The history of ventilation

Throughout evolution, humans have continued to create solutions to either adapt to their existing environments or make changes to improve them.

Animals are engineers

Nature is really surprising! Some animals are so creative and skilful that they even inspire engineers when designing and constructing.

Animals as environmental engineers

All living creatures use shelters to protect themselves from predators. And also to keep them safe inside their shelters.

Beavers and their lodges are usually in upper areas of rivers and made of mud, stones and branches, with underground entrances.
Spider species make different types of webs with varying functions, high strength and resistance, and are biodegradable.

Animals as ventilation engineers

Did you know that the first and most robust ventilation designs may probably be credited to the builders of the insect world?

Bee colonies use wing power to regulate pollutants and airflows in their hives.
Termites build tall mounds that are highly engineered to use wind-driven ventilation, airflow, and thermal mass to maintain comfort.

The firsts for improving the indoor climate

First for air quality

The earliest human-related indoor air quality problem may have been caused by the discovery of fire and the subsequent use of fires inside stone-age dwellings.

First for ventilative cooling

Ventilative cooling has long been used as a means to remove excess heat from buildings, bring in cooler air (where the outside air was cooler), and move the air fast enough to remove heat, cool the room, the person, and aid the body's natural cooling mechanisms.

First for building standards

In 1631, concluding that indoor conditions were causing health problems, King Charles I decreed that the ceilings in houses in England must be 10 feet or higher and that windows must be higher than their width to allow for natural ventilation. Note that 10 feet equals approximately 3 meters.

Ventus! Ventilatio! Ventilation!

Some important milestones

1. Fire moves inside

The history of ventilation begins 1,5 million years ago when early humans began using campfires. At some point, the campfire was brought inside caves and huts. The oldest arrangement was a central fire and a central roof opening for smoke to escape. Later, the fire was moved to different parts of a dwelling, and various schemes were tried to improve the efficiency of the fire by using stones.

2. Heat, ventilative cooling and stack ventilation

Ancient societies and architectural approaches included creative and innovative ways of keeping out, keeping in and getting rid of heat. Ventilative cooling has long been used to remove excess heat from buildings, bring in cooler air (where the outside air was cooler), and move the air fast enough to remove heat, cool the room, and aid the body’s natural cooling mechanisms. Ancient Egyptians developed handheld fans to move air. Some of the earliest buildings of the Minoan period show sophisticated designs for passive ventilative cooling, one of which was through the use of building height and wind towers to induce stack ventilation.

3. The first underfloor heating

The Romans (3rd century BC) developed the first underfloor heating, known as the hypocaust heating system. Combining ventilation with combustion made the indoor climate in their palaces and spas comfortable. These systems were initially used to heat public baths and then modified to heat more prominent buildings. The hypocaust was a precursor to the heating and ventilation systems integrated into buildings in the late 1800s.

4. The fireplace and chimney

Origin of the word ventilation

The word 'ventilation' comes from the Latin ventilatio, in turn from ventus meaning wind, which was described in 1660 as a process to 'replace poor air in an enclosed space with new and clean air'.

It was also used early on to mean 'breathing', i.e. the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our lungs. The term was thus used to describe a process that was liberating, cleansing and necessary.

The Middle Ages

MEDIEVAL CHURCHES WITH HIGH CEILINGS

In buildings with very high ceilings, especially in churches, there is an enormous volume of air, taking a long time before it becomes polluted, longer than needed for a church service. In this case, warm polluted air would rise up towards the roof to be released at a great height through openings in the bell or clock tower.

1736

HAND-DRIVEN WOODEN FANS IN THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT

A manually cranked wooden fan (then known as the 'blowing wheel') just over two metres in diameter and similar to those proposed by Agricola in his book in 1556 was installed in the House of Commons in London. This innovation immediately improved the air quality, as previous solutions only comprised a fire-driven set-up. Its inventor, John Desaguilers, called the men who operated the fan 'ventilators', and it is reported that the wooden fan was in operation for at least 50 years.

1835

PURIFIED SUPPLY AIR HEATED IN WINTER AND COOLED IN SUMMER

This innovation is given a more thorough account than others, as it embraces such a large part of the technical development in the field. The Houses of Parliament in London was fitted with an innovative fire-driven ventilation system that removed the polluted indoor air through hatches in the ceiling of the debating chamber. This airflow created an under-pressure, drawing in outdoor air from the old palace gardens, where the air was considered reasonably clean. It was then led to a space underneath the chamber where it could be purified, heated, cooled and humidified.

