IAQ 2016 Defining Indoor Air Quality: Policy, Standards and Best Practices Co-Organized by ASHRAE and AIVC

High air volume constant rates and demand-controlled airflows are considered to be the most efficient ventilation strategies to manage IAQ. The first one is the most widespread but it often requires heat recovery, then more electricity and more complex installations and maintenance. In turn, the demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) strategy has the potential to conciliate easily IAQ and energy aspects. Nevertheless, its performance is highly dependent from several key parameters such as the sensor’s types, the level of control and detection, the functional algorithm, the accuracy, the long-term reliability and the level of maintenance to name a few.

In order to reduce ventilation loads smart ventilation approaches are being developed that use the principle of "equivalence" to allow time shifted ventilation to have the same IAQ effects as constant ventilation. Time shifting allows us to ventilate when temperature and humidity differences between inside and outside are lower, avoid times of peak utility demand and periodic outdoor pollutant events, such as high particle counts during commuter times near busy roads or high ozone concentrations. This presentation discusses the equivalence principle and demonstrates some of the energy and peak demand savings that can be accomplished using smart ventilation.