On the Performance of Diffuse Ceiling Ventilation in Classrooms: A Pre-Occupancy Study at a School in Southern Sweden

Too-Chukwu Cyracus Ogbuagu (), Elisabet Linden, Douglas MacCutcheon, Erling Nilsson, Torbjorn Persson and Alan Kabanshi
Additional contact information
Too-Chukwu Cyracus Ogbuagu: Department of Building Engineering, Energy Systems and Sustainability Science, University of Gävle, Kungsbäcksvagen 47, 801 76 Gävle, Sweden
Elisabet Linden: Department of Building Engineering, Energy Systems and Sustainability Science, University of Gävle, Kungsbäcksvagen 47, 801 76 Gävle, Sweden
Douglas MacCutcheon: SG Ecophon AB, Box 500, 265 03 Hyllinge, Sweden
Erling Nilsson: SG Ecophon AB, Box 500, 265 03 Hyllinge, Sweden
Torbjorn Persson: SG Ecophon AB, Box 500, 265 03 Hyllinge, Sweden
Alan Kabanshi: Department of Building Engineering, Energy Systems and Sustainability Science, University of Gävle, Kungsbäcksvagen 47, 801 76 Gävle, Sweden

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: The implementation and application of diffused ceiling ventilation (DCV) is gradually gaining momentum, especially in Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands. In countries such as Sweden, the application is limited despite the favorable conditions for implementation. The current study investigates the performance of DCV and mixing ventilation in a pre-occupancy field study for newly renovated classrooms in Southern Sweden. Two classrooms at the school were installed with diffuse ceiling ventilation while the rest had mixing ventilation. The objective of the study was to compare and evaluate the ventilation performance in terms of indoor environmental quality parameters such as thermal comfort, air quality indexes, airflow, and temperature distribution. Pre-occupancy measurements were performed in two classrooms with similar room characteristics, with one room running under mixing ventilation and the other under DCV. Constant temperature anemometers, thermocouples, and INNOVA thermal comfort were used to measure the indoor air speeds, temperature, and thermal comfort, respectively. Tracer gas measurements, with SF 6 , were performed to assess air quality. Additionally acoustic measurements were conducted to assess the acoustic benefits of DCV on reducing ventilation noise. The results demonstrate that DCV offers similar indoor environmental conditions to mixing ventilation but has better acoustic performance especially on reducing the ventilation noise. Indoor environmental conditions were very homogeneous under DCV with mixing ventilation showing tendencies for short circuit ventilation. This study demonstrates that DCV has a potential for implementation in Swedish schools with minimal system modification on existing ventilation and air distribution systems.

Keywords: diffused ceiling ventilation; ventilation performance; indoor air quality; air distribution; classrooms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/3/2546/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/3/2546/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:3:p:2546-:d:1052631

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().