Finding the Right Mix

Mixed Mode Ventilation

36 ASHRAE Jour nal ashr ae. or g Sept ember 2008
W
ith the rising cost of energy, the drive towards im-
proved indoor air quality, and the industrys adop-
tion of an adaptive comfort model for naturally conditioned
spaces, interest is growing among HVAC engineers to explore
how natural ventilation might best be reapplied in the build-
ing industry. This article presents an overview of ASHRAE
standards applicable to spaces using natural ventilation,
suggests an early-phase design decision-making methodol-
ogy, and then compares a collection of recent mixed mode
projects that have applied some level of natural ventilation
within the San Francisco Bay area.
Starting From the Beginning
Natural ventilation is not a new concept. Indeed, it was the
primary method of ventilation and cooling for many centuries.
From the wind-catching towers of Iran to the termite mounds of
Zimbabwe, humans and animals have harnessed natures wind
power and airs buoyancy effects to drive ows of air through in-
ternal spaces. However, since the introduction of air-conditioning
by Willis Carriers 1906 patent, a half-dozen generations of
Americans have become accustomed to mechanical condition-
ing of indoor spaces, especially for large commercial buildings.
Therefore, the reapplication of natural ventilation into modern
buildings requires care, intentionality, involvement of the client
parties, and in particular, a full understanding of the most recent
ASHRAE standards: ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2007, Ven-
tilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality and ANSI/ASHRAE
Standard 55-2004, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Hu-
man Occupancy. Table 1 provides some key denitions related
to natural ventilation, as found primarily in these standards.
By Erin McConahey, P.E., Member ASHRAE
Photo Tim Grifth
About the Author
Erin McConahey, P.E., is an associate principal in mechanical engineering at the
Los Angeles ofce of Arup, a global multidisciplinary design and consulting rm.
The following article was published in ASHRAE Journal, September 2008. Copyright 2008 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and
Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. It is presented for educational purposes only. This article may not be copied and/or distributed electronically
or in paper form without permission of ASHRAE.
Sept ember 2008 ASHRAE Jour nal 37
Keyword Denition Source
Ventilation
The process of supplying air to or removing air from a space for the purpose of
controlling air contaminant levels, humidity or temperature within the space.
Standard 62.1-2007,
Section 3
Natural
Ventilation
... ventilation provided by thermal, wind, or diffusion effects through doors, win-
dows, or other intentional openings in the building.
Standard 62.1-2007,
Section 3
Mixed Mode
Systems
... refers to a hybrid approach to space conditioning that uses a combination of nat-
ural ventilation from operable windows (either manually or automatically controlled),
and mechanical systems that include air-distribution equipment and refrigeration
equipment for cooling.
Mixed Mode Web Site of
the Center for the Built
Environment at the University
of California, Berkeley
1
Naturally
Ventilated
Spaces
... shall be permanently open to and within 8 m (25 ft) of operable wall or roof
openings to the outdoors, the openable area of which is a minimum of 4% of the net
occupiable oor area. ...
The means to open required operable openings shall be readily accessible to the
building occupants whenever the space is occupied.
Standard 62.1-2007,
Sections 5.1.1, 5.1.2
Naturally
Conditioned
Spaces
... are those spaces where the thermal conditions of the space are regulated primar-
ily by the occupants through opening and closing of windows.
Standard 55-2004,
Section 5.3
Typical Indoor
Environment
Method for
Thermal
Comfort
... a simplied graphical method for determining the comfort zone that may be used
for many typical applications...
The range of operative temperatures presented in Figure 5.2.1.1 [from Standard 55-
2004] are for 80% occupant acceptability.
Standard 55-2004,
Section 5.2
Adaptive
Model of
Thermal
Comfort
... Field experiments have shown that occupants thermal responses in [occupant
controlled naturally conditioned spaces] depend in part on outdoor climate and may
differ from thermal responses in buildings with centralized HVAC systems primar-
ily because of the different thermal experiences, changes in clothing, availability of
control, and shifts in occupant expectations.
