English

This paper makes the assertion that established concepts from thermal comfort research might be used to develop an adaptive comfort model for lighting. By gathering data from a live office environment, we demonstrate the necessity of dynamically-adapted lighting levels in order to achieve both comfort and energy savings. We detail the background and the experimental setup that is used to extract the light levels at which the occupant switches his lights on.

Transitional spaces are the spaces influenced by the outdoor climate and yet are architecturally bounded by a building envelope. It can be argued that because these spaces are neither fully outside nor inside they create unique environmental conditions that may result in different expectations and perceptions of thermal comfort by those who use them. This paper presents findings from field surveys conducted in two transitional spaces in two different public buildings during the summer in Cardiff, UK.

The relationship between urban growth and the formation of urban heat islands, i.e. climatic differences between the urban area and adjacent rural areas, is discussed by several authors and is assumed to be ubiquitous for various climatic regions. Curitiba (25.5ºS), located within a region of subtropical climate in elevation, boasts a population growth rate of approximately 2% a year. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of the urban agglomeration on microclimate changes.

In order to clarify the outdoor thermal comfort and clothing, the thermal measurements (air temperature) and thermal comfort survey were conducted in Hachiko Square which is located in the Shibuya station, Tokyo. (Hachiko is a famous statue of a dog which is a popular meeting place.) The survey was conducted every two weeks and the number of people investigated was 224.  The results showed that the average clothing insulation of the females is greater than that of the men. The clothing insulation is highly correlated with the outdoor air temperature.

Though wider diversities of environmental attributes are intrinsic in water fringed urban parks, these parks are less represented in the previous studies. Thus the study aims to explore the impact of environmental attributes of settings on user perceived controls for enhancing daytime thermal acceptability of water fringed urban parks in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The study investigated seven diversified settings which demonstrate varying shading levels and environmental attributes with visual integration of water surfaces.

Considering the adaptive comfort approach, this article estimates if interior conditions in London’s naturally ventilated residential stock are comfortable under the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect and predicts if climate change will further affect comfort levels. A discussion whether the UHI is currently saving or aggravating energy consumption in buildings is presented. The affection that climate change may have in the energy performance of buildings in the future is also estimated. The most representative household profiles in London have been modelled and simulated.

In this paper, we propose a new calculation method for evaluating the inhomogeneous outdoor thermal environment by incorporating a multi-node human thermoregulation model into the simulation method based on CFD analysis of the outdoor thermal environment. We also investigated the effects of weather conditions on the inhomogeneity of the radiant environment and the thermal comfort for pedestrians using the proposed calculation method. Two different weather condition cases are investigated in this study: (1) a scorching hot day and (2) a cloudy day.

The paper is focused on identifying factors affecting the energy consumption & comfort conditions of multi-storied apartments in composite climate of north India. The findings reveal that the residents are very well adapted to their thermal environment and are comfortable at a broader temperature range (22.5–30.6 °C). The TSV-PMV difference was observed to be fairly significant for the winter and summer period, i.e. 50C and 1.10C respectively whereas marginally differed for the annual data i.e. 0.60 C. The energy-use evaluation through simulations has identified solar gain through ext.

The Universal Thermal Climate Index UTCI assesses the interaction of ambient temperature, wind, humidity and radiant fluxes on human physiology in outdoor environments on an equivalent temperature scale. It is based on the UTCI-Fiala model of human thermoregulation and thus also allows for thermal comfort prediction.

In recent years, more and more tall buildings have a mixed-use or residential program. This shift from formerly mainly office use requires new evaluations and guidelines for occupant comfort. This paper examines the relationship between the structural core of the building, its floor plan, the overall shape and its potential for natural ventilation, and how these relate to human comfort, energy efficiency and structural performance. The results are qualitative recommendations for the initial design stage of a tall building in a given climate zone.