from building design point of view a basic aim of low energy architecture is to create a thermally comfortable internal environment for building occupants whilst consuming the least possible amount of energy. thus, thermal comfort study has an important impact on energy saving. achieving comfort conditions requires an understanding of the interaction between three groups of factors, namely phys...

Traditional vehicle air conditioning systems condition the entire cabin to a comfortable range of temperature and humidity regardless of the number of passengers in the vehicle. The A/C system is designed to have enough capacity to provide comfort for transient periods when cooling down a soaked car. Similarly for heating, the entire cabin is typically warmed up to achieve comfort. Localized he...

Climate change and the urgency of decarbonizing the built environment are driving technological innovation in the way we deliver thermal comfort to occupants. These changes, in turn, seem to be setting the directions for contemporary thermal comfort research. This article presents a literature review of major changes, developments, and trends in the field of thermal comfort research over the la...

Energy inefficiency and underlying occupant discomfort associated with building thermal management systems have led to development of human-in-the-loop control system. Minimizing total energy consumption and maximizing comfort of all the occupants present is the major objective of such system based on human comfort feedback. However, the approaches proposed so far lack a built-in mechanism to e...

The strategies to reduce the consumption of non-renewable energies in buildings are becoming increasingly important. In the meantime, nature-inspired approaches have emerged as a new strategy to achieve thermal comfort in the interiors. However, the use of these approaches in architecture and buildings requires a proper understanding regarding the features of ecosystems. Although acquiring this...

Thermal comfort of building occupants is a major criterion in evaluating the performance of building systems. It is also a dominant factor in designing and optimizing building’s operation. However, existing thermal comfort models, such as Finger’s model currently adopted by ASHRAE Standard 55, rely on factors that require bulky and expensive equipment to measure. This paper attempts to take a r...

Human thermoregulation is achieved via autonomic and behavioral responses. Autonomic responses involve 2 synchronous 'components'. One counteracts large thermal perturbations, eliciting robust heat loss or gain (i.e., sweating or shivering). The other fends off smaller insults, relying solely on changes in sensible heat exchange (i.e., skin blood flow). This sensible component occurs within the...

This paper presents the application of fuzzy process control and maintenance of thermal comfort in a measurement laboratory. A new systemic approach to process control is described with special emphasis on the human factor, the measurer, who is a constituent part of the feedback loop. For the conventional thermal comfort maintenance process control a correction is provided in accordance with pe...

For human-centered automation, this study presents a wireless sensor network using predicted mean vote (PMV) as a thermal comfort index around occupants in buildings. The network automatically controls air conditioning by means of changing temperature settings in air conditioners. Interior devices of air con-ditioners thus do not have to be replaced. An adaptive neurofuzzy inference system and ...