... Allowable indoor operative temperatures for spaces that meet these criteria may
be determined from Figure 5.3 [from Standard 55-2004].
Standard 55-2004,
Section 5.3
Table 1: Denitions related to natural ventilation.
The potential for natural ventilation as a viable means of
comfort conditioning often relies on mixed mode approaches
that use natural ventilation for most of the year, but rely on me-
chanical cooling for peak loading conditions. Commonly mixed
mode systems are categorized as one of the following:
1
Concurrent (same space, same time);
Changeover (same space, different times); or
Zoned (different spaces, same time).
Additionally, it is necessary to dene exactly how natural
ventilation is used. Windows often are provided as a user ame-
nity within fully air-conditioned spaces to give the occupants
a connection to the outdoors and some level of control over
increased localized ventilation. This case is not covered by any
code or standard, as the natural ventilation is not necessary for
human health or comfort. In the case where natural ventilation
is used as a primary ventilation or cooling mechanism, it is
necessary to differentiate between natural ventilation for indoor
air quality (IAQ) or natural ventilation for controlling humid-
ity or temperature, as Standard 62.1-2007 governs the former,
while Standard 55-2004 addresses the latter. As the focus of
Standard 62.1-2007 is indoor air quality, naturally ventilated
space per the standards Section 5.1.1 is primarily meant to
fulll the IAQ purpose alone.
Therefore, the use of natural airows to condition spaces
falls under the denition of naturally conditioned spaces
per Standard 55-2004. This document denes two sets of cri-
teria for acceptable thermal conditions, one for typical indoor
environments (using the laboratory-based PMV-PPD model)
and another optional method for naturally conditioned spaces
(using the eld-based adaptive thermal comfort model). A
comparison of Figures 5.2.1.1 and 5.3 in Standard 55-2004
show that: in naturally conditioned spaces, occupants will
tend to accept a wider range of indoor comfort temperatures as
compared to those limits established as acceptable for typical
indoor environments.
A number of explicit limitations in Standard 55-2004 reduce the
applicability of the extended comfort range to only those periods
of time when no mechanical conditioning is provided (Table 2).
Therefore, concurrent mixed mode systems should meet the PMV-
PPD based typical indoor environment comfort criteria throughout
the year. Zoned and changeover systems should do so wherever
and whenever mechanical conditioning is provided.
Design Guidance, or Lack Thereof
Standard 55-2004 states that no specic guidance for natu-
rally conditioned spaces is included in this standard. Standard
62.1-2007, Section 5.1, explicitly states that an engineered
natural ventilation system when approved by the authority
38 ASHRAE Jour nal ashr ae. or g Sept ember 2008
having jurisdiction need not meet the
requirements of the prescriptive ap-
proach, but gives no indication of what
an engineered system would consist
of. The 2005 ASHRAE Handbook
Fundamentals provides only two pages
(27.10 27.11) to explain the physics of
how natural ventilation ows can be cal-
culated and provides qualitative guidance
regarding placement of openings.
In looking for further guidance, one
would primarily turn to the CIBSE Appli-
cations Manual AM10, Natural Ventila-
tion in Non-Domestic Buildings,
2
which
is referred to as the basic criteria used
by the U.S. Green Building Councils
LEED

for New Construction, Version

2.2
3
to establish minimum proof that
the natural ventilation system is likely
to give comparable IAQ ventilation as
compared to a mechanically ventilated
system. Table 3 lists the documentation
requirements by associated LEED credit,
and it begins to point towards the level of
analytical investment that is appropriate
for proposing a naturally ventilated or
naturally conditioned space at the con-
struction documents phase.
What designers need to know is
whether they should propose a natural
ventilation system in the rst place.
