Experimental Investigation of Adaptive Thermal Comfort in French Healthcare Buildings

The thermal comfort requirements of disabled people in healthcare buildings are an important research topic that concerns a specific population with medical conditions impacted by the indoor environment. This paper experimentally investigated adaptive thermal comfort in buildings belonging to the Association of Parents of Disabled Children, located in the city of Troyes, France, during the winter season. Thermal comfort was evaluated using subjective measurements and objective physical parameters. The thermal sensations of respondents were determined by questionnaires adapted to their disability. Indoor environmental parameters such as relative humidity, mean radiant temperature, air temperature, and air velocity were measured using a thermal microclimate station during winter in February and March 2020. The main results indicated a strong correlation between operative temperature, predicted mean vote, and adaptive predicted mean vote, with the adaptive temperature estimated at around 21.65 °C. These findings highlighted the need to propose an adaptive thermal comfort strategy. Thus, a new adaptive model of the predicted mean vote was proposed and discussed, with a focus on the relationship between patient sensations and the thermal environment.

Adaptive Thermal Comfort of an Office for Energy Consumption-Famagusta Case

The aim of this study was to determine how much thermal comfort can be obtained through heat/energy transfers between the office/external air and the transparent/opaque surfaces of an office by combining different transparent and opaque wall surface ratios with different window opening percentages using dynamic thermal simulations. It found that the optimum window-to-wall ratio (WWR) for energy conservation is 40%, with a 20% window opening ratio. The 80% and 90% thermal comfort ranges of the adaptive thermal comfort methodology are found in May, October, September, and the yearly average, while June and August are only in the range of 80% acceptability. The office constantly loses heat through air flow with any glass size on its external facade and any window opening ratio. Moreover, all sizes of opaque and transparent internal surfaces transferred heat from outside by conduction, while the opaque wall similarly always transferred energy to heat up the office air internally and outside air externally through convection. The external glass also heats the office air by convection, except in the months of January, November, and December.

The Connection between Architectural Elements and Adaptive Thermal Comfort of Tropical Vernacular Houses in Mountain and Beach Locations

Passive thermal comfort has been widely used to test the thermal performance of a building. The science of active thermal comfort is important to be connected with the science of architecture. The currently developing active thermal comfort is adaptive thermal comfort. Vernacular houses are believed to be able to create thermal comfort for the inhabitants. The present study seeks to analyze the connection between the architectural elements of vernacular houses and adaptive thermal comfort. A mixed method was applied. A quantitative approach was used in the measurement of variables of climate, while a qualitative methodology was employed in an interview on thermal sensations. The connection between architectural elements and adaptive thermal comfort was analyzed by considering the correlation among architectural features, the analysis results of thermal comfort, and the Olgyay and psychrometric diagrams. At the beginning of the rainy season, residents of exposed stone houses had the highest comfortable percentage of 31%. In the middle of the rainy season, the highest percentage of comfort was obtained by residents of exposed brick and wooden houses on the beach at 39%. The lowest comfortable percentage experienced by residents of exposed stone houses at the beginning of the dry season was 0%. The beginning of the dry season in mountainous areas has air temperatures that are too low, making residents uncomfortable. The study results demonstrate that adaptive thermal comfort is related to using a room for adaptation to create thermal comfort for the inhabitants.

An evaluation of indoor thermal environment in fisherman housing in West Sumatera

Pesisir Selatan is one of the districts in West Sumatra with a humid tropical climate with temperatures reaching 32°C during the day. The majority of coastal communities work as fishermen and build houses on the beach, such as in fishermen’s housing in South Painan. In this area there are two models of fisherman housing, namely government-assisted fisherman housing and fisherman’s original housing. Housing on the beachfront will be faced with quite extreme climatic conditions such as air velocity, air temperature, and air humidity which are relatively high on average. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the level of thermal comfort in the space in both models of fisherman housing to determine the performance of each fisherman’s housing in dealing with the climate. This study uses a quantitative approach by measuring the parameters of thermal comfort, namely air temperature, humidity and air velocity using a thermohygrometer and anemometer. The data collection method uses descriptive quantitative. Comfort level is evaluated based on the Indonesian national standard (SNI 03-6572-2001) and adaptive thermal comfort. Based on the results of the study, the level of thermal comfort in both models of fisherman housing is classified as uncomfortable according to SNI 03-6572-2001 and adaptive thermal comfort.

Evaluation of air quality and thermal comfort in classroom

Air quality in the classroom can affect the health of students because students spend a lot of time in the classroom for learning activities. In addition to the air quality of healthy buildings, it is also related to thermal comfort. During the learning process, a comfortable learning interaction is needed, to make it easier for teachers to deliver learning materials. Therefore, this study evaluated the classrooms of SDN 10 Banda Aceh and SDN Kajhu Aceh Besar which were used as objects of research studies. This study uses a quantitative approach through measuring air quality parameters, namely CO2 (Carbon Dioxide), HCHO (Formaldehyde), and TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compound) concentrations, while thermal comfort, namely air temperature, humidity, and wind speed using an air quality detector and hotwire anemometer. The level of air quality is evaluated based on MENKES/SK/2011 while thermal comfort is evaluated based on the Indonesian national standard SNI and adaptive thermal comfort. Based on the results of the research, the air quality in both schools still meets the MENKES/SK/2011 standard, while the level of thermal comfort in both schools is classified as uncomfortable according to SNI and adaptive thermal comfort.

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

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.