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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.

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.

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.

With frequent outbreaks of COVID-19, the rapid and effective construction of large-space buildings into Fangcang shelter hospitals has gradually become one of the effective means to control the epidemic. Reasonable design of the ventilation system of the Fangcang shelter hospital can optimize the indoor airflow organization, so that the internal environment can meet the comfort of patients and at the same time can effectively discharge pollutants, which is particularly important for the establishment of the Fangcang shelter hospital. In this paper, through the reconstruction of a large-space gymnasium, CFD software is used to simulate the living environment and pollutant emission efficiency of the reconstructed Fangcang shelter hospital in summer under different air supply temperatures, air supply heights and exhaust air volume parameters. The results show that when the air supply parameters are set to an air supply height of 4.5 m, an air supply temperature of 18 °C, and an exhaust air volume of a single bed of 150 m3/h, the thermal comfort can reach level I, and the ventilation efficiency for pollutants can reach 69.6%. In addition, the ventilation efficiency is 70.1% and 70.3% when the exhaust air volume of a single bed is continuously increased to 200 and 250 m3/h, which can no longer effectively improve the pollutant emission and will cause an uncomfortable blowing feeling to patients.

The indoor environmental quality of a library greatly affects the comfort and productivity of its users while preserving the materials. Despite the high energy consumption of HVACs in libraries, achieving acceptable thermal conditions, acceptable acoustics, and sufficient daylight levels for users remains a challenge. There are limited studies on the IEQ of educational buildings, especially regarding the current situation of libraries. It is important to conduct further studies to define design guidelines promoting indoor environmental conditions. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the IEQ of a campus library to recommend retrofitting strategies. The IEQ parameters in the rare collection room, which houses special collections, and in the library hall were assessed using a full-scale measurement, with eight HOBO data loggers and sensors deployed in various locations to monitor IEQ. A comparison of the results with the standards revealed that rare collection room was unsuitable for maintaining rare collections, as the average indoor air temperature exceeded 21.2 °C, which is beyond the threshold limit. Additionally, the relative humidity ranged from 51.3% to 55.8%, which is marginally high. To provide acceptable indoor conditions, this study recommends retrofitting strategies for the exterior walls, such as using cement plaster with a low thermal conductivity. In the library hall, the reading zone was found to be thermally uncomfortable. The air velocity was below the range of 0.15 ms−1 to 0.50 ms−1 recommended by MS 1525. The average CO2 level was 479.5 ppm, with some points registering an increase of up to 588 ppm. The noise level in the library hall ranged between 43 dB(A) and 61 dB(A), while the light intensity was below 300 lux in the reading area, which is not within the acceptable range. This study suggests improvement solutions, such as implementing an air temperature between 24.5 and 26.5 °C for higher thermal comfort and increasing the window-to-wall ratio to utilize natural daylight. These findings provide insights into the design of new libraries and the renovation of existing ones, ensuring that libraries continue to serve as vibrant centers of knowledge and learning for generations to come.

Air conditioning systems in buildings consume a significant part of the world’s energy, and yet there are cases wherein users are not satisfied with the quality of the thermal environment. Examples of such special cases are sports halls, which require different thermal conditions within a single zone. Thermal diagnostics for buildings can be used to diagnose problems. The aim of the paper was to analyse the effectiveness of the ventilation and cooling systems of a sports hall with a cubature of 16,300 m3 and to check the possibility of managing the hall’s cooling demands via the existing air conditioning system. Diagnostic measurements were performed, including in situ measurements of ventilation air flows from the diffusers and their temperatures, visualization of the supply air flows, and monthly registration of the indoor temperature in the hall at different set temperatures of the supply and exhaust air. Additionally, a numerical analysis, using EnergyPlus simulations, of cooling demand was performed with regard to the varying uses of the hall. The analysis based on measurement and simulation showed that it is not possible to remove heat gains from the hall with the current available ventilation air flow.

This paper proposes a critical analysis of the intervention, over time, in the housing estates built under the Improvement Plan for the city of Porto. This plan enabled the construction of a significant number of dwellings within a limited period of time, promoting a broad and impactful urban and social restructuring of the city in the mid-twentieth century. Several post-construction interventions over the last decades were important opportunities to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants and to enhance the energy performance of the buildings. However, these buildings are still subject to architectural and construction challenges in terms of ‘energy poverty’ and the adaptation of the domestic comfort parameters. Thus, this research analyses the intervention strategies used in these buildings and the constraints resulting from current legislation and funding conditions that significantly impact design decisions. The study points to significant changes in the implementation of measures to improve the state of buildings, becoming progressively more concerned with energy consumption and thermal comfort. The discussion also highlights the impact of current measures on the comfort of interior spaces, current problems, and alternative means of balancing energy and comfort. The relevance of this research lies in the joint analysis of the interventions and frequent efficiency and comfort problems as a motto to improve the implementation of future strategies in developing a more energetically balanced housing stock. The paper also aims to deconstruct the preconceptions often associated with interventions geared towards thermal comfort, especially in social housing.

Wood is one of the most abundant biomaterials on Earth, which has been used for centuries in construction applications including furniture, roofing, flooring, and cabinetry. However, wood chips—which are a low-quality and plentiful waste byproduct of lumber milling, woodworking, and shipping operations—have low economic value and complicated disposal methods. In this paper, we propose a strategy for wood chip reuse through the fabrication of bio-based building insulation foam. Through a high-temperature chemical treatment delignification process, we introduced additional small pores within the wood chips, effectively lowering their thermal conductivity, and used them in combination with a binding agent to produce a porous insulation foam. The porous insulation foam achieved a low thermal conductivity of 0.038 W/(m·K) and a high compressive strength of 1.1 MPa (70% strain). These characteristics demonstrate that wood waste can be repurposed into an effective building material, addressing challenges in both waste management and sustainable construction.