Common sense must impose itself
early in the project to evaluate whether
natural ventilation is feasible. As a
minimum, the Natural Ventilation Top 10
Feasibility Question List (Table 4) must
be reviewed as a starting point if natural
ventilation is to be used as a primary
cooling mechanism. This early-phase
decision aid collates nominal rules of
thumb regarding the limitations of natural
cooling capacities, the appropriateness
of the climate, the cleanliness of the
ambient air, the feasibility of ensuring
low-velocity air movement paths, and the
Table 2: Summary comparison of Standard 55-2004 comfort criteria.
Method
Name
Criteria Limits
Typical Indoor
Environments
This is based on a 10% dissatisfaction criteria for gen-
eral (whole body) thermal comfort based on the PMV-
PPD index, plus an additional 10% dissatisfaction that
may occur on average from local (partial body) thermal
discomfort. (Standard 55-2004, Section 5.2.1.1)
1. Met rates between 1.0 met and 1.3 met.
2. Clothing between 0.5 clo and 1.0 clo.
Naturally
Conditioned
Spaces
Derived from a global database of 21,000 measure-
ments taken primarily in ofce buildings. (Standard
55-2004, Section 5.3)
1. Met rates between 1.0 met and 1.3 met.
2. Occupants may freely adapt their clothing.
3. Space equipped with operable windows that open to outdoors
and that can be readily opened and adjusted by occupants.
4. Opening and closing of windows must be the primary means
of regulating the thermal conditions in the space.
5. Does not apply when the heating system is in operation.
6. Not applicable when mean monthly outdoor temperature is
less than 50F or higher than 92.3F.
availability of thermal mass manipulation
as an auxiliary cooling technique. For
reference, the right column provides a
sample of the necessary data as it applied
to the design of the San Francisco Federal
Building project. As can be seen in the
examples, all of the numerical/graphical
output for this preliminary analysis can be
easily generated through the use of data
from the Department of Energys typical
meteorological year les.
Once the design team has successfully
answered the questions sequentially to
the afrmative and has chosen to pursue
natural ventilation, the analytical team
must select the appropriate next-step cal-
culation tool to conrm that the proposed
scheme will meet the design intent. As
noted in the CIBSE Applications Manual
AM10, Chapter 4.2,
2
the main tools can
be summarised (sic) under the following
headings: envelope ow models, compu-
tational uid dynamics (CFD), combined
thermal and ventilation models, and
physical scale models.
For most natural conditioning options,
the next step would be to perform mul-
tizonal dynamic heat transfer and bulk
airow simulations using one of a handful
of software programs, as it is difcult to
predict air change rates under a variety
of wind and buoyancy conditions solely
through iterative hand calculations. These
programs allow the user to input outside
air temperatures, building envelope ge-
ometry and materials, opening sizes and
pressure coefcients, internal heat loads,
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40 ASHRAE Jour nal ashr ae. or g Sept ember 2008
Table 3: LEED

Credits Affected By Natural Ventilation, and Required Documentation Procedures

LEED Credit Name Acceptable Methodology Showing Proof of Compliance of Naturally Ventilated Spaces
EA Credit 1
Optimize Energy
Performance
If no cooling system is specied, the proposed design must include a cooling system modeled
identically to the baseline design cooling system. However it may be necessary to approximate
some or all of the functional aspects of proposed design experimental systems using the Excep-
tional Calculation Method (Standard 90.1, G2.5). A recent Credit Interpretation Request (3/22/07)
further describes one method of accounting for natural ventilation in the energy modeling of the
proposed building.
EQ Credit 1
Outdoor Air
Delivery Monitoring
Monitor CO
2
concentrations.
EQ Credit 2
Increased
Ventilation
A. Follow the recommendations and calculations within the Chartered Institution of Building Ser-
vices Engineers (CIBSE) Applications Manual 10, Natural Ventilation in Non-Domestic Buildings.
or
B. Provide a macroscopic, multizone analytic model to predict room-by-room airows that meet
the minimum ventilation rates within Standard 62.1, Section 6, for at least 90% of the occupied
spaces.
