Energy saving in child care centers by selecting ventilation solutions adjusted to specific solutions

Since 1995, the Danish Building Regulations have stipulated that child-care centres should be equipped with all-mechanical ventilation systems with both supply air and exhaust air. However, in recent years several buildings have been built where the ventilation requirements have been deviated from, without any systematic documentation of the consequences of such a decision. Therefore, this project will evaluate the performance of the ventilation systems in eight child-care centres, four of which have a natural ventilation system and four others a mechanical ventilation system. Comparative measurements of indoor climate and energy use will be performed in the child-care centres. Furthermore, the employees will be interviewed and the childrens' exposure and childrens' behaviour patterns will be registered. Indoor climate perspectives related to children of 0-6 years are especially emphasised. Subsequently, based on the results from the measurements, two of the childcare centres will be selected for detailed study through measurements and simulation. As a part of the project, the AAU (Aalborg University) will model the energy consumption and indoor climate for the selected child-care centres, using BSIM and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). The results of this project will help to reduce energy use for ventilation in child-care centres without compromising indoor air quality