Investigation of temperature regulation effects on indoor thermal comfort, air quality, and energy savings toward green residential buildings

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shi-Jie Cao ◽  
Hua-Yan Deng
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Temperature Regulation ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort

scholarly journals Effect of insulation on indoor thermal comfort in a detached house with a floor heating system

2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 02049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qianwen Guo ◽  
Ryozo Ooka ◽  
Wonseok Oh ◽  
Wonjun Choi ◽  
Doyun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Insulation Material ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Detached House ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Floor Heating ◽  
Floor Temperature

Appropriate insulation materials, with unique physical properties and of moderate thickness, are essential for energy savings in residential buildings. However, the impact of thermal insulation on indoor thermal comfort with floor heating systems has not been studied extensively. In this study, simulations of a typical Japanese detached house were conducted with four different thicknesses of insulation material in the walls, ceiling, and floor to estimate the mean air temperature (MAT), mean radiant temperature (MRT), floor temperature, predicted mean vote (PMV) and predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD). The results showed that increasing the thickness of thermal insulation increased the MAT and MRT by 1.4 – 4.0 ℃ and 1.3 – 4.4 ℃, respectively. Moreover, as the thickness of the thermal insulation increased, the floor temperature rose and exhibited smaller fluctuations. Finally, it was found that increasing the thickness of thermal insulation improved the indoor thermal comfort environment, as evidenced by an increase in the PMV from –1.0 to 0.3, and a decrease in the PPD from 25.1% to 9.5%.

scholarly journals Impacts on Indoor Thermal Comfort and Heating Energy Use in Hellenic Dwellings from Occupant Behavioral Reactions

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 6254
Author(s):  
Elena G. Dascalaki ◽  
Constantinos A. Balaras
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Local Heating ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
Heating System ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Heating Systems ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Audits

In an effort to reduce the operational cost of their dwellings, occupants may even have to sacrifice their indoor thermal comfort conditions. Following the economic recession in Greece over recent years, homeowners have been forced to adapt their practices by shortening heating hours, lowering the indoor thermostat settings, isolating spaces that are not heated or even turning off their central heating system and using alternative local heating systems. This paper presents the results from over 100 occupant surveys using questionnaires and walk-through energy audits in Hellenic households that documented how occupants operated the heating systems in their dwellings and the resulting indoor thermal comfort conditions and actual energy use. The results indicate that the perceived winter thermal comfort conditions were satisfactory in only half of the dwellings, since the actual operating space heating periods averaged only 5 h (compared with the assumed 18 h in standard conditions), while less than half heated their entire dwellings and only a fifth maintained an indoor setpoint temperature of 20 °C, corresponding to standard comfort conditions. Mainstream energy conservation measures include system maintenance, switching to more efficient systems, reducing heat losses and installing controls. This information is then used to derive empirical adaptation factors for bridging the gap between the calculated and actual energy use, making more realistic estimates of the expected energy savings following building renovations, setting prudent targets for energy efficiency and developing effective plans toward a decarbonized building stock.

scholarly journals Field Study Of A Radiant Heating System For Sleep Thermal Comfort And Potential Energy Saving

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher L. K. Wang
Keyword(s):  
Potential Energy ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Thermal Conditions ◽  
Heating System ◽  
The Body ◽  
Radiant Temperature

As sleep is unconscious, the traditional definition of thermal comfort with conscious judgment does not apply. In this thesis sleep thermal comfort is defined as the thermal condition which enables sleep to most efficiently rejuvenate the body and mind. A comfort model was developed to stimulate the respective thermal environment required to achieve the desired body thermal conditions and a new infrared sphere method was developed to measure mean radiant temperature. Existing heating conditions according to building code conditions during sleeping hours was calculated to likely overheat a sleeping person and allowed energy saving potential by reducing nighttime heating set points. Experimenting with existing radiantly and forced air heated residential buildings, it was confirmed that thermal environment was too hot for comfortable sleep and that the infrared sphere method shows promise. With the site data, potential energy savings were calculated and around 10% of energy consumption reduction may be achieved during peak heating.

scholarly journals Importance of Behavioral Adjustments for Adaptive Thermal Comfort in a Condominium with HEMS System

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-170
Author(s):  
Rajan KC ◽  
Hom Bahadur Rijal ◽  
Masanori Shukuya ◽  
Kazui Yoshida
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Adaptive Behaviors ◽  
Outdoor Air ◽  
Indoor Thermal Environment ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort

