Thermal Comfort Assessment Of Buildings

A number of metrics for assessing human thermal response to climatic conditions have been proposed in scientific literature over the last decades. They aim at describing human thermal perception of the thermal environment to which an individual or a group of people is exposed. More recently, a new type of “discomfort index” has been proposed for describing, in a synthetic way, long-term phenomena. Starting from a systematic review of a number of long-term global discomfort indices, they are then contrasted and compared on a reference case study in order to identify their similarities and differences and strengths and weaknesses. Based on this analysis, a new short-term local discomfort index is proposed for the American Adaptive comfort model. Finally, a new and reliable long-term general discomfort index is presented. It is delivered in three versions and each of them is suitable to be respectively coupled with the Fanger, the European Adaptive and the American Adaptive comfort models.

Almost half of the total energy produced in the developed world is inefficiently used to heat, cool, ventilate and control humidity in buildings, to meet the increasingly high thermal comfort levels demanded by occupants. The utilisation of advanced materials and passive technologies in buildings would substantially reduce the energy demand and improve the environmental impact and carbon footprint of building stock worldwide. Materials for energy efficiency and thermal comfort in buildings critically reviews the advanced building materials applicable for improving the built environment. Part one reviews both fundamental building physics and occupant comfort in buildings, from heat and mass transport, hygrothermal behaviour, and ventilation, on to thermal comfort and health and safety requirements. Part two details the development of advanced materials and sustainable technologies for application in buildings, beginning with a review of lifecycle assessment and environmental profiling of materials. The section moves on to review thermal insulation materials, materials for heat and moisture control, and heat energy storage and passive cooling technologies. Part two concludes with coverage of modern methods of construction, roofing design and technology, and benchmarking of façades for optimised building thermal performance. Finally, Part three reviews the application of advanced materials, design and technologies in a range of existing and new building types, including domestic, commercial and high-performance buildings, and buildings in hot and tropical climates. This book is of particular use to, mechanical, electrical and HVAC engineers, architects and low-energy building practitioners worldwide, as well as to academics and researchers in the fields of building physics, civil and building engineering, and materials science. Explores improving energy efficiency and thermal comfort through material selection and sustainable technologies Documents the development of advanced materials and sustainable technologies for applications in building design and construction Examines fundamental building physics and occupant comfort in buildings featuring heat and mass transport, hygrothermal behaviour and ventilation

Prepared by the Task Committee on Outdoor Human Comfort of the Aerodynamics Committee of the Aerospace Division of ASCE This report describes state-of-the-art methods for assessing and improving outdoor human comfort. Factors affecting outdoor comfort are wind, air temperature, humidity, sun, and precipitation. Wind, in particular, is greatly affected by large buildings, and many modern developments are wind-tunnel tested to examine how wind flows around new buildings will affect pedestrians. This report discusses testing methods and criteria for assessing comfort and safety. Criteria are expressed in terms of both threshold wind speeds for discomfort and also the percentage of time that conditions should be below those thresholds. Historically, wind and its mechanical effects?such as picking up dust, impairing balance, or blowing people over?were the factors receiving the most attention. More recently, however, methods have been developed to address other factors, such as solar radiation, air temperature, and humidity. Topics include: elements of the microclimate; methods of determining wind conditions; wind criteria and control measures; and assessing thermal comfort.

This book highlights the importance of outdoor thermal comfort for improving urban living quality in the context of urban planning and urban geometry design. It introduces readers to a range of assessment methods and applications of outdoor thermal comfort and addresses urban geometry and thermal environment at the neighbourhood scale using real-world examples and parametric studies. In addition, the subjective evaluations by urban dwellers and numerical modelling tools introduced in this book provide not only a comprehensive assessment of outdoor thermal comfort but also an integrated approach to using thermal comfort indicators as a standard in high-density cities. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable guide for urban climate researchers, urban planners, and designers, and policymakers pursuing more liveable urban environments.

The fundamental function of buildings is to provide safe and healthy shelter. For the fortunate they also provide comfort and delight. In the twentieth century comfort became a 'product' produced by machines and run on cheap energy. In a world where fossil fuels are becoming ever scarcer and more expensive, and the climate more extreme, the challenge of designing comfortable buildings today requires a new approach. This timely book is the first in a trilogy from leaders in the field which will provide just that. It explains, in a clear and comprehensible manner, how we stay comfortable by using our bodies, minds, buildings and their systems to adapt to indoor and outdoor conditions which change with the weather and the climate. The book is in two sections. The first introduces the principles on which the theory of adaptive thermal comfort is based. The second explains how to use field studies to measure thermal comfort in practice and to analyze the data gathered. Architects have gradually passed responsibility for building performance to service engineers who are largely trained to see comfort as the ‘product’, designed using simplistic comfort models. The result has contributed to a shift to buildings that use ever more energy. A growing international consensus now calls for low-energy buildings. This means designers must first produce robust, passive structures that provide occupants with many opportunities to make changes to suit their environmental needs. Ventilation using free, natural energy should be preferred and mechanical conditioning only used when the climate demands it. This book outlines the theory of adaptive thermal comfort that is essential to understand and inform such building designs. This book should be required reading for all students, teachers and practitioners of architecture, building engineering and management – for all who have a role in producing, and occupying, twenty-first century adaptive, low-carbon, comfortable buildings.

There has been widespread dissatisfaction with accepted models for predicting the conditions that people will find thermally comfortable in buildings. These models require knowledge about clothing and activity, but can give little guidance on how to quantify them in any future situation. This has forced designers to make assumptions about people’s future behaviour based on very little information and, as a result, encouraged static design indoor temperatures. This book is the second in a three volume set covering all aspects of Adaptive Thermal Comfort. The first part narrates the development of the adaptive approach to thermal comfort from its early beginnings in the 1960s. It discusses recent work in the field and suggests ways in which it can be developed and modelled. Such models can be used to set dynamic, interactive standards for thermal comfort which will help overcome the problems inherited from the past. The second part of the volume engages with the practical and theoretical problems encountered in field studies and in their statistical analysis, providing guidance towards their resolution, so that valid conclusions may be drawn from such studies.

This book is structured in four parts: First, it analyzes the sustainability objectives established for the building stock and the importance of thermal comfort in this aspect. Second, the existing adaptive thermal comfort models and the main energy-saving measures associated with these models are analyzed. Third, the energy savings obtained with these measures are analyzed in several case studies, comparing the results obtained with other energy conservation measures, such as the improvement of the façade. The analysis is carried out from an energy and economic perspective. Finally, a decision‐making process based on fuzzy logic is established. As an expected result, the content of the book contributes to assist architects in designing more efficient buildings from the perspective of user behavior.

Current Standards for Indoor Air Temperature are inappropriate in many regions of the world. This forces designers to use highly serviced buildings to achieve air temperatures that accord with the standards to the detriment of the local and global environment. Standards for Thermal Comfort brings together contributions from around the world, reflecting new approaches to the setting of standards which can apply to all climates and cultures.