The Effects of Exterior Glazing on Human Thermal Comfort in Office Buildings
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Method
2.1. Experimental Site
2.2. Questionnaire Survey
2.3. Subject Characteristics
2.4. Measurement Points
2