EQ Credit 6.2
Controllability of
Systems: Thermal
Comfort
If operable windows are used to dene the individual controls for 50% of building occupants, the
windows can only apply to occupants 20 ft inside and within 10 ft to either side of the operable
part of the window.
EQ Credit 7.1
Thermal Comfort:
Design
Meet documentation requirements in Standard 55-2004, Paragraph 6.1.1.
Table 4: Natural Ventilation Top 10 Feasibility Questions
Data to Review
Question to be Asked
(If Answer is Yes, Move
to Next Question)
Sample Answers from the San Francisco Federal Ofce
Building Design Process
1. Building
Envelope
Is the building envelope
performance optimized
to minimize solar gain
into the building? Target a
maximum total solar load
of 4 W/ft
2
of sun patch
oor area in a cooling
condition.
Building was oriented to minimize solar loads for the desired external shading
devicesexterior catwalks performing as overhangs, a 58% open perforated metal
sunscreen at the southeast and frosted glass vertical ns at the northwest. These
devices, along with high performance double-glazed low-e glass (solar heat gain
coefcient = 0.3) and a sun path diagram, showed that solar loads only peak at
5 p.m. daylight saving time in the summer.
2. Internal Heat Loads
Is the total internal heat
load minimized to less
than 2 W/ft
2
for natu-
rally conditioned space or,
within the cooling capacity
of auxiliary systems?
By agreement with the client, 250 ft
2
/person, 0.9 W/ft
2
of lighting (inclusive
of 0.2 W/ft
2
of task lighting), 0.5 W/ft
2
of plug load = 1.4 W/ft
2
3. Weather Normals:
Mean Maximum/
Mean Minimum
In looking at the climate
datas monthly mean
minimum and mean maxi-
mum, are there at least six
months where the monthly
maximum is less than 80F
but mean minimum is
higher than 32F?
Graph showing mean maximum/mean minimum normals for San Francisco.
Figure Arup
Graph shows that all months meet the minimum > 32F and maximum < 80F criteria.
Sept ember 2008 ASHRAE Jour nal 41
Table 4: Natural Ventilation Top 10 Feasibility Questions (Continued)
Data to Review
Question to be Asked (If
Answer is Yes, Move to
Next Question)
Sample Answers from the San Francisco Federal Ofce
Building Design Process
4. Frequency of
Occurrence
Psychrometric Chart
In further looking at
climate data, does the
frequency of occurrence
psychrometric chart for
occupied hours have
more than 30% of the time
between 60F to 80F and
less than 70% relative
humidity?
Daytime frequency of occurrence psychrometric chart for San Francisco.
Figure Arup
Frequency of occurrence psychrometric chart shows that the majority of hours
have outside air conditions well below or within comfort conditions. Having a num-
ber of hours on the colder side is an indication that trickle ventilation for minimized
introduction of cool outside air would be benecial to expand the number of hours
in which natural ventilation can be used.
5. Ambient
Environment,
Possible Locations
of Openings
Is the surrounding environ-
ment suitable for direct
intake of air from outside?
(i.e., there are no security
concerns, the ambient
environment is sufciently
quiet, air quality meets
Standard 62.1 standards,
openings are not near
street level, near highways
or industrial plants, or at
elevation of a neighbors
discharge).
Natural ventilation starts on the sixth oor, well above the street level.
Windows can be placed on southeast and northwest sides of building, and internal
cabins have low ceilings to allow airow to pass undisturbed to the other side of
the building.
6. Window Locations
and Sizes,
Accessibility
Can the equivalent of 4%
to 5% of the oor area as
window opening area be
found with direct access to
the window by everyone
within 20 ft?
Window areas of 5% were originally allotted. However, subsequent CFD analysis
showed that half of the motorized windows at high level could be eliminated due to
the strength of the wind velocity.
