Between 1990 - 2006 the energy use of the ventilation systems in Swedish schools has doubled. This is mainly due to an increase of cooling demand which results in higher air-flow rates. In recent years many schools changed from displacement ventilation (DV) to mixing ventilation (MV), because MV causes fewer problems with thermal discomfort, although DV has higher ventilation efficiency. Studies show that 87% of Swedish schools use constant air volume (CAV) and it’s estimated that a change to variable air volume (VAV) could save 0.12-0.33 TWh per year. Therefore the aim of this study is to investigate whether it’s possible to replace DV with MV to create a comfortable indoor climate in a typical classroom and at the same time decrease the energy use by using VAV and Low Pressure Drop Ceiling Supply Device (LPDCSD).
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