Comfort and Design Strategies

• One of the earlies t reasons for building was to create shelter from
the climate and to enhance thermal comfort.
• Focuses on the relationship among bodies, buildings, and climate
The Human Body
• Alive people are always generating body heat.
• It is important to maintain body’s core temperature at a narrow
range.
• We nearly always need to lose this internally generated heat to our
environment.
• To regulate our body’s heat loss, we have three common layers
between our body cores and the environment.
Three layers between our body cores and the environment
1.) First skin
2.) Clothing
3.) Building
Metabolism
• Our heat production is measure in metabolic (MET) units.
• One MET is defined as 50 kcal/h m2 (18.4 BTU/hr ft2 or 58.2
W/m2)
• One MET is the energy produce per unit of surface area by a
seated person at rest.
Heat Flow
a.) Convection ( air molecules contact our body)
b.) Conduction ( when we touch cooler surfaces)
c.) Radiation ( when our skin is hotter than other surfaces)
d.) Evaporation ( respiration and perspiration)
Hot environment
• As air and surface temperatures approach our own body temp.,
we lose the options of convection, conduction, and radiation.
Losing body heat through evaporation becomes essential, so
access to dry, moving air is greatly appreciated
Cold Environment
• As air and surface temperatures fall, evaporation decreases while
convection, conduction, and particularly radiation increase.
Clothing
• Clothing usually acts as an insulating layer, and is particularly
effective at retarding radiation, convection, and conduction. This
is important especially during colder seasons.
• However, in a hot, humid environment, our skin needs exposure to
moving air to encourage heat loss, yet needs protection from the
sun’s radiant heat.
CLO unit
• The insulating value of clothing is measured in CLO unit equivalent
to a typical American man’s business suit in 1941.
• 1 CLO = 0.88 ft2-h °F/BTU = 0.155 m2 K/W.
1940s business suit and examples of summer clothing
Examples of winter clothing
Thermal Comfort
• “feeling of well-being”
• Simply lack of discomfort- thermally
• Three categories that affect comfort:
a.) personal
b.) measurable environmental
c.) psychological
Personal factors
• Metabolism
• Clothing
• Migration to a more comfortable place
Measureable environmental factors
• Can be controlled with various equipments:
a.) temperature
b.)air motion
c.) humidity
Psychological factors
• These are designer’s tools, but they are difficult to quantify for
comfort:
– Color
– Texture
– Sound
– Light movement
– Aroma
• These factors are overlooked as we strive to meet the calculable
physical criteria for thermal comfort
• However, our primary design intent is to make people comfortable,
at all aspects.
Example 1: Courtyard in a dry climate
The fountain suggest coolness in the
color and texture of its water.
Vines and trees provide shade and
their leaves sway in the lightest
breeze, showing air motion.
Example 2: Fireplace in a cold climate
Fire’s color is intensely warm. Texture
of glowing coals
We seek a place near the fire for the
real radiant warmth, but also for the
psychological comfort the fire offers.
DEFINITIONS
Dry-Bulb Temperature (DB)
• Dry-bulb temperature is the ambient air temperature as measured
by a standard thermometer.
• It is a key factor in energy balance, thermal sensation, comfort and
discomfort, and perception of air quality.
Wet-Bulb Temperature (WB)
• It is the temperature measured with a wetted bulb rotated rapidly
in the air to cause evaporation of its moisture, using a sling
psychrometer.
• A large difference between DB and WB (wet-bulb depression) is
indicative of low relative humidity (RH).
• Slow evaporation, indicates small wet-bulb depression, and high
RH.
Sling Psychrometer
Relative Humidity (RH)
• It is the ratio of the actual density of water vapor in the air to the
maximum density of water vapor that such could contain.
• 100% RH indicates DB=WB temperatures.
• Ideal relative humidity for health and comfort is about 40-50%.
• In winter season, it may have to be lower than 40% RH to avoid
condensation on the windows.
Dew Point Temperature
• is defined as the temperature to which the air would have to cool
(at constant pressure and constant water vapor content) in order
to reach saturation (condensation).
• Dew point is always lower than the dry bulb temperature and will
be identical with 100%RH.
Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT)
• It is defined as the uniform temperature of an imaginary
surrounding enclosure in which radiant transfer from the human
body would equal the radian heat transfer in the actual
nonuniform enclosure (ASHRAE 2001)
• The MRT of surrounding surfaces influence human comfort.
Specific Humidity (w)
• It is the ratio of mass of water vapor in air to the total mass of air
and water vapor/dry air. (absolute humidity)
• It can be expressed in lb water vapor per lb dry air.
(a) ASHRAE Comfort Zone
• American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning
Engineers
• The ASHRAE comfort zone represents combinations of air
temperature and relative humidity
Comfort zone defined by
relative humidity and air
temperature
Relation of Measurable Environmental Factors of Comfort to
Heat transfer
• Conduction – Surface temperature
• Convection – Air temperature, air motion, humidity
• Radiation – Surface temperature, orientation of the body
• Evaporation – Humidity, air motion, air temperature
Adaptive Model of Comfort Zones
• ASHRAE Standard 55 recognizes that people can be comfortable in
a wide range of temperatures .
• This can be applicable for naturally conditioned spaces.
