Potential of Vegetation in Improving Indoor Thermal Comfort and Natural Ventilation

2016 ◽  
Vol 824 ◽  
pp. 278-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flóra Szkordilisz ◽  
Márton Kiss
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Sophora Japonica ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Solar Access ◽  
Species Specific

According to the EPBD (2010) whilst improving the thermal performance of buildings good or at least tolerable thermal comfort conditions must be provided. But better thermal insulation and more airtight buildings increase the risk of summer overheating which makes mechanical cooling inevitable. This idea has been verified by the tendency of the last decade, when people were willing to install and use more frequently air conditioning devices during the summer heatwaves – increasing their energy consumption and electricity bills at the same time. We cannot neglect the importance of studies triggering an efficient way to minimise the cooling load of residential buildings by obstructing solar radiation. The usage of plants in front of transparent surfaces of the façade can avoid indoor overheating. Deciduous plants obstruct buildings’ solar access so that the microclimate around the building is improved too. The use of Green Infrastructure in different levels of planning processes, which would provide sustainable solutions for urban management, is also prescribed in the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020. Of course in order to investigate the actual effect of trees on indoor thermal comfort we should take into consideration a list of other factors: such as orientation the type and thermal properties of the windows / transparent structures used, and the thermal transmittance values and heat storage capacity of the building. If we have taken into consideration the mentioned factors during simulation we can prove the effectiveness of vegetation for each case. Simulations are made on the base of transparency measurements carried out during the summer of 2014. The shading efficiency of trees is a species-specific attribute because of the varying crown structure and leaf density. Our analyses aimed at the quantification of the transmissivity of characteristic individuals of three frequently planted species (Celtis occidentalis, Sophora japonica, Tilia cordata). The measured data were the amount of transmitted shortwave radiation, compared with a measurement point under unobstructed sunlight. In preliminary studies we have shown that depending on species – a tree in front of the façade can decrease the solar gain on internal horizontal surface up to ~18-30 per cents. As the tree obstructs the solar access of the wall and that of transparent surfaces, a difference in indoor comfort is to be observed too.

URBAN FACADE GEOMETRY ON OUTDOOR COMFORT CONDITIONS: A REVIEW

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Elahe Mirabi ◽  
Nasrollahi Nazanin
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Air Flow ◽  
Urban Geometry ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Low Energy Buildings ◽  
Outdoor Comfort ◽  
Solar Access

<p>Designing urban facades is considered as a major factor influencing issues<br />such as natural ventilation of buildings and urban areas, radiations in the<br />urban canyon for designing low-energy buildings, cooling demand for<br />buildings in urban area, and thermal comfort in urban streets. However, so<br />far, most studies on urban topics have been focused on flat facades<br />without details of urban layouts. Hence, the effect of urban facades with<br />details such as the balcony and corbelling on thermal comfort conditions<br />and air flow behavior are discussed in this literature review. <strong>Aim</strong>: This<br />study was carried out to investigate the effective factors of urban facades,<br />including the effects of building configuration, geometry and urban<br />canyon’s orientation. <strong>Methodology and Results</strong>: According to the results,<br />the air flow behavior is affected by a wide range of factors such as wind<br />conditions, urban geometry and wind direction. Urban façade geometry<br />can change outdoor air flow pattern, thermal comfort and solar access.<br /><strong>Conclusion, significance and impact study</strong>: In particular, the geometry of<br />the facade, such as indentation and protrusion, has a significant effect on<br />the air flow and thermal behavior in urban facades and can enhance<br />outdoor comfort conditions. Also, Alternation in façade geometry can<br />affect pedestrians' comfort and buildings energy demands.</p>

From Construction to Operation: Achieving Indoor Thermal Comfort via Altering External Walls Specifications in Egypt

2013 ◽  
Vol 689 ◽  
pp. 250-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed M. Mahdy ◽  
Marialena Nikolopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Minimum Energy ◽  
Residential Energy ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Minimum Energy Consumption ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Running Cost ◽  
The Cost

The objective of this research is to study the effect of using different material specifications for the external walls on the cost of the energy consumption for achieving internal thermal comfort. We refer to this as operation running cost, which in turn is compared to initial construction cost for each type of the used external walls. In order to achieve this objective, dynamic thermal simulation were carried out for four different types of external walls – commonly used in Egypt – in two different sets of cooling: natural ventilation and mechanical means. Experiments recommend that using the Egyptian Residential Energy Code (EREC) to achieve inner thermal comfort with the minimum energy consumption (consequently the minimum CO2 emissions) and the minimum running cost as well.