7. Wind Rose, Fea-
sible Flow Paths: Inlet
to Outlet Under All
Wind Conditions
Can one rely on wind-
driven effects for cooling?
Is there a direct low-
pressure airow path from
a low-level opening to a
high-level opening within
the space, and will it be
preserved once furniture/
TI work is complete?
Wind roses were generated by subdividing the historical data into temperature
bins. For temperatures greater than 77F, the wind rose showed a strong predomi-
nant wind direction from the northwest for more than 55% of the warm hours. The
architect provided a clear airow path into and through the building, and the client
allowed a furniture specication which limited partition height and left an 8 in. gap
in all partitions.
7 a.m. to 7 p.m.33.6% of hours
are between 16C and 27C
(60F and 80F)
42 ASHRAE Jour nal Sept ember 2008
Table 4: Natural Ventilation Top 10 Feasibility Questions (Continued)
Data to Review
Question to be Asked (If
Answer is Yes, Move to
Next Question)
Sample Answers from the San Francisco Federal Ofce
Building Design Process
8. High Afternoon
Temperatures
Does the climate have
regular outside air tem-
peratures over 80F?
If yes, review whether
exposed thermal mass is
possible.
Climate did not have usual temperatures over 80F except in rare cases, as 1%
design temperature for cooling is 78F db/62F wb.
9. Diurnal Range on
Hot Days
Does the climate have
a diurnal range that has
nighttime temperatures
below 65F for at least 8
hours a night on the worst-
case days?
If yes, move to multizone
modeling of thermal mass
and consider night purge.
Night purge is possible due to low nighttime temperatures, as shown below in the
frequency of occurrence plot for nighttime temperatures.
Nighttime frequency of occurrence psychrometric chart for San Francisco.
Figure Arup
10. Dew-Point
Temperatures
Throughout Year
Throughout the year,
do you have consistent
outside air dew points
throughout the year
of less than 64F?
If yes, move to multizone
modeling and consider a
radiant cooling system.
Not applicable, as radiant cooling was not used.
7 p.m. to 7 a.m.98.2% of
hours are below 18C (65F)
and articially controlled surface temperatures for room-sized
volumes of space. The analytical engines have the ability to pre-
dict bulk airow quantities moving in and out of each opening and
zone, as well as air and surface temperatures taking into account
the time lag associated with thermal mass manipulation. Usually,
the software is run in an iterative manner to test the sensitivity
of opening sizes and loading conditions to optimize thermal
comfort under all conditions. The results of the dynamic heat
transfer simulations will give the user the ability to calculate the
average operative temperature within each large-scale zone for
the purposes of comparing it to the applicable comfort model, and
will determine whether the space can be successfully considered
to be naturally conditioned. Often, results
from physical wind-tunnel testing are used
to establish the pressure coefcients at the
boundary of the modeled space.
After this rst round of room-level
analysis conrms that natural ventila-
tion for cooling remains feasible, most
natural ventilation design teams invest
in performing a series of analyses using
CFD, a computer-based iterative calcula-
tion methodology that simultaneously
solves the Navier-Stokes equations for
a designated volume of air dened by
user-input boundary conditions. CFD
relies on meshing of the room volume
to create an interlinked set of cubes of air
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44 ASHRAE Jour nal ashr ae. or g Sept ember 2008
are a number of so-called low impact spaces, which are provided
with ceiling fans, natural ventilation through windows, and a
radiant cooling/heating slab system.
The California Academy of Sciences building incorporates
a concurrent BMS-controlled natural ventilation/radiant slab
cooling approach for the exhibition hall to accommodate
the high occupancy density during museum special events.
Ventilation openings are the main entry doors, trickle vents
above the doors, and the circular windows at the roof.
Within the north-facing perimeter research ofce spaces, a
zoned approach is pursued. The perimeter ofces are in the
natural ventilation mode throughout the year in which oc-
cupants have local manual control of a desk-height window
and the BMS controls trickle vents and the radiators for
heat. The interior zones operate simultaneously in the air-
conditioned mode with a VAV box system providing cooling
and heating.
