Passive Ventilation Layout With Sensor-Controlled Airflow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional passive ventilation systems, such as passive stack ventilation, are limited in their ability to adequately ventilate entire buildings due to the small size of stack vents, which restrict airflow and require additional mechanical assistance, and do not effectively communicate with all rooms, leading to insufficient ventilation in multiple-story buildings.
Innovation Solution
A system of passive vents with sensors and a controller that measure atmospheric conditions like pressure, temperature, humidity, and airflow rates to automatically adjust vent flow areas, combined with strategically placed dividing-structure vents in walls, roofs, and floors to enhance airflow and ventilation throughout the building.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If passive stack ventilation is used with small stack vents, then the system remains passive without mechanical devices, but the airflow rate is insufficient to effectively ventilate the whole building
Solution Approach 1:
The building is divided into multiple zones with dedicated vents in walls, roofs, and floors. Each vent operates semi-independently to serve specific rooms or areas, allowing the system to achieve high total airflow by combining multiple small vent contributions rather than relying on a single large stack vent.
Solution Approach 2:
The ventilation system transitions from vertical-only stack vents to a three-dimensional network of vents distributed across walls, roofs, and floors. This spatial distribution creates multiple airflow pathways in different directions, significantly increasing the effective ventilation coverage and airflow rate throughout the building.
2Productivity
If stack vents are made larger to increase airflow, then ventilation effectiveness improves, but the system requires mechanical assistance and loses its passive nature
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using one or two large stack vents that would require mechanical assistance, the system segments ventilation into numerous smaller vents distributed throughout the building envelope. Each small vent maintains passive operation while the collective effect of all vents achieves the required total airflow rate.
Solution Approach 2:
The system combines multiple small passive vents across different building surfaces (walls, roofs, floors) to create a unified ventilation network. The merged effect of these distributed vents produces airflow rates comparable to or exceeding traditional stack ventilation, all while maintaining passive operation without mechanical devices.
3Productivity
If traditional passive stack ventilation is used, then mechanical devices are avoided, but ventilation is insufficient in multiple-story buildings and rooms not connected to the attic
Solution Approach 1:
The system adds horizontal and diagonal ventilation pathways through wall vents and floor vents, complementing the traditional vertical stack ventilation. This creates a three-dimensional ventilation network that reaches all floors and rooms, eliminating the limitation of attic-only ventilation in multiple-story buildings.
Solution Approach 2:
The vent system is designed to serve multiple functions and multiple rooms simultaneously. Vents are strategically placed to provide ventilation coverage across different floors and room types, making the system universally effective for the entire building rather than limited to specific zones connected to the attic.
4Adaptability or versatility
If fixed vent openings are used in passive ventilation systems, then the system is simple to construct, but the ventilation rate cannot be adjusted to changing atmospheric conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The vent system incorporates movable components such as adjustable louvers and controllable dampers that allow the effective opening area of each vent to be dynamically adjusted. This enables the ventilation rate to adapt to changing atmospheric conditions, occupancy levels, and thermal requirements while maintaining a relatively simple overall system structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for more comprehensive and efficient passive ventilation, reducing the need for mechanical systems by promoting free airflow through the building, improving air exchange rates, and ensuring better ventilation across all areas, including multiple-story structures.
Implementation Method 1
a pressure differential between an interior of the building and an exterior of the building
Implementation Method 2
a temperature differential between the interior of the building and the exterior of the building
Implementation Method 3
a humidity differential between the interior of the building and the exterior of the building
Implementation Method 4
a rate of airflow through at least one of the vents
Implementation Method 5
a rate of air changes in the building
Implementation Method 6
a concentration of particulate matter in the building interior
Implementation Method 7
buoyancy differences between indoor and outdoor air. If, as is often the case, indoor air temperatures are higher than outdoor temperatures, the warmer and less dense indoor air tends naturally to rise up through the ventilating stack vents
Implementation Method 8
wind flow passing over the building and the upper end of the stack vent, which causes a venturi effect in the stack vents
Data Source
AI summary
A passive ventilation control system and method. The system includes passive vents throughout a building. The vents may be arranged in multiple sets, with each set being substantially vertically aligned through multiple floors or the entire height of the building. Sensors are positioned inside and/or outside the building for sensing different environmental parameters or atmospheric conditions. The sensors send signals to a controller, which automatically adjusts airflow through the vents in response to the signals from the sensors.