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.

Climatic Strategies of Indoor Thermal Environment for Residential Buildings in Yangtze River Region, China

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baizhan Li ◽  
Wei Yu ◽  
Meng Liu ◽  
Nan Li
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
River Region ◽  
Climatic Adaptability

Yangtze River Valley is situated within the Hot Summer and Cold Winter zone, and residents in this region of China would require HVAC system to alleviate thermal comfort conditions, although this is tempered by the Design Code (DBJ50-071-2007) for energy efficiency. A 1-year survey of about 200 residential homes was carried out in eight cities covering the breadth of the region. The acceptable temperature range for the residents in this area was 16.3—28.1°C and the thermal neutral temperature was found to be 27.6°C in summers and 17.5°C in winters. People in different area can vary in their adaptability and comfortableness. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the national comfort parameter introduced in the Code for Design of Heating and Ventilation and Air Conditioning (GB50019-2003). The results found that if air-conditioning system was set to 27.5°C instead of 26°C as required by GBJ19-87: Design Standard of Heating and Ventilation and Air Conditioning, a 16.5% saving of energy consumption could be achieved. The findings demonstrated the role of natural ventilation in the expansion of the thermal comfort zone for the residents, especially during the summer seasons. A climatic adaptability model has been established by this study to contribute to the passive climatic design strategies for a better economic and energy efficiency of buildings.

Indoor Thermal Environment Simulation of Xi'an Residential Building in Summer

2012 ◽  
Vol 512-515 ◽  
pp. 2882-2886
Author(s):  
Shi Jie Wu ◽  
Zeng Feng Yan
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Indoor Thermal Environment ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Plus ◽  
Environment Simulation ◽  
Indoor Air Flow ◽  
Night Ventilation

Natural ventilation is an important role to improve the residential building indoor thermal environment in summer. This paper use Energy Plus to simulate indoor thermal environment and use CFD to simulate indoor air flow for Xi’an residential building, analysis the influence that different ventilation mode for indoor thermal environment factors. Then with the simulated result of PMV-PPD value to estimate indoor thermal comfort. Proved night ventilation is necessary in residential building in Xi’an and effectiveness to improve indoor thermal comfort.

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.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Thermal Comfort in the Traditional Bourgeoisie Houses in Beirut

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. p1
Author(s):  
Jad Hammoud ◽  
Elise Abi Rached
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Thermal Sensation ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Ventilation System ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Climate Zones

The increasing of energy demands has considerably increased the requirements for new and traditional buildings in different climate zones. Unprecedented heat waves have increased climate temperature, in particular, in moderate climate zones such as Lebanon. In Beirut, only the residential sector consumes 50% of total electricity consumption. HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air conditioning) systems are used to reach acceptable thermal comfort levels in the new residential buildings. In case of the traditional bourgeoisie houses in Beirut, there are no discussions about the use of HVAC systems to achieve the required thermal comfort level. Thus, to reach an acceptable thermal comfort level, these houses which already contain natural ventilation system shall adapt the modern thermal comfort requirements and thermal comfort strategies and technologies where their architectural features and existing materials condition the available solutions. In order to identify the best options within the possible intervention lines (envelopes, passive strategies, equipment, renewable energy systems), it is necessary to perceive the real performance of this type of houses. In this context, the article presents the results of the study of thermal performance and comfort in a three case studies located in Beirut. Detailed field data records collected are analyzed, with a view to identify the indoor thermal environment with respect to outdoor thermal environment in different seasons. Monitoring also included measurement of hygrothermal parameters and surveys of occupant thermal sensation.

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