scholarly journals The Importance of Standardised Data-Collection Methods in the Improvement of Thermal Comfort Assessment Models for Developing Countries in the Tropics

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Rodriguez ◽  
María Coronado ◽  
Marta D’Alessandro ◽  
Juan Medina
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Comfort Levels ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Adaptive Behaviours ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Occupant Satisfaction

Thermal comfort in the built environment is one of the most defining parameters influencing energy use, environmental quality, and occupant satisfaction. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research in this area within developing countries, which are becoming increasingly urbanised and where mechanical air conditioning demands are rising. Many of these countries are adopting thermal comfort standards such as the ASHRAE Standard 55, the EN 15251, and the ISO 7730 to regulate the use of air-conditioning; even when these standards have been widely criticised for their inadequacy within geographical regions different to the ones that they were designed for. Research suggests the need to confirm these models through further post-occupancy studies and fieldwork. Deficiencies in data collection and methodologies are thought to require particular attention to develop algorithms that can predict thermal comfort levels accurately. Comprehensive strategies considering interrelated psychological, physiological and social factors are needed. This manuscript highlights gaps of research, specifically within tropical developing countries, through the analysis of Colombia as a case study. It emphasises the importance of standardised fieldwork data and gives examples of alternative collection systems. This aims to contribute to the understanding of occupant´s adaptive behaviours and their impact on the mitigation of climate change.

scholarly journals Overcooling of offices reveals gender inequity in thermal comfort

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Parkinson ◽  
Stefano Schiavon ◽  
Richard de Dear ◽  
Gail Brager
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Gender Inequity ◽  
End Use ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Survey Responses

AbstractGrowth in energy use for indoor cooling tripled between 1990 and 2016 to outpace any other end use in buildings. Part of this energy demand is wasted on excessive cooling of offices, a practice known as overcooling. Overcooling has been attributed to poorly designed or managed air-conditioning systems with thermostats that are often set below recommended comfort temperatures. Prior research has reported lower thermal comfort for women in office buildings, but there is insufficient evidence to explain the reasons for this disparity. We use two large and independent datasets from US buildings to show that office temperatures are less comfortable for women largely due to overcooling. Survey responses show that uncomfortable temperatures are more likely to be cold than hot regardless of season. Crowdsourced data suggests that overcooling is a common problem in warm weather in offices across the US. The associated impacts of this pervasive overcooling on well-being and performance are borne predominantly by women. The problem is likely to increase in the future due to growing demand for cooling in increasingly extreme climates. There is a need to rethink the approach to air-conditioning office buildings in light of this gender inequity caused by overcooling.

scholarly journals Improvement of the Performance Balance between Thermal Comfort and Energy Use for a Building Space in the Mid-Spring Season

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9667
Author(s):  
Jonghoon Ahn
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Learning Algorithm ◽  
Adaptive Controller ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Adaptive Model ◽  
Comfort Levels ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
High Consistency

In thermal controls in buildings, recent statistical and data-driven approaches to optimize supply air conditions have been examined in association with several types of building spaces and patterns of energy consumption. However, many strategies may have some problems where high-control precision may increase energy use, or low energy use in systems may decrease indoor thermal quality. This study investigates a neural network algorithm with an adaptive model on how to control the supply air conditions reflecting learned data. During the process, the adaptive model complements the signals from the network to independently maintain the comfort level within setting ranges. Although the proposed model effectively optimizes energy consumption and supply air conditions, it achieves quite improved comfort levels about 14% more efficient than comparison models. Consequently, it is confirmed that a network and learning algorithm equipped with an adaptive controller properly responds to users’ comfort levels and system’s energy consumption in a single space. The improved performance in space levels can be significant in places where many spaces are systematically connected, and in places which require a high consistency of indoor thermal comfort. Another advantage of the proposed model is that it properly reduces an increase in energy consumption despite an intensive strategy is utilized to improve thermal comfort.