The psychrometric chart is the most common data visualization technique for the designers of thermal comfort systems worldwide. From its humble roots as means of expressing the characteristics of air in building systems design, the use of the chart has grown to include the representation of the zones of human thermal comfort according to both conventional and adaptive models. In this paper, we present an extensive history of this development and the fallacies with representing comfort simply as a box that sometimes moves on the chart. The origins of the link between refrigeration control and comfort control are examined through archival reviews, examining the works of Carrier, Yagoglou, and their contemporaries in the context of modern comfort mischaracterizations. A clearer understanding of the mapping of comfort, control, and climate metrics with psychrometrics is reported, and a critique of the conflation is reported to increase awareness of the limitations of such treatment of these three critical domains.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the correlated color temperature (CCT) of light can affect thermal comfort. Previous literature mostly investigated this effect over a short duration (2 h; 2700 K vs. 5700 K with 500 lux illuminance at the eye) in office -like settings during mild cold exposure (17 degrees C) using a within-subject design (N = 16). The results indicate that CCT did not significantly affect thermal sensation in mild cold, which may be explained by the large interin-dividual variation in the color-temperature association. Interestingly, 5700 K even improved thermal comfort, decreased perceived shivering, and, after 1-h exposure, increased energy expenditure. Moreover, visual comfort was not significantly moderated by CCT, but 5700 K improved comprehensive cognitive performance. Concur-rently, arousal and alertness were higher in 5700 K, potentially indicating greater non-visual effects in 5700 K. Further analysis revealed that thermal comfort significantly correlated with perceived shivering and visual comfort, but not with the color sensation of the light. Together, the results provide no support for the hue-heat hypothesis under mildly cold conditions and suggest that high CCT enhanced thermal comfort, alertness, arousal, and cognitive performance, likely via non-visual mechanisms that built up over longer exposure durations.

Earth Air Tunnel Heat Exchanger (EATHE) systems are not so much popular in India because of restricted accessibility of ground space in majority of residential and commercial sector. In the present article, thermal performance of newly designed helical shaped EATHE system has been compared with conventional U–shaped EATHE system by keeping similar geometrical and operational configuration for the summer (April–June) and winter (December–February), respectively. In this regard, therefore, numerical model of both EATHE systems have been designed and experimentally validated. The thermal performance of both EATHE systems has been compared in terms of outlet air temperature and effectiveness. The present numerical study suggested that the newly designed helical EATHE system exhibits better thermal performance with lower ground requirement as compared to conventional U-shaped EATHE system. To evaluate the thermal comfort potential of EATHE system in office buildings of India, composite climate specific adaptive thermal comfort boundaries has been used. The detailed thermal performance behaviour of the EATHE system suggests that an additional 80% of the time; ambient air conditions became thermally comfortable during peak summer season. In addition, analysis of the results revealed that EATHE system has more potential during heating operation mode to maintain indoor comfort in winter season of composite climate in India.

Cold protection for outdoor workers is crucial for their health and thermal safety in winter. Personal heating is considered an effective measure to solve the problem, which can significantly improve thermal comfort. However, according to the present studies, a uniform assessment of different personal heating measures is hard to obtain. This study explored four typical types of personal heating measures (electrically heated garment, electrically heated garment with an aerogel layer, electrically heated seat, and chemically heated insole) in different cold environments. Clothing insulation, effective heating power (Peff), and heating efficiency (η) were measured by a thermal manikin with a constant temperature in nine environmental conditions. Three levels of two critical environmental factors (air temperature (Ta): −5 °C, −10 °C, and −15 °C; air velocity (Va)

One of the most important aspects of working in an office environment is ensuring that the space has optimal thermal comfort and an indoor environment. The aim of this research is to investigate the thermal comfort and indoor climate in three office rooms located at one of the campus buildings at the University of Gävle, Sweden. The evaluated period is in the month of April during springtime. During this period, parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, CO2, supply air flow rate, and room air velocities are measured on site. The results of the measurement show that the indoor temperature is on average lower in the rooms facing north, at 21–23.5 °C, compared to the rooms facing south, which reach high temperatures during sunny days, up to 26 °C. The results also show that the ventilation air supply rate is lower than the requirement for offices in two of the office rooms. The ACH rate is also low, at ≈ 1 h−1 for all the rooms, compared to the required levels of 2–4 h−1. The CO2 levels are within the recommended values; on average, the highest is in one of the south-facing rooms, with 768 ppm, and the maximum measured value is also in the same room, with 1273 ppm for a short period of time.

Personal comfort systems (PCS) that warm or cool local body parts promise individual thermal comfort, energy saving and (metabolic) health in non-neutral thermal environments. However, research on work performance while using a PCS is scarce. We previously tested a PCS that warms the extremities and cools the head and reported that the PCS improved thermal comfort during a ramp of 17-23C but did not at a stable temperature of 25C. In the current study, its effects on cognitive performance, subjective measures and task-induced heart rate measures are investigated. Eighteen participants completed two randomized, eight-hour-long dynamic office scenarios: one is PCS scenario and another one is without PCS scenario. The results show warming the extremities slightly slowed reaction time for a simple task at 19C (p < 0.05) whereas it exerted no effect on complex task performance in 17-21t. At 25C however, cooling the head improved complex task performance (p = 0.053), which derived from participants' effort increase, whereas it did not affect simple task performance. These findings suggest that the PCS' effects on cogni-tive performance depended on the task type. Cooling the head, independent from its influence on thermal comfort, plays a significant role in complex cognitive performance in slightly warm conditions.(c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

The European Directive 844/2018, the EN 16798–1 and –2, and the ISO 17772 Standards establish that when designing a new building or energy retrofitting an existing building, the Indoor Environmental Quality must be considered. One aspect of IEQ is thermal comfort, which is affected by the mean radiant temperature, tr. This variable is the only one that an HVAC system cannot control directly. In fact, it depends on the temperatures of the surfaces surrounding the subject which are influenced by the air temperature. It can be calculated using the methods envisaged by the ISO EN 7726 standard or alternative approximate methods. It is therefore important to understand whether the different tr calculation methods affect the PMV value and,therefore, the classification of the thermal environment according to the EN 16798-1 Standard. For many years, building dynamic energy simulation software tools which integrate energy analyses with the evaluation of thermal comfort have been used for the design and verification of the energy performance of buildings. This paper compares different methods of calculating the mean radiant temperature used by Energy Plus with the Design-Builder interface and analyses the influence of the results on the evaluation of thermal comfort in three buildings.

