Neutral temperature in subtropical climates—A field survey in air-conditioned offices

The thermal environment for air-conditioned offices in subtropical climates is examined from the prospect of maintaining an optimum operative temperature for the occupants. In this study, the optimum neutral temperature is evaluated from 422 occupants’ responses towards the perceiving thermal environment in 61 air-conditioned offices and 186 complaints of thermal discomfort in an air-conditioned office building on an electronic questionnaire, using a semantic differential evaluation scale and a dichotomous assessment scale. In particular, physical parameters for the thermal comfort study were measured by an indoor environmental quality (IEQ) logger, and the operative temperature was correlated with the occupants’ thermal responses. The probability of accepting an operative temperature for the thermal comfort of the occupants was correlated with logistic regression curves; the optimum operative temperature was derived in order to maximize the probability of thermal comfort expressed by the occupants. The results showed that the thermal neutral temperatures for air-conditioned offices in subtropical climates were 23.6 and 21.4 °C in summer and winter, respectively. The preferred thermal environment in Hong Kong should be slightly cool, corresponding to about 1 °C below the neutral temperature, in order to satisfy most of the occupants in the office space.     

上海地区适应性热舒适研究

为研究上海地区人体热感觉和适应性热舒适现状,通过环境参数测量和问卷调查结合的方式来分析和探讨室内外气候条件、服装热阻、热感觉等关系。本文主要涉及自然通风建筑内人体热感觉和热中性温度随季节变化的关系。结果表明:在适应性热舒适研究中,人体中性温度与室外环境温度具有较强的相关性,得到的上海地区适应性热舒适模型可为适合我国自身特点的热舒适研究提供依据。     

An investigation into thermal comfort in the summer season of Ghadames,Libya

This paper reviews the results from a field survey of thermal comfort within two types of buildings; old (traditional) and new (contemporary), in Ghadames oasis in Libya. The survey was undertaken in the summer seasons 1997 and 1998, which were typical of the hot–dry climate of North Africa. It shows how the 237 residents responded to the environmental conditions. Questionnaires were collected from the residents of 51 buildings: 24 old buildings that employ natural ventilation systems with courtyards and 27 new buildings that employ air-conditioning systems. In addition the environmental parameters were measured in 11 buildings (5 old, 6 new) representing 50 subjects, to calculate the predicted mean vote value of the subject using Fanger’s model as presented in ISO 7730 standard 1995. The survey has shown that the measurements of predicted mean vote (PMV) in new air-conditioned buildings provide satisfactory comfort conditions according to ISO 7730 and the occupants agree by indicating a satisfactory actual mean vote (AMV). The equivalent measurements and survey results in old traditional buildings indicated that although the PMV, based on measurements and ISO 7730, implied discomfort (hot), the occupants expressed their thermal satisfaction with the indoor comfort conditions. The field study also investigated occupants’ overall impression of the indoor thermal environments; the results suggest that people have an overall impression of higher standard of thermal comfort in old buildings than in new buildings.     

Thermal comfort assessment and application of radiant cooling: A case study

A field assessment of thermal comfort was conducted at Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, situated in the subtropical region of Pakistan. The results show that people of the area were feeling thermally comfortable at effective temperature of 29.85 °C (operative temperature 29.3 °C). A comparison of this neutral effective temperature was made with the neutral effective temperature determined from adaptive models. It is found that the neutral effective temperature determined during this study closely match that of the adaptive model based on either indoor temperature or both indoor and outdoor temperatures. The results of thermal acceptability assessment show that more than 80% of occupants were satisfied at an effective temperature of 32.5 °C, which is 6.5 °C above the upper boundary of ASHRAE thermal comfort zone. Naturally ventilated classrooms and air-conditioned offices of the University were simulated using TRNSYS system simulation program for two cases, once when conventional air-conditioning is used for providing thermal comfort, and when comfort is achieved through radiant cooling. In the simulation, cooling tower was used to regenerate cooling water for the radiant cooling system. Energy consumption was estimated from simulation of both cases. The results show that it is possible to achieve thermal comfort for most of the time of the year through the use of radiant cooling without a risk of condensation of moisture from air on the radiant cooling surfaces. A comparison of the energy consumption estimates show that savings of 80% is possible in case thermal comfort is achieved through radiant cooling instead of conventional air-conditioning.     

