Accounting for inter- and intra-personal differences requires individual and cohort comfort models. For their development, emulators for thermal sensation of occupants are needed. Physiological signals can be acquired using both wearable and contactless devices. However, due to the widespread availability of sensing methods it is difficult to select the proper measuring method for the application.

Most current environmental control systems installed in buildings aim to create a uniform IEQ, disregarding the large interpersonal and intrapersonal variability in occupants’ thermal, visual, acoustics & air quality requirements. By creating occupant micro-environments that respond to individual preferences, and relaxing the surrounding space, personalized environmental control systems (PECS) can satisfy all occupants with relatively low-energy input.

Personalized Environmental Control Systems (PECS) have advantages of controlling the localized environment at occupants’ workstation by their preference instead of conditioning an entire room. A new IEA EBC Annex (Annex 87 - Energy and Indoor Environmental Quality Performance of Personalised Environmental Control Systems) has recently started to establish design criteria and operation guidelines for PECS and to quantify their benefits. This topical session will provide an introduction to the objective/scope, activities, and intended outputs of the annex.

The development of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) made it possible to simulate the detailed flow field and temperature field within the room. The various studies numerically investigated the flow and temperature field both inside and outside the buildings. When investigating the indoor environment, human is an important factor since it perceives the indoor environment and behaves as a source of heat and contaminant as well. Some studies investigated deeper into humans by developing detailed computer-simulated persons (CSP).

This research introduces the local exhaust system (hood) into the consulting room to prevent airborne infection, especially for close-distance conversion. The hood’s capture efficiency is mainly affected by surrounding air flow, so this research compared three various underfloor air distribution systems (UFAD); floor-supply displacements ventilation (FSDV), displacement-flow-type diffuser, and swirling flow type diffuser. FSDV is a displacement ventilation method where SA comes from the whole floor through carpets or panels, forming a tranquil up-flow.

Sufficient ventilation in clinics is critical for diluting virus concentrations and lowering subsequent doses inhaled by the occupants. Several advanced simulation methods and tools for building physics and indoor air fluid dynamics are currently available in research and industry. However, in naturally ventilated buildings, indoor air distribution depends strongly on local and dynamically changing conditions, e.g., opening sizes and time, exhaust shaft location, and climatic and weather conditions.

Indoor air quality in schools is of critical importance for the health and well-being of pupils and staff. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the essential role that ventilation systems play in limiting the spread of airborne diseases and consumer CO2 monitors were deployed in UK classrooms as a cost-effective tool to help manage the ventilation supply. In such settings, which are occupied for long periods by the same group of people, CO2 measurements have also been used to infer the risk of far-field airborne infection.

This project aims to enhance the odor environment in laundry and linen rooms in nursing homes. The problem arises from the storage of soiled laundry in these rooms for several days before it is collected or washed, leading to the release of odorants. This often causes discomfort for both staff and residents, as the odors can spread to hallways and adjacent spaces. Aarhus Municipality intends to investigate whether this issue can be fully or partially resolved by installing air purifiers in the rooms.

The scientific community has been aware of the importance of indoor air quality (IAQ) for many decades, but the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a significantly higher level of attention from the general public and governmental entities to this theme. However, IAQ comprises hundreds of other parameters besides infectious pathogens, many of which can equally impact the health, comfort and well-being of occupants.

The existing standards for testing gas-phase air cleaners are based on challenging them with gaseous substances. They do not describe air quality measurement using perception, and human emissions (bioeffluents) are not used as challenge pollutants. The present work examines the method that can be used as an alternative or together with other methods used for testing gas-phase air cleaners. The work is a part of the IEA's Annex 78. Three gas-phase air cleaners were tested in the Technical University of Denmark labs.