The optimization of energy consumption in buildings’ HVAC systems plays a crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. In new and deeply-renovated buildings, characterized by modulating terminal units and aiming at the maximum exploitation of renewables, an accurate hydraulic balance of the distribution network may become critical, resulting in a significant increase of pumping energy consumptions and a deterioration of indoor thermal comfort conditions. In the present paper, we compare the performance of traditional manual balancing valves and new pressure independent control valves (PICVs), used to balance the hydronic loop of HVAC systems. To perform this analysis, a new MATLAB-Simulink model has been specifically developed to simulate the behavior of PICVs and has been used in an application case study. The efficiency of manual and pressure independent control valves is evaluated numerically by simulating a multi-zone distribution network under variable operating conditions and considering different control strategies of the circulating pump. Results show that in off-design conditions, when some of the branches of the hydraulic network are closed, traditional manual balancing valves are not able to guarantee the nominal mass flow rate in the remaining loops. On the contrary, no significant variations of water mass flow rate are observed when PICVs are adopted, even in partial load conditions. Despite their additional cost, PICVs allow to ensure better indoor thermal comfort sensations for individuals, avoiding under/over-heating of rooms and, moreover, yield a decrease of the pump electric consumption with respect to traditional manual balancing valves. In addition, based on the obtained results, general rules concerning the adoption of PICVs are provided, depending on the extension of the hydraulic loop and the adopted pump control logic. The reported results highlight the role that PICVs can play to ensure energy savings in HVAC systems without penalizing users’ indoor comfort conditions.

Traditional ventilation and air conditioning systems typically operate on a predetermined schedule with fixed operating parameters. Occupant-centric control (OCC) strategies have been proposed to reduce system operation energy consumption without sacrificing thermal comfort. Indoor occupancy detection in real time is a critical step in successfully implementing the OCC strategy. Thus, the deep learning-based computer vision method was adopted in the first step of the study, and the detection performance and camera position were analyzed in an office scenario. Next, the proposed OCC strategy was used to regulate the supply air parameters and outdoor air volume in stratum ventilation based on the monitored occupant number. The traditional static control strategy was then compared to two control strategies: constant air volume and variable air volume. Occupant detection performance results showed the mean NRMSD for the five most common relative positions of the occupants and camera was 0.1109, with sitting back to camera having the lowest accuracy. Subjective response results demonstrated that, when compared to the traditional control strategy, thermal comfort was improved by 43%-73%, perceived air quality was maintained at an acceptable level, CO2 concentration was less than 700 ppm, and energy could be saved by 2.3%-8.1%. Furthermore, the lower the occupancy, the greater the improvement in comfort and the greater the energy savings. This research focused on how the stratum ventilation system responds to dynamic changes in occupancy and provided insights into reducing unnecessary energy waste while maintaining comfort.

Wider temperature ranges in buildings can reduce building energy use and prevent shortage of energy availability. However, humans do not perceive temperature equally and a general lowering of indoor temperature may in particular impact susceptible individuals. The discrepancy between individuals has been ascribed to sex differences, but is not well understood and could relate to heterogeneity in endogenous heat production or other personal parameters. We, therefore, evaluated individual thermal responses including physiological measurements of metabolic heat production in both men and women, identified, and via experiments, verified as cold sensitive or cold resilient. On average, the cold sensitive group had an 18 % lower resting metabolic rate compared to the cold resilient group when controlling for clothing and other important parameters for heat exchange. We observed a 0.9 °C difference in neutral temperature between sexes, but no difference in thermal perception or skin temperature. We concluded that cold susceptibility is not simply a matter of perception, but relates to a measurable difference in endogenous heat production. Currently mandated temperature setpoints at workplaces or recommended household temperatures do therefore not seem to discriminate between sexes as a result of sex-related differences in physiology, but they might have negative implications for cold sensitive individuals.

The UK government has committed to reducing its carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are high energy users, with the largest proportion of their energy demand for space heating; an area still dominated by carbon-intensive fuels. This research addresses the UK HEI space temperature policy landscape, making direct links between space temperature policy and carbon management, advocating the development of evidence-based policies as a critical tool for reducing carbon emissions within the sector. Sixty-six space temperature policies were reviewed, and five experienced energy managers were interviewed to understand the range, development and use of space temperature policies in UK HEIs. The research identified a lack of consistency across these policies, leading to missed opportunities for making energy and carbon savings. The research highlights gaps in the available data and literature needed to connect policy to its effectiveness, and identifies the use of policy as a defensive tool against complaints rather than an active driver of energy reduction. A series of recommendations are proposed for national and institutional policymakers, suggesting areas for improvement and future research to facilitate effective development and practice in space temperature policy towards net-zero.

