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An ideal self-adjusting environment requires adapting human thermal comfort automatically and continuously measuring the changes in human thermal comfort. According to the PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) model, human thermal comfort could be evaluated by human biometric data and environmental data. In this paper, we proposed a method to estimate human thermal comfort through a small number of wearable and environmental sensors based on machine learning. There are two typical definitions of thermal comfort: subjective thermal comfort representing the subjective perception of heat and objective thermal comfort calculated by the PMV formula. We used a subjective questionnaire and PMV formula to obtain the correct label for two kinds of thermal comfort, respectively. Among the three machine learning models, the random forest has 0.73 in MAE, which is suitable for estimating 7-level subjective thermal comfort, and the neural network has 0.47 in MAE, which is suitable for estimating objective thermal comfort. We investigated the estimation accuracy by changing the sensors' combinations. As a result, a small number of sensors could still roughly estimate human thermal comfort.

Local parks are widely used to mitigate urban heat islands. However, the increase of dry weather periods in subtropical climates has caused natural grass failure, leading some city councils to replace it with artificial grass. Therefore, this study investigates various local park settings to assess the performance of different ground covers (i.e., irrigated and non-irrigated natural grass, bare soil, and artificial grass) and the influence that tree proximity has on them, as well as the total thermal performance of the investigated local parks. This study finds that non-irrigated parks could harm park users’ health due to the high concentration of mean radiant temperature (MRT) around trees. Although the surface temperature of the artificial grass was higher (2.60 °C) than that of asphalt during periods of peak temperature, the parks using artificial grass performed better at reducing air temperature and enhancing thermal comfort than the ones with dry grass or bare soil, where both tree proximity and soil water content played significant roles. However, artificial grass negatively affected night cooling, resulting in a poorer daily performance. This study discusses the influence of various park settings on air temperature, MRT, thermal comfort, surface temperature, soil temperature, and water content. In addition, various recommendations and settings are offered to direct decision makers and future studies.

The study aims to present reliable information about thermal conditions and their impacts on visitors to ski travel destinations.Mountain tourism areas are specific since high altitudes affect the ambient weather conditions which can affect different types of human activities. In this paper, the thermal comfort and its changes in Kopaonik Mountain, the most popular ski resort in Serbia over the last 30 years, have been evaluated. Information about thermal comfort is presented by using the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), physiologically equivalent temperature (PET), and modified physiologically equivalent temperature (mPET) in 3-h resolution for the period 1991–2020. The results indicate prevailing cold stress all year round. Days with moderate, strong, and very strong heat stress were not recorded. Strong and extreme cold stress prevailed during winter, while slight and moderate cold stress prevailed during summer. Transitional seasons were very cold, but autumn was more comfortable than spring. The occurrence of days with neutral and slightly warm/cool conditions is concentrated in the summer months. However, summer is not used enough for tourism because the choice of tourists to stay at Kopaonik is not primarily based on favorable bioclimatic conditions, but on resources for winter tourism. With global warming, the annual number of thermally favorable days has been increasing, while the number of days with extreme and strong cold stress is decreasing. Continuing this trend can significantly influence tourism in the future, and therefore, new strategies in ski resorts will be required to adapt to the changing climate. The authors are grateful to Prof. Matzarakis for his generous provision of the RayMan program.

The radiant systems consume less energy and provide better thermal comfort as compared to the conventional system, but the main drawback of radiant technology is inability to cater the latent load and condensation. This problem has engaged researchers to push their emphasis on Personalized Conditioning System (PCS). It forms a micro-climate region near the occupant. This study is aimed at PCS combined with a radiant conditioning system, which evaluates the performance of the PCS and compares it with different radiant cooling systems. A radiant cubicle was used to investigate the performance of the PCS for both heating & cooling modes. For heating mode, the Standard Effective Temperature (SET) was calculated with the help of thermal comfort surveys which were in a range of 23.4°C to 27.3°C. For cooling mode, four different cases compared the performance of the system which are: Conventional Air Conditioning System (CACS), Radiant Cooled Ceiling System (RCCS), Personalized Radiant Conditioning System (PRCS), and both PRCS-RCCS coupled. It was observed that PRCS alone reaches the thermal comfort criteria with low energy consumption. The energy-saving of RCCS-PRCS was achieved 38% when compared with CACS. It can be concluded that PRCS is a new step in the field of thermal comfort.

Exploring the effect of tuck loops on fabric properties of some knitted structures was aimed in this study. Samples were produced on a Stoll V-bed knitting loom with 100% acrylic yarn. Five types of knit structures (1x1 rib, half cardigan, double half cardigan, cardigan and double cardigan) were knitted with identical machine settings. Test results revealed that double cardigan fabric has the highest fabric thickness, thermal resistance and coefficient of friction. Double half cardigan provides the highest air permeability, whereas 1x1 rib structure has the highest relative water vapor permeability, mass per unit area and loop length. Half cardigan has the highest bending rigidity. Half cardigan and double half cardigan both have the best pilling results. It was observed that test results of half cardigan-double half cardigan and cardigan-double cardigan are generally similar as pairs. However, dimensional, mechanical and comfort characteristics of 1x1 rib fabric seem quite different., Bu çalışmada, askının bazı örme yapıların kumaş özellikleri üzerindeki etkisini incelemek amaçlanmıştır. Numuneler V-yataklı Stoll örme makinesinde %100 akrilik iplik kullanılarak örülmüştür. Beş farklı örgü yapısında (1x1 rib, yarım selanik, çift askılı yarım selanik, selanik ve çift askılı selanik) kumaş aynı makine ayarlarında üretilmiştir. Test sonuçları çift askılı selanik kumaşın en yüksek kumaş kalınlığı, ısıl direnç ve sürtünme katsayısına sahip olduğunu göstermektedir. Çift askılı yarım selanik kumaş en yüksek hava geçirgenliği değerine sahipken, 1x1 rib kumaş ise en yüksek bağıl su buharı geçirgenliği, gramaj ve ilmek iplik uzunluğuna sahiptir. Yarım selanik kumaş ise en yüksek eğilme direncine sahiptir. Yarım selanik-çift askılı yarım selanik ve selanik-çift askılı selanik kumaşların test sonuçlarının kendi aralarında benzer olduğu gözlenmiştir. Ancak, 1x1 rib kumaşın boyutsal, mekanik ve konfor özellikleri selanik ve türevlerinden oldukça farklıdır.

The subjective experience of the environment where people live defines the comfort of that environment. The elements of environmental comfort are the air quality, thermal comfort, visual comfort, and sound comfort. The air quality in the room where people stay can significantly affect their concentration, i.e., the ability to work and study. The concentration of CO 2 in the room is used as an indicator of ventilation, that is, as an indicator of the air quality in the observed room. The thermal comfort defines a state of satisfaction with the thermal environment. The thermal comfort is achieved when the environment properties are such that they ensure the release of BAKAR 48 (2023) 1 COPPER body heat within the comfortable limits. This paper presents a part of the air quality and thermal comfort measurement results in the selected office in the Mining and Metallurgy Institute Bor from 2020 to 2022. Based on the analysis of measurement results, it was determined that the air quality in the selected office was satisfactory on an average of more than 90% of the working time, and the thermal comfort on an average of about 60% of the working time.

Energy conservation is a practice of reducing the energy used, which may be achieved by efficient use of energy. The existing old buildings generally consume more energy than the new buildings because of their unavoidable stagnations in physical performances. Distribution side load management of buildings play a vital role in the field of energy management. And 30% of this distribution side loads are Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) loads. So the accurate estimation of heating load (HL) and cooling load (CL) of HVAC system in a building is very much important. It has been studied that the building design parameters optimization approach alone can provide up to 62.1% electrical energy consumption reduction compared to buildings that are not designed for efficient energy usage. Recent research has demonstrated that a combination of existing HVAC technologies can offer effective solutions for energy conservation and thermal comfort. So in this study various energy saving strategies for HVAC systems are investigated and different measures on further energy and cost savings in buildings are discussed.

