A series of investigations has been conducted in the 2009 Solar House located on the Missouri University of Science and Technology campus, to develop a climate-response control for a natural ventilation system. Firstly, the research investigated the relationship between indoor thermal comfort and climate. Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) was selected to evaluate the thermal comfort, which was calculat...

The ‘wind-rain’ house has a courtyard with glazed roof, which allows more direct sunlight to come into indoor spaces during the winter. The glazed roof can be partially opened or closed and automatically controlled to provide natural ventilation in order to adjust for indoor thermal conditions and the roof area can be shaded by reflective insulation materials during the summer. Two field studie...

Intelligent building technology for building operation, called the optimization process, is developed and validated in this paper. The optimization process using a multi-objective genetic algorithm will permit the optimal operation of the building’s mechanical systems when installed in parallel with a building’s central control system. Using this proposed optimization process, the supervisory c...

In humid subtropical areas, outdoor sports activities in winter and spring are very common. However, there is minimal research surrounding this topic, especially terms of thermal comfort. This study explored the complex relationship between microclimate human comfort during various types through a series experiments analysis. The results indicated that (1) spring, WBGT threshold for space was 1...

Kerala is a strip of land on the southwest coast of India lying between Arabian Sea on thewest andWestern Ghats on the east. The traditional architecture of Kerala is known for its use of natural and passivemethods for a comfortable indoor environment. However, it has not been proved by a detailed and quantitative evaluation method so far. A field study was thus conducted in the winter and summ...

This study assessed the performance of the COMFA outdoor thermal comfort model on subjects performing moderate to vigorous physical activity. Field tests were conducted on 27 subjects performing 30 min of steady-state activity (walking, running, and cycling) in an outdoor environment. The predicted COMFA budgets were compared to the actual thermal sensation (ATS) votes provided by participants ...

One of the main consumers of energy in buildings are the HVAC systems intended to maintain the internal environment for the comfort and safety of the occupants. Occupant satisfaction, is influenced by many different factors, including air temperature, radiant temperature, humidity, the outdoor environment, activity levels and clothing. Occupant thermal comfort is traditionally measured by the P...

Attractive public open spaces can serve as key design elements for enhancing life quality in urban areas and to diminish the negative effects of urbanisation. In order to fulfil this task, open spaces must meet the expectation of potential users and offer the right mix of environmental, economic and social conditions. It is well known that the local microclimate belongs to the main factors driv...

Attractive public open spaces can serve as key design elements for enhancing life quality in urban areas and to diminish the negative effects of urbanisation. In order to fulfil this task, open spaces must meet the expectation of potential users and offer the right mix of environmental, economic and social conditions. It is well known that the local microclimate belongs to the main factors driv...

The complexities of the interactions between long- and short-wave radiation fluxes and the human body make it inherently difficult to estimate precisely the total radiation absorbed (R) by a human in an outdoor environment. The purpose of this project was to assess and compare three methods to estimate the radiation absorbed by a human in an outdoor environment, and to compare the impact of app...