• Indoor comfort temp Tn can be determined by this equation:
• 𝑇𝑛 = 0.534𝑇𝑟𝑚𝑜 + 12.9 (°𝐶)
• Where Trmo is the mean outdoor air temperature
Comparison of
ASHRAE summer
comfort zone with
Natural ventilation
and comfort
according to a study
in Hawaii
Suggest
boundaries of
outdoor air
temperature and
humidity which
indoor comfort can
be provided by
natural ventilation
(b) Passive Building Comfort Standards
• A different approach to heating and cooling in areas where
acceptable humidity can be maintained.
• Direct sun might add significantly to body warming in winter.
• Strong air currents might be expected as a part of summer body
cooling.
Example of a Passive Building Design
(c) Localized Comfort
• A comfort strategy where-in the focus is in our sensitive receptors
of heat and cold.
• Heat receptors: fingertips, nose, elbows. Cool air across the face is
a good example for this type of comfort.
• Cold receptors: upper lip, nose, chin, chest, fingers. Warm sunlight
from a window, heater to the face can also be effective in winter.
• Note: Too much temperature different b/n localized areas could
cause dissatisfaction
Draft
• Excessive air motion is called draft which can be a serious threat in
winter, yet summer drafts from very cool conditioned air are also
bothersome .
• Draft could cause discomfort to the occupants and also disrupt
operations in the room (ex: paper- related work, cooking).
• Also, air temperature influences tolerance for draft. The lower the
temperature, the higher the discomfort.
Design Strategies for Cooling
• On a typical hot day, it is useful to check for the design condition,
that statistically hottest moment for which engineers would design
a building’s mechanical cooling equipment.
(a) Natural Ventilation Cooling
• Most suggested strategy.
• Higher temperatures were offset by increased air motion by
increasing breezes entering the building.
• Materials used in the building could be thermally lightweight as
well. Because night time air cannot remove much of the heat
stored during the day.
• Thermal Mass: Ability to absorb and store energy.
• Natural Ventilation has two variations.
Cross-ventilation
• It is driven by wind and is accomplished with windows.
• It relies on narrow plans with large ventilation openings on either
side.
• It is naturally compatible with daylighting.
Cross –
Ventilation
dependent on
openings
Stack Ventilation
• Stack ventilation depends on very low openings to admit outside
air and very high openings to exhaust air.
• It is driven by the principle that hot air rises.
• Stack ventilation is generally weaker than cross-ventilation- except
when there is no wind at all.
(b) High-Mass Cooling
• A strategy wherein rejection of heat collected by thermal mass is
important.
• The hot days give off heat from thermal mass of the building.
• But the cool nights then slowly drain away the heat that is
accumulated during the day.
• Floors, roofs, or walls will need a sink to which it can reject its heat
by night.
• Roofs has the advantage of radiating heat amassed to the cold
night sky, but it should be protected from the sun by day.
Providing insulation can prevent heat stored in thermal mass
Roof ponds
• A roof design
which
requires the
roof to be
massive, to
allow
freedom in
walls and
fenestration.
Ponding of roof in a building
(c) High-Mass Cooling with Night Ventilation
• A cooling design strategy that requires high thermal mass,
compatible with passive solar heating strategies, and is cooled by
the nighttime air.
• Since nightly wind velocities are lower than summer wind,
introduction of fans can be necessary.
(d) Evaporative Cooling
• This design strategy relies on the principle that when moisture is
added to air, relative humidity increase while dry-bulb
temperature.
• This is perfect when uncomfortable dry conditions outweigh hot
conditions, and higher humidity is exchanged for lower air
temperature.
Fan Driven evaporative coolers
Design Strategies for Heating
• Usually, solar space heating may contribute to a building in the
winter months.
• This design requires much greater areas of south-facing glass
unshaded in winter.
• For a well-design solar building type, the seasonal fuel bill for
heaters will be reduced by about twice of its conventional
counterpart.
Solar Heating Strategies
• There are three solar heating strategies, namely: direct gain,
indirect gain, and isolated gain
(a) Direct Gain
• Let sunlight into the space, where it warms exposed thermally
massive surfaces.
• Most of the building with south-facing glass could claim to be a
direct-gain building. Sunlight striking furnishings, and room
surfaces heating the room.
• Thermally massive materials such as concrete, brick, quarry, or
ceramic tile are recommended.
• The mass should be thick enough, typically at least 4 in. to absorb
and later reradiate in times that are much colder.
Heat from sunlight re radiates on the room
(b) Indirect Gain
• A heating strategy least used of the three.
• A sheet of glass covering an opaque wall is installed, with the mass wall
behind a glass usually 8-12 inches thick, and should be dense and highly
conductive material such as concrete or dense brick.
• An air space between glass and the mass allows for the option to allow
air movement. I could be wide enough to fit a person cleaning the walls.
• Advantages of indirect gain admits less glare, and overheating on sunny
days, and furnishings fading on direct sunlight. Especially the radiant
heat contributions in the evening.
Variations of Indirect Gain
Combination of Direct and Indirect Gains
(c) Isolated Gain
• Primarily uses convection to deliver hot air to living space.
• Also called sunspace, greenhouse, sun room, or winter garden.
• Strategy that may cause difference in temperature, like hot in the
afternoon, and cold before dawn. Solar heating is needed to keep
temperatures to be reasonably comfortable
Combined Strategies: Daylighting, Heating, and Cooling
• Daylighting saves electricity from artificial lights and heating.
• Ventilative cooling strategies depend upon the air as a heat sink.
• Evaporative /radiative cooling depend upon both sky and air as
heat sinks.
• Earth coupling depend upon the earth as a heat sink.
• For a more extensive treatment of combined strategies is
applicable.
Sunspace Solar Heating