RP-949 -- Performance Evaluation and Development of Design Guidelines for Displacement Ventilation PDF

There have been limited applications of displacement ventilation in the U.S., where ventilation requirements and heat load characteristics may be different. Displacement ventilation may provide better indoor air quality and energy performance in buildings with a comfortable environment compared with mixing ventilation, but the displacement system has limited application and no suitable design guidelines for U.S. buildings. Practicing engineers do not have clear guidelines with adequate performance, energy and cost data on which to base their design of such systems.

The objective of this research project is to make available design guidelines for displacement ventilation in U.S. buildings and climates to allow this technology to be more widely used. An extensive literature review will be made to accurately assess the state-of-the-art of the design guidelines for traditional displacement ventilation systems. Experimental measurements and computer simulations will be carried out to study the system performance in U.S. buildings. A simplified analytical method will be developed to provide more information. Energy and cost analysis of designing, installing and operating the systems will be made in comparison to conventional overhead mixing-type ventilation systems. A set of design guidelines for the application of the system in the U.S. will be developed.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Qingyan Chen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Conducted: September 1996 - October 1998

Sponsored by: TC 5.3, Room Air Distribution