What is Structural Ventilation of the Building Envelope?
Structural Ventilation of the Building Envelope is a system that introduces continuously conditioned positively pressured air from a Dedicated Outdoor Air System into the interior habitable spaces of a structure to be exhausted into the building envelope and subsequently to the exterior. The exhausted air that flows into the building envelope, now free energy, conditions the cavities and regulates the building envelope temperature and humidity. Heat gain and loss through the building envelope are significantly reduced.
The primary benefits of the system are:
- Sick Building Syndrome is avoided
- Sickness from mold exposure is negated
- Mold in walls is essentially eliminated
- Mold in attics is essentially eliminated
- Mold in floors is essentially eliminated
- Mold remediation is history
Structural Ventilation allows:
- Conditioned outdoor air ventilation within the structure and within the building envelopes with temperature and humidity regulated for interior comfort.
- Negligible moisture accumulation within the building envelope such that the potentials for mold growth and material deterioration are significantly minimized.
- Improved hygrothermal resistance of the building envelope that results in reduced energy to operate the HVAC systems resulting in reduced costs.
What is Structural Ventilation of the Building Envelope?
In essence, the structure breathes conditioned outdoor air and so do the occupants.
Most conventional systems recirculate and filter interior air to adjust temperature; and rely on opening of doors and infiltration through the structure for outside air. This operation combined with the following result in Sick Building Syndrome:
- Conventional residential construction
- Airflow between conditioned and unconditioned spaces in the structure
- New Building Code regulations requiring structures to be more airtight
- New Building Code regulations requiring outside air supplied to the interior
- Materials with low permeances used in the building envelope
- Defects in the building envelope that admit and store moisture in the building envelope
- Defects in the mechanical systems that deliver inadequate or improperly conditioned air
The primary benefits of the system are:
- Sick Building Syndrome can be avoided
- Sickness from mold exposure can be avoided
- Mold in walls can be avoided
- Mold in attics can be avoided
- Mold in floors can be avoided
- Mold remediation is avoided
And utility bills are reduced.
Vacek LLC, formerly Vacek Group, is a Houston area structural and architectural engineering company established in 1994. The company offers years of experience to insurance companies, attorneys, architects and the private sector.
