English

This article presents the results of a thermal comfort investigation carried out in a residential gated community located in a hot-humid climate.  The study comprises of real-time field monitoring of thermal comfort in representative apartment units and assessment of the utility and cooling energy consumption in these residences.  Utility energy consumption data of the residences for one year period was obtained and a survey was administered to identify the trend of air-conditioner use.  The results are summarized and used to validate a simulation model.

In order to know the thermal comfort of bedrooms, we have measured the air temperature and relative humidity in the 27 bedrooms of 11 houses. We have also conducted a thermal comfort survey, quality of sleep and occupant behaviour survey with the residents. Residents are highly satisfied with the thermal condition of the houses, using various thermal adjustments such as fans, clothing modifications, etc.

In Nordic countries overheating and cooling systems have not been the issue in apartment buildings. Historically and even in the beginning of 2000 there were not indicated such problems. New architecture with larger windows and strict energy performance requirements has changed the situation. If adequate measures are not used, new buildings may be easily overheated.

This study was undertaken to investigate comfort temperatures and adaptive model in Japanese homes. We measured temperatures in the living rooms and bedrooms, and a thermal comfort survey of residents over a three year in Kanto region of Japan. The residents were found to be highly satisfied with the thermal environment of their houses. Significant seasonal differences were found in their comfort temperatures. The results showed that comfort temperature varied with changes in both the indoor and outdoor climate.

Energy and indoor environmental performance of buildings are highly influenced by outdoor/indoor climate, by building characteristics, and by occupants’ behaviour. Building simulation tools cannot precisely replicate the actual performance of buildings because the simulations are based on a number of basic assumptions that affect the results. Therefore, the calculated energy performance may differ significantly from the real energy consumption.

In order to decrease the concentration of indoor pollutants, sorptive building materials have been used. Giving the construction materials themselves the property of reducing the concentration of indoor pollutants has been reported as simple and effective, because it is highly effective without requiring the operation of special equipment. Concentration reduction performance of indoor air pollutants by sorptive building materials depend significantly on air exchange rate, loading factor, mass transfer coefficients etc.

It is important to insulate the glazing or frames of windows efficiently because they usually contribute to some of the greatest heat loss from dwelling houses. To improve window insulation, we propose a new dynamic system applied to window frames. This system is composed of three parts: a dynamic insulation system applied to window frames, a mechanical ventilation system, and a heat-recovery heat pump system. In order to confirm its feasibility, we evaluated various insulation patterns, materials and structures, by computational fluid dynamics. 

We designed a new air supply window system to ventilate indoors through the air space of a double pane window and evaluated its insulation efficiency and probability of moisture condensation in order to confirm its feasibility and applicability. Then, to verify its thermal insulation efficiency, we evaluated its temperature contribution with different air space widths using computational fluid dynamics.

The objective of the work is to identify the types of occupant-driven residential behaviour variations that most significantly impact a designer’s ability to predict energy consumption and peak electrical demand of a house. The study compares the sensitivities of results for a typical house and compares with a house designed to achieve net zero energy consumption, where occupant-driven loads are more influential.

Evaporative cooling is an attractive energy-efficient technique for producing a comfortable indoor environment. The efficiency and low cost of water spray evaporative cooling systems makes them a good alternative to reduce energy use.