2015).
Althoughinthispaperonlysolarheatgainisconsideredtoestimatethe
mean temperature excess, overheating is caused by excessive heat gain
frombothinternal(lighting,appliances,occupantsandbuildingservices)
andexternal(sunlightandhighexternaltemperatures)sources.
Inappropriateventilationisalsoapossiblecauseofoverheating,asthemain
passive method for cooling buildings is natural ventilation. Opening
windowsisthesimplestwaytoreplaceexistingwarmairinsidewithfresh
air from outside, although window designs and issues with occupants
safetyandprivacymayaffectthepracticaleffectivenessofthisaction.

TheHeatwavePlanforEnglandprovidesguidanceforkeypublichealth
actions.Guidanceforthegeneralpublicincludesstayingoutoftheheat,
coolingdownandhydration,keepingtheenvironmentcoolandlookingout
forothers(PublicHealthEngland,2015).TheoverheatingguidebyNHBC
Foundationsuggestsgeneraldesignrecommendationstoreducetheriskof
overheating such as the distribution of information to occupants, purge
ventilationstrategies,theuseofhighthermalmassmaterial,windowdesign
andsolarshading(2012).
3. Thermalbuoyancydrivenventilation

Themechanismofthermalbuoyancydrivenventilationremovesheatfrom
the inside through natural ventilation caused by pressure differences
betweentheupperandlowerzonesofthebuilding.Thismechanismcanbe
usedbydesignersofbuildingstocalculatethewindowopeningareaandthe
buildinggeometry,thusallowingefficientventilation.
Andersen(2003)usesthefundamentalflowequationstosetupatheoryfor
thermalbuoyancydrivenventilation.Thetheorydefinesthecontrolvolume
asthevolumeenclosedbytheroomsurfacesinwhichfundamentalflow
equationscanbeapplied,andintroducestheneutralplaneasthelevelin
which indoor and outdoor pressures are equal. For simplicity, the air
temperature inside the building is considered uniformly distributed.
3.1. Fundamentalflowequations

Itisassumedthattheairflowtakestheshapeofjetswhenenteringand
leavingthecontrolvolumethroughtheopenings,andthattheairvelocityin
thevenacontractaisuniform(Andersen,2003).Thevenascontractasare
the smallest crosssection of the jets, which are the boundaries of the
control volume through which there is exchange of mass, energy and
momentum.

Figure1Controlvolume,controlsurfaceandvenacontractsforabuildingwithtwoopenings

Foracontrolvolume,themassbalanceequationcanbeexpressedby:
o A c 1 v c1 i A c2 v c 2=0

(1)
where o and i aretheoutsideandinsideairdensityrespectively,
A c 1 and A c 2 arethelowerandupperarea ofthe venascontractas
respectively,and v c 1 and v c 2 arethelowerandupperairflowvelocity
inthevenascontractasrespectively.
Considering A c =C c A , v c =C v v and C d=C v C c ,where C d isthe
discharge coefficient, C c is the contraction coefficient, C v is the
velocity coefficient and v is the air velocity considering frictionless
flow,themassbalanceequationcanthenbeexpressedby:
o Cd 1 A1 v 1 i C d 2 A 2 v 2=0

(2)
For determining indoor and outdoor temperature difference Andersen
(2003)suggeststhattheenergyconservationequationcanbereducedto:
o c p C d 1 A 1 v 1 (T i T o )=

(3)
where c p isthespecificheatcapacityofairbyconstantpressure, A 1
and A 2 arethelowerandupperopeningarearespectively, v 1 and v 2
arethelowerandupperopeningairflowvelocityrespectively, T o and

T i aretheoutsideandinsideairtemperaturerespectively,and is the

net heat input.

Etheridge and Sandberg (1996) and Li et al (2007) suggest that the airflow
velocity for an opening window approximates to a simple square root law
expressed by:
v =Cd A

(4)

2 p

where v is the airflow velocity in the opening, C d is the discharge

coefficient, A is the opening area, p is the overall pressure
difference and is the air density.
Assuming the ideal gas law, which states that air temperature is inversely
proportional to pressure, and that pressure difference relates to density
difference between the inside and outside air, the airflow velocity equation
can be expressed by:
v =Cd A

(5)

2(T iT o )g h n
Ti

hn is the vertical distance

where g is the gravity acceleration and
betweentheneutralplaneandtheinlet( h1 oroutlet( h2 .