Previous studies on window-windcatchers have shown their effectiveness in capturing the prevailing wind and redirecting it into a building, increasing the actual-to-required ventilation ratio by 9%, above what is required by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). However, the effect of implementing the proposed system on energy performance, energy costs, and thermal comfort has not been studied. Therefore, here, we investigate and test the implementation of the window-windcatcher on a typical residential building, using a validated DesignBuilder model. Compared to the base case (no window-windcatcher), the total annual energy consumption of the entire building (Etot,b), and consequently the cost, is reduced by approximately 23.3% (i.e., from 18,143 kWh/year to 13,911 kWh/year) when using the window-windcatcher. The total annual reduction in thermal discomfort hours is estimated to be 290 h, which corresponds to an average monthly reduction of approximately 24 h. Published version

In hot dry regions, the building envelope receives abundant solar radiation, which contributes to heat stress and indoor thermal discomfort. To mitigate overheating inside spaces, cooling is the main basic requirement during most of the year. However, due to the harsh climatic conditions, buildings fail to provide passively the required comfort conditions. Consequently, they are fully dependent on-air conditioning systems, which are huge energy consumers. As roofs are exposed to the sun throughout the daytime, they are estimated to be the main source of heat stress. In return, they can contribute significantly to achieve optimum comfort and energy savings when efficient design strategies are used in an early design stage. To examine the potential for cooling load reduction and thermal comfort enhancement by using cooling roof techniques in residential buildings, a study was performed in the city of Biskra (southern Algeria). Accordingly, an in-field measurement campaign was carried out on test-cells during five days in summer. Three different cooling roof techniques were addressed: (a) cool reflective white paint (CR), (b) white ceramic tiles (CT) and (c) a cool-ventilated roof (C-VR). These roofing alternatives were investigated by monitoring both roof surface temperatures and indoor temperatures. Comparative analysis showed that a cool-ventilated roof is the most efficient solution, reducing the average indoor temperature by 4.95 °C. A dynamic simulation study was also performed based on TRNSYS software to determine the best roofing system alternatives in terms of thermal comfort and energy consumption, considering the hottest month of the year. Simulation tests were run on a base-case model representing the common individual residential buildings in Biskra. Results showed that a double-skin roof combined with cool-reflective paint is the most efficient roofing solution. By comparison to a conventional flat roof, meaningful improvements have been achieved, including reducing thermal discomfort hours by 45.29% and lowering cooling loads from 1121.91 kWh to 741.09 kWh.

Indoor thermal comfort affects occupants’ daily activities and health. HVAC systems are necessary to control thermal comfort quality. Tracking and monitoring the effectiveness of HVAC system engines are critical activities because they ensure that the system can produce suitable indoor thermal comfort. However, the operation of such systems depends on practitioners and engineers, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Moreover, installing physical sensors into the system engine may keep track of the problem but may also require costs and maintenance. This research addressed this concern by presenting deep learning (DL)-driven automated fault detection and diagnostics (AFDD) for HVAC systems. It employed contextual factors as an indirect measurement to avoid modifying HVAC system engines (e.g., according to standard building appliance warranties) but was still able to effectively detect issues. The design and development of the DL model are proposed to encode complex behaviors of an HVAC system using contextual factors. The experimental results show that the predictive performance of our model achieved an average F-measure of over 97%, which was outstanding compared with the standard ML models. This proposed model will be a natural fit for AFDD for HVAC systems and is ready for future real-world applications as required by building engineering.

A lack of consideration of outdoor spaces of universities has resulted in lower outdoor thermal comfort in summer. This study investigates the thermal comfort of outdoor spaces of a university in summer and proposes the model’s accuracy and optimization strategies to improve the outdoor thermal environment, including vegetation greening, building morphology, and surface albedo. The ENVI-met program was used for the simulation. The measured data were utilized to verify the accuracy of the simulation model. The typical meteorological year data were applied as the inlet boundary condition of the optimized case. The simulation results show that vegetation greening has the most significant effect on improving the outdoor thermal environment. At a greening rate of 45%, the air temperature (Ta), mean radiant temperature (Tmrt), and physiological equivalent temperature (PET) in the study area were 3.2 °C, 14.4 °C, and 6.9 °C lower, respectively, than that in the base case. In areas shaded by building, the Ta, Tmrt, and PET were 2 °C, 8.7 °C, and 5.5 °C lower, respectively, than that in the base case. Increasing the height of buildings did not significantly improve thermal comfort when the height-to-width ratio (H/W) exceeded 1.0. Increasing the ground albedo from 0.2 (base case) to 0.6 can reduce the Ta by 1.44 °C but increase the Tmrt by 3.7 °C and the PET by 4.3 °C. These findings can be used by urban planners to develop sustainable cities and improve thermal comfort on university campuses.

Detailed parametric analysis and measurements are required to reduce building energy usage while maintaining acceptable thermal conditions. This research suggested a system that combines Building Information Modeling (BIM), machine learning, and the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA II) to investigate the impact of building factors on energy usage and find the optimal design. A plugin is developed to receive sensor data and export all necessary information from BIM to MSSQL and Excel. The BIM model was imported to IDA Indoor Climate and Energy (IDA ICE) to execute an energy consumption simulation and then a pairwise test to produce the sample data set. To study the data set and develop a prediction model between building factors and energy usage, 11 machine learning algorithms are used. The best algorithm was Group Least Square Support Vector Machine (GLSSVM), later employed in NSGA II as the building energy consumption fitness function using Dynamo software. An NSGA II multi-objective optimization model is designed to reduce building energy consumption and optimize interior thermal comfort (measured by the predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD)). The Pareto front is calculated, and the optimum point approach is used to find the best combination of building envelope characteristics, HVAC setpoints, shading parameters, lighting, and air infiltration. The feasibility and effectiveness of the developed framework are demonstrated using a case study of an upper secondary school building in Norway; the results show that: (1) The GLSSVM has a unique capacity to forecast building energy use with high accuracy: R2 of 0.99, an RMSE of 1.2, MSE of 1.44, and MAE of 0.89; (2) Building energy consumption and thermal comfort may be successfully improved by the GLSSVM-NSGA II hybrid technique, which reduces energy consumption by 37.5% and increases thermal comfort by 33.5%, respectively.