Additive model for thermal comfort generated by matrix experiment using orthogonal array

In addition to ensuring the thermal comfort of occupants, monitoring and controlling indoor thermal environments can reduce the energy consumed by air conditioning systems. This study develops an additive model for predicting thermal comfort with rapid and simple arithmetic calculations. The advantage of the additive model is its comprehensibility to administrators of air conditioning systems, who are unfamiliar with the PMV–PPD model but want to adjust an indoor environment to save energy without generating complaints of discomfort from occupants. In order to generate the additive model, a laboratory chamber experiment based on matrix experiment using orthogonal array, was performed. By applying the analysis of variance on observed thermal sensation votes and percentage of dissatisfaction, the factor effects of environmental variables that account for the additive model were determined. Additionally, the applicability of the PMV–PPD model in hot and humid climates is discussed in this study, based on experimental results.     

Long-term field survey on thermal adaptation in office buildings in Japan

A long-term field survey was conducted with six buildings in order to investigate how the occupants adapt to the indoor climate in office buildings in Japan. More than 5000 questionnaires and corresponding indoor temperatures were collected. Clothing adjustment was observed to be related to outdoor temperature and indoor temperature, as well as dress codes. No considerable differences were found on the thermal perceptions between two groups of buildings, which provided different levels of opportunity for controlling indoor climate. With both groups, the preferred SET* was always close to 26 °C. The comfort temperature was estimated from the results of clothing adjustment and the preferred SET*. The gradient of the comfort temperature to outdoor temperature was found to be between the adaptive model for centralized HVAC and for natural ventilation. It could be caused by that the major part of the occupants in the present study had more opportunity to control their thermal conditions than in the centralized HVAC buildings (i.e. operable windows, controllable HVAC or personal fans).     

Numerical investigation of local thermal discomfort in offices with displacement ventilation

Local thermal discomfort in offices with displacement ventilation is investigated using computational fluid dynamics. The standard κ-ϵ turbulence model is used for the prediction of indoor air flow patterns, temperature and moisture distributions, taking account of heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation. The thermal comfort level and draught risk are predicted by incorporating Fanger's comfort equations in the airflow model. It has been found that for sedentary occupants with summer clothing common complaints of discomfort in offices ventilated with displacement systems result more often from an unsatisfactory thermal sensation level than from draught alone. It is shown that thermal discomfort in the displacement-ventilated offices can be avoided by optimizing the supply air velocity and temperature. It is also shown that optimal supply air conditions of a displacement system depend on the distance between the occupant and air diffuser.     

Field study of a thermal environment and adaptive model in Shanghai

A long-term field investigation was carried out in naturally ventilated residential buildings in Shanghai from April 2003 to November 2004. A total of 1,768 returned questionnaires were collected in the study. This study deals with the thermal sensation of occupants in naturally ventilated buildings and the change in thermal neutral temperature with season. The range of accepted temperature in naturally ventilated buildings is between 14.7 degrees C T(op) and 29.8 degrees C T(op). The results also report the findings of the adaptive comfort model in Shanghai that determines the adaptive relationship of neutral temperature with outdoor air temperature. A long-term field study was carried out in residential buildings in Shanghai to find the relationship between thermal sensation, indoor neutral temperature and outdoor temperature. This paper presents findings of thermal comfort and discusses the more sustainable standard for the indoor climate of residential buildings in Shanghai.     

