A naturally ventilated office building through solar chimneys and 'venturi' exhausts

At the Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism & Building sciences of the Technical University in Delft, research is being executed on the specific characteristics and performance of the driving ventilation components: solar chimneys and wind-induced exhausts. Along with this development the performance of a natural ventilated office building model with use of solar chimneys and wind-induced exhausts is investigated. The focus in this graduation project was on the integration of the two driving ventilation components in the office building, fan energy saving and the influence on other building characteristics such as thermal comfort. With fan energy saving in mind the regarded building models are equipped with low pressure drop ventilation systems to decrease the amount of driving pressure needed in the system. With solar chimneys and wind-induced exhausts, the driving force provided by nature is used to force fresh air through the building for ventilation.