As can be seen from the comparison chart, mixed mode ap-
proaches can work:
In dry, temperate-to-warm climates;
(called cells), with each undergoing the
calculation procedure. As thousands of
cells are typically created, CFD software
packages tend to display the multitude
of results in graphics that superimpose
the data from each cell. These graphics
show airow patterns and temperature
distribution in an easily read, intuitive
manner so that the engineer can identify
any bottlenecks, drafts, or stagnation
points that may lead to uncomfortable
air speed or air quality conditions. CFD
results veried and reviewed by local
building authorities are often accepted
as proof of concept to meet the deni-
tion of an engineered natural ventila-
tion system under Standard 62.1-2007,
Section 5.1.
Mixed Mode Projects in the San Francisco Bay Area
The nal portion of this article incorporates a comparison of
four buildings designed within the last decade, with the goal
of reviewing developments in technologies and approaches.
Although an overview comparison is provided in Table 5, the
following sections provide an introduction to the mixed mode
approaches in each building.
The Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies is a small
classroom building located in the South Bay in the warm envi-
ronment of Cupertino, Calif. Natural ventilation alone is a viable
cooling mechanism for much of the year in the perimeter zones,
but there are times when additional cooling is required from a
radiant slab served from the chilled water return piping. To fur-
ther ensure comfort, ceiling fans are provided in all classrooms
to increase air-on-skin velocity for the occupants, which boosts
both convective heat transfer and sweat evaporation rates.
The San Francisco Federal Ofce Building has 13 oors of
naturally ventilated and naturally conditioned perimeter open
plan ofce space. A sealed interior line of supervisor ofces and
conference rooms is provided with air-conditioning, as these
areas are more than 20 ft (6 m) from the faade.
In perimeter zones, cooling air is provided only through the
windows (both manual and motorized). In advance of hot days,
an exposed concrete ceiling slab is precooled through nighttime
ventilation to provide heat absorption capacity on the following
afternoon. The window wall incorporates mullion-integrated
heating elements and trickle ventilators to ensure minimum
outside air quantities under cool weather conditions when the
larger windows would be closed.
The Yang and Yamazaki Environment and Energy build-
ing at Stanford University, again in a warmer climate, encour-
ages occupants to open and close windows within private
northern and eastern ofces for natural ventilation and natural
conditioning, augmented only by ceiling fans. The atrium and
ofces facing south and west incorporate auxiliary chilled
beams for cooling in addition to the natural ventilation. There
Figure 1: Operating principles for the Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies building.
Roof-mounted PVs.
R-30 roof insulation located
on the outside of the slab
minimizes heat loss.
Large opening
windows in the
south corridor
keep space at out-
door conditions in
the summer.
High performance
glass reduces heat
gain into space.
Cooler air enters via
low level windows.
Heat absorbed into the
thermal mass, slab.
Windows in multiuser
classrooms have
automatic operators.
Air movement from
ceiling fans improves
comfort.
On extreme days slab
is kept at 68F using re-
turn water from chiller.
Passive Operation on Warm Day
In September (West Wing)
Figure Arup
Exposed Thermal Mass
Fixed Window
Automatic Window
Manual Window
Finned Tube Radiator
Fixed Window
Trickle Vent
P
h
o
t
o

A
r
u
p
Figure 2: Natural ventilation components at the San Francisco
Federal Ofce Building.
46 ASHRAE Jour nal ashr ae. or g Sept ember 2008
Kirsch Center for
Environmental Studies/
De Anza College
San Francisco Federal
Ofce Buildings, U.S.
