Energy Efficiency Potential of Personalized Ventilation System in the Tropics

A Personalised Ventilation system provides occupants with means of adjusting their individualthermal environment and of achieving good indoor air quality. The individual control ofenvironmental variables makes it possible to compensate for the differences between people withregard to their requirements. In most tropical designs, the air-conditioning and mechanicalventilation system maintains the indoor spaces at cold temperatures in the vicinity of 21 C. ThePV system can be seen as a system capable of achieving significant energy conservation due tothe inherent possibility of maintaining the ambient space temperature warmer while supplyingthe PV air at a preferred cold temperature. Recent studies in Singapore have shown that the useof a PV system in conjunction with a secondary air-conditioning system not only enhancesthermal comfort and IAQ acceptability but has the potential to reduce energy consumption. Thisis observed through an analysis of breathing zone temperatures, ventilation effectiveness andthermal comfort acceptability.