An innovative approach to better understand hot discomfort, based on the measurement of global human responses, including physiological and sensory indicators - application to end users of mixed mode cooled buildings under tropical climate conditions

Comfort modelling is a critical scientific barrier to reaching better thermal satisfaction in buildings. It allows designers to combine different cooling systems better to target comfortable low-energy buildings in hot and tropical climates. Increasing computer performance offers new perspectives to use more refined thermo-physiological models against traditional normative ones. Also, new types of coupled cooling alternatives arise and set a need for adequate comfort assessment models.

Modelling thermal comfort and energy consumption of a typical mixed-cooling apartment in Guilin, China

Many studies have shown that the use of mixed-mode cooling can bring down the cooling load significantly while maintaining satisfactory in door air quality and thermal comfort. But there is little information available concerning mixed-mode cooling in China. Thus, basing on design parameters of design standard, A series of computer simulation of a typical mixed-cooling apartment in Guilin, lies south-west of China, was conducted by Eneryplus and Climate Consultant software.