A growing number of businesses are moving towards open-plan offices as a way of encouraging impromptu collaborative problem solving among workers. However, while collaboration increases in open-plan offices, a commensurate increase in general noise can hinder employees that need quieter conditions to prosper. In this paper, the effects of conversational noise within an open plan environment are quantified, and the degree to which noise restrictions compromise problem-solving examined.

This study aims to assess the thermal conditions of an indoor environment deemed unacceptable by workers. For this purpose, Ostracon, a voting device, was developed to record the physical environment at the time a worker presses a button to express a complaint. Ostracon was used to record the opinions of 90 workers about their thermal environment in six offices during the summer. The results show that workers found the indoor thermal environment unacceptable even when the static thermal conditions were within a range that was predicted to be comfortable.

The skin temperature and thermal comfort are closely related and change in skin temperature can predict thermal discomfort even before it is consciously perceived. The effect of changing thermal environment is most significant on the body extremities, particularly hands in cool and head in warm conditions. The skin temperature of the extremities can thus become a feasible control signal for personalized conditioning. In order to use a skin temperature of the extremities in practice as a control signal, it is necessary to measure it in a way that does not hinder a user.

This study is designed to investigate the relationship between the thermal comfort environment and stress using brain wave analysis. To achieve this purpose, an experimental approach in a climate chamber based on PMVs was adopted. Environmental factors were set with the PMV scale ranging from -3 to +2. The brain waves of each of the participants (N=7; males) were measured in six conditions, in the PMV order from cold to hot, i.e. one condition per day. The results suggest that the participants felt least stressed under the PMV 0 and most stressed under the PMV -3 and +2.

Occupants’ attention ability in seven PMV conditions is measured by means of electroencephalogram (EEG) and verbal voting. This can show us occupants’ attention state change by time and environmental condition. To achieve the objective of this study, seven healthy male students’ EEG was measured in seven PMV conditions each. Their EEG was measured in each condition for 65 minutes. EEG was measured on Fp1 and Fp2, and sorted out according to the frequency using power spectral analysis. The following results were achieved.

Thermal comfort, determined by the influence of the indoor environmental parameters on thermal sensation, is regarded as an important indicator of human wellbeing and health. Neurophysiological mechanisms are responsible for thermal sensation. Models of thermal sensation could be very useful in design of new high performance buildings. Humans do not sense temperature directly. Temperature information is coded into the firing rate of temperature sensitive neurons (thermoreceptors). Human skin contains two types of thermoreceptors “cold” or “warm” sensitive.

The sari is everyday attire for most women throughout the year all across South-Asia. It is a versatile ensemble because, a single set of garments can provide different levels of insulation just by changing the drape.

The thermoneutral zone (TNZ) reflects the range of ambient temperatures where no regulatory changes in metabolic heat production or evaporative heat loss occur. Indications exist that the ambient temperature range wherein a subject is feeling thermal comfortable, i.e. the thermal comfort zone (TCZ), is larger compared to the TNZ. From both the building energy-use and a health perspective this could be highly beneficial. The objective of this study is to explore the TNZ and TCZ of individual subjects, in relation to a given range of ambient temperatures.

This paper is a synthesis of the results from the project INTEWON and related studies. The link between the physiological thermoneutral zone (TNZ) and the thermal comfort zone (TCZ) is discussed. Secondly, we discuss the relation between thermal preference and thermal sensation and how physiological parameters, such as skin temperature can predict thermal sensation. It is shown that the identification of subject categories, based on their thermal preference, increases the predictive value of skin temperatures substantially.

The indoor climate is an important factor with respect to human health and comfort since we spend most of our time, no matter if awake or asleep, in the built environment. Building occupants influence their thermal environments to maximize thermal comfort by inducing thermoregulatory behaviour. In the last decades, overheating of cities and buildings became an important issue. However, the effect of a mild hot environment on human thermoregulatory behaviour remains unclear.  To study the effects of a mild warm environment we propose a mild warm acclimation study.