Displacement ventilation environments with chilled ceilings: thermal comfort design within the context of the BS EN ISO 7730 versus adaptive debate.

Describes the current design standard BS EN ISO7730 - 'Moderate thermal environments - determination of the PMV and PPD indices and specification of the conditions for thermal comfort'. States that it is based on Fanger's work and comprises a steady-state human heat balance model that leads to a prediction of the sensation of human thermal comfort for a given set of thermal conditions. Questions the applicability of this standard when confronted with the more complex environment of a chilled ceiling operated in combination with displacement ventilation. Presents results from an EPSRC funded study which attempted to answer the question. The test used human subjects performing sedentary office work in a test room. Reported thermal comfort sensations were compared to values predicted from the standard over a range of conditions. This confirmed that the current standard was suitable for use, without modification. Also discusses the influence of the standard on the development of other radiant surface/displacement ventilation configurations.