Sağlık binaları, halkın sağlığına hizmet vermek için tasarlanan ve bu doğrultuda gereken teşhis ve tedavi süreçlerinin yürütüldüğü yapılardır. Bulundukları bölgede yaşayan kişilere temel; koruyucu, tedavi edici ve rehabilite edici hizmetler sunarlar, büyük ölçekli ve kompleks binalar değillerdir. Ancak bu binaların birtakım ergonomik koşulları, belli ölçülerde işitsel, görsel, mekânsal ve termal konfor koşullarını sağlaması gerekmektedir. Sağlık sorunları yaşayan bireyler tarafından yoğun olarak ziyaret edildikleri için, bu kullanıcılara yönelik, ergonomik kalite standartlarını karşılaması beklenmektedir.Bu çalışmada yapılan literatür araştırması ile ortaya konan birtakım ölçütler, 1.basamak sağlık binalarında ergonomik kalitenin değerlendirilmesi amacıyla derlenmiştir. Bina değerlendirmesi için kullanım sonrası değerlendirme (KSD) yöntemi seçilmiştir. Bütüncül bir yaklaşımla birden fazla değerlendirme ölçütünün sistematik analizi için bir yaklaşım geliştirilmiştir. Bu yaklaşım seçilen bir aile sağlığı merkezi binasında test edilerek denenmiştir. Binada gözlem, ölçüm, görüşme tekniklerden faydalanılarak veri toplanmıştır. Toplanılan veriler 3’lü likert formülüne göre analiz edilerek değerlendirilmiştir. Çalışmanın sonunda örnek binanın işitsel ve termal konfor düzeyinin iyi (2,60 ≤ x ≤ 3,00), mekânsal ve görsel konfor düzeyinin ise orta (2,14 ≤ x ≤ 2,20) seviyede olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Binanın ergonomik kalitesi genel olarak iyi seviyede (x=2,49) değerlendirilirken, mekânsal ve görsel konfor şartlarının iyileştirilmesi için önerilerde bulunulmuştur., Health buildings are designed to serve the health of the public and where necessary diagnosis and treatment processes are carried out in this direction. These buildings, which are not large-scale and complex, provide preventive, therapeutic, and rehabilitative services for people who live in the close area. However, these buildings must provide some ergonomic conditions to a certain extent. These buildings, which are heavily visited by individuals with health problems, must have ergonomic quality standards for these users.This study sets out several criteria to evaluate ergonomic quality in primary healthcare facilities. The method is The Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) for the building evaluation. The systematic analysis of multiple assessment criteria with a holistic approach. This approach was tested in a selected family health center building.Techniques used to collect data in field study; observation; measurement and interview. The collected data were analyzed and evaluated according to the 3-point Likert formula. In the results of the study, the auditory and thermal comfort level of the sample building is good (2,60 ≤ x ≤ 3,00), and the spatial and visual comfort level is natural (2,14 ≤ x ≤ 2,20). The ergonomic quality of the building is generally good (x=2,49). Finally, suggestions are to improve the visual and spatial comfort conditions.

Man has destroyed the natural environment in different ways, and this appeared through the overexploitation of its resources without its ability to regenerate, as well as through the pollutants and wastes that he added to it that caused its destruction and caused an imbalance in its properties. The concern for the environment and its preservation appeared in various fields as an attempt to correct the environmental imbalance and avoid further defects, and for this several environmental trends and methods appeared, and in the architectural field dealing with the environment by drawing inspiration from its original characteristics and simulating its various elements is one of the methods attracting attention to achieve a relationship based on sound principles in the relationship of buildings With the environment, which makes the natural environment a source of inspiration rather than an encroachment on it. The strategies of simulating the natural environment in various architectural applications helped to generate sustainable forms that have their own characteristics that affect the efficiency of the building and provide comfort to its users. The reliance on mechanical systems to reach an internal environment that is thermally comfortable for humans has led to energy depletion in general, and in particular, the desert environment is the most obvious in that, and with the global trend to rationalize energy consumption and preserve the environment, it was necessary to find quick and effective solutions to the problem of that consumption while obtaining At the same time on the thermal comfort requirements of users. The research aims to study and analyze the geometry of living organisms in the desert environment and their behavior in order to apply the same principles as an important tool to achieve thermal comfort, so that the different natural systems in that environment and the different materials and processes in them are identified, and then study the possibility of their architectural application. The desert environment is characterized by the presence of many organisms that have the ability to adapt to the environment and deal with it internally and externally, and many of them have unique strategies in adapting and responding to hot climate variables, especially with regard to avoiding heat gain from outside, and their ability to lose heat, and raise their internal temperature. And protect their bodies with good insulation

Resumo: Este trabalho objetivou determinar a dinâmica de circulação de pedestres em uma rua comercial, em área central urbana, em razão da insolação, e descobrir se a arborização pode influenciar no traçado desejado e na intensidade do fluxo de pessoas. A pressão do uso do território urbano sobre o ambiente natural tem sido associada às mudanças do microclima, sendo que a arborização tem efeitos benéficos para o restabelecimento de uma condição de equilíbrio ambiental. Neste sentido, as ruas são importantes espaços públicos nas cidades, responsáveis por toda dinâmica social, econômica e ambiental, podendo ser consideradas como áreas prioritárias para a arborização das cidades. Sendo assim, realizou-se uma pesquisa exploratória, bibliográfica e documental, tendo como estudo de caso as obras de requalificação urbana da região central de Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil, que compõem as intervenções de um programa de desenvolvimento integrado em andamento. Pelos resultados desta pesquisa, foi possível demonstrar que, em dias de temperatura elevada, o maior fluxo de pedestres ocorreu no lado sombreado, sendo que os passeios arborizados propiciam maior conforto térmico e qualidade ambiental para os usuários do espaço público da via urbana. Portanto, conclui-se que o espaço público planejado contemplando a arborização configura-se em condição para garanta de cidades sustentáveis. Abstract: This research aimed to determine the pedestrian circulaton dynamics on a commercial street in a central urban area – due to insolaton – and to investigate if the aforestaton can influence the walking choice and the intensity of people flow. The pressure of urban territory use on the natural environment has been associated with changes in the microclimate, and aforestaton has beneficial effects for reestablishing a conditon of environmental balance. In this sense, streets are important public spaces in cites, responsible for all social, economic, and environmental dynamics, and can be considered priority areas for aforestaton in cites. Thus, an exploratory literature review and documentary research was carried out, having as a study case the urban rehabilitaton works in the central region of Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, which constitute the interventons of an ongoing integrated development program. Based on the results of this research, it was possible to demonstrate that, on days with higher temperatures, the greatest flow of pedestrians occurred on the shaded side, and tree-lined sidewalks provide higher thermal comfort and environmental quality for public space users on the urban road. Therefore, we concluded that the planned public space contemplating aforestaton is configured as a conditon to guarantee sustainable cites. Resumen: Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo determinar la dinámica de la circulación peatonal en una calle comercial en un área urbana central, debido a la insolación, y averiguar si la forestación puede influir en el camino deseado y la intensidad del fujo de personas. La presión del uso del territorio urbano sobre el medio natural se ha asociado a cambios en el microclima, y la forestación tene efectos benefíciosos para el restablecimiento de una condición de equilibrio ambiental. En este sentido, las calles son espacios públicos importantes en las ciudades, responsables de todas las dinámicas sociales, económicas y ambientales, y pueden ser consideradas como áreas prioritarias para la forestación en las ciudades. Así, se realizó una investigación exploratoria, bibliográfica y documental, teniendo como caso de estudio las obras de rehabilitación urbana en la región central de Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil, que conforman las intervenciones de un programa de desarrollo integrado en curso. Con base en los resultados de esta investigación, se pudo demostrar que, en los días de alta temperatura, el mayor fujo de peatones ocurrió en el lado sombreado, y las aceras arboladas brindan un mayor confort térmico y calidad ambiental para los usuarios del espacio público en la calle urbana. Por tanto, se concluye que el espacio público planificado que contempla la forestación se configura como condición para garantizar ciudades sostenibles.

Dew point evaporative cooling (DPEC), a type of indirect evaporative cooling where a single stream of air flows sequentially through the dry and wet channels, can cool air theoretically to its dew point temperature. In this study, the effects of design parameters, operating parameters, and inlet air condition to the cooling performance of a counter-flow DPEC was investigated. It has been shown that for the nominal condition of channel length = 1m, channel height = 5mm, inlet air velocity = 1.5 m/s, and working air ratio = 0.3, the inlet air with temperature of 30℃ and humidity of 0.010 kg/kg da was cooled to 19.3℃ which is lower that its wet bulb temperature of 19.6℃. The temperature can be cooled further by increasing the channel length, decreasing the channel height, decreasing the inlet air velocity, or increasing the working air ratio.