An Assessment of Comfort Levels of Buildings with Shaded and Non-Shaded Windows in Warm Humid Climates

2013 ◽  
Vol 772 ◽  
pp. 835-838
Author(s):  
Odim O. Odim
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Environmental Design ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Central Tendency ◽  
Controlled Experiments ◽  
Energy Usage ◽  
Statistical Tools ◽  
Comfort Levels ◽  
Indoor Comfort

Thermal comfort problems experienced in buildings in warm humid climates has been a major concern for designers in the environmental design specialty especially in Nigeria and other developing countries. This paper through controlled experiments studies the effect of window shading on indoor comfort levels of buildings exposed to warm humid climates. Experimental model buildings with shaded and non-shaded windows were constructed for this purpose. Comfort data were obtained from the buildings and meteorological stations including comfort parametric ranges. The data were analyzed with statistical tools involving the central tendency and dispersion. Hypotheses were tested. Results showed that window shading has significant effect on the comfort level of buildings and consequently energy usage.

scholarly journals Analysis of Window-Opening Patterns and Air Conditioning Usage of Urban Residences in Tropical Southeast Asia

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10650
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Mori ◽  
Tetsu Kubota ◽  
I Gusti Ngurah Antaryama ◽  
Sri Nastiti N. Ekasiwi
Keyword(s):  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Data Mining Approach ◽  
Window Opening ◽  
Adaptive Behaviours ◽  
Hot Humid Climate ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Daily Patterns

Window-opening is one of the most important adaptive behaviours affecting indoor thermal comfort as well as household energy consumption in the tropics. In this study, large-scale surveys were conducted in major cities of Malaysia and Indonesia to extract various typical daily patterns of window-opening, air conditioning (AC) usage and fan usage among occupants in the tropics through a data mining approach based on a cluster analysis. Furthermore, influential factors for window-opening patterns, focusing especially on contextual factors and household attributes, were determined through a logistic regression analysis. As a result, several typical daily patterns of window-opening, AC usage and fan usage were extracted, respectively, even under the same hot-humid climate. It was found that household size, age of respondent, household income and concerns about insects were the most influential factors for daily window-opening patterns. The results of this study will fill the existing knowledge gap in driving factors of occupant behaviour in the tropics in which few studies have been conducted.

scholarly journals The assesment of thermal comfort of sustainable modifying Rumoh Aceh in hot humid climate

2021 ◽  
Vol 881 (1) ◽  
pp. 012052
Author(s):  
E Meutia ◽  
E N Rauzi ◽  
Z Sahputra ◽  
D Maryana
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Passive Cooling ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Traditional Architecture ◽  
Sense Of Satisfaction ◽  
Hot Humid Climate ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The climates of countries in the tropics tend to have high temperatures and humidity, and intense solar insulation. This condition gives the impact of discomfort for humans who are in the building. Implementing a passive cooling strategy can reduce energy use. Traditional architecture is one of the buildings that has been believed to apply natural cooling as a passive cooling design strategy. Based on several previous studies on the application of passive designs to obtain thermal comfort in the room, this study was conducted to assess the thermal comfort of Modifying Rumoh Aceh, which has not been widely studied. This study uses a direct measurement method in the field using an anemometer to measure temperature and airflow velocity. An Infrared/Thermometer Gun is also used to measure the surface temperature of materials (walls, roofs, and floors). Using the Climate Consultant Software to obtain annual climate condition data, AndrewMarsh 3-D Sunpath was also used to assess the orientation of buildings. Measurements were carried out for 3 days on 15 samples of Modifying Rumoh Aceh in Gampong Jawa, Kutaraja sub-district, Banda Aceh. The results obtained indicate an increase in room temperature by 7ºC from the standard comfort temperature based on SNI. The human ability to adapt to the environment can be seen in the perception of the Gampong Jawa community in accepting changes in the thermal environment by 47% with a sense of satisfaction. However, further research is needed to obtain a value for the level of satisfaction of the thermal environment in the tropics area.

