Analysis on the impact of mean radiant temperature for the thermal comfort of underfloor air distribution systems

Despite the potentially significant advantages of underfloor air distribution (UFAD) systems, the shortcomings in fundamental understanding have impeded the use of UFAD systems. A study has been carried out on the thermal stratification which is crucial to system design, energy efficient operation and comfort performance of UFAD systems with an aim of examining impact of mean radiant temperature (MRT) on thermal comfort. Clear elucidation of the benefit of UFAD systems has been shown by comparing it to the traditional overhead air distribution systems. Keeping the same level of comfortable environment in the occupied zone, UFAD systems require much higher temperature of supply air, which represents significant energy savings. The benefit of UFAD systems is more pronounced at the condition of high ceiling height building. Considerable discrepancies in thermal comfort are found on the assumption that air temperature rather than MRT is used for the evaluation of PMV. However, more rigorous analysis including the full radiation simulation does not show any significant difference in PMV distribution. The result of the full radiation simulations requires much longer simulation time but gives similar air temperature distribution and only slightly higher averaged temperature than present approaches.     

Burden of disease attributable to air pollutants from municipal solid waste incinerators in Seoul, Korea: a source-specific approach for environmental burden of disease

Few studies have attempted to quantify the integrated health burden, incorporating both mortality and morbidity as these factors pertain to air pollutants, on the population in the vicinity of the incinerators. The aims of this study are to estimate the attributable burden of disease caused by incinerators in Seoul, Korea and to present an approach based on source-specific exposure for the estimation of the environmental burden of disease (EBD). With particular attention on the development of a measurement means of the source-specific, exposure-based population attributable fraction (PAF), we integrated air dispersion modeling, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the population distribution of exposure, and the exposure-response relationship. We then estimated the PAFs caused by additional concentrations of four air pollutants (PM₁₀, NO_2, SO₂, and CO) emitted from four municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs) in Seoul in 2007. We, finally, estimated the attributable burden of disease, using the estimated PAF and the disability-adjusted life years (DALY) method developed by the Global Burden of Disease Group of the World Health Organization (WHO).The PAF for NO₂ to all-cause mortality was assessed at approximately 0.02% (95% CI: 0.003-0.036%), which was the highest among all air pollutants. The PAFs for respiratory and cardiovascular disease were 0.12% (95% CI: 0.01-0.16%) and 0.10% (95% CI: 0.04-0.16%), respectively. The sum of the attributable burden of disease for four pollutants was about 297 person-years (PYs) (95% CI: 121-472 PYs) when the incinerators observed to the emission standards. The attributable burdens of respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease were about 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively, of the total burden of respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease of Seoul citizens for the year 2007. Although the air emissions from one risk factor, an incinerator, are small, the burden of disease can be significant to the public health when population exposure is considered.