Optimization of Ventilation Energy Demands and Indoor Air Quality in the ZEBRAlliance Homes.

摘要

High-performance homes require that ventilation energy demands and indoor air quality (IAQ) be simultaneously optimized. Researchers have primarily addressed these two areas independently because of the assumption that their goals have to be mutually exclusive. This assumption is based on the fact that the typical mechanism to reduce the concentration of indoor air pollutants has been dilution through increased ventilation, which causes heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units to consume more energy. High-performance homes aim to provide the essential energy end-uses (for example, water heating, refrigeration, space heating, and air conditioning) in an energy efficient manner. Given that IAQ is among these essential energy end-uses, we investigated means to optimize the concentration of indoor air pollutants and ventilation energy demands. To this end, we conducted tests in four houses located in Oak Ridge, TN, that were 11 to 20 months old, energy efficient (i.e., expected to consume 50% less energy than a house built per the 2006 International Residential Code), airtight (i.e., natural ventilation rate approximately 0.02 to 0.2 h -1 ), unoccupied, and unfurnished. Our evaluation consisted of identifying air pollutants of concern in these homes that could generally serve as indicators of IAQ, and conducting field experiments and computer simulations to determine the effectiveness and energy required by various techniques that lessened the concentration of these contaminants.