Traditional dynamic shading systems are usually driven by electricity for continuously controlling the angle of blind slats to minimize the indoor solar heat gain over times. This paper proposed a novel design of buoyancy driven dynamic shading system, using only minimum amount of electricity. The energy performance and the improved thermal comfort induced by the system were simulated by Energy...

Recent climate change projections estimate that the average summertime temperature in the southern part of Great Britain may increase by up to 5.4°C by the end of the century. The general consensus is that projected increases in temperature will render British dwellings vulnerable to summer overheating and by the middle of this century it may become difficult to maintain a comfortable indoor en...

Because of the differences between indoor and outdoor thermal condition, preparing some outdoor thermal indices is a way to understand and categorize the outdoor thermal sensation. The aim of these indices is not to provide thermal comfort - as it is the aim of indoor indices. Instead, they are provided to analyze outdoor thermal sensation to help architects, landscape architects and urban desi...

Deteriorated urban microclimate and poor outdoor thermal comfort is an increasing problem in cities in the tropics due to the combined effect of urban and global warming. Microclimate measurements (wind speed, air temperature and humidity, and globe temperature) were carried out in different parts of the warm-humid city Guayaquil, Ecuador. Simultaneously about 400 persons were asked for their s...

The "Passivhaus" standard has become a set of rules and suggestions that allow any architect or engineer to design a house with very low or zero energy consumption. The simple application of the "Passivhaus" building code does not necessarily mean that the expected comfort conditions will be achieved, since the rules were first developed in colder climates, which are very different from the Med...

Most of the developing nations like Nigeria intend to develop in a sustainable manner. This development cannot be realized if refrigerated-based air conditioning systems that are characterized by high power requirement, high cost and with a negative influence on t he environment are used as a means of achieving thermal comfort in living spaces. Evaporative coolers are viable options of achievin...

Acceptance of public spaces is often guided by perceptual schemata. Such schemata also seem to play a role in thermal comfort and microclimate experience. For climate-responsive design with a focus on thermal comfort it is important to acquire knowledge about these schemata. For this purpose, perceived and "real" microclimate situations were compared for three Dutch urban squares. People were a...

Many urban studies have been done to demonstrate that urban sprawl is not the right approach in hot climate cities. On the contrary, a compact design is recommended to enhance human thermal comfort. This research aims to clarify the relation between urban morphology and outdoor thermal comfort of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The aim is to develop an outstanding future strategic compact morphology that...

Exercise-induced increase in core body temperature may lead to the development of hyperthermia (>40.0°C) and/or decreased performance levels. This study examined the effects of wearing a cooling vest during a 5-km time trial on thermoregulatory responses and performance. 10 male masters athletes (42±10 years) performed a 5-km time trial on a motorized treadmill in a climate chamber (25°C, 55% r...

We investigate strategic information transmission with communication error, or noise. Our main finding is that adding noise can improve welfare. With quadratic preferences and a uniform type distribution, welfare can be raised for almost every bias level by introducing a sufficiently small amount of noise. Furthermore, there exists a level of noise that makes it possible to achieve the best pay...