An indoor thermal environment is affected by various heat elements, such as heat transfer through walls, solar radiation, and heat emissions from people, lighting and equipment. To promote both local thermal comfort and building energy efficiency, demand-oriented ventilation (such as personalized ventilation) has been developed. When using this method, a good understanding on indoor temperature distribution becomes necessary. For this purpose, an index known as Contribution Ratio of Indoor Climate (CRI) has been developed through extraction from the calculation results of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). This index can be used to analyze the independent contribution of each heat element to indoor temperature distribution. In this paper, a complete and detailed introduction of the CRI is given, including its basic premises, definitions, and mathematical meaning. Particularly, calculation method of the CRI in natural convection airflow fields is further developed. Two cases (forced and natural convection airflow fields) have been carried out in different scenarios, with results showing that the CRI of a heat source had higher values in the area around itself. Also, it had a larger influence range in forced convection airflow field because of the convective airflow, while relatively larger CRI values only appear in the area above the heat source in the natural convection airflow field because of the heat plume. As a useful index for understanding the form of indoor temperature field, the CRI has guiding significance for regulating air-conditioning/ventilation systems to build better indoor thermal environment.

There are prototypes of social housing massively built in contrasting climatic conditions, generating thermal comfort needs that are difficult to satisfy by the users themselves. Variation of indoor air volume in living spaces where the use of air conditioning and natural ventilation strategies provides elements to improve thermal comfort conditions. This research shows the thermal performance located in a representative social housing according to Mexico's National Housing Commission. Operative temperature results from a benchmark case were compared to six Virtual Evaluation Models, using the Dynamic Thermal Simulation tool Design Builder® from the perspective of probability. The main objective was to determine the minimum use of active systems with different indoor air volumes and improve comfort conditions to promote sustainable living in social housing. The analysis was conducted under an adaptive comfort range according to three different climate conditions in Mexico adopting a Numerical Theoretical Method. The main findings can be divided into two parts: a) the impact of the indoor air volume on thermal performance was evidenced in a proportion of time in three representative climates of the central region of Mexico, and b) no relationship was found between indoor air volume and thermal comfort in sub-humid cold climate; in sub-humid temperate climate, the same number of comfort hours was found in two different models, and in sub-humid warm climate, an inversely proportional relationship was found between indoor air volume and the comfort hours. This findings implies a greater knowledge relative to what we know about sub-humid cold, temperate and warm climates.

This paper presents the results of thermal comfort and air quality studies in naturally ventilated residential buildings in Kampala City, Uganda. Questionnaire surveys were used for obtaining occupant subjective thermal sensation votes. Indoor and outdoor measurements for air temperature (Ta), Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT), relative humidity, air speed, and air quality were done for seven buildings over fifteen days during the month of June 2019. DesignBuilder software was used to develop the reference building model and to simulate strategies for improvement of thermal comfort. Survey results showed that 67.8% of the respondents were comfortable with the indoor thermal environment. The indoor air temperature range was 22.7°C - 27.9°C which lies within the 80% acceptable limits set by ASHRAE 55. The measured indoor MRT range was 24.24°C - 25.57°C. Measured levels of indoor PM2.5 were double the World Health Organization recommended limits, while the levels of PM10 were thrice the recommended limits of ASHRAE 62.1. The CO2 concentrations were within the limits set by ASHRAE 62.1. The developed model predicted comfortable indoor conditions with a temperature range of 23.6°C - 25.3°C based on the 80% acceptable limits set by ASHRAE 55. The results show that majority of occupants preferred cooler temperatures during the day which is justified by the use of adaptive measures to obtain thermal comfort.

Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems are gaining increasing interest in buildings with low energy demand, for improvement of the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and reduction of the ventilation energy loss. In retrofitted buildings, MVHRs are often integrated with an additional air heater to cover space heating demand. Hence, evaluation of the interactions between MVHR and heat emitter, and their effects on indoor airflow characteristics is of significant importance. The present study aims to investigate effects of a combined MVHR-fan-coil system in heating mode on IAQ and thermal comfort parameters inside a retrofitted room, by means of a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) code. The proposed CFD model is validated by comparing the numerical results with experimental data. The results yielded by numerical simulations allow evaluating the indoor environmental quality characteristics as well as addressing the MVHR and fan coil interactions. The results indicate that the airflow discharged from the fan coil could have a significant impact on the age of the air; while it provides a desirable thermal comfort condition within the room, it may hinder to some extent delivery of the fresh air to the occupied zone due to creation of counterflow fields. Furthermore, it is shown that although increasing the fan speed (ON mode) would slightly enhance the air change efficiency, the OFF mode yields not only a better distribution of the fresh air but also a higher ventilation efficiency than when fan coil operates.

Thermal comfort inside classrooms located in an institutional building is examined as a function of air temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity. The effect of east-west orientation on the thermal comfort inside the classrooms located in different floor levels is understood based on field experiments and validated using computational fluid dynamics simulations. The air temperature inside the classrooms shows an increasing trend with the floor level. Air temperature and relative humidity inside the classrooms reveal an inverse relationship as a function of east-west orientation with different floor level. As time progresses, the air temperature inside classrooms located on the eastern side of the building is apparently higher than rooms situated on the western side of the building, both field experiments and simulation acknowledge the same. Appropriate reasons have been proposed behind the discussed phenomenon using computational fluid dynamics simulation.

Resumo No cenário da Construção Civil, o desempenho dos elementos construtivos constitui uma temática pertinente para a pesquisa científica. Sob esse viés, o objetivo do trabalho consistiu em analisar o comportamento mecânico e térmico de argamassas de revestimento, utilizando diferentes teores - 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% e 50% - de uma fração fina de argila expandida como substituta parcial do agregado convencional, a fim de compará-las a uma argamassa de referência sem argila expandida. Para isso, foram determinadas importantes propriedades mecânicas das argamassas, tanto no estado fresco como no estado endurecido. Além disso, foi determinada a condutividade térmica das argamassas e realizados testes laboratoriais com o auxílio de simuladores de incidência e transferência de calor nas amostras. Os resultados apontam que as argamassas com incorporação de argila expandida não apresentaram impactos negativos nas suas propriedades mecânicas. Em contrapartida, observou-se que o aumento do teor de argila expandida na composição dos traços reduziu a condutividade térmica e aumentou o isolamento térmico das amostras. Desse modo, fica evidente a influência do agregado leve no comportamento térmico das argamassas em estudo, sem comprometer o seu comportamento mecânico. Abstract In the construction industry context, the performance of constructive elements is a relevant topic for scientific research. Hence, the aim of this study was to analyse the mechanical and thermal behaviour of lining mortars, using different contents - 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% - of a fine fraction of expanded clay as a partial substitute for the conventional aggregate, in order to compare them with a reference mortar without expanded clay. With that purpose, important mechanical properties of the mortars were identified, both in the fresh state and in the hardened state. In addition, the thermal conductivity of the mortars was determined and laboratory tests were carried out on the samples with the aid of incidence and heat transfer simulators. The results show that the mortars incorporating expanded clay did not present negative impacts on their mechanical properties. On the other hand, the increase in the expanded clay content in the composition of the mixes reduced the thermal conductivity and increased the thermal insulation of the samples. Thus, the influence of light aggregate on the thermal behaviour of the mortars under study is evident, without compromising their mechanical behaviour.

In Compost-Bedded Pack Barn (CBP) systems, air velocity is linked with the thermal comfort of housed dairy cattle and bedding quality and, therefore, assessing ventilation efficiency is essential. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate and characterize dependence and spatial distribution of air velocity at the 1.5 m height (vair,M) and at bedding level (vair,B) in an open CBP system with positive pressure ventilation. The study was conducted in 2021, in a facility located in the Zona da Mata region, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The facility area was divided into a mesh composed of 55 equidistant points, where vair,M and vair,B data were collected in the morning (09:00 a.m.) and afternoon (03:00 p.m.) periods, during three weeks in Brazilian winter. Geostatistics techniques were used to assess dependence and spatial distribution. In both periods evaluated, there were a strong occurrence of spatial dependence and non-uniform vair,M and vair,B distributions. The vair,M and vair,B values were lower than recommended (1.8 m∙s–1) in more than 65.0% of the area. Adequate ventilation levels were observed only in the first 20.0 m of the facility, from Southeast to Northwest, because of the fan lines present.