Combining equations (5) and (3) and isolating T , it is possible to

estimatethemeantemperatureexcessusingequation(6).
T =

T i c p C d 1 A 1

2
3

1 13
Ti
2 g h1

)( )

(6)

3.2. Neutralplane

Thefundamentalequationstakeintoaccounttheverticaldistancebetween
the neutral plane and the inlet or outlet to calculate airflow velocities
throughthelowerandupperopeningofthebuilding.
Andersen(2003)suggeststhat o i and C d 1 C d 2 canbefrequently
assumedandthat,forthiscase,theverticaldistancesbetweentheneutral
planeandtheinlet( h1 andoutlet( h2 )areexpressedby:

h1=

h2 =

h
A
1+ 1
A2

( )

h
A
1+ 2
A1

(7)

(8)

( )

4. Results
With the fundamental equations set up, the mean temperature excess in
summerandtheairflowthroughwindowsareestimatedforthetwocases.
Incaseone,thetheoryofthermalbuoyancydrivenventilationisappliedto
a single room of 2.5m height, 4m width and 4m length with a single
windowof2mheightand2mwidthfacingsouth.Casetworepresentsa
twostorey house comprising two single rooms, with the same
specificationsofthesingleroominthefirstcase,connectedbyastairway.
Assuming that the stairway between the upper and lower rooms in case two
is large enough to guarantee air flowing as if it were a larger single room,
the neutral plane, inlet and outlet are defined for the two cases, as shown on
figure 2. The neutral plane height in each case was calculated using
equations(7)and(8).

Figure2Neutralplane,inletandoutletforthetwocases

Table1showstheconstantvaluesusedinthecalculationofcaseone.

Table1Constantvaluesforcaseone
Simbol

cp

Ir

Cd
A
A1
A2
g
h
h1
h2
Ti

Vol

Description
Airspecificheat
Airdensity
Meaninsulation
Netheatgain(Solargainthroughthewindow)
Dischargecoefficient
Totalwindowarea
Inletarea
Outletarea
Gravityacceleration
Verticaldistancefromoutlettoinlet
Verticaldistancefromneutralplanetoinlet
Verticaldistancefromneutralplanetooutlet
Insidetemperature(20C)
Volumeoftheroom

Value
1005.00
1.20
100.00
400.00
0.60
4.00
2.00
2.00
9.80
1.00
0.50
0.50
293.00
40.00

Unit

J / KgK
Kg/ m3
2
W /m
W

m2
2
m
m2
m/s 2
2
m
m2
m2
K

Usingequation(6),itispossibletoestimatethemeantemperatureexcess
bythedifferencebetweentheinsideandoutsidetemperature.Forcaseone,
T equalsto1.32Kelvin.
Usingequation(5)withtheestimated T value,itispossibletoestimate
theloweropeningairflowvelocity.Forcaseone, v 1 equalsto0.25 m3
/s,whichis22.66inairchangesperhour.
Forcasetwo,thesameconditionsandcalculationsapply.Thetable2shows
theconstantvaluesusedinthecalculationofcasetwo.
Table2Constantvaluesforcasetwo
Simbol

cp

Ir

Cd
A
A1
A2
g
h
h1
h2

Description
Airspecificheat
Airdensity
Meaninsulation
Netheatgain(Solargainthroughthewindow)
Dischargecoefficient
Totalwindowarea
Inletarea
Outletarea
Gravityacceleration
Verticaldistancefromoutlettoinlet
Verticaldistancefromneutralplanetoinlet
Verticaldistancefromneutralplanetooutlet

Value
1005.00
1.20
100.00
800.00
0.60
8.00
4.00
4.00
9.80
2.50
1.25
1.25

Unit

J / KgK
Kg/ m3
W /m2
W

m2
m2
2
m
2
m/s
2
m
2
m
m2

Ti
Vol

Insidetemperature(20C)
Volumeoftheroom

293.00
80.00

m3

Forcasetwo, T equalsto0.97Kelvinand v 1 equalsto0.68 m3 /s,

whichis30.76inairchangesperhour.Table3summarisestheresults:
Table3Resultsofcaseoneandcasetwo

Variable
Caseone
T (K )
1.32
m
v 1 ( 3 /s)
0.25

m
v 1 ( 3 / h)
906.67

v 1 (ach)
22.67

Casetwo
0.97
0.68
2461.07
30.76

Theseresultsaredependentonthevaluesconsideredforconstantsandvary
ifdifferentassumptionsareconsideredinthesolution.Table4showshow
theresultsvarybysimplychangingthedischargecoefficient C d .
Table4Resultsvariationswithdifferentconstantvalues

Cd
0.60
0.65
0.70

Case1

v 1 (ac

T(K)
1.32
1.25
1.19

h)
22.67
24.56
26.44

Case2
T(K)
0.97
0.92
0.88

v1

(ach)
30.76
33.33
35.89

5. Discussion
Theresultsshowthatcasetwohasmorenaturalventilationthancaseone.
Theairflowvelocitythroughtheopeningsishigherduetolargerwindow
areas.Evenconsideringthatthevolumeoftheroomincasetwoistwicethe
volumeofcaseone,theairchangesperhourrateishigherincasetwo.
Higher ventilation rates remove more heat from the inside, therefore
keepingthemeantemperatureexcessincasetwoslightlylowerthanincase
one,eventhoughmoreheatiscomingintotheroomthroughthewindows
incasetwo.