The thermal comfort of preschool children was assumed to be similar to that of young adults, which may cause inaccuracy. This study tested and analyzed the thermal response characteristics of young adults and preschool children (4–6 years old) and the differences in thermal sensation and thermal physiology between the two groups of participants in a room with a radiant floor heating system using the difference analysis methods (the paired data t-test, the Mann–Whitney U test and the Kruskal–Wallis H test). Participants were divided into two groups, young adults and preschoolers, and were sat in each condition while wearing winter clothing with a thermal resistance of 1.02 clo. The results showed that when the indoor temperature changed, there was a significant difference in the local skin temperature of the calf between the two groups of participants (p < 0.05). Preschool children adapt to the thermal environment better than adults, and the difference in metabolic rate is one of the influencing factors. The overall thermal sensation with mean skin temperature of the different populations was linearly correlated; correlation coefficients were 0.944 and 0.932, respectively. The overall thermal sensation of the participants was linear with respect to the indoor operative temperature. Preschool children have a higher thermal sensitivity to temperature change than young adults under low-temperature radiant floor heating systems, indicating that children have different thermal awareness from adults. There were significant differences in preschoolers’ subjective assessments of thermal sensation when the predicted mean vote (PMV) model was used as the evaluation standard; the difference ranged from 0.77 to 2.33. Thus, the PMV-predicted percentage dissatisfied (PPD) model is not suitable for preschool children.

Indoor thermal comfort is essential for occupants’ well-being, productivity, and efficiency. Global climate change is leading to extremely high temperatures and more intense solar radiation, especially in hot, humid areas. Passive cooling is considered to be one of the environmental design strategies by which to create indoor thermal comfort conditions and minimize buildings’ energy consumption. However, little evidence has been found regarding the effect of passive cooling on the thermal comfort of historical buildings in hot–dry or hot–humid areas. Therefore, we explored the passive cooling features (north-south orientation, natural ventilation, window shading, and light color painted walls) applied in historic residential buildings in Zanzibar and evaluated the residents’ thermal responses and comfort perception based on questionnaires and field surveys. The results showed that the average predicted mean votes (PMVs) were 1.23 and 0.85 for the two historical case study buildings; the average predicted percentages of dissatisfaction (PPD) were 37.35% and 20.56%, respectively. These results indicate that the thermal conditions were not within the acceptable range of ASHRAE Standard 55. Further techniques, such as the use of lime plaster, wash lime, and appropriate organization, are suggested for the improvement of indoor thermal comfort in historical buildings in Zanzibar. This study provides guidelines to assist architects in designing energy-efficient residential buildings, taking into account cultural heritage and thermal comfort in buildings.

In Latvia to perform COVID-19 tests as well as for temporary shelters in case of a local disease outbreak the persons were located in special tents. Such practice was not only performed locally but also in other countries like the USA, UK, Russia, etc. The wide usage of tents was possible as the outbreak happened during the warm period of the year. At the same time, the indoor climate of tents can be quite unbearable during the warm summer days. Also, the situation was not getting better as fast as the prognosis, and the crisis was still ongoing during the winter period. Therefore, to test the thermal comfort of such temporary shelter’s measurements were performed. The thermal comfort was measured in a tent from 27th May to 28th September 2020. The data was logged with three different measuring devices inside of the shelter as well as outside air parameters like temperature and solar radiation was logged. The results show the rapidly changing indoor temperature which reaches 40°C during the daytime and falls to 10°C at night. The data of the globe thermometer to analyze the influence of radiation from tent canvas was also studied and showed that there is no noticeable heat radiation from external walls. The PMV measurements showed that the thermal comfort is very low as the PMV values were outside the range of-1 to 1 for 57% of the time. The influence of the precipitation was also noted, and the results showed that the adiabatic cooling effect is very variable but in general does not noticeably change the indoor temperature, the average temperature decrease was only 1 °C, but for a specific case it reached 10°C. © 2021, Kauno Technologijos Universitetas. All rights reserved.

Passive design integrates a wide range of climate-based strategies to increase occupant thermal comfort and minimise the need for mechanical systems for heating and cooling. The aim of this study was to improve the thermal comfort performance in a naturally ventilated residence through the identification and evaluation of the best set of passive design strategies. A two-storey residence located in Washington, United States with a temperate climate was selected as the case study residence. A reference simulation model was developed by replicating only the orientation and massing of the case study residence, while certain assumptions were made for other building characteristics. Thermal comfort performance analysis was conducted in the DesignBuilder software. A set of design strategies were introduced as interventions followed by simulation runs to efficiently track progress. From the reference simulation model to the final intervention model, a 50% reduction in the annual discomfort hours was anticipated in the five selected zones of the residence. Following the integration of four major interventions, the target discomfort hours were met in three zones—library, bedroom 1 and bedroom 2, with 53.03%, 60.42% and 58.94% reduction in discomfort hours, respectively. The two remaining zones—living and lounge also had a notable improvement with a reduction of 43.93% and 45.99%, respectively. The successful design strategies included—incorporation of triple glazed, low-emissivity and argon filled openings with wooden frames; integration of overhangs in south-facing windows, minor reduction of openings in the east and west façade, and addition of blinds for window shading; and use of an energy code standard construction for the building components and further addition of insulation in the building envelope. The most effective intervention was the customisation of the window operation schedule based on seasonal air temperature differences to optimise natural ventilation. This study demonstrated that occupant thermal comfort can be significantly improved throughout the year with the appropriate use of passive heating and cooling strategies, thereby reducing energy consumption and the environmental impact of buildings.