The energy use in residential dwellings has been increasing due to increasing use of modern electric appliances to make the lifestyle easier, entertaining and better. One of the major purposes of indoor energy use is for improving indoor thermal environment for adjusting thermal comfort. Along with the use of passive means like the use of mechanical devices, the occupants in any dwellings use active means such as the use of natural ventilation, window opening, and clothing adjustment. In fact, the use of active means when the outdoor environment is good enough might be more suitable to improve indoor thermal environment than the use of mechanical air conditioning units, which necessarily require electricity. Therefore, the people in developing countries like Nepal need to understand to what extent the occupants can use active means to manage their own indoor thermal comfort. The use of active means during good outdoor environment might be an effective way to manage increasing energy demand in the future. We have made a field survey on the occupants’ adaptive behaviors for thermal comfort in a Japanese condominium equipped with Home Energy Management System (HEMS). Online questionnaire survey was conducted in a condominium with 356 families from November 2015 to October 2016 to understand the occupants’ behaviors. The number of 17036 votes from 39 families was collected. The indoor air temperature, relative humidity and illuminance were measured at the interval of 2-10 minutes to know indoor thermal environmental conditions. The occupants were found using different active behaviors for thermal comfort adjustments even in rather harsh summer and winter. Around 80% of the occupants surveyed opened windows when the outdoor air temperature was 30⁰C in free running (FR) mode and the clothing insulation was 0.93 clo when the outdoor air temperature was 0⁰C. The result showed that the use of mechanical heating and cooling was not necessarily the first priority to improve indoor thermal environment. Our result along with other results in residential buildings showed that the adaptive behaviors of the occupants are one of the primary ways to adjust indoor thermal comfort. This fact is important in enhancing the energy saving building design.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Effects of the Humidity Level-Based Auto-Controlled Centralized Exhaust Ventilation Systems on Thermal Comfort of Multi-Family Residential Buildings in South Korea

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 4791
Author(s):  
Kwag ◽  
Park ◽  
Kim ◽  
Kim
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Indoor Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Humidity Level ◽  
Exhaust Ventilation ◽  
Air Tightness ◽  
Ventilation Systems

Building air-tightness has been increased to make energy efficient buildings. However, various indoor air quality issues can be caused by high building air-tightness because it allows low air and moisture transmission through building envelop. In order to solve and prevent these issues, mechanical ventilation systems can be used to control the indoor humidity level. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the performances of the Relative Humidity (RH)-sensor based auto-controlled centralized exhaust ventilation systems to manage indoor air quality and thermal comfort of multi-family residential buildings in South Korea. A series of field tests were performed for different target zones and for various moisture source scenarios. As a result, it was found that the auto-controlled centralized exhaust ventilation systems were able to control indoor air quality and to maintain the zones thermal comfort faster than the baseline cases that did not operate exhaust vents. The results presented in this paper can show the potential and the feasibility of the auto-controlled centralized exhaust ventilation systems for multi-family residential buildings in South Korea. It is expected that the results presented in this paper would be useful for building owners, engineers, and architects when designing building systems.

scholarly journals Theoretical Study on the Relationship of Building Thermal Insulation with Indoor Thermal Comfort Based on APMV Index and Energy Consumption of Rural Residential Buildings

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 8565
Author(s):  
Jinzhe Nie ◽  
Yuxin Pang ◽  
Congcong Wang ◽  
Han Zhang ◽  
Kuichao Yin
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Field Investigation ◽  
Energy And Environment ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Adaptive Thermal Comfort ◽  
Insulation Thickness ◽  
The Relationship

In the field investigation of rural dwellings, it was found that thermal feelings are significantly different with varied envelopes even under the same indoor air temperature, and this paper explores the phenomenon in simulation. Based on building thermal investigations in several villages of North China, a typical energy and environment simulation model for rural residences was developed using DeST, and the hourly parameters of temperature and humidity were used to calculate the adaptive thermal comfort (APMV) of the rooms. The results show that the main reason for the different thermal comfort at the same air temperature is the large difference in the inner surface temperature. By adjusting the insulation thickness of the envelope structure, the relationship between it and the APMV value is obtained. By adjusting the insulation thickness of the enclosure structure and getting the correlation between it and the APMV value, it is obtained that when the heat transfer coefficient of the enclosure structure meets 0.5 W/ (m2−K), the indoors can be in thermal comfort. This paper considers that the indoor air temperature cannot represent the APMV to evaluate the indoor thermal comfort, and the APMV value should be used to evaluate the thermal comfort of the renovated building and calculate the corresponding energy saving rate.

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