Performance Comparison for Thermal Comfort Sensors
Publication: Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 4, Issue 3
Abstract
During the past several years, indoor environmental quality has become an important concern for many corporations and building owners. As a result, architects and engineers are being asked to provide building systems that are responsive to the demands for high-quality interior spaces. One of the most important issues associated with indoor environmental quality is thermal comfort. It is generally accepted that thermal comfort plays an important role in worker productivity. As a result, some thermal system controls manufacturers have developed new sensors that include multiple sensing elements such as air temperature, velocity, and relative humidity, as well as radiant temperature. These sensors are intended to improve the controllability of spaces when compared to standard thermostats, but often at a considerably higher cost. The performance of these new sensors relative to that of the typical room thermostat has not been well documented. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to describe the results of a research project that compares the response of a standard temperature transmitter to that of selected new thermal comfort sensors for a range of indoor conditions. The comparisons are made under controlled experimental conditions using predicted mean vote as an indicator of thermal comfort. Results are presented using various statistical analysis techniques. The results suggest that the new sensors generally perform better than the test temperature transmitter, but the improved performance is not statistically significant.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Abdelrahman, M. A. (1990). “Field evaluation of a comfort meter.”ASHRAE Trans., 96(Part 2), Am. Soc. of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engrs., Inc., Atlanta, Ga. ASHRAE standard 55-1992 : “Thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy.” (1992). Am. Soc. of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engrs., Inc., Atlanta, Ga. ASHRAE standard 113-1990 : “Method of testing for room air diffusion.” (1990). Am. Soc. of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engrs., Inc., Atlanta, Ga.
2.
Fanger, P. O. (1970). Thermal comfort, analysis and application in environmental engineering. Danish Technical Press, Copenhagen, Denmark.
3.
Int-Hout, D. (1990). “Thermal comfort calculations/ A computer model.”ASHRAE Trans., 96(Part 2), Am. Soc. of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engrs., Inc., Atlanta, Ga.
4.
Langkilde, G.(1973). “Mental performance during slight cool and slight warm discomfort.”Archives des Sci. Physiologiques, 27, 511–518.
5.
Madsen, T. L. (1976). “Thermal comfort measurements.”ASHRAE Trans., 82(Part 1), Am. Soc. of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engrs., Inc., Atlanta, Ga.
6.
Madsen, T. L., Olsen, B. W., and Christensen, N. L. (1984). “Comparison between operative and equivalent temperature under typical indoor conditions.”ASHRAE Trans., 90(Part 1), Am. Soc. of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engrs., Inc., Atlanta, Ga.
7.
Madsen, T. L., Schmit, T. P., and Helk, U. (1990). “How important is the location of the room thermostat?”ASHRAE Trans., 96(Part 1), Am. Soc. of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engrs., Inc., Atlanta, Ga.
8.
McIntyre, D. A. (1980). Indoor climate. Applied Science Publishers, London.
9.
Olsen, B. W., et al. (1989). “Methods of measuring and evaluating the thermal radiation in a room.”ASHRAE Trans., 95(Part 1), Am. Soc. of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engrs., Inc., Atlanta, Ga.
10.
Schiller, G. (1988). “Thermal environments and comfort in office buildings.” Ctr. for Envir. Des. Res., Univ. of California, Berkeley, Calif.
11.
Spain, S. (1986). “The upper limit of human comfort from measured and calculated PMV values in a National Bureau of Standards test house.”ASHRAE Trans., 92(Part 1), Am. Soc. of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engrs., Inc., Atlanta, Ga.
12.
Sundstrom, E., and Sunstrom, M. G. (1986). Work places: The psychology of the physical environment in offices and factories. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 4 • Issue 3 • September 1998
Pages: 99 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Sep 1, 1998
Published in print: Sep 1998
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.