The traditional capillary radiant air conditioning system with water as heat exchange medium in the indoor unit may have defects of water leakage, pipeline freezing in winter and time delay of cooling and heating effect. It can only achieve good cooling or heating comfort, which is related to the installation of radiant capillary or panel in the floor or ceiling. In view of these defects, this work proposes a multi-connected dry capillary radiant (MDCR) air conditioning system with refrigerant as heat exchange medium. For the cooling operation, the fan coil assisted capillary radiant cooling (FCR) is developed. The fan coil bears part of the sensible cooling load to improve cooling effect and undertakes the entire latent cooling load to dehumidify the air to avoid the condensation. Two operation modes including the capillary radiant cooling (CR) and the FCR were comparatively tested. The test results show that the FCR can maintain the indoor temperature at 19–22°C, a comfortable temperature range, and can dehumidify the air to prevent the condensation. The experimental results demonstrate the application feasibility of MDCR for radiant cooling. In addition, the FCR can maintain the comfort relative humidity at 74–80% during the whole process of the refrigeration operation. The thermal comfort indices of predicted mean vote (PMV) and predicted percentage dissatisfied (PPD) can be kept at −0.5 ~ 0.5 and 0–10% at different heights of the indoor room. It can be concluded that FCR can achieve good thermal comfort and the indices of PMV and PPD can reach Class I standard.

During the following research project, the effects of an electrically heated window on the thermal comfort parameters of permanently occupied spaces were examined. A thermal manikin and a Testo 400 comfort-meter were used for the tests. To characterize the space, the predicted mean vote and predicted percentage of dis-satisfied method was applied. The examination of the comfort indices took place in the vicinity of an electrically heated window glass. During the measurements the surface temperature of the glazing was changed, alongside the distance from the glazing at which the measuring instruments were set up. The project aimed to assess the results measured by the thermal manikin and assess the usability of heated window glazing, taking thermal comfort into account.

Dynamic control of building environment control systems (BECSs) is an important procedure to realize energy consumption reduction while ensuring the occupant’s comfort. Two types of BECSs operation logic exist: parameter-based and index-based. This research concluded that based on the literature review and argumentation, index-based operation logic, advanced from parameter-based operation logic, can better fit the dynamic and complex needs of occupants. However, existing index-based operation logic is generally based on a single performance index, while the BECS operation affects the indoor environment in multiple dimensions, thus, a single index cannot describe the operation comprehensively and accurately. Therefore, this study takes shading as an example, summarizes the performance indices of index-based operation logic for shading from two dimensions, and sorts out six typical control strategies according to different control objectives. The operation effect was analyzed and quantified through simulation. The results demonstrate that the index-based operation strategy has positive effects. It is not sensitive to changes in boundary conditions and the control effect is not affected by individual factors. Meanwhile, advice on the index selection for shading is proposed.

Building penetrations are the most-potent elements providing daylight and moderating the lighting energy consumption and affecting indoor comfort and consequent energy usage. In a semi-tropical climate with a green environment such as Sydney, there is a radical demand to extend windows providing views. This research aims to optimize sunlight admission and maintain indoor comfort while minimizing energy consumption. The method for investigation is to simulate a multiobjective optimization using NSGA-II considering visual and thermal comfort along with energy usage and view of the outside. A combination of human and machine assessments responding to manual and microcontroller-operated indoor validating simulation improves the generalizability. The solutions were assessed for local codes compliance and double-checked against statistical sky conditions. Regarding north, a window-to-wall ratio of 10.7–20% delivers an optimum daylight metric, yielding a 12.16% decrease in energy use intensity. For an east-facing window, altering 26.4% of WWR decreases 2% in lighting energy and a provides a drastic change in visual comfort. Regarding west, changing WWR by about 51% brings about a 50% saving in lighting but no change in other energy loads. Regarding south, when window length is limited to 39% envelope width, it delivers the optimum energy consumption. This study covers visual and thermal comfort together with energy usage and view of the outside, which has not been investigated for southern hemisphere dwellings. A combined simulation and field measurement of human and machine assessment justifies the solutions.

In recent years, the waterway navigation and transportation industry has been developing rapidly, and the living environment of ship cabins has not received much attention. Using questionnaire surveys, data collection and computer simulations, this study explored the problems and causes related to thermal comfort that affect a crew living onboard. The survey showed differences in the thermal sensations of the crew. Cabins below the deck of a ship are usually more comfortable than those above deck. These differences were related to the range of frequent activities undertaken in the cabins. The data and calculations show that the thermal comfort in the stern winch cabin and the engine cabin was significantly higher than in the top living cabin and the meeting cabin. For cabins without windows in winter, the PMV and PPD indexes of those below deck were on average 11.95% higher and 7.03% lower, respectively, than those above deck, indicating better overall thermal comfort below deck. The simulation showed that the simulated PMV of an occupied cabin was up to 17.55% higher than the actual PMV, indicating that the number of crew members in the cabin significantly affected its level of thermal comfort. The results provide a reference for understanding and improving the thermal environment of ships and temporary water facilities.

The present study aims to investigate the effect of coal aggregates (CA) in the compressed earth bricks (CEBs) in order to reduce the footprint of the coal industry. For this purpose, three soils of the Marrakesh region were studied in terms of their chemical composition, and their thermal and mechanical behavior. Then, the selected soil was mixed with different amounts of CA (10%, 15%, and 20% by weight) and compressed in a Brava machine to produce (CEBs). A significant drop in the specific weight of our CEBs was registered with the increase of CA percentage. Besides, the compressive strength showed a linear drop with the increase of (CA) percentages. In fact, for bricks with 20% of CA, the decrease in compressive strength reaches 32.95% in respect to the reference bricks. Moreover, CA showed interesting gain in thermal conductivity reaching 60% while the diminution in compressive strength was still acceptable according to norms in the state of the art. Thereby, we can say that using CA in earth bricks can, with the suitable architecture, contribute not only to reduce the building charges, but also to provide a good thermal comfort without increasing the thickness of the walls.