General Services
Administration
Yang and Yamazaki
Environment and
Energy Building,
Stanford University
California Academy
of Sciences
Occupancy Date 2005 2007 2008 (Staged) 2008
September 2008
(Anticipated)
Architect Van Der Ryn Architects Morphosis BOORA
Renzo Piano Building
Workshop
Building Square Footage 22,000 550,000 166,000 400,000
Square Footage of
Naturally Ventilated
Space
9,000 125,000 30,900
60,000 (Ofces and
Exhibition Hall)
Occupancy Type of
Naturally Ventilated
Space
Classroom Ofce Ofce
Ofces and
Exhibition Hall
Location Cupertino, Calif. San Francisco Palo Alto, Calif. San Francisco
Outside Air Actual 1%
Exceedance Design
Criteria
86F db/66F wb 78F db/62F wb 83F db/64F wb 78F db/62F wb
Designer-Selected Out-
side Air Design Criteria
(% Exceedance)
96F db/68F wb (0.1%) 78F db/62F wb (1%)
86F db/66F wb
(owner criteria)
79F db/63F wb (0.5%)
Indoor Comfort Criteria
as Agreed With the
Client
30% PPD Adaptive Comfort Model 78F, 4F
68F, 2F winter,
77F, 2F summer
Surrounding
Environment
College Campus Downtown College Campus Park Area
Openings Controlled
by People
Single-User Areas:
Desk-Height Windows
Desk-Height Windows
Ofces: Desk-Height
Windows
Ofces: Desk-Height
Windows
Openings Controlled
by Building Manage-
ment System (BMS)
Multiuser Spaces: Low
and High Level Windows
Low-in-Wall Trickle Vents,
High Level Motorized
Windows
Ofces: Awning
Windows
Atrium: Doors, Windows,
and Louvers
Ofces: Trickle Vents
High and Low
Exhibition Hall: High
Level Windows and
Doors
Heating Mechanism
Radiant Floor Plus
Ceiling Fans
Perimeter Heating Hot
Water Finned Tube
Convectors Built into
Faade Mullion
Radiant Ceilings in
Certain Areas, Radiant
Floor Plus Ceiling Fans
in Others
Perimeter Ofces:
Hot Water Radiators
Near Window
Exhibition Hall:
Radiant Floor
Mixed Mode Type
Within the Naturally
Ventilated Space
Concurrent, Using
Radiant Cooling Slab
Held at 68F Minimum,
Plus Ceiling Fans
Natural Ventilation Only
as Cooling Mechanism
North/East Ofces:
Natural Ventilation With
Ceiling Fans as Only
Cooling Mechanism
Other spaces
Concurrent, Using Radi-
ant Cooling Via Ceiling
Panel or Radiant Floors
Ofces:
Changeover, With Dedi-
cated VAV Box Zones for
Supplemental Cooling
Exhibition Hall: Concur-
rent, Using Radiant
Cooling
Analytical Approach
Dynamic Heat Transfer/
Bulk Airow Model, CFD
Dynamic Heat Transfer/
Bulk Airow Model, CFD
Dynamic Heat Transfer/
Bulk Airow Model, CFD
Dynamic Heat Transfer/
Bulk Airow Model, CFD
Table 5: Summary information on four mixed mode buildings in the San Francisco Bay area.
In both high and low density occupancies if building
envelope loads are carefully controlled; and
With a variety of auxiliary cooling mechanisms.
The table shows that there was a lack of consistency in design
criteria. Review of these projects also shows that a variety of
outdoor air design criteria exceedances have been selected by
the designers (as compared to a standard 1% exceedance value).
Moreover, a variety of indoor design criteria denitions have
been established directly with the client, based on the original
research by deDear and Brager,
4
which led to the optional model
in Standard 55. These topics must be discussed together, so that
clients can allow the pursuit of natural ventilation schemes in
48 ASHRAE Jour nal ashr ae. or g Sept ember 2008
full knowledge of the statistical likeli-
hood of discomfort. This information
must be held up against the expectations
of the occupant populations for the given
application.
