Temporal and Spatial Evolution of Climate Comfort and Population Exposure in Guangdong Province in the Last Half Century

Regional Climatic Comfort Index (CCI) deteriorated significantly due to the climate change and anthropogenic interference. Knowledge regarding the long-term temporal dynamics of CCI in typical regions should be strengthened. In this study, we analyze the temporal and spatial evolution of CCI from 1969 to 2018 in Guangdong Province, based on meteorological indicators, including heat, humidity, wind and cloth loading etc.. Additionally, the population exposure to climate unconformity was examined since 1990 with the help of population data. Our study found that: (1) the warming and humidifying of the summer climate served as the main driving force for the continuous deterioration of CCI, with the comfortable days decreased by 1.06d/10a and the extremely muggy days increased by 2.83d/10a; (2) spatially, the lowest climate comfortability concentrated in southwestern Guangdong with more than 50 uncomfortable days each year, while the climate comfortability in northeastern Guangdong tends to deteriorated whit higher rate, which can reach as high as 6d/10a; (3) in summer, the population exposure to uncomfortable climate highly centralized in the Pearl River Delta, Shantou, Jieyang, and the surrounding areas, and both area and population exposure showed increasing trends. Particularly, Shenzhen held the highest growth rate of population exposure with an increase rate of 2.94 million/10a; (4) although the discomfort distribution and deterioration rate vary across the province, the spatial heterogeneity of comfortability is diminishing in Guangdong Province. This study will provide scientific reference for regional urban planning, thermal environment improvement, local resident health risk analysis, and key strategy implementation, etc.

The role of TCI and TCCI indexes in regional tourism planning

Podunavlje region in Serbia comprises 16.6% of the territory and 38.9% of the total population of the country. Due to its attractive natural values, cultural-historical monuments, ethnographic features, etc., Serbian Podunavlje has favorable conditions for the development of excursion, nautical, stationary, event, youth, rural, hunting, transit, and other kinds of tourism. Since the climate as a tourism resource and the factor of tourist migrations in the observed area has not been analyzed yet, the aim of this paper is the tourism valorization of the significance of climate using the two tourism climatic indexes: tourism climate index (TCI) and tourism climate comfort index (TCCI). To achieve it, the climate elements were first analyzed at five meteorological stations in Serbian Podunavlje: Sombor, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Veliko Gradište, and Negotin for the period 1990–2010. Then the periods favorable for tourism activities were determined according to the mentioned indexes at the given stations. The research results show that summer is certainly the most favorable season for tourism activities in the observed area since the maximum TCI values were recorded during summer, and the minimum ones during winter at all the stations. Regarding the TCCI, the most optimal values of this index were recorded in September and May. These results can further serve the tourism organizations in the municipalities in Serbian Podunavlje when considering the construction of the tourism infrastructure, marketing activities, and further affirmation of the resources for the purpose of sustainable development of tourism.

Evaluation of Ride Comfort in a Railway Passenger Car Depending on a Change of Suspension Parameters

Ride comfort for passengers remains a pressing topic. The level of comfort in a vehicle can influences passengers’ preferences for a particular means of transport. The article aims to evaluate the influence of changes in suspension parameters on the ride comfort for passengers. The theoretical background includes a description of the applied method for a creating the virtual model of an investigated vehicle as well as the method of evaluating the ride comfort. The ride comfort of the vehicle is assessed based on the standard method, which involves calculating the mean comfort method, i.e., ride comfort index NMV in chosen points on a body floor. The NMV ride comfort index (Mean Comfort Standard Method) requires the input of acceleration signals in three directions. The rest of the article offers the results of simulation computations. The stiffness–damping parameters of the primary and secondary suspension systems were changed at three levels and the vehicle was run on the real track section. The ride index NMV was calculated for all three modifications of the suspension system in the chosen fifteen points of the body floor. It was found that lower values in the stiffness of the secondary suspension system lead to lower levels of ride comfort in the investigated railway passenger car; however, lower values in the stiffness–damping parameters of the primary suspension system did not decrease the levels of ride comfort as significantly.

Analysis of outdoor thermal comfort using three-dimensional microclimate modelling in Surabaya

Surabaya is one of the metropolitan cities in Indonesia. The large population in Surabaya causes a lot of development and land conversion. This situation can affect the temperature in Surabaya to be higher than the surrounding area, thus affecting the comfort of people for outdoor activities. The level of comfort can be known when the microclimate conditions in the area have been identified. This paper aims to analyze outdoor thermal conditions using temperature, humidity, wind, and land use data which will be visualized in three dimensions to get a more comprehensive understanding. This research is located in Pakuwon Trade Center (PTC). Data acquisition was carried out on four different types of land cover, namely local residential, apartments, main parking lots, and real estate area. The results show that apartments have the lowest comfort index followed by real estate, local residential, and main parking lots. However, the four areas have comfort from warm to hot with a predicted percentage of the discomfort of around 75% - 100%. This number shows that mitigation that can reduce extreme heat and increase outdoor comfort in PTC is needed.

Global Comfort Indices in Indoor Environments: A Survey

The term “comfort” has a number of nuances and meanings according to the specific context. This study was aimed at providing a review of the influence (or “weight”) of the different factors that contribute to global comfort, commonly known as indoor environmental quality (IEQ). A dedicated section includes the methodologies and strategies for finding the most relevant studies on this topic. Resulting in 85 studies, this review outlines 27 studies containing 26 different weightings and 9 global comfort indices (GCIs) with a formula. After an overview of the main concepts, basic definitions, indices, methods and possible strategies for each type of comfort, the studies on the IEQ categories weights to reach a global comfort index are reviewed. A particular interest was paid to research with a focus on green buildings and smart homes. The core section includes global indoor environmental quality indices, besides a specific emphasis on indices found in recent literature to understand the best aspects that they all share. For each of these overall indices, some specific details are shown, such as the comfort categories, the general formula, and the methods employed. The last section reports IEQ elements percentage weighting summary, common aspects of GCIs, requisites for an indoor global comfort index (IGCI), and models adopted in comfort category weighting. Furthermore, current trends are described in the concluding remarks pointing to a better IGCI by considering additional aspects and eventually adopting artificial intelligence algorithms. This leads to the optimal control of any actuator, maximising energy savings.