scholarly journals Keeping Cool in the Desert: Using Wind Catchers for Improved Thermal Comfort and Indoor Air Quality at Half the Energy

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Jamal Saif ◽  
Andrew Wright ◽  
Sanober Khattak ◽  
Kasem Elfadli
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Indoor Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Evaporative Cooling

In hot arid climates, air conditioning in the summer dominates energy use in buildings. In Kuwait, energy demand in buildings is dominated by cooling, which also determines the national peak electricity demand. Schools contribute significantly to cooling demand, but also suffer from poor ventilation. This paper presents analysis of a ventilation and cooling system for school classrooms using a wind catcher for natural ventilation and evaporative cooling. A school classroom in Kuwait with single-sided ventilation was modelled using the DesignBuilder V5.4/EnergyPlus V9.1 software and calibrated using field data. The model was used to analyse the performance of a wind catcher, with and without evaporative cooling, in terms of energy use, thermal comfort and indoor air quality. Compared to the baseline of using air-conditioning only, a wind catcher with evaporative cooling was found to reduce energy use by 52% during the summer months while increasing the comfortable hours from 76% to 100% without any supplementary air conditioning. While the time below the ASHRAE CO2 limit also improved from 11% to 24% with the wind catcher, the indoor air quality was still poor. These improvements came at the cost of a 14% increase in relative humidity. As the wind catcher solution appears to have potential with further development; several avenues for further research are proposed.

Influence of trees on the energy consumption of a social housing in mid-western Brazil

2019 ◽  
pp. 53-65
Author(s):  
Renata Domingos ◽  
Emeli Guarda ◽  
Elaise Gabriel ◽  
João Sanches
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Computational Simulation ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
General Idea ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Ample Evidence

In the last decades, many studies have shown ample evidence that the existence of trees and vegetation around buildings can contribute to reduce the demand for energy by cooling and heating. The use of green areas in the urban environment as an effective strategy in reducing the cooling load of buildings has attracted much attention, though there is a lack of quantitative actions to apply the general idea to a specific building or location. Due to the large-scale construction of high buildings, large amounts of solar radiation are reflected and stored in the canyons of the streets. This causes higher air temperature and surface temperature in city areas compared to the rural environment and, consequently, deteriorates the urban heat island effect. The constant high temperatures lead to more air conditioning demand time, which results in a significant increase in building energy consumption. In general, the shade of the trees reduces the building energy demand for air conditioning, reducing solar radiation on the walls and roofs. The increase of urban green spaces has been extensively accepted as effective in mitigating the effects of heat island and reducing energy use in buildings. However, by influencing temperatures, especially extreme, it is likely that trees also affect human health, an important economic variable of interest. Since human behavior has a major influence on maintaining environmental quality, today's urban problems such as air and water pollution, floods, excessive noise, cause serious damage to the physical and mental health of the population. By minimizing these problems, vegetation (especially trees) is generally known to provide a range of ecosystem services such as rainwater reduction, air pollution mitigation, noise reduction, etc. This study focuses on the functions of temperature regulation, improvement of external thermal comfort and cooling energy reduction, so it aims to evaluate the influence of trees on the energy consumption of a house in the mid-western Brazil, located at latitude 15 ° S, in the center of South America. The methodology adopted was computer simulation, analyzing two scenarios that deal with issues such as the influence of vegetation and tree shade on the energy consumption of a building. In this way, the methodological procedures were divided into three stages: climatic contextualization of the study region; definition of a basic dwelling, of the thermophysical properties; computational simulation for quantification of energy consumption for the four facade orientations. The results show that the façades orientated to north, east and south, without the insertion of arboreal shading, obtained higher values of annual energy consumption. With the adoption of shading, the facades obtained a consumption reduction of around 7,4%. It is concluded that shading vegetation can bring significant climatic contribution to the interior of built environments and, consequently, reduction in energy consumption, promoting improvements in the thermal comfort conditions of users.

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