Since the energy crisis in 1973, engineers have endeavoured to implement energy conservation in buildings. Unfortunately, the effort resulted in energy savings without the fundamental delivery of indoor satisfaction in many cases. In this study, a benchmarking model for the energy consumption of ventilation systems in air-conditioned offices was proposed. This model was developed from the fundamental psychrometric analysis under probable office design conditions in Hong Kong. The results showed that the annual energy-consumption of a ventilation system per unit floor area would be correlated closely with the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the space, but its correlation with the air temperature set-point would be less significant. In some offices, significant energy-savings potential was demonstrated to provide satisfactory indoor air quality (IAQ) without any comfort penalty to the occupants. This model would be useful for the energy performance evaluation and benchmarking of ventilation systems in air-conditioned offices. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.