The 1920s

AIR CONDITIONING UNITS BECOME COMMON IN THE USA

After the tremendous breakthrough of electricity at the beginning of the 1900s, electrically powered equipment began to be installed on a grand scale, especially in the USA, where it became commonplace in industrial plants, hotels, theatres and cinemas. It is said that a contributing factor to the rise of the American film industry was the fact that cinemas could offer a few hours of relaxation in a pleasantly cool venue.

The Present

MECHANICAL SUPPLY AND EXTRACT AIR SYSTEM WITH HEAT RECOVERY

In numerous countries worldwide, especially in cold winter climates, installing mechanical supply and extract air systems with heat recovery (MVHR systems) is now taken for granted when constructing residential and non-residential buildings. The enormous housing volumes built in the decades after the Second World War are now due for extensive renovation. In many of these buildings, it has been estimated that it will be cost-effective to convert to MVHR systems if installed at the same time as the renovation work is carried out.

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Important people in the history of ventilation

John Griscom (1774-1852)

A New York surgeon vividly described the need for fresh air and pointed out bedrooms and dormitories as the worst where: 'deficient ventilation ...(is) more fatal than all other causes put together'.

Max Joseph von Pettenkofer (1818-1901)

The first professor in hygiene in Munich — noted that the unpleasant sensations of stale air were not due merely to warmth or humidity or CO₂ or oxygen deficiency, but rather to the presence of trace quantities of organic material exhaled from the skin and the lungs.

He stated that 'bad' indoor air did not necessarily make people sick but that such air weakened the human resistance against agents causing illness. Pettenkofer stated that air was not fit for breathing if the CO₂ concentration (with people as the source) was above 1,000 ppm and that good indoor air in rooms where people stay for a long time should not exceed 700 ppm, to keep the people comfortable.

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)

Possibly the most complete overview of the relationship between indoor environment health was Florence Nightingale. She was a 'nurse & structural engineer'.

Nightingale wrote the first modern handbook for the nursing of sick 'Notes on Nursing, What It Is, and What It Is Not'. In her foreword she wrote that her book was meant as 'tips for women who are personally responsible for the health of others'.

Elias Heyman (1829–1889)

The first Swedish professor in hygiene at the Karolinska Institute conducted an extensive study in Stockholm of schools with different ventilation systems, including measurements of CO₂.

In schools without any measures for ventilation, he measured concentrations of CO₂ up to and over 5,000 ppm. In contrast, he typically measured maximum concentrations of between 1,500 and 3,000 ppm in schools with some ventilation.

Willis Carrier (1876–1950)

Known as the inventor (or father) of modern air-conditioning. Carrier designed his first system in 1902 to control temperature and humidity in a printing plant in Brooklyn (New York, USA).

Since then, air conditioning has been defined as a system with four basic functions: temperature regulation, humidity control, air circulation and/or ventilation and air purification (filtration).

Povl Ole Fanger (1934–2006)

A well-known and influential researcher in the 1960s working in the field of thermal comfort. Fanger focused on the relationship between the physical parameters of the environment, the physiological parameters of people and the perception of comfort expressed by people themselves.

In 1970, he published his dissertation 'Thermal Comfort', which defined a new discipline: the study of the condition of comfort and well-being in indoor environments. Compared to previous studies, the conceptual leap introduced by Fanger is the introduction of the judgment scale by people themselves.

Ventilation requirements within a historical context

Historically, humans have always focused on living in good conditions — where they feel safe and comfortable and can lead good and healthy lives.

The first quantitative ventilation recommendation was made by Tregold in 1836 and focussed primarily on the dilution of carbon dioxide. Over the next half century, the steady rise of ventilation recommendations was put in place due to the need to reduce contagions (mainly tuberculosis).
After the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, improvements in hygiene reduced the need for high ventilation rates, and the rationale shifted towards comfort but not reducing exposure to toxic pollutants.
The energy crisis in the last century shifted the focus even more on energy consumption — but only for a short period because of the emergence of building-related illnesses.
In the 21st century, the focus has turned again towards health and even extended towards well-being and sustainability.

Throughout history, the ventilation rates have changed from around 2.5 to nearly 30 l/s per person — which is by a factor of 15.

Image source: Li, 2013.

Note: Image was adapted.

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