Ventilation For Offices

Millions of offices and office buildings are provided with heating, air conditioning as well as ventilation systems. Heating and air conditioning are fairly straightforward processes while ventilation is more of a complex operation which is used to develop the quality of air inside the structure. Ventilation is a combination of circulation of the air inside the building in addition to introduction of outside air. Ventilation includes taking in outdoor air, mixing it with the indoor air, circulating this air through the building and releasing a portion of the inside air. If this process fails then there is a deterioration of the quality of the air e.g. excessive production of carbon dioxide, odors etc. This may cause the users to feel dizzy, drowsy, experience headaches, and hence work at lower efficiency levels.

Poor ventilation can result in sick building syndrome. This is caused when the air is polluted by single or multiple sources of pollutants and the polluted air keeps on circulating inside the building due to the lack of ventilation. The rate at which the indoor air is replaced by the outdoor air is specified. Good ventilation does not totally remove the indoor pollutants but succeeds in reducing the concentration of the pollutants. Even a well ventilated building can experience problems if the source of pollutants is strong. However if the source is near the exhaust the problems are decreased. It is favorable to have exhaust vents near such sources so that the overall exhaust systems required for the structure is reduced.

For proper ventilation it is necessary that proper air flow is maintained. If the route for air flow is blocked this will result in stagnation of air. The air supply vents should be placed away from the exhaust vents as they will cause the used air to reenter the building. The placement of the supply vents should be avoided in areas which are sources of pollutants.

They should not be placed near garbage bins, heavy traffic and parking areas or chimneys. An intermittent or minimum source of outside air will result in less expenditure to heat or cool the air but will lead to stagnation of the air inside the structure. Hence a continuous supply of air from the outside is required. The ventilation systems should be started a few hours before entry and should be closed only when the users have left.

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