Abstract The displacement ventilation and chilled ceiling (DVCC) is a promising technique for the design of comfortable and energy saving ventilation and air conditioning system. However, dew condensation on the chilled ceiling is a main disadvantage for the application of DVCC system. In this paper, the variation of temperature and humidity in the room with DVCC system is numerically studied. A two-step approach is proposed to solve the issue of dew condensation. The independent operation time of displacement ventilation before running the chilled ceiling is discussed. The results will provide an insight for solving the issue of dew condensation on the chiller ceiling of DVCC system.