Air heating systems in airtight multifamily residential buildings.

This paper presents an analysis of indoor climate in buildings with forced air heating systems. The results is based on indoor climate measurements and extensive interviews with the occupants. The analysis shows that design criteria is of great importance for the occupants conceptions of thermal comfort in buildings with air heating systems. Forced air heating systems could be a way to provide mechanical supply air with less problems with the thermal comfort, such as draught, than in ordinary supply- and exhaust air ventilation systems.

Using a thermal manikin: research on indoor thermal comfort.

There are reputed to be only ten examples of the thermal manikin (a computerized doll) in the world at present. Here, the author discusses their potential in microclimate research, and describes experiments with a thermal manikin at the Hungarian Institute for Building Science (ET/) to identify the quality of indoor comfort conditions. One study revealed that the correct heating system would yield better results than extra thermal insulation.

Comfort requirements in indoor climate.

An analysis of the important factors for comfort in indoor climate is given. For the thermal complex, the results from calculations of the energy balance model MEMI are used to quantify the effects of the single meteorological parameters on occupants in indoor climate. The quantifications show that besides the air temperature, the mean radiation temperature and the air velocity, especially at very low levels, are also quite decisive for the occupant's mean skin temperature which is used as a measure for comfort.

Inhabitant's behaviour with respect to ventilation.

Annex VIII is a two year task sharing project, started offically in 1984. Although some research had already been done on the problem of inhabitant's behaviour with regard to ventilation, none had gone so far as to access whether and how the ventilation behaviour can be modified in order to save energy and by taking into account the conflicting requirements, energy conservation and adequate indoor air quality.

Pages