This paper will outline a research project currently being undertaken at The University of Melbourne aimed at developing a dynamic model of architectural comfort. Much of the energy used in buildings goes to providing suitable levels of environmental provision – light, heat and air – for building occupants. In terms of thermal performance, the levels have been determined principally through res...

This paper deals with new proposals for the design of passive solutions adapted to the climate of the highlands of Madagascar. While the strongest population density is located in the central highlands, the problem of thermal comfort in buildings occurs mainly during winter time. Currently, people use raw wood to warm the poorly designed houses. This leads to a large scale deforestation of the ...

The benefits of rooftop greening are ascertained in thermal perspective. It effectively reduces the near surface ambient temperature and the reflected irradiation from the rooftop slab, thus increasing the thermal comfort environment above the lawn and reduces the heat transferred through the rooftop slab. The former effect enables the potential usage of the rooftop spaces for human activity an...

The air-conditioning (A/C) system compressor load can significantly impact the fuel economy and tailpipe emissions of conventional and hybrid electric automobiles. With the increasing emphasis on fuel economy, it is clear that the A/C compressor load needs to be reduced. In order to accomplish this goal, more efficient climate control delivery systems and reduced peak soak temperatures will be ...

Domotics has been developed for the comfort and security of users in their homes, aiming to implement solutions on automatic and intelligent control. In this work, we have implemented a scale prototype integrating three main sections under the domotics systems: a fuzzy controller for air conditioning and a controller for gradient light have been implemented at the comfort area, a control system...

Energy saving has been a global concern since the last few years. Due to the massive growth of population in Saudi Arabia and its extremely hot climate, electricity consumption, and costs are expected to increase every year. This work presents an intelligent and efficient technology to create a balance between the need of energy consumption minimization and standards regarding the comfort of pe...

Operating a building efficiently means co-ordinating the physical plants with constantly changing needs. Building energy management is performed in different ways, on European scale, since design, manufacture, engineering, installation, commissioning and maintenance processes are contemporary involved, and it reflects the wide variations in climate, building type, space per capita, control and ...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether climate variability influences the number of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases in infants, children, and adults in the city of Campo Grande, Brazil. METHODS We used daily data on admissions for respiratory diseases, precipitation, air temperature, humidity, and wind speed for the 2004-2008 period. We calculated the thermal comfort index, effective temper...

Whole person adaptive comfort is discussed with reference to recent findings in molecular scale systems biology. The observations are upscaled to hypotheses relating to less traditional interpretations of thermal processes, which have new implications for indoor climate management and design. Arguments are presented for a revision of current focus, model and paradigm. The issue is seen as a pro...

This paper outlines the process of design and prototyping of a modular housing system aimed at serving the needs of people in the Pacific island nations. Many people in these islands are economically challenged and live in sub-standard housing at low elevations, making them vulnerable to increased tropical storms brought about by climate change. A collaborative team comprised of architecture an...