This paper proposes an index for expressing the ventilation characteristics of an entire house to assist in ventilation design. The overall ventilation rate fulfillment (OVRF) index determines supply/exhaust rates with respect to design goals and to their balance in a multi-room house. The authors used the index to evaluate various ventilation systems using experimental results presented in a companion paper, which demonstrated satisfactory application. The index can represent the degree of fulfillment of the projected ventilation of an entire house. It enables easy determination of the effective operating range of ventilation systems under various conditions, including the airtightness of the house and external conditions. Future study will include qualitative evaluation and development of more accurate measuring methods on site.

Units: SI