English

The numerical thermoregulation model JOS was developed. In this model, the influences ofbody size, sex and age on thermoregulation were reflected on physiological parameters of thethermoregulation model. The whole body model has 17 body segments, each consisting oftwo layers for core and skin. In addition, it is possible to alter its height, weight, sex, age,body fat percentage, basal metabolic rate and cardiac index. In the limbs of this model, thedetailed vascular system was considered, including deep artery and vein, superficial vein andarteriovenous anastomoses (AVA).

There has been much debate over the use of steady-state and adaptive thermal comfortmodels. Many researchers have suggested that the former model is better suited to buildingswith full HVAC systems whilst the latter is better suited to naturally ventilated buildings. Thispaper suggests that the most appropriate form of thermal comfort model is dependent on theadaptive opportunity available to building occupants, regardless of climate control strategy.Some results from a series of field studies carried out in the UK as part of a doctoral thesis arepresented.

This paper reports a number of physical indexes for the assessment of the indoorenvironmental quality of new steel truss structures, used as classrooms at the CataniaUniversity Campus (southern Italy).By means of a multi-channel recording apparatus and questionnaires filled in by thestudents, the following data were collected: indoor dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, airvelocity, mean radiant temperature, workplane illuminance, PMV, PPD, MV, MMV. On thebasis of these data, the comfort requirements are not achieved.

Evaluating thermal indoor climate without knowing the conditions is a long and often barrenprocess and documented data is actually not that hard to obtain. A snapshot of the thermalindoor climate in an office building with room for approximately 80 work-places can be takenin only 3 days: 2 days used for measuring and 1 day for reporting. The measuring procedurethat is developed for taking a snapshot is based on ISO 7730.

Thermal manikin test and subjective experiments with a desktop based task conditioningsystem were carried out in a climate chamber of Kanto-Gakuin University, Japan. Theexperiments were conducted under three different combinations of ambient air temperatureand relative humidity. It was found that skin temperatures at the upper half of the manikinsbody exposed to the supply air were decreased. Setting of task condition was fixed at first, andthen the subjects were allowed to control the environment freely after a certain period in thesubjective experiments.

Subjective tests with a desktop-based task conditioning system were conducted. Previous tothe subjective tests, detailed measurements of air velocities influenced by the system wereperformed. For subjective experiments, three ambient air temperature and relative humiditycombinations, (1) 27C/40%RH, (2) 30C/40%RH and (3) 30C/70%RH, were applied. Eachof 16 college age subjects was exposed to the three different experimental room airconditions.

This report is a part of a study to search whether comfort conditions can be attained by localairflow. In the present experiment, local airflow was directed to two locations of subjectsbody and its effect was examined on which location percepts the airflow more strongly,responds physiologically more sensitively and feels more comfortable. The laboratory airtemperature was set in a range of 26-28C. This experiment was held in summer seasons atToyohashi, Japan.

A novel PMV index based productivity model is derived and it is used to estimate the effectsof different thermal conditions on productivity. Past research findings are used as inputs in thecreation of this productivity loss model. The PMV equation is useful to predict productivityloss that is due to the rate of change in thermal conditions. Using the model prediction, thetheoretical maximum level of productivity occurs when the PMV value is -0.21. Admitting a30% productivity loss in typing-task, the model predicts PMV value ought to be at least+0.63.

In practice, the commonly used Dutch design criterion for long-term thermal comfort inbuildings- the weighted temperature exceeding hours method- often leads to confusion.The criterion is hard to understand for non-experts, and many doubt the validity of thepresent criterion: how sure are we that meeting the requirements really means that futureoccupants will be comfortable?

The primary purpose of heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system is to makeoccupants comfortable. Without real-time practical measurement and method to determinehuman thermal comfort, it may not be feasible that the HVAC system can provide humancomfortable all the time. This paper presents a practical measurement and model to determinehuman thermal comfort index for feedback control. The proposed model is developed basedon the original thermal comfort index called predicted mean vote (PMV) index by applyingfeed-forward neural network model.