This dissertation establishes TREATI, a human-in-the-loop temperature decision-making framework for shared spaces. The framework uses decision management techniques to address thermal comfort conflicts, while considering thermal satisfaction, energy, fairness, and effort. Object-event simulations were used to test scenarios with non-trivial configurations of human and environmental factors. The empirical evaluation showed that TREATI makes better decisions when compared to common baselines. Diese Dissertation beschreibt das Human-in-the-Loop-Feedbacksystem TREATI. Das System nutzt Techniken des Entscheidungsmanagements um Diskrepanzen von Temperaturpräferenzen zu adressieren, wobei Zufriedenheit, Energie, Fairness und Aufwand berücksichtigt werden. Umfangreiche Objekt-Ereignis-Simulationen untersuchten komplexe Konfigurationen aus Mensch- und Umweltfaktoren. Die empirische Auswertung zeigt, dass TREATI im Vergleich zu bestehenden Modellen zu besseren Entscheidungen führt.

Danes je toplotno udobje definirano kot »tisto stanje duha, ki izraža zadovoljstvo s termalnim okoljem«. Med šest osnovnih dejavnikov toplotnega udobja spadajo temperatura zraka, temperatura sevanja, gibanje zraka, vlažnost, izolativnost obleke in metabolizem. Upoštevati je potrebno vse dejavnike skupaj, saj vsak posebej ni dovolj natančen pokazatelj toplotnega ugodja. V diplomskem delu bom predstavila merila za toplotne obremenitve: WBGT, PMV in PPD. Parameter WBGT se uporablja pri velikih toplotnih obremenitvah in za njegov izračun potrebujemo temperaturo suhega termometra, temperaturo naravnega vlažnega termometra in temperaturo globus termometra. Merilo WBGT se skupaj z metabolizmom uporablja pri določanju meje za trajno delo. PMV je indeks, ki podaja pričakovano srednjo vrednost toplotnega občutka in se predstavi na sedemstopenjski lestvici. Indeks PPD pa pove pričakovan odstotek ljudi, ki s toplotnim okoljem niso zadovoljni in izračuna se ga iz indeksa PMV. Če delovno okolje ni udobno, lahko pride do toplotnega stresa, kar pa lahko povzroči razne poklicne bolezni, kot so vročinska kap, toplotna izčrpanost, vročinski krči, vročinska sinkopa, vročinski izpuščaji in rabdomioliza. Da do tega ne bi prišlo, je potrebno, da se uvedejo ukrepi, na primer nadzorovanje temperature, omejitev hitrosti dela in dolžine izpostavljenosti, preprečevanje dehidracije, usposabljanje delavcev in spremljanje zdravja. Today thermal comfort is defined as »that condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with thermal environment«. Air temperature, radiant temperature, air velocity, humidity, clothing insulation, and metabolic rate are the six basic factors of thermal comfort. All of these factors should be taken into account, as each one is not a sufficiently accurate indicator of thermal comfort. In this paper, I will present the WBGT, PMV and PPD measurements of heat stress. WBGT parameter is used for large heat loads, and for its calculation we need dry bulb temperature, natural wet bulb temperature and globe temperature. WBGT is used together with metabolic rate to determine the limit for sustained work. PMV is an index that indicates the expected mean value of heat sensation and is presented on a seven-point scale. The index PPD indicates the expected percentage of people who are not satisfied with the thermal environment and is calculated from the PMV index. When the work environment is not comfortable, heat stress can occur, which in turn can lead to various occupational illnesses such as heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, heat syncope, heat rash and, rhabdomyolysis. To prevent this, precautions such as temperature control, limiting work pace and duration of exposure, prevention of dehydration, worker training, and health surveillance must be taken.

Cities are highly vulnerable areas affected by climate change. For sustainable urbanization, it is of great importance to determine the thermal conditions in cities and to make predictions for the future. Therefore, in this study, the spatial distribution of the thermal comfort conditions in the city of Diyarbakır, located in the southeastern Turkey, during the hot period of the year is explained and predictions for the future are made. In the study, measurement data from meteorological stations and the data of the SSP-2 and SSP-5 scenarios were used. Thermal comfort conditions were determined according to the PET (physiological equivalent temperature) index using RayMan software. The ArcGIS 10.5 program was used for defining the spatial distribution of thermal comfort conditions. As a result of the study, it is seen that the areas with dense construction and a low amount of green area in the old urbanized area, which is the central business district (CBD), have uncomfortable conditions. It is predicted that uncomfortable areas will increase in the near and distant future and threaten human health. For climate-resilient, healthy, and comfortable cities that can adapt to adverse effects of climate change, urban design and planning should be carried out with a holistic perspective.

This article contributes to the assessment of the hygrothermal conditions of residential buildings in the Azores archipelago and defines strategies that may contribute to the improvement in indoor air quality. These objectives were fulfilled by in situ monitoring of the hygrothermal conditions of a typical building on Terceira Island. Complementary tests to determine the thermal conductivity of exterior walls and ventilation rates were also conducted. The results were used to validate a simulation model, and different ventilation strategies were simulated using the combined heat, air, and moisture transfer model in EnergyPlus. The model took into account the typical construction methods and materials of the archipelago, as well as the reference weather data sets available for the region. The monitoring campaign showed that the percentage of time in which thermal comfort conditions were achieved was very low, varying from 5% to 32%, being the main cause for discomfort in the humidity level in the indoor environment. The simulation results pointed out the sensitivity of the problem, showing that ventilation may not always be, by itself, beneficial to thermal comfort. In particular, ventilation strategies should be established taking into account additional criteria other than the air change rate, namely the periods of the day and year in which ventilation should be performed, as well as the duration of these periods.

The residential block is the cognitive unit for residents to constitute urban imagery. As one of the most frequently used urban outdoor public spaces by residents, the thermal comfort of street canyons is an essential indicator for assessing sustainable and livable cities. The problem of the uncomfortable summer climate in the warm temperate zone of China has not been adequately studied. The study aims to analyze the influence of the building layout form of residential block units and block configuration on the outdoor summer thermal comfort of street canyons. Outdoor air temperature (Ta), mean radiant temperature (Tmrt), wind speed (Va), and physiological equivalent temperature (PET) were simulated using ENVI-met. A new index, PETws, was introduced based on a statistical analysis of the PET index to assess the overall street canyon thermal comfort of the block. The results indicate that the number of rows of buildings in the building row layout has a more significant effect on the summer thermal comfort PET of street canyons than the number of columns in the warm temperate zone, especially on N–S-oriented streets. Reducing the number of rows can increase the overall thermal comfort PETws of street canyons by a maximum of 2.2%. The best choice for the number of building columns is two columns. Adopting different block configurations can increase the thermal comfort PETws of street canyons by up to 2.5%. An optimal block form has been created to improve the overall street canyon summer thermal comfort of the block.

Buildings consume a significant part of the world’s resources and energy. The growing environmental awareness and urgent need to reduce energy consumption have highlighted the importance of introducing innovative solutions as nature-based systems in new buildings’ construction and retrofitting. In this regard, green façades that integrate vegetation into building envelopes are attractive. This paper presents a bibliographic analysis, based on science mapping, of the available literature on green façades from 1999–2022 with a focus on the thermal effect on the building and on the surroundings. The objective of this study is to reveal the structure and the evolution of the research activity in the field, outlining the main research topics and the future research directions. The analysis was performed on a dataset of 270 documents. The results indicate a growing interest in this topic over the last six years and the multidisciplinary dimension of the studies. The keyword cluster analysis indicates the emergence of three main search topics: thermal behavior and energy modeling; urban design and large-scale effects; sustainable buildings management. A greater future dissemination of green façades could be enabled by further research results based on the application of a multidisciplinary approach and of standardized methods.

