The objective of this AIVC workshop was to discuss and identify ways to improve the quality of our homes with respect to airtightness and ventilation, as well as discussing the impact suboptimal performance has on energy consumption and health of the occupants. Also of interest were the impacts of mandatory airtightness targets and how best to implement these, if at all.
Specific topics
- Indoor air quality in schools and residential buildings
- Ventilation and its impact on energy and health outcomes for occupants
- Airtightness of New Zealand buildings - trends and requirements
Context
New Zealand homes and apartments have become more and more airtight and have reached a level of airtightness that requires dedicated ventilation. Despite the fact that there is no airtightness requirement in the New Zealand Building Code, new homes regularly reach an airtightness level of 2-3.5 ACH50. This can be a welcome trend as it allows controlled ventilation and therefore control of the energy demand of the building. Many newly built homes, however, experience excess moisture and mould problems in living areas and/or roof cavities, due to a combination of occupant behaviour and a lack of ventilation.
The goals of a healthy home environment and energy efficiency can sometimes pull in opposite directions, requiring us to find a trade-off between health and energy saving.
Do we need dedicated airtightness and ventilation targets in the Building Code to reach an optimal set point for ventilation related energy use and health outcomes? How can this be achieved?
Organisers
The workshop was organised by INIVE EEIG on behalf of AIVC in cooperation with ASHRAE and BRANZ.
Presentations
You may download the workshop presentations from the table below
| Context and policies | |
| The involvement of New Zealand in IEA Energy in Buildings and Communities projects | Michael Donn (New Zealand IEA EBC Executive Member) | |
| Overview of the Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC) and TightVent | Peter Wouters (AIVC Operating Agent) | |
| Activities of ASHRAE related to ventilation and airtightness | Bjarne Olesen (ASHRAE/DTU) | |
| Overall situation in New Zealand regarding energy performance (policy, standards, regulations, …) | Christian Hoerning (EECA) | |
| Indoor Environmental quality, ventilation and health | |
| Why do we care about IAQ Metrics? | Max Sherman (LBNL) | |
| Indoor Environmental Quality: Comfort-Health-Productivity | Bjarne Olesen (ASHRAE) | |
| The health effects of sub-standard housing on children | Nevil Pierse (He Kainga Oranga) | |
| Annex 68 presentation ( Design and Operational Strategies for High IAQ in Low Energy Buildings) | Jelle Laverge (Ghent University, Belgium) | |
| Indoor climate and air quality | |
| Future Cooling Needs of Buildings and the role of ventilation | Mat Santamouris (University of New South Wales) | |
| Indoor climate and ventilation in school buildings | Roby Phipps (Massey University) | |
| New Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort (IAQ&TC) guidelines for school buildings | Bernie Cruise (Ministry of Education) | |
| Methodology to assess the exposure to cooking emissions in combination with the efficiency of range hoods | Willem De Gids (VentGuide, Netherlands) | |
| Ventilation performance | |
| Demand controlled ventilation: design guidelines and performance characterisation in Belgium | Arnold Janssens (Ghent University, Belgium) | |
| Expected temperature distribution in NZ homes using MVHR | Peter McDowall (BRANZ) | |
| Building and ductwork airtightness | |
| Measuring airtightness of dwelling with a domestic ventilation system | Wouter Borsboom (TNO, Netherlands) | |
| Airtightness in New Zealand homes and apartments | Steve McNeil (BRANZ) | |
| “Lessons in air tightness and air quality from the Japanese sick house experience” | Andy Russell (Proctor group) | |
| Air Tightness Requirements in For High Performance Homes in Mild Climates | Iain Walker (LBNL) | |
| Quality assurance for ventilation and airtightness | |
| Quality and compliance of ventilation systems : on-going developments, lessons learnt, future challenges | Peter Wouters (AIVC Operating Agent) | |
| Ventilation, moisture and mould in old and new homes in NZ | Manfred Plagmann (BRANZ) | |
| Ventilation and Airtightness, different relationship for different quality of buildings | George Zhang (Center for Sustainable Built Environment, Hunan University) |