Ventilation of dwellings: Requirements and experiments

This paper refers to the use of natural ventilation in Portuguese urban housing stock. The need of ventilation, the requirements defined in a new Portuguese standard and the proposed design rules are described. In order to assess the goodness of such design rules, a research project is being carried out at an apartment in Matosinhos. The experimental results are shown and compared with the requirements. Tests showed that the design of natural ventilation system may insure the desired flow rates to keep acceptable indoor conditions. Gas appliances when activated have not strong influence in indoor conditions. Gas appliances when working increase the ventilation rate of the dwelling.