Adaptive-rational thermal comfort model: Adaptive predicted mean vote with variable adaptive coefficient

Thermal adaptations, as feedbacks of occupants to physical stimuli, extend thermal comfort zone thereby reducing building energy consumption effectively. The rational approach models thermal comfort from the perspective of the body's heat balance, but is limited in explaining the thermal adaptations. The adaptive approach of modeling thermal comfort can fully account for the thermal adaptations, but ignores the body's heat balance. To improve thermal comfort prediction, this study proposes an adaptive-rational thermal comfort model, that is, an adaptive predicted mean vote with a variable adaptive coefficient (termed as arPMV). By linearly linking the negative feedback effects of the thermal adaptations to the ambient temperature according to the adaptive approach, the variable adaptive coefficient is linearly related to the reciprocal of the ambient temperature with two constants. The variable adaptive coefficient is determined by explicitly quantifying the two constants as the functions of the predicted mean vote, thermal sensation vote, and ambient temperature. The proposed arPMV is validated for naturally ventilated, air-conditioned, and mixed-mode buildings, with the mean absolute error and the robustness of the thermal sensation prediction reduced by 24.8%-83.5% and improved by 49.7%-83.4%, respectively.     

Parametric study on the performance of green residential buildings in China

The parametric study of the indoor environment of green buildings focuses on the quantitative and qualitative improvement of residential building construction in China and the achievement of indoor thermal comfort at a low level of energy use. This study examines the effect of the adaptive thermal comfort of indoor environment control in hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) zones. This work is based on a field study of the regional thermal assessment of two typical cases, the results of which are compared with simulated results of various scenarios of “energy efficiency” strategy and “healthy housing” environmental control. First, the simulated results show that the adaptive thermal comfort of indoor environment control is actually balanced in terms of occupancy, comfort, and energy efficiency. Second, adaptive thermal comfort control can save more energy for heating or cooling than other current healthy housing environmental controls in China's HSCW zone. Moreover, a large proportion of energy use is based on the subjective thermal comfort demand of occupants in any building type. Third, the building shape coefficient cannot dominate energy savings. The ratio of the superficial area of a building to the actual indoor floor area has a significant positive correlation with and affects the efficiency of building thermal performance.     

Developing an adaptive control algorithm for Europe

An adaptive control algorithm (ACA) has been developed as an alternative to fixed temperature setpoint controls within buildings. This paper describes both the theory behind the ACA and the findings from an EU-funded research project, smart controls and thermal comfort (SCATs), from which the form of the ACA was developed. The ACA was also tested in two air-conditioned buildings as part of the SCATs project and the results are presented. The results show that use of the ACA has potential for energy savings in the climate-control services of a building with no reduction in the perceived thermal comfort levels of that building’s occupants. Further refinement and testing of the ACA is required before it can be marketed.     

Comparison of thermal comfort algorithms in naturally ventilated office buildings

With the actual environmental issues of energy savings in buildings, there are more efforts to prevent any increase in energy use associated with installing air-conditioning systems. The actual standard of thermal comfort in buildings ISO 7730 is based on static model that is acceptable in air-conditioned buildings, but unreliable for the case of naturally ventilated buildings. The different field studies have shown that occupants of naturally ventilated buildings accept and prefer a significantly wider range of temperatures compared to occupants of air-conditioned buildings. The results of these field studies have contributed to develop the adaptive approach. Adaptive comfort algorithms have been integrated in EN15251 and ASHRAE standards to take into account the adaptive approach in naturally ventilated buildings. These adaptive algorithms seem to be more efficient for naturally ventilated buildings, but need to be assessed in field studies. This paper evaluates different algorithms from both static and adaptive approach in naturally ventilated buildings across a field survey that has been conducted in France in five naturally ventilated office buildings. The paper presents the methodology guidelines, and the thermal comfort algorithms considered. The results of application of different algorithms are provided with a comparative analysis to assess the applied algorithms.     

Literature survey on how different factors influence human comfort in indoor environments

The present paper shows the results of a literature survey aimed at exploring how the indoor environment in buildings affects human comfort. The survey was made to gather data that can be useful when new concepts of controlling the indoor environment are developed. The following indoor environmental conditions influencing comfort in the built environment were surveyed: thermal, visual and acoustic, as well as air quality. The literature was surveyed to determine which of these conditions were ranked by building users as being the most important determinants of comfort. The survey also examined the extent to which other factors unrelated to the indoor environment, such as individual characteristics of building occupants, building-related factors and outdoor climate including seasonal changes, influence whether the indoor environment is evaluated as comfortable or not. The results suggest that when developing systems for controlling the indoor environment, the type of building and outdoor climate, including season, should be taken into account. Providing occupants with the possibility to control the indoor environment improves thermal and visual comfort as well as satisfaction with the air quality. Thermal comfort is ranked by building occupants to be of greater importance compared with visual and acoustic comfort and good air quality. It also seems to influence to a higher degree the overall satisfaction with indoor environmental quality compared with the impact of other indoor environmental conditions.     

