title: Energy and cost associated with ventilating office buildings in a tropical climate.
abstract: Providing sufficient amounts of outdoor air to occupants is a critical building function for supporting occupant health, well-being and productivity. In tropical climates, high ventilation rates require substantial amounts of energy to cool and dehumidify supply air. This study evaluates the energy consumption and associated cost for thermally conditioning outdoor air provided for building ventilation in tropical climates, considering Singapore as an example locale. We investigated the influence on energy consumption and cost of the following factors: outdoor air temperature and humidity, ventilation rate (L/s per person), indoor air temperature and humidity, air conditioning system coefficient of performance (COP), and cost of electricity. Results show that dehumidification of outdoor air accounts for more than 80% of the energy needed for building ventilation in Singapore's tropical climate. Improved system performance and/or a small increase in the indoor temperature set point would permit relatively large ventilation rates (such as 25 L/s per person) at modest or no cost increment. Overall, even in a thermally demanding tropical climate, the energy cost associated with increasing ventilation rate up to 25 L/s per person is less than 1% of the wages of an office worker in an advanced economy like Singapore's. This result implies that the benefits of increasing outdoor air ventilation rate up to 25 L/s per person--which is suggested to provide for productivity increases, lower sick building syndrome symptom prevalence, and reduced sick leave--can be much larger than the incremental cost of ventilation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Donghyun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rim
authors.affiliation: Department of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schiavon
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: William W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Nazaroff
mesh_terms: D000389:Air Conditioning / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D012846:Singapore; D013696:Temperature; D014329:Tropical Climate; D014691:Ventilation / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D017132:Workplace / Q000191:economics
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2009 Apr;19(2):159-65
references.pmid: 19207289
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2002 Jun;12(2):113-28
references.pmid: 12216467
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2011 Oct;21(5):357-67
references.pmid: 21470313
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2006 Feb;16(1):7-19
references.pmid: 16420493
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2004;14 Suppl 7:119-25
references.pmid: 15330779
references.citation: J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2008 Mar;121(3):585-91
references.pmid: 18155285
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2004;14 Suppl 7:157-67
references.pmid: 15330783
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 1997 Nov 20;337(21):1524-31
references.pmid: 9366585
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2007 Feb;17(1):2-18
references.pmid: 17257148
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2006 Feb;16(1):28-36
references.pmid: 16420495
references.citation: Occup Environ Med. 2002 Feb;59(2):73-4
references.pmid: 11850548
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2008 Aug;18(4):301-16
references.pmid: 18492050
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2004;14 Suppl 7:18-26
references.pmid: 15330767
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2011 Jun;21(3):191-204
references.pmid: 21204989
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2012 Aug;22(4):309-20
references.pmid: 22257121
references.citation: Environ Health Perspect. 2002 Aug;110 Suppl 4:663-7
references.pmid: 12194903
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2012 Apr;22(2):119-31
references.pmid: 21929547
references.citation: J Environ Sci Health B. 2010 Apr;45(3):222-8
references.pmid: 20390954
references.citation: Indoor Air. 2000 Dec;10(4):222-36
references.pmid: 11089327