ThetemperaturelevelsdefinedbyHackeretal(2005)remainbetween25
Cand28Cforwarmzone,and28Cand35Cforhotzone.Thus,the
differencebetweenthemeantemperatureexcessfoundincasesoneandtwo
( T case 1=1.32 and T case 2=0.97 ) is not significant for the thermal
comfortlevel.
However, only the mean south facing vertical surface insolation in the
summerwasusedinthisproblem,thereforethetemperaturedifferencesin
both cases would vary, both increasing or decreasing, during the day
dependingontheinstantaneousinsolationthroughthewindows.
5.1. Assumptionsanduncertainties

Andersen(2003) suggests that the fundamental method of the theoryof

buoyancydrivenventilationisavaluabletoolforanalysinganddesigning
naturalventilationsystemswherethermalbuoyancyisthemainventilation
mechanism.However,ithasitslimitationsseenasmanyassumptionswere
takentomaketheproblemsimpler.
Windconditionswouldaffecttheairflowthroughtheopeningsandinside
thebuilding,andhasnotbeenconsideredinthispaper.Windowspartially
openorshutwouldnotonlyaffecttheairflowinandoutofthebuilding
but,also,theamountofheatsuppliedbythesunlighttothebuildingdueto
theshadingcoefficientofthewindowthatspecifiesthesolartransmittance
throughit.Keepingwindowsandcurtainswhichareexposedtothesun
closedduringthedayandopenonlyatnightwhenthereisnotsunlight,is
considered to be good practice to keep your environment cool (Public
HealthEngland,2015).
Additional internal sources of heat such as people, home appliances,
lightning and building services (heating) were considered nonexistent.
Furniture, stairs, home appliances, people and building geometry also
changetheairflowinthebuilding.Forexample,incasetwo,thestairway
wasassumedtobelargeenoughtonotinvalidatethethermalbuoyancy
theoryapproach.
Nordoesthispaperconsidertheeffectsofheatexchangethroughthewalls
androof(Uvalue=0)orthe thermalmassheatstorage, whichcanbe
consideredanotherpassivemethodforcooling.AccordingtotheNHBC
Foundation(2012),theheatstorageapproachcanbeanoptiontoavoid
overheating in future climate scenarios as it would make the internal
temperature close to the average daily temperature, avoiding the hot
thermalperceptionzone.

ThetheorysetupbyAndersen(2003)suggestsapproximationstosimplify
the equations with acceptable error. It states that the reduced energy
equation, equation (3) in this paper, is only suitable for determining
temperaturedifferencesandpresentsanerrorbelow1%.
The inside and outside air densities are considered to be the same (
i / o 1) withanerrorsmallerthan0.02%.However,whenheatingand
addingmoisturetotheair,whichisnotconsideredinthispaper,thiserror
canexceedupto10%inextremesituations(Andersen,2003).
Andersen(2003)suggestsafrictioncoefficient()ofapproximately0.10
for a simple sharpedged opening such as a window, to determine the
contraction(Cc 0.70),velocity(Cv 0.90)anddischargecoefficients(Cd
0.60)usedtosolvethisproblem.However,thesecoefficientswouldvary
accordingtothetype,positionandopeningratioofthewindow.Table4
presentedhowtheresultsvaryjustbyconsideringdifferentcharacteristics
fortheopeningairflow.

6. Conclusion
The mechanism of thermal buoyancy driven ventilation can be used by
building designers to provide natural cooling for buildings. Although
considerably simple, the theory and results presented in this paper are
usefulnotonlyfordesigningventilationsystemsbutalsotounderstandand
analysethemaindriversofoverheatinginbuildings.
Thedifferencebetweenthetwocasesresultsisminimalandshowsthat
although natural ventilation is the main passive method for providing
cooling to the building, it is a limited approach to overheating. If
temperatures outside are high enough to cause discomfort to occupants,
naturalventilationdoesnotavoidoverheatingbecauseevenatitsbest(high
ventilation rates) it will only equalise indoor and outdoor temperatures.
Anotherpointisthatclosingthewindowsdirectlyexposedtothesunlight
to avoid solar transmittance might present better results for limiting
temperaturegainsthroughouttheday,eventhoughitwouldstoptheair
flowinginandoutofthebuilding.
With heatwaves expected tohappenmore often, the riskof overheating
increases. Natural ventilation and thermal mass storage are passive
coolingmethodstobeexploredinnewandlowcarbonbuildingdesigns.
However,theincreasingriskofoverheatingwillalsodemandpublichealth
actionandthedistributionofinformationtooccupantstoguaranteethat
thermaldiscomfortandhealthrisksarediminished.

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