Evidence base prioritisation of indoor comfort perceptions in Malaysian typical multi-storey hostels

This study focuses on assessing the effects of the indoor climate in typical multi-storey hostels in Malaysia on student occupants through objective, subjective and evidence based prioritisation measurements. The objective measurements consisted of operative temperature; daylight ratio; luminance and indoor noise level. The subjective measurements were sampled from the student occupants' thermal, visual, acoustics and overall indoor comfort votes. The prioritisation measurement using Multiple Linear Regression and Friedman Tests assessed the relationship between physical indoor thermal, visual and acoustics conditions and students' overall indoor comfort perception vote. Findings suggest that subjective sensor ratings were significantly more reliable than objective measurements at predicting overall indoor comfort. Moreover, students living in hostel rooms with projected balconies voted that they were more satisfied with their indoor condition than the ones living in rooms without projected balconies. The results of this study also provide evidence that student occupants were more concerned with their rooms' thermal condition then followed by acoustics and finally visual conditions.     

Thermal comfort in air-conditioned mosques in the dry desert climate

In Kuwait, as in most countries with a typical dry desert climate, the summer season is long with a mean daily maximum temperature of 45 °C. Centralized air-conditioning, which is generally deployed from the beginning of April to the end of October, can have tremendous impact on the amount of electrical energy utilized to mechanically control the internal environment in mosque buildings. The indoor air temperature settings for all types of air-conditioned buildings and mosque buildings in particular, are often calculated based on the analytical model of ASHRAE 55-2004 and ISO 7730. However, a field study was conducted in six air-conditioned mosque buildings during the summers of 2007 to investigate indoor climate and prayers thermal comfort in state of Kuwait. The paper presents statistical data about the indoor environmental conditions in Kuwait mosque buildings, together with an analysis of prayer thermal comfort sensations for a total of 140 subjects providing 140 sets of physical measurements and subjective questionnaires were used to collect data. Results show that the neutral temperature (T_n) of the prayers is found to be 26.1 °C, while that for PMV is 23.3 °C. Discrepancy of these values is in fact about 2.8 °C higher than those predicted by PMV model. Therefore, thermal comfort temperature in Kuwait cannot directly correlate with ISO 7730 and ASHRAE 55-2004 standards. Findings from this study should be considered when designing air conditioning for mosque buildings. This knowledge can contribute towards the development of future energy-related design codes for Kuwait.     

Thermal comfort for naturally ventilated residential buildings in Harbin

This field study was conducted during summer 2009 in Harbin, northeast of China in order to investigate human responses to the thermal conditions in naturally ventilated residential buildings in cold climate. We visited 257 families in six residential communities and collected 423 sets of physical data and subjective questionnaires. The neutral temperature is 23.7 °C, with the clothing insulation of 0.54 clo. The neutral temperature in Harbin is lower than neutral temperatures in warm climates by others, which is in accordance with the thermal adaptive model. 80% of the occupants can accept the air temperature range of 21.5-31.0 °C, which is wider than the summer comfort temperature limits by the adaptive model. The preferred temperature range fell between 24.0 °C and 28.0 °C. About 57.9% of the subjects voted “no change” with the humid range of 40% and 70%. 61.5% of the occupants voted “no change” with the air velocity within the range of 0.05-0.30 m/s. In summer, occupants preferred air velocity of lower than 0.25 m/s even at higher indoor temperature, which is different from the other field studies. The Harbin occupants in naturally ventilated dwellings can achieve thermal comfort by operable windows instead of running air-conditioners.     

