Ventilation and Energy

Approximately 40% of total primary energy supply is consumed in  buildings. Of this, approximately 50% is dissipated as airborne heat (or cooling) loss.  Sometime heat must be vented from a building to deal with intensive energy processes (e.g. industrial applications). On the other hand heat may be unnecessarily vented or mechanical cooling imposed because process appliances are inefficient or are left operating unnecessarily (lights, computers etc).

Substantial energy can also be wasted when a space is thermally conditioned (heated or mechanically cooled to compensate for outdoor climate conditions) and the ventilation rate is unnecessarily excessive (e.g. high infiltration losses through a leaky building or a mechanical ventilation system which is set too high for prevailing need). However, efforts to reduce energy consumption by excessively minimising ventilation rates can injure health (see below).

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