Shopping malls are large buildings and thus have extremely high heating or cooling costs and energy requirements. This study explored the response patterns of human physiological parameters to sudden temperature changes (temperature difference >30 °C) at moderate activity levels in a Shenyang shopping mall. The temperature was set to −12 °C for cold conditions and indoor temperature conditions were set to 18 and 24 °C. Fifty participants underwent hot—cold—hot room temperature exposure. The following results were observed for short-duration stays in the shopping mall. (1) When the temperature difference between hot and cold environments was >30 °C and the indoor temperature did not exceed 24 °C, 12–18 min on average was required for the body to reach a new physiological equilibrium. Children required less time to return to a steady state than other age-groups. (2) Children, adolescents, and young adults preferred indoor temperature conditions of 18 °C, whereas middle-aged adults preferred a slightly warmer environment. Thus, in view of the excessively high indoor temperature of the mall, its temperature should be maintained within a range that not only conserves energy but also provides human comfort.

PurposeIn vernacular buildings, many climatic and passive solutions have been used to create indoor thermal comfort. Seasonal occupant movement is an example of a traditional response to increasing thermal comfort. This article investigates the influence of these user behaviours on thermal comfort in courtyard houses.Design/methodology/approachParametric models of three different scenarios of courtyard houses are simulated. The courtyard houses are located in Shiraz, Iran, and share the same orientation and construction materials. To enhance the accuracy of the study, the indoor adaptive thermal comfort (ATC) analysis is performed with three different window-to-wall ratios (WWR) of 25, 50 and 75%. The ACT analysis is performed on an hourly basis for summer and winter scenarios.FindingsThe results demonstrate that the indoor ATC is 8.3% higher in winter than in the summer in the seasonal zones. During the summer, the amount of ATC is relatively sustained in all zones. Unlike common beliefs, seasonal movement can enhance the ATC, especially during winter, specifically in the northern part of the courtyard. In northern zones, the seasonal movement of occupants improves the indoor ATC from 10.1 to 23.7%, and in southern zones, the improvement is from 2.2 to 4.8%.Originality/valueThis research presents a new numerical investigation into occupants' seasonal movements in courtyard houses during summer and winter. It provides a precise pattern to show how much this seasonal movement can affect the habitant's ATC.

Designing urban landscapes for climate change adaptation and mitigation has been highly promoted in contemporary urban development. However, the lack of climate-based design knowledge and technique...

The fight against climate change is a significant challenge, resulting mainly from the linear and extensive exploitation of natural resources, particularly fossil fuels. Its impacts are now recognized. The current climate models are neither sustainable nor ecological in economic and social terms, especially as we live in a century marked by galloping demography and urbanization. Researchers worldwide have paid great attention to passive solar design strategies such as double skin or Second Skin Façade. From this point, the present work aims to contribute to a better understanding of the feasibility of using a passive façade as a useful technology for natural ventilation to achieve potential energy savings and improve thermal comfort and indoor air quality. For this purpose, a parametric study was conducted for a room with four different southern facade configurations in six Moroccan climatic zones; the difference between each lies in the vent's position in the entrance and exit. This process was done by using COMSOL Multiphysics software. Velocity and volume flow rate fields were analyzed. The proposed configurations provided an average volume flow rate between 200 m3/h and 400 m3/h for a surface of 1 m2 of southern façade with an air vent area of 0.1mx0.2m.

Various systems and technologies have been developed in recent years to fulfil the growing needs of high-performance HVAC systems with better performance of energy efficiency, thermal comfort, and occupancy health. Intensified conditioning of human occupied areas and less intensified conditioning of surrounding areas are able to effectively improve the overall satisfaction by individual control of personalized micro-environments and also, achieve maximum energy efficiency. Four main concepts have been identified chronologically through the development of personal environmental conditioning, changing the intensified conditioning area closer to the human body and enhancing conditioning efforts, namely the task ambient conditioning (TAC) system, personal environmental control system (PECS), personal comfort system (PCS), and the personal thermal management (PTM) system. This review follows a clue of the concept progress and system evaluation, summarizes important findings and feasible applications, current gaps as well as future research needs.

Many dwellings in warm-humid climates attain a comfortable environment by natural ventilation. The opening of exterior windows for ventilation allows the entry of insects along with the breeze. As a remedy, occupants install insect-proof screens on windows resulting in reduced airflow into the interior. This study attempts to evaluate the air change effectiveness and thermal comfort in a residential kitchen with insect-proof screens. A kitchen with insect-proof screens on the windows is compared with a case without insect-proof screens. Numerical simulation was conducted using ANSYS Fluent 2019 R2. The insect-proof screen is modelled as a porous media. The air velocity and temperature measurements were validated by measurements in a real scenario. The presence of insect-proof screens reduced the air velocity inside the space by 82%. However, the airflow pattern in the case with screens was more uniformly distributed. The mean age of the air was considerably higher in the case with insect-proof screens, which in turn resulted in a reduced ACE. The presence of an insect-proof screen resulted in a Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) of 2.79 indicating a ‘hot’ sensation, whereas in the other case, the comfort vote is only 1.93 indicating a ‘warm’ sensation. The presence of insect-proof screens on windows reduced the air velocity and ventilation efficiency, contributing to increased thermal discomfort in the kitchen.

