It is essential that ventilation, sufficient to satisfy occupant requirements for health and comfort, be provided in a controlled manner. Since prescriptive requirements for delivery of ventilation air are available, other methods of controlling the amount of conditioning are required. Energy losses through uncontrolled infiltration also can be reduced by tightening the building envelope. Improving IAQ and Conserving Energy Energy conservation is often focused on reducing ventilation rates supplied to buildings even though other energy conservation strategies uses are equivalently beneficial. The strategy of reducing ventilation rates has garnered the greatest attention for its potentially detrimental impact on occupant health, comfort and productivity.
Buildings are complex systems with many nodes of interaction.
These interactions are simultaneously and dynamically occurring between building systems and subsystems, the outdoor environment and building occupants. The way that we use buildings, our expectations of building performance, and the evolving demands caused by heating, cooling, lighting and equipment usage indoors have brought dramatic changes in the way structures are designed and built. This has become a major driving force for many buildings to be renovated or retrofit to reduce their energy consumption. A Recommended Approach Both the conservation of energy and provision of acceptable IAQ are important aspects of building design. Unfortunately, an inherent conflict between these requirements often surfaces.