This research article investigates the effect of meteorological changes on the comfort of residents in Imo State, Nigeria, which is situated in a tropical monsoon climate. The study aims to assess the state of the indoor environment in residential buildings in Imo State, considering thermal changes caused by meteorological variations. A case study approach was adopted, focusing on a selected residential building in Umuasonye, Orji, Owerri North, Imo State. The study spanned a period of 10 years, from 2011 to 2021, and included physical observation, measurement, and qualitative analysis of the collected data. A case study approach was employed to overcome limitations in accessing a large sample size of individual residential buildings. The selected residential building in Umuasonye, Orji, Owerri North, Imo State served as a representative example for the study. Data collection involved physical observation, measurement, and qualitative analysis over a 10-year period, from 2011 to 2021. This approach allowed for a comprehensive understanding of the indoor environment and its relationship with meteorological changes. Findings reveal significant climate and weather changes in Imo State, leading to thermal variations in building spaces. The study assesses the impact on resident comfort and identifies adaptive strategies employed. During dry seasons, residents utilized cooling systems, ventilation, and reduced hot water usage. In wet seasons, measures such as closing windows, wearing thick clothing, and increased hot water usage were observed. This research provides valuable insights into the impact of meteorological changes on resident comfort in Imo State, Nigeria. It highlights the importance of climate-responsive building design and systems, showcasing adaptive strategies employed by residents. The case study approach contributes to knowledge for architects, building industry stakeholders, and users interested in promoting climate-responsive buildings and systems.Keywords: Climate Change; Indoor Cooling; Thermal comfort; Residential Building.

This paper explores the potential of infrared thermography and geostatistics in animal production and presents the results of the application of the combination of these techniques, contributing significantly to efforts to obtain animals’ responses to the environments in which they are located and thereby ensuring improvements in productivity and animal welfare. The objective was to verify the variability in surface temperature in pigs submitted to different climate control systems using geostatistics. Three growing animals per stall were selected. Dry bulb temperature (Tbd, °C), relative humidity (RH, %) and thermal images were recorded at 08:00 and 12:00 h. To analyze the data, semivariograms were made, the theoretical model was validated and kriging maps were constructed. The mean temperature of the pigs in the pen with adiabatic evaporative cooling (AEC) ranged from 32.40 to 36.25 °C; for the pigs in the forced ventilation (FV) pen, the range of variation was from 32.51 to 36.81 °C. In the control group (Con), with natural ventilation, the average temperature was 37.51 to 38.45 °C. The geostatistical analysis provided a mathematical model capable of illustrating the variation in temperature in the caudal–dorsal regions of the pigs according to the environments to which the animals were subjected.

In light of the climate emergency, and the projected rise in global energy demand, especially in the Global South, there is an urgent need to make housing more sustainable. This is especially warranted considering the cooling demand is expected to triple globally by 2050. However, current energy policies have been criticised for under-achieving their targets and for taking increased comfort standards as given, thus naturalising the ‘needs’ without questioning how this demand is constructed. Taking Amman in Jordan as a case study, this thesis analyses the influence of multiple actors on energy demand. The study adopts a practice-based approach to capture the interwovenness of the social processes that have constituted, and equally escalated, the need for domestic energy demand. Design, marketing, and user practices are analysed. Drawing from interviews, archive research and participatory video diaries, the research asks: Where do aspirations and ‘needs’ for certain design decisions originate from within design practices? What kind of role does marketing play in normalising domestic AC? How do users respond to the design and use of AC in their ventilation practices and use of appliances, and how do these practices change during the heatwave? In order to understand architects’ practices and motivations in housing, and green design projects, the research first investigates how design decisions are negotiated between homeowners and architects, focusing on materiality and spatial configurations. Interviews with the residents of two ‘green homes’ are conducted to get their insight on the design process and thermal comfort. The findings reveal architects as active partakers in shaping energy demand and spatial ‘needs’, driven by aesthetic tendencies and underlying cultural and professional norms, which remained influential even in the design of ‘green homes’, where it resulted in the residents’ experiencing thermal discomfort. Next, the research analyses the role of marketing in normalising domestic AC in Jordan, investigated through archive research and advertisement analysis, between 1971 and 2019. The analysis shows that marketing has actively contributed to the acceptance of AC in Jordan, also through mobilising emotional prescriptions over time. Finally, the research focuses on the female end-users’ domestic and thermal comfort practices, and AC use during a normal summer in Amman, and during an exceptional heatwave in September of 2020. The interview and participatory video diary analysis uncovered sensory and gendered comfort perceptions that were negotiated against the performance of interconnected domestic practices, such as cooking, cleaning, and sleeping, challenging the narrow definitions of engineering-based thermal comfort conventions that assume ventilation is thermally motivated. The thesis contributes to energy and housing studies by: a) looking at domestic thermal comfort perceptions, AC use and increasing energy demand simultaneously from three different perspectives (designers, marketing, users), b) adopting an empirically driven practice-based approach to better understand energy use characteristics in middle-income households in non-Western context (Jordan), visualised through the participants’ video diaries focusing on women’s perspectives, and c) by doing so, the thesis questions the need for domestic AC in countries with temperate climates.

As the urgency to mitigate climate change intensifies, the achievement of zero carbon targets in the built environment has become a critical objective. Building retrofitting plays a vital role in reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions in existing buildings. This paper presents an approach that combines Building Information Modeling (BIM) with multiple domains to strive for zero carbon targets in building retrofit projects. The proposed approach is based on a dynamic multi-parameter analysis that integrates indoor comfort, energy savings, CO2eq reduction, and the social cost of carbon while considering investment costs. Renewable energy technologies, such as photovoltaic panels and solar thermal systems, are emphasized to achieve the desired zero-carbon outcomes. Real-time monitoring mechanisms enable continuous performance evaluation and adaptive retrofit strategies for further energy savings. This approach is validated through a case study of an existing thermal bath building, known as “Terme Lucane”, located in southern Italy. The results of the study demonstrate significant reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions, highlighting the potential of the proposed approach to achieve zero carbon targets through the integration of multi-data BIM implementation. These findings offer a promising pathway for building retrofit projects aiming for zero carbon targets through multi-data BIM modeling.

Urban heat island (UHI) is a zone that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural zones as a result of human activities and rapid and dense urbanization. Excessive air temperature due to the UHI phenomenon affects the energy performance of buildings and human health and contributes to global warming. Knowing that most of the building energy is consumed by residential buildings, therefore, developing a framework to mitigate the impact of the UHI on residential building energy performance is vital. This study develops an integrated framework that combines hybrid micro-climate and building energy performance simulations and multi-criteria decision-making techniques. As a case study, an urban area is analyzed under the Urban GreenUP project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme. Four different strategies to mitigate the UHI effect, including the current situation, changing the low-albedo materials with high-albedo ones, nature-based solutions, and changing building façade materials, are investigated with a micro-climatic simulation tool. Then, the output of the strategies, which is potential air temperature, is used in a dynamic building energy simulation software to obtain energy consumption and thermal comfort data of the residential buildings in the case area. Finally, a multi-criteria decision-making model, using real-life criteria, such as total energy consumption, thermal comfort, capital cost, lifetime and installation flexibility, is used to make a decision for decreasing the UHI effect on residential energy performance of buildings. The results showed that applying NBSs, such as green roofs and changing existing trees with high leaf area density ones, have the highest ranking among all mitigation strategies. The output of this study may help urban planners, architects, and engineers in the decision-making processes during the design phase of urban planning.

Population growth and urban expansion have led to increased demand for buildings. Optimizing the building façade design, using integrated photovoltaic (PV) shading and vertical farming (VF) can reduce building energy consumption while ensuring a partial food supply. However, the importance and prevalence of productive façades have not received significant attention. Furthermore, few studies have focused on the impact of productive façades on both indoor and outdoor environmental qualities. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the potential of integrating productive façades with residential façades in high-density cities. A typical community in Guangzhou, China was investigated. Thermal comfort, light comfort, electricity production, and crop yield were considered, and the optimal façade configuration was chosen from the established 146-model library. The integrated module can effectively improve the indoor lighting and thermal comfort of residential buildings. The module also mitigates the outdoor thermal environment to a certain extent, meeting 6.3–10.3% and 7.6–9.6% of the annual electricity and vegetable demands, respectively, in residential communities. This study can guide other densely populated cities with subtropical climates to advance the research and construction of productive façades, improving occupant comfort, reducing energy consumption, and mitigating food security and urban climate change issues.