Hard concrete roofs cause excessive heat gain impacting thermal comfort in buildings. Terrace gardens promoting greening at higher levels of built structures are seen as one of the key mitigating strategies for modifying building microclimate and improving urban health. We have undertaken a research project to quantitatively assess the value of a terrace garden in a residential scale. A garden patch of about 15 m2 in area, a typical size available in most urban terraces is developed. Surface temperatures are measured over a period of 15 months between July 2018 to January 2020 using four thermocouple sensors, placed within and outside the garden bed, on and below the roof. We compare the thermal performance of the terrace garden across years, seasons, time of the day, presence or absence of garden bed and type and height of vegetation. The surface temperature data was found to correlate well with the ambient air temperature values. The results show that the terrace garden moderates and stabilises the ceiling temperatures and reduces it by about 2–3 °C in winter months and 5–7 °C in hot summers. The garden also provided nearly 400 g of fresh monthly vegetable harvest per m2 of garden. Further, the cooling impact of the terrace garden with natural, tall, wild vegetation is higher as compared to planted vegetation. The study demonstrates a sustainable approach to terrace garden design at residential scale through quantified dual benefits of temperature control within buildings and urban farming.

This aim of this paper is to explore the specific indoor environmental quality factors under different heating conditions in a meeting room of an administrate building located in Kosice. In terms of thermal comfort, a system with radiant ceiling heating provides more favorable results. Low relative humidity was recorded for both heating systems, which could be due to insufficient air conditioning settings. The results of measuring CO2 concentrations were almost identical for both systems and did not exceed the recommended limit value of 1000 ppm. The increase in CO2 concentrations was mainly related to the presence of employees in the monitored room. On none of the monitoring days, whether in the case of a mechanical heating system or a radiant ceiling heating system, the average 24 h concentration of PM10 did not exceed the legally permissible limit of 50 µg/m3. The presence of selected volatile organic compounds in the room has not been demonstrated due to effective ventilation by air conditioning. The results of the evaluation were comparable and smaller fluctuations in values can be attributed to other factors, such as the presence of persons in the monitoring room or the overall heating as well as ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

Urban squares are an important part of a city’s overall spatial environment. However, many urban squares lack rational designs, causing the thermal environment to deteriorate. To ensure sustainable urban development, urban square microclimates should be improved. Given that, this study investigates the effects of three coverages of three landscape elements of urban squares through modeling and simulation using the ENVI-met model validated by field measurements. The correlation between physiological equivalent temperature (PET) and different amounts of landscape elements is investigated using Spearman analysis. This study presents a case study of a typical urban square in a cold climate area. Design strategies in the area are proposed. The results show that the microclimate and thermal comfort of the urban square can be improved by expanding water bodies, modest increasing buildings and optimizing vegetation. Vegetation is the most important landscape element affecting thermal comfort in the urban square. The PET can be reduced by about 1.5 °C by increasing the vegetation cover from 40% to 70%. However, the degree of microclimate regulation by vegetation is disturbed by water bodies and buildings (|ρ| ≥ 0.5). Therefore, to achieve a more comfortable thermal environment, a combination of landscape elements should be considered.

Recently, the requirements regarding the environment of nursing homes are high, because the elderly are a vulnerable group with limited adaptive capacity to respond to transient environmental change. This paper presents a field investigation on the influence of transient thermal comfort changes between the indoor and outdoor spaces (i.e., air temperature (Ta), solar radiation (SR), relative humidity (RH), wind speed (WS), and the thermal comfort indices of Universal Thermal Index (UTCI)) on the willingness of the elderly to use outdoor spaces of the Wanxia nursing home of Chengdu City. Results indicated that, in summer, the mean UTCI values of indoor and corridor spaces corresponded to the level of moderate heat stress, while those of road and garden corresponded to the strong heat stress level. Road and garden spaces even showed moderate heat stress in spring. Approximately 28.93% (139) of the elderly living here used outdoor spaces every day. The morning period (from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.) was the elderly’s favorited period for using outdoor spaces in seasons. The microclimatic transient differences between indoor and outdoor spaces ranged from 0.47 °C to 2.93 °C (|ΔTa|), from 86.09 W/m2 to 206.76 W/m2 (|ΔSR|), from 5.29% to 14.76% (ΔRH), from 0.01 m/s to 0.07 m/s (|ΔWS|), and from 0.25 °C to 2.25 °C (ΔUTCI). These big microclimate differences could cause enormous health risks for the elderly in the process of indoor and outdoor space conversion. The minimal transient change occurred between corridors and indoors. Pearson correlation analysis indicated ΔTa and ΔRH between indoor and outdoor spaces were the primary meteorological factors that influenced the elderly’s willing to use outdoor spaces. The elderly preferred to live in a constant Ta and RH environment. Only when the ΔTa and ΔRH are small enough to resemble a steady-state (ΔUTCI ≤ 0.5 °C), ΔWS and ΔSI could affect the elderly’s choice of using outdoor space. Optimal design strategies were put forward for reducing the transient differences between indoor and outdoor microclimates to inspire the elderly to use outdoor spaces safely, including improving outdoor canopy coverage and indoor mechanical ventilation.

The indoor thermal environment has become a critical factor, due to its impact on the energy efficiency of a building and the health and performance of its occupants. It is particularly important for educational buildings, where students and teachers are exposed to these thermal conditions. This study assessed the impact of natural ventilation efficiency and university students’ thermal perception during the cold season. A field monitoring campaign and a questionnaire survey were conducted. A total of 989 students participated in this study. The results show that, although the CO2 concentration in 90% of the evaluated classrooms was below the European recommended value (i.e., 800 ppm), only 18% of the classrooms were within the thermal comfort zone defined by national regulations. These thermal conditions caused 55% of the students surveyed to report that they were dissatisfied, and that this environment interfered with their academic performance. Significant differences were found between thermal sensation votes from female and male students (p < 0.001). The obtained neutral temperature was one degree higher for female students than for males. Our results suggest that ventilation protocols need to be modified by adjusting the window opening strategy, and these findings should be used as guidelines during their redesign., Consejo General de la Arquitectura Tecnica (CGATE), State Research Agency (SRA) of Spain, European Commission PID2019-108761RB-I00