Future Steps and Lessons Learned
As can be seen from the comparison
table, three of the four case study build-
ings are just in the process of opening and
do not yet have documented energy data
or post-occupancy evaluations, although
most are targeted to do so in late 2008
and through 2009. The Kirsch Center
has had its one-year LEED-related post-
occupancy evaluations with positive re-
sults from the permanent staff within the
building and won the Center for the Built
Environments Livable Buildings award.
What is known from the collection of
buildings is that the following are es-
sential to making a BMS-involved mixed
mode building work from day one:
A client who is committed to the
design scheme after the early-phase
exploration;
An analysis team capable of delivering
accurate, peer-reviewed condence-
building calculation results that predict
the distribution of air and temperature
in the naturally ventilated or condi-
tioned spaces;
A design team that is committed to
resolving all auxiliary issues related
to delivering natural ventilation as
a viable environmental system (i.e.,
acoustics, fire, opening positions,
building envelope performance, se-
curity, outdoor air quality, furniture
and partition design, daylighting and
lighting controls);
An authority-having-jurisdiction will-
ing to entertain the natural ventilation
approach;
A general contractor who understand
how the system and its associated
components will work;
A controls contractor who has the tech-
nical ability to work beyond the usual
canned subroutines and can provide
unique programming sequences to
control devices outside of the typical
HVAC scope;
A fully commissioned controls system
that is pretested and trended for temper-
ature and device response status in each
type of naturally ventilated space;
The systematic education of the oc-
cupants regarding the intent of the
building design and their role in work-
ing with the building and the facilities
manager; and
An acknowledgement by all parties that
these buildings are site-specic with
design based on assumptions and simu-
lations, and will take some tweaking
during the rst year to adjust setpoints
for the actual internal loads in the as-
constructed building envelope.
Because of the limited pool of evalu-
ated buildings, lessons learned on natu-
rally ventilated buildings come primarily
from reviewing case studies. The burden
is on each design engineer to familiarize
himself with the available studies and to
make a professional judgment regarding
applicability of the approach, once he
has corrected for climate, occupancy
type, and component conguration. If
natural ventilation is to be more widely
accepted in the U.S. as an alternate ap-
proach, systematic research is required
similar to the work of Dr. Gail Brager at
the Center for the Built Environment at
the University of California, Berkeley.
4

The owners of the four most recent proj-
ects in this article know that the works
are educational, somewhat experimental
attempts to push constructed mixed
mode examples into the AEC industrys
consciousness. Committed throughout
the design process to the hope of natural
Planetarium Rainforest
81.0
80.5
80.0
79.5
79.0
78.5
78.0
77.5
77.0
76.5
76.0
75.5
74.5
74.0
Temperature (F)
Figure 4: Sample results from the computa-
tional uid dynamics analysis of the California
Academy of Sciences Exhibition Hall.
ventilations realization, they are equally
committed to publically disseminating
data and lessons learned as they live
through their rst years of operation.
References
Center for the Built Environment at the 1.
University of California, Berkeley Mixed
Mode Web Site. www.cbe.berkeley.edu/
mixedmode/aboutmm.html.
Chartered Institution of Building Ser- 2.
vices Engineers. 2005. Natural Ventilation in
Non-Domestic Buildings. London: CIBSE.
U.S. Green Building Council. 2006. 3.
LEED

for New Construction Version 2.2

Reference Guide, Second Edition.
Brager, G., de Dear. 2000. A standard 4.
for natural ventilation. ASHRAE J ournal
42(10):21 28.
Atria Louvers Open
Hallway Vent Open
Window
Awnings
(1st 3rd
Floors)
(Actuated) Open
Atria Windows
(1st 3rd Floors) Open
F
i
g
u
r
e

A
r
u
p
Green Signal
(1st 3rd Floors)
Atria Windows
(1st 3rd Floors)
Open
Figure 3: Operating principles for the Yang and Yamazaki Environment and Energy building.
Figure Arup