Recent studies have suggested that thermal and visual comfort are correlated, although the causality underlying this correlation is unclear. Personal control of correlated color temperature (CCT) provides individual visual comfort, but its effects on other parameters such as thermal comfort and cognitive performance remain underexamined. Therefore, we investigated if personal control of CCT can, on top of visual comfort, enhance thermal comfort and cognitive performance in office scenarios while exposed to mild cold (17 °C) using a 2x2 within-subject design. Sixteen participants were initially exposed to CCT of either 2700 K or 5700 K for 70 min. In the subsequent 70 min, participants either had free control of CCT or no control. As expected, personal control of CCT improved visual comfort and mitigated perceived eye-related symptoms. However, it did not significantly affect thermal comfort for either antecedent CCT. When the antecedent CCT was 5700 K, personal control of CCT increased alertness and physiological arousal, improved the planning and verbal cognitive performance, but, unexpectedly, decreased performance on mental spatial manipulation tasks. Additional analyses then explored the role of the psychological and personalization effects of personal control by controlling for the actual CCT. These suggest that control benefited visual comfort, eye-related symptoms, perceived task performance, pleasure, alertness and physiological arousal. This study is one of the first studies to demonstrate that visual comfort does not causally affect thermal comfort. Personal control of CCT benefits visual appraisals and eye-related symptoms, sometimes improves alertness, but differentially influences cognitive performance depending on the task type.

Funding Information: This research was financially supported by the 111 Project from the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (Grant No. B13041 ). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Elsevier Ltd Heating demand has increased dramatically in winter in southern China. Foot heating pad, as a personal comfort system device enables to improve occupants’ thermal comfort in winter while consuming less energy. However, the research on the heating modes of these devices remains insufficient. The effects of fluctuating foot heating on thermal responses were compared to those of traditional constant heating in this study. A climate chamber experiment involving 16 subjects was conducted to assess physiological and psychological thermal responses under constant and fluctuating foot heating modes with equal total heating energy. Skin temperatures and thermal perception votes at three indoor temperature conditions of 8, 11, and 14 °C were collected and analyzed. The results indicate that the investigated parameters were significantly improved by foot heating, with foot skin temperature rose by 7 °C, foot thermal sensation rose by 2.7 levels, and overall thermal comfort rose by 0.4 level at least. Constant heating can improve skin temperature and thermal sensation to a higher extent than fluctuating heating in cold environments, especially when ambient temperature was lower than 12 °C. However, heating the foot alone cannot effectively improve overall thermal comfort in a cold environment below 12 °C. With ambient temperature between 13 and 17 °C, fluctuating heating can better avoid local overheating and ensure thermal acceptance rate larger than 90%, and fluctuating heating with high frequency and small amplitude is better than that with low frequency and large amplitude. Thus, the optimal fluctuating foot heating mode was recommended to be applied in cold environments higher than 13 °C.

The ongoing climate change and policies around it are changing how we design and build homes to meet national carbon emission targets. Some countries such as Scotland are adopting higher-energy-efficient buildings as minimum requirements in the building regulations. While net zero homes might be more energy-efficient and emit fewer operational carbon emissions, we have yet to fully understand the influence on the indoor environment, particularly on indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort. This study compares the IAQ of three homes in Scotland with equal internal layouts and designs but different building fabrics. The homes represent the minimum Scottish building regulations (2015), the Passivhaus standard and the Scottish ‘Gold Standard’. Temperature, relative humidity, PM2.5 and total volatile organic compounds (tVOC) were measured at five-minute intervals for seven months and compared to occupants’ subjective responses to the IAQ. All three homes had temperatures above the recommended thresholds for overheating. Measured hygrothermal conditions were within the ideal range 66.4% of the time in the Passivhaus, 56.4% in the Gold Standard home and 62.7% in the control home. Measured IAQ was better in homes with higher energy efficiency, particularly tVOC. For instance, indoor PM2.5 in the Passivhaus were 78.0% of the time below the threshold, while in the standard home the figure was 51.5%, with a weak correlation with outdoor PM2.5 (Passivhaus: B rs = 0.167, K rs = 0.306 and L rs = 0.163 (p < 0.001); Gold: B rs = −0.157, K rs = 0.322 and L rs = 0.340 (p < 0.001); Control: B rs = −0.111, K rs = 0.235 and L rs = 0.235 (p < 0.001)). TVOCs in the Passivhaus were 81.3%, while in the control home they were 55.0%. While the results cannot be generalised, due to the small sample, this study has significant policy implications, particularly in Scotland, exhibiting the importance of IAQ in current building legislation and sustainable assessment methods.

Data availability: Data will be made available on request. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Urban settings and climate change both impact on energy use and thermal comfort inside buildings. This paper first presents a study of changes in energy demand in residential buildings considering the overlapping effect of climate change and urban heat island intensity in two European locations; Cadiz (Spain) and London (United Kingdom), representing temperate and hot European climates and moderate and dense urban settings. Future-urban weather files were generated and simulations were run considering energy demand and indoor thermal comfort. In hot climate regions such as the one of Cadiz, future climate will increase the cooling demand and the additional impact of the UHI leads to a further increase of up to +28% of total energy demand compared to the current climate without considering urban effects. Future-urban weather conditions will be detrimental also for buildings in London, where the annual energy demand is predicted to increase by up to the 16% if future climate and urban effects are included. This is due to a higher increase in cooling demand compared to the reduction for the heating need. The paper also presents a method to take into account microclimatic conditions in naturally ventilated buildings, especially the effect of wind variations around the building which impacts natural ventilation rates. Air and surface temperature and wind speeds were studied using ENVImet and the resulting microclimatic conditions were used as inputs to the EnergyPlus Airflow Network model for the calculation of the building ventilation rates. It was found that ventilation rates are reduced (in comparison to meteorological weather files) and this reduction impacts negatively on internal operative temperatures. A thermal comfort analysis was carried out indicating that the selection of a suitable weather file and microclimatic conditions is essential for more accurate predictions of internal thermal comfort and will assist in the sizing of passive and active systems to avoid overheating. This work was carried out as part of the ReCO2ST project. ReCO2ST has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 768576.

Alun–Alun Pancasila merupakan tempat yang memiliki fungsi sosial bagi masyarakat Kota Salatiga. Fungsi tersebut adalah sebagai tempat UMKM, tempat olahraga, tempat pentas seni budaya dan lain-lain. Oleh sebab itu, Pohon pada Alun-alun Pancasila memiliki peranan penting sebagai pemberi kenyamanan termal untuk pengguna. Selain itu, keberadaan pohon perlu diperhatikan khususnya kerusakan fisik pohon. Sehingga, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengevaluasi kerusakan fisik pohon serta kenyamanan termal pohon. Metode yang digunakan dalam menganalisis kerusakan pohon adalah metode FHM (Forest Healt Monitoring) dan metode yang digunakan dalam menganalisis kenyamanan termal adalah metode THI (Temperature Humidity Index). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa jumlah pohon pada alun-alun 66 pohon dengan jenis seperti Glodokan tiang (Polyalthia longifolia), Angsana (Pterocarpus Indicus), Tanjung (Mimusops elengi) dan Beringin (Ficus benjamina). Kemudian 9untuk hasil analisis kerusakan fisik pohon, dapat dikatakan bahwa seluruh pohon yang ada mengalami kerusakan dengan kategori rusak ringan. Permasalahan utamanya adalah Kanker dan Kerusakan Heart Rot, Tubuh Buah, dan indikator lain lapuk lanjut. Sedangkan untuk hasil analisis THI dapat disimpulkan bahwa pohon yang memiliki kenyamanan termal yang tinggi adalah pohon. The Pancasila Square is a place that serves a social function for the community of Salatiga City. Its functions include being a place for micro, small, and medium enterprises UMKM, sports activities, cultural performances, and more. Therefore, trees in the Pancasila Square play an important role in providing thermal comfort for the users. Additionally, the presence of trees needs to be carefully considered, particularly in terms of physical damage to the trees. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the physical damage to the trees as well as their thermal comfort. The method used to analyze tree damage is the (Forest Health Monitoring) method, while the method used to analyze thermal comfort is the THI (Temperature Humidity Index) method. The research results indicate that there are 66 trees in the square, including species such as Glodokan Tiang (Polyalthia longifolia), Angsana (Pterocarpus Indicus), Mimusops elengi (Tanjung), and Ficus benjamina (Beringin). Furthermore, the analysis of tree damage reveals that all the trees have experienced slight damage, with issues mainly related to cancer, heart rot damage, fruit body, and other indicators of advanced decay. Regarding the THI analysis, it can be concluded that trees with high thermal comfort are preferred.