Predicting outdoor thermal comfort in urban areas

<p>Outdoor thermal comfort is key to creating vibrant outdoor urban spaces. The built form is able to modify solar radiation and wind. However, there is currently no way of considering the effect of the built form on thermal comfort when designing a new development based on the environmental factors – wind, solar radiation, and ambient temperature. Current practice for designing outdoor thermal comfort is based on simple design guidelines, and knowledge of local wind and sun patterns. A Process for Predicting Outdoor Thermal Comfort has been developed. This predicts thermal comfort based on solar radiation, wind, and ambient temperature using The Wellington Comfort Index. The process is able to predict comfort at a single point within a proposed urban development using specialised computer programs. Through predicting how the combination of solar radiation, wind, and ambient temperature will affect comfort, improvements can be made to comfort during the design phase. The aim of this thesis project is to develop the Process for Predicting Outdoor Thermal Comfort into a Comfort Tool for use at the preliminary design stage of a development. The intended users of the tool are professionals working in urban planning and architecture, such as designers and consultants who have experience with three-dimensional modelling and simulation programs. A case study research approach was used to test The Comfort Tool’s ability to inform design changes through communicating thermal comfort across a proposed development. A range of case studies were selected with different built forms. This was to test if The Comfort Tool can predict comfort in case studies with different levels of solar radiation and wind at pedestrian level due to the variations in the built forms. This research confirmed that a tool can be developed for predicting comfort across a proposed development, which can also test proposed design changes for their success during the design phase. However, further investigation is needed to determine whether The Wellington Comfort Index can be used in other cities.</p>

Predicting outdoor thermal comfort in urban areas

<p>Outdoor thermal comfort is key to creating vibrant outdoor urban spaces. The built form is able to modify solar radiation and wind. However, there is currently no way of considering the effect of the built form on thermal comfort when designing a new development based on the environmental factors – wind, solar radiation, and ambient temperature. Current practice for designing outdoor thermal comfort is based on simple design guidelines, and knowledge of local wind and sun patterns. A Process for Predicting Outdoor Thermal Comfort has been developed. This predicts thermal comfort based on solar radiation, wind, and ambient temperature using The Wellington Comfort Index. The process is able to predict comfort at a single point within a proposed urban development using specialised computer programs. Through predicting how the combination of solar radiation, wind, and ambient temperature will affect comfort, improvements can be made to comfort during the design phase. The aim of this thesis project is to develop the Process for Predicting Outdoor Thermal Comfort into a Comfort Tool for use at the preliminary design stage of a development. The intended users of the tool are professionals working in urban planning and architecture, such as designers and consultants who have experience with three-dimensional modelling and simulation programs. A case study research approach was used to test The Comfort Tool’s ability to inform design changes through communicating thermal comfort across a proposed development. A range of case studies were selected with different built forms. This was to test if The Comfort Tool can predict comfort in case studies with different levels of solar radiation and wind at pedestrian level due to the variations in the built forms. This research confirmed that a tool can be developed for predicting comfort across a proposed development, which can also test proposed design changes for their success during the design phase. However, further investigation is needed to determine whether The Wellington Comfort Index can be used in other cities.</p>

Improving the energy efficiency of an office building by applying a thermal comfort model

The building represents one of the main actors of global warming of the planet because of the significant amounts of energy consumed. In Benin, 44,38% of electrical energy is consumed by office and service buildings. This is explained by the excessive use of air conditioning systems due to the lack of a thermal comfort index specific to the region. This work therefore focuses on assessing the impact of the choice of a thermal comfort model on the energy efficiency of buildings. For this purpose, an office building was chosen in the south of Benin and comfort surveys were conducted among the occupants. The model selected for this purpose is the adaptive model developed by López-Pérez and al. for air-conditioned buildings in humid tropical regions. Subsequently, a monitoring campaign of meteorological, hygrothermal and energetic data of the building was carried out during six months. The results obtained show that the average temperature of the offices (Tf ≈ 24°C) during the hours of occupancy is relatively lower than the comfort temperature determined with the model (Tc = 26.2°C). Moreover, the different simulations carried out under TRNSYS by substituting the office temperatures by the comfort temperature show a reduction of about 20% of the building’s energy consumption. This shows the importance of the comfort model of López-Pérez and al. in improving the energy efficiency of the building.

FUZZY LOGIC PROGRAM FOR BUS INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

This paper proposes a fuzzy logic algorithm that evaluates the indoor environmental conditions on an urban bus specifically in Metro Manila. This algorithm identifies the value of three indexes: IAQI, TCI, and CO2. The Indoor Air Quality Index (IAQI) quantifies the level of indoor air quality of the bus. CO2, CO, NO2, O3, TVOC, and PM10 are the input parameters for the fuzzy logic system that will determine IAQI. Thermal Comfort Index (TCI) quantifies the indoor thermal condition in four levels. The indoor temperature and humidity are the input parameters for the fuzzy logic system that will determine TCI. The fuzzy logic program in this study is designed mainly for the bus ventilation control system. The created FLS program was able to give good results. The observations from the program were the following: as the indoor air pollutants increased, the IAQI decreased; as the level of thermal parameters increased, the TCI decreased; and as the CO2 level and temperature increased, the number of passengers also increased.