Efficiency of night ventilation in limiting the overheating of passive sports hall

Cracow University of Technology, Chair of Building Design and Building Physics, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Warszawska 24, 31-155 Cracow, Poland

^* Corresponding author: tkisilew@pk.edu.pl

Abstract

It is especially difficult to provide optimal microclimatic conditions in sports facilities during summer time. The internal heat gains and an airtight building insulation, combined with high external temperature can easily lead to overheating and upsetting of the body's thermal balance. This article focuses primarily on the effect of natural night ventilation on the thermal comfort in a passive sports hall building. Based on experimental studies of thermal conditions in the hall, a simulation model was made using the Design Builder program. Through simulation analysis, the program considered thermal conditions that arise in various scenarios of natural and mechanical ventilation. Results presented in this article show that the natural ventilation at night in a large volume building is the most effective and the easiest way to reduce overheating in summer.