In China, the post-Winter Olympics era has seen the rapid development and promotion of ice rinks with air-supported membrane structures. With the rise of large indoor spectator areas in ice rinks, thermal comfort needs in spectator areas are receiving more and more attention. The satisfaction of thermal comfort needs is crucial to people’s health and well-being, so further study of the issue of thermal comfort in such spectator areas is needed. Unfortunately, models currently used to evaluate the thermal comfort of traditional building envelopes are not applicable to air-supported membrane-envelope ice rinks. Researchers need to focus on the internal thermal comfort needs of air-supported membrane envelopes for spectator areas. The aim of this research was to establish a thermal comfort model to provide exact temperature-range recommendations for spectator areas in air-supported membrane ice rinks. The indoor thermal-environment parameters of the ice rink in Harbin were measured from 2 January to 15 January 2023. To elicit data on spectators’ actual thermal sensations in the ice rink, a field questionnaire was administered. By modifying the expectancy factor, an extended predicted thermal comfort model was established. The results suggested that the operative temperature required to meet spectators’ thermal comfort needs in the case study ice rink ranged from 17 °C to 26 °C. The results of the study offer specific insights into the indoor thermal comfort needs of air-supported ice rinks and provide a more accurate temperature-setting reference for the healthy and energy-efficient development of such rinks.

Amid concerns over airflow-induced transmission of the COVID-19 virus in buildings frequented by large numbers of people, such as offices, the necessity for radiant ceiling heating panels has increased. This is due to the concern that the airflows emitted from the convection heating systems installed near the ceiling or windows for winter heating may be a major cause of COVID-19 transmission. In this study, we aim to evaluate thermal comfort under various indoor and outdoor environmental conditions of a building and present the thermal output conditions of the radiant ceiling heating panel that can replace the convection heating system while ensuring comfort in the perimeter zone and handling the heating load. As a result, we were able to present, in a chart format, the thermal output conditions that can secure thermal comfort by analyzing the indoor airflow distribution depending on the surface temperature of the radiant ceiling heating panel, the interior surface temperature of the window, and the influence of internal heat generation. Moreover, through derived empirical formulas, we were able to determine the heating conditions of the panel that can secure the necessary heat dissipation while minimizing discomfort, such as downdrafts, even for indoor and outdoor conditions that were not evaluated in this study.

We aim to investigate the potential impacts of smart homes on human behavior. To this end, we simulate a series of human models capable of performing various activities inside a reinforcement learning-based smart home. We then investigate the possibility of human behavior being altered as a result of the smart home and the human model adapting to one-another. We design a semi-Markov decision process human task interleaving model based on hierarchical reinforcement learning that learns to make decisions to either pursue or leave an activity. We then integrate our human model in the smart home which is based on Q-learning. We show that a smart home trained on a generic human model is able to anticipate and learn the thermal preferences of human models with intrinsic rewards similar to the generic model. The hierarchical human model learns to complete each activity and set optimal thermal settings for maximum comfort. With the smart home, the number of time steps required to change the thermal settings are reduced for the human models. Interestingly, we observe that small variations in the human model reward structures can lead to the opposite behavior in the form of unexpected switching between activities which signals changes in human behavior due to the presence of the smart home., Comment: in IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence

This study discusses the preliminary assessment of I ndoor C ooling D egree N ecessity (ICDN) based upon the standard air temperature (Ta) value of 22 °C which is defined to be the standard upper mean temperature limit (Tl) for interior comfort as defined by the WHO. By considering indoor air temperature (TaI), levelled oscillations above Tl are utilised to determine indoor temperature extremes/frequencies at a 10 min temporal resolution during the months of July and August 2020 in Ankara. These recordings were undertaken through the use of an interior in-situ Meteorological Station (MS), simultaneously, an outdoor in-situ MS was also mounted outside the naturally ventilated dwelling with the identical measurement interval period. Moreover, to supplement the encompassing outdoor data collection, two WMO MSs were utilised in the study to account for both encompassing local peri-urban Esenboga (EMS) and Ankara’s urban (AMS) outdoor air temperatures (TaO) at a 1 h temporal resolution. In addition to the ICDN’s identified variation of Tl levels, which frequently remained between +7 °C and +10 °C during periods of accentuated urban outdoor heat stress; their direct/latent cause-and-effect relationship with newly defined local extreme heat thresholds were established. Relative to July and August 2020, a total of 19 Very Hot Days (VHD33), 10 Monthly Tropical Night (MRT20), and 4 Heatwave Events (HWE31) were determined. These thresholds further underlined the growing need to associate indoor and outdoor heat stress during local extreme heat events, particularly in more vulnerable residential contexts; and moreover, in an era of increasing heat stress as result of rapid urbanisation and climate change.

While pavements are currently a significant contributor to the urban heat island effect, modified pavements could play a role in cooling cities. Specifically, the radiative and thermal properties of pavements can be manipulated to alter the timing and magnitude of sensible heat storage and release into the urban airshed. The present study developed and applied a one-dimensional heat transfer model to Phoenix AZ as a case study to explore the potential for modified pavements in a hot desert climate. We explored solar reflective (0.35 albedo) and traditional (0.10 albedo) asphalt pavements. Pavement thermal conductivity and heat storage capacity values were varied across a reasonable range based on existing products. The results from this study show that daytime peak surface temperature of highly conductive (2.4 WK-1m−1) and thermally massive pavements (4.0 MJK-1m−3) is 17.5 °C cooler than less conductive (0.4 WK-1m−1) and thermally light (1.0 MJK-1m−3) pavements. However, at night, the more thermally massive and conductive pavements were as much as 10.8° C warmer than the less conductive and less massive counterpart. Therefore, when the focus is on reducing excess urban heat during the day, it is better to use pavement materials with higher conductivity and thermal storage. However, when the focus is on reducing the nocturnal heat island, it is wise to use lower conductivity and lower thermal storage pavements. Regardless of thermal properties, the use of reflective pavement surfaces will mitigate both the daytime and nocturnal urban heat island effect. We find up to a 10° C reduction in peak daytime surface temperature and a modest reduction of nocturnal temperatures (by up to 1.0° C) when pavement albedo is increased by 0.25. However, reflective pavements result in a higher influx of net radiation for pedestrians walking on these surfaces during the daytime. So, reflective pavement projects should be evaluated for potential adverse impacts on thermal comfort. Nevertheless, depending upon the time of day and the overall solar reflectivity of pedestrian clothing and skin, we argue that the benefits of reduced surface and air temperatures associated with highly reflective paving likely outweigh the adverse effects for pedestrians. However, for regions where daytime thermal comfort is of primary concern, pavements with higher thermal conductivity and thermal storage may perform better than reflective pavements.

The number of radiant heating-cooling systems in building applications is increasing it is because of low energy consumption, low operating temperature and high values they provide in terms of working compatibility with renewable energy sources. In this study, ground source heat pump integrated radiant panels installed on the wall and suspended ceiling of the office room in Yıldız Technical University Science and Technology Application and Research Centre were experimentally examined in terms of thermal comfort according to the relevant standards. Vertical air temperature differences and mean radiant temperatures were investigated. The mean air temperature differences at 0.1 m and 1.7 m were found to be 3,9 oC 2.9 oC 3.5 oC, 3.1 oC and 3.4 oC on average for the five different stands, respectively. PMV and PPD values were found to be 0.78 and 18.9% for February 12 (Case 1), 0.36 and 8.4% for February 13 (Case 2), respectively. In the experiment carried out under the conditions of Case 2, while the comfort conditions were provided in almost all of the day, the desired comfort conditions could not be achieved in Case 1 after 11 am. © 2022. All Rights Reserved. Yildiz Teknik Üniversitesi: FBA-2019-3703 This study was supported by Yıldız Technical University under BAP program with GRANT No. FBA-2019-3703. We would like to thank to the Yıldız Technical University for their financial support during this work.

The building sector accounts for nearly 40% of global energy consumption. In Nigeria, more than two-thirds of the consumption comes from residential buildings. Energy efficiency measures through the adoption of insulation materials are tools that could crash the peak demand of energy in buildings while improving its thermal comfort and aerogel is considered as the most effective material for insulation, owing to its unique thermal properties. In this paper, we present the performance of aerogel as a thermal insulation material towards a sustainable design of residential buildings for tropical climates in Nigeria. First, a typical residential building in the tropical region was modeled with conventional materials utilized in the region and was later modified through the application of aerogel material on various surfaces of the model. A whole building energy simulation was then carried out in each variation and the outcome was compared to effectively conclude on the significance of aerogel in terms of thermal comfort improvement and energy consumption reduction. Results show that aerogel had the highest influence when inserted in the attic and floor slabs of the designed model. A reduction of more than 6% was attained in the recorded indoor mean air and operative temperatures while still maintaining an acceptable humidity range. Concerning energy consumption, a reduction of more than 15% was achieved. However, the high price of aerogel may hinder its application on the studied building but could be a good investment where climate change and sustainability are of high importance and less concern is given to expenditure. Aerogel demonstrated significant potential with respect to both thermal comfort improvement and energy consumption reduction on the designed model. The outcome of the study is hoped to serve as a base reference for the insulation of residential buildings with similar climate and characteristics to the adopted case building.