Combined thermal acceptability and air movement assessments in a hot humid climate

In the ASHRAE comfort database [1], underpinning the North American naturally ventilated adaptive comfort standard [2], the mean indoor air velocity associated with 90% thermal acceptability was relatively low, rarely exceeding 0.3 m/s. Post hoc studies of this database showed that the main complaint related to air movement was a preference for ‘more air movement’ 3 and 4. These observations suggest the potential to shift thermal acceptability to even higher operative temperature values, if higher air speeds are available. If that were the case, would it be reasonable to expect temperature and air movement acceptability levels at 90%? This paper focuses on this question and combines thermal and air movement acceptability percentages in order to assess occupants. Two field experiments took place in naturally ventilated buildings located on Brazil’s North-East. The fundamental feature of this research design is the proximity of the indoor climate observations with corresponding comfort questionnaire responses from the occupants. Almost 90% thermal acceptability was found within the predictions of the ASHRAE adaptive comfort standard and yet occupants required ‘more air velocity’. Minimum air velocity values were found in order to achieve 90% of thermal and air movement acceptability. From 24 to 27 °C the minimum air velocity for thermal and air movement acceptability is 0.4 m/s; from 27 to 29 °C is 0.41–0.8 m/s, and from 29 to 31 °C is >0.81 m/s. These results highlight the necessity of combining thermal and air movement acceptability in order to assess occupants’ perception of their indoor thermal environment in hot humid climates.     

Forty years of Fanger’s model of thermal comfort: comfort for all?

The predicted mean vote (PMV) model of thermal comfort, created by Fanger in the late 1960s, is used worldwide to assess thermal comfort. Fanger based his model on college-aged students for use in invariant environmental conditions in air-conditioned buildings in moderate thermal climate zones. Environmental engineering practice calls for a predictive method that is applicable to all types of people in any kind of building in every climate zone. In this publication, existing support and criticism, as well as modifications to the PMV model are discussed in light of the requirements by environmental engineering practice in the 21st century in order to move from a predicted mean vote to comfort for all. Improved prediction of thermal comfort can be achieved through improving the validity of the PMV model, better specification of the model's input parameters, and accounting for outdoor thermal conditions and special groups. The application range of the PMV model can be enlarged, for instance, by using the model to assess the effects of the thermal environment on productivity and behavior, and interactions with other indoor environmental parameters, and the use of information and communication technologies. Even with such modifications to thermal comfort evaluation, thermal comfort for all can only be achieved when occupants have effective control over their own thermal environment. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The paper treats the assessment of thermal comfort using the PMV model of Fanger, and deals with the strengths and limitations of this model. Readers are made familiar to some opportunities for use in the 21st-century information society.     

Personal heating: effectiveness and energy use

Buildings use approximately 40% of primary energy with most energy expended on the provision of a comfortable indoor climate. An extended range of indoor temperatures can significantly reduce the energy load. However, lower temperature set points for heating can cause thermal discomfort. Giving building occupants the option to warm themselves (e.g. a local source at their desk or workstation) can mitigate this discomfort by the provision of a personalized conditioning system. A model is presented to assess the performance of personalized heating and its impact on the whole building energy load. Researchers, designers and facility managers can use this model to compare performance and analyse energy savings. The total energy use of personalized heating is estimated by scaling its settings to the actual level of discomfort resulting from a lowered heating set point. This model is used to assess seven different personalized heating systems. Assessments reveal that personalized heating brings a remarkable energy-saving potential, while maintaining or even improving individually perceived thermal comfort. Assessments are based on an assumed linear relation between the power and level of increased thermal sensation. Future research in personalized conditioning systems should be directed towards the development of the full characteristics and specific settings.     

湖北山区农宅热环境及居民热舒适调查研究

基于2 171份来自湖北山区罗田县农宅冬、夏两季室内外热环境和热舒适问卷,真实再现了当地住宅室内冬季寒冷、夏季湿热的恶劣热环境和当地居民强大的热适应能力;并通过比较研究发现现有的自然通风状态热舒适评价模型在夏季能较好地预测当地农民的热舒适感受,而在冬季预测能力较低;当地农宅室内适应性热舒适区间与我国现行设计标准也较为吻合。