TOYOHASHI UNIVERSITY OF

TECHNOLOGY

UNDER
BUILDING
SCIENCE
PROF HIROSHI MATSUMOTO, DR.ENG

INDOOR AIR QUALITY AND VENTILATION

JODY SETIAWAN

What is the most optimal ventilation system suitable for a sustainable building such as zero
energy building (ZEB) or zero energy housing (ZEH) in seasonal hot and humid climate
region? Investigate the current problems.
1. Introduction
The principle of sustainable building is pay attention and take advantage of the local climate such as use
of grass and water for temperature control, has orientation to the sun and wind, has the ability to adjust
the temperature day and night, anticipating the change of local climate to be solved scientifically without
using energy. Energy used in sustainable buildings should be able to substitute energy source that cannot
be regeneration by minimizing the use of energy for cooling devices. One of those is to utilize the energy
of solar power as renewable energy.

2. Manual Ventilation as an Energy Saving Method in Building

Besides using solar energy as a source of renewable energy, sustainable building must also consider the
use of material type of the buildings to reduce the use of energy consumption. Energy saving can be said
thoroughly by minimizing acquisition of heat from the sun that falls on the building by blocking its fall
sunlight directly on transparent walls which can raise the temperature of the building. other methods can
be done by making the padded walls which have ventilation between cavity in the wall, or by creating a
vent in the room between the roof and the ceiling so that the hot air trapped under the roof can be
removed and vented so that heat does not propagate to the ceiling through the process of conduction
which heats the room below through the process of radiation. This method is included into the manual
system ventilation.

3. The Suitable Ventilation System for Seasonal Hot and Humid Climate Region
In the sustainable buildings with a manual system ventilation, use the room should be well regulated as a
room function and the room layout. For the main room with the main activities and long duration of use,
the room should be placed in the middle of the building and flanked by the supported room with the aim
of providing comfort to building occupants. Placement of the main room in the middle of the room will
reduce direct contact with the solar radiation room. For tropical countries like Indonesia which is located
at a latitude of 23 N - 23 S with the characteristic climate of high air temperatures throughout the year,
the average temperature of not less than 18 C to 32 C, as well as solar radiation 12 hours, the main
room placement must avoid the west side of the main room will reduce the duration of the solar radiation.
Besides the pay attention to those aspect, the things that also must be considered is the number of
occupants of the room toward the indoor area factor, the more occupants the higher the temperature rise
due to the number of occupants.
The use of the windows type for manual ventilation systems in sustainable building should also be
considered because it is associated with the greenhouse effect and temperature rise in the room. When
direct sunlight penetrate the glass field, the radiation emitted by the glass will heat up the objects in the
room. As a result of the heating, the objects will re-radiate the heat to air so that the heat inside the room
will be trapped. To address this issue in sustainable building with the manual ventilation system, the
building must avoid the use of glass windows that cannot open the lid. The type of window that is suitable
for manual ventilation is a type of pivot or casement windows [Fig.1] where windows can be opened wide

width so that the effect of the heat generated by solar radiation can be reduced with the wind in and out
through window. The lighting system used in sustainable building utilize indirect solar radiation because
the light does not have a warming effect on the room lit.

Fig.1 Type of Pivot and Casement Windows

The use of building color also has effects on manual ventilation in sustainable building. This is due to the
light color tends to reflect the light to reduce heat while dark colors tend to absorb light to absorb heat.
Therefore, for tropical areas like Indonesia, it is very suitable to use colors building a relatively light as
white.
The need for manual ventilation inlet should be calculated by reference to the applicable standards in that
areas. Insufficient ventilation inlet will cause the humidity in the room rises due to the process of
evaporation from the skin and absorption. Humidity is a good medium for the development of pathogenic
bacteria. To keep the rooms of the house always kept in optimum, it requires good ventilation system.
The best system used in sustainable building with manual ventilation is cross ventilation, which is
represented by figure 2 and figure 3. Cross ventilation allows air to flows from the inside out and the
reverse without having retained beforehand in the room. The incoming air of a window should be fed out
by the window in front of it and replaced with new air and so on. The holes of cross ventilation are
oriented towards the main wind direction to the building. The inlet position to enter the air (inlet) is
placed at a height where the human move. Then the vent that serves as a carminative (outlet) should be
placed slightly higher (above the level of human activity) so that hot air can be removed easily without
mixed again with fresh air coming through the inlet.
Height of human activity in the room is approximately 60-80 cm (sit activity) and 100-150 cm (standing
activity). In conditions of limited wind speed and wind direction, a ventilation hole can be equipped with
additional features to drive and increase the wind speed before entering into the ventilation openings.
Horizontal wings is featured on the inlet which are mounted horizontally to direct the wind from the
outside to the inside of the building. Cross ventilation can work well as air flows from areas of positive
pressure to the area of negative pressure is located on the wall opposite. Besides the using of cross
ventilation, raise the building by using the column on the manual ventilation system and make inlet of
wind also can reduce the temperature in sustainable building.
The height of walls of the building is also an important factor for the circulation of air in sustainable
building. The minimum height of the building is 3 meters. When the ceiling becomes higher, the air can
flow easily in the room toward its exit outlet.

Fig.2 Cross Ventilation System

Fig.3 Cross Ventilation System