Energy demand is growing significantly worldwide to create thermal comfort in buildings. Air-conditioning is contributing to energy consumption at a massive scale in the residential and commercial sectors. The roof is one of the most critical components of the building envelopes, and it achieved maximum heat gain in summer, and it covered nearly 20–25% of overall urban surface areas. In this respect, cool roofs are considered one of the sustainable solutions to maintain thermal comfort in buildings. The results achieved from the literature review indicate that cool roof application reduced energy use in the buildings and a useful tool to mitigate Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. This paper summarizes cool roof thermal performance with different types of surface coatings in different climatic zones for buildings with additional benefits, limitations, and recommendations for future research work. The results of this review can be helpful for engineers, researchers, dwellers, and architectures to have a good understanding of the benefits of cool roofs to mitigate energy consumption demand in dwelling in a sustainable, cost-effective, and energy-efficient way. The average energy-saving effect of the roof is expressed from 15% to 35.7% in different climatic zones (Temperate, Tropical, Composite, Hot and Warm-Humid) as per the literature survey results. Also, the average roof surface temperature reduction is possible from 1.4 ˚C to up to 4.7 ˚C using cool roof technology.

For studies of thermal performance, computational modeling has been presented as an important decision-making tool to solve complex and everyday problems in poultry production and research. Thus, the present study aimed to validate computational models developed using the EnergyPlus software package and, based on these, evaluate the thermal performance of a poultry house with different types of tiles (thermoacoustic, ceramic, fiber-cement, and metal). The research consisted of two stages: an experimental phase and another phase in which the climatic conditions in four aviary models are numerically simulated, considering different types of tiles. The experimental phase was conducted in two climate seasons, winter (2019) and summer (2020), where air temperature and relative air humidity data were measured and recorded using six HOBO model H12 data loggers distributed inside an aviary located in the semiarid region of Pernambuco state, Brazil. For the computer simulation, a virtual model of the house was developed using the OpenStudio graphical user interface in Sketchup, and the thermal performance was calculated using the EnergyPlus software package. The models were validated, showing a strong correlation between the experimental and simulated data, with Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) values greater than 0.95. The simulations demonstrated the influence of the roof tiles on the thermal performance of the evaluated building. For the climatic conditions of the semiarid region of the Pernambuco state, thermoacoustic roof tiles presented the best thermal performance, followed by ceramic, fiber-cement, and metal roof tiles.

Buildings are responsible for over a third of energy consumption worldwide, particularly due to the increasing demand for air-conditioners in response to the more extreme heat around the globe. It is imperative to move towards more energy-efficient space cooling alternatives. The integration of phase change material (PCM) with radiant chilled ceilings (RCC) is a promising technology due to its benefits regarding energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality. This article presents a field study conducted on a newly-developed PCM embedded radiant chilled ceiling (PCM-RCC) installed in a stand-alone cabin located in Melbourne. The study evaluates the thermal and energy performance of the system through investigations of the transient thermal behaviour of PCM panels in charging-discharging cycles, the indoor comfort conditions, and the electricity peak demand. It was observed that the proposed PCM-RCC can provide satisfactory comfort conditions and contribute to load shifting if a refined operating strategy is applied. The efficiency of PCM recharge overnight depends on several factors that need to be carefully considered in design. The challenges related to the implementation of optimal operating dynamic schedules in response to the thermal behaviour of PCM-RCC, and accurate weather forecasting should be addressed to realise the full potential of this technology.

With the spread of sustainability concepts, due to the global energy crisis and the unrestrained consumption of natural resources, the importance of rational use and reduction of energy consumption has been intensified, albeit in short steps. This concern has taken up bioclimatic concepts in buildings, especially housing buildings for low-income people, aiming at improving the quality of housing production in terms of its habitability. The objective of this research is to theoretically and experimentally study the natural ventilation in a housing building, which fits into the low-cost pattern. The use of Computational Fluid Dynamics to predict natural ventilation was adopted as a tool to perform these analyses. Experiments were carried out by visiting the study area to collect data on air velocity, temperature, and relative humidity in all rooms of the residence in order to carry out the intended analyses. Computer simulation of natural ventilation considering the building with the doors and windows open and with fixed geometry was performed. Results proved that the proposed mathematical model was able to reproduce, with rich details and physical coherence, the internal and external air flow inside the building, indicating better internal ventilation performance in environments that have door and window openings, with recesses, revealing the importance of cross ventilation to reduce the internal temperature and consequent improvement in thermal comfort. The idea is to help civil engineers and specialists in the economically viable design of low-cost buildings from the economic, social, and thermal comfort points of view.

To investigate the dynamic thermal resistance of woven fabrics in different wetting states, ten commonly used clothing fabrics were selected and tested for fabric thermal resistance under different levels of water saturation in accordance with Chinese national standards. Based on Mangat’s eight thermal resistance prediction models, the study improved the models by replacing the original moisture content with water content saturation. The suitability of the eight models in predicting the thermal resistance of woven fabrics in wet states was compared using the sum of squared deviations (SSD), sum of absolute deviations (SAD), and correlation coefficient (R2). The results showed that during the process from initial wetting to complete immersion, the measured thermal resistance values of the ten fabric samples were consistent with the predicted values from Model 5 in the theoretical model of thermal resistance (R2 > 0.955). The characteristic of Model 5 is that the air thermal resistance and water thermal resistance are first connected in parallel and then connected in series with the fiber thermal resistance. The corrected predicted values from Model 5 were highly consistent with the experimental measurement values and can be used to approximate the thermal resistance of woven fabrics in wet states.

Modern building materials using reinforced concrete are considered the most popular in the production of housing in Algeria, specifically in desert areas such as the city of Ouargla, which is characterized by its hot and arid climate. These dwellings must be more adaptable to this difficult climate. An example is the Ouargla Ksar, which contains traditional dwellings that have proven their effectiveness in terms of the heat problem, as has been revealed in several previously conducted studies, but these dwellings have decreased in demand as they are not suitable for contemporary urban life. Therefore, the aim of this study is to improve the performance of the most recognized house typologies in the city of Ouargla in terms of thermal comfort and energy consumption by using passive strategies. In this regard, we used a research methodology based on field measurements and model simulations wherein we adopted TRNSYS 17 to determine the most often encountered problems. The simulated model was validated by statistical correlation; afterward, a simulation of a full year was run, during which many aspects of construction were studied and compared, such as insulation, the mass of the roof and walls, dimensions and types of windows, orientation, and solar shading. The results show that the studied modern house can be considered inappropriate for a desert climate, and the use of solar shading combined with insulated walls and roof allows for an increase of 35% in annual thermal comfort hours (−0.5 ≤ PMV ≤0.5) and for a 22.73% reduction in the energy consumption. We then compared the simulated scenarios with a traditional house characterized by a bioclimatic architectural design that we used as a reference building. The obtained results may be useful in guiding both refurbishment interventions on existing buildings and the design of new ones. Although the simulated interventions have been widely studied in the literature, it is very important to determine their impact on the perception of the indoor environment and on the energy consumption in this specific geographic area.

In this study, a novel experimental model was proposed, built, and tested to present an efficient and simple method for cooling protective helmets. The system was based on an evaporative cooling technique in which water is used as a coolant sprayed over a canvas covering the outer helmet’s surface. A solar fan was provided to enhance the evaporation rate. The experimental results were used with the main laws of heat and mass to evaluate evaporation and heat transfer rates. The proposed system was compared by other two cases, the uncovered dry helmet and the wet-covered one without using the fan. The inner and outer surface temperatures reached were characterized by a good level of stability and by being compatible with human comfort conditions. The addition of the wet cover led to a temperature drop in both the outer and inner surfaces of the helmet by about 9 degrees, and the addition of the fan led to an additional drop of about 5 degrees. There were increases in the cooling rate by 63.3% by adding the wet cover and by 131.7% after adding the fan. The system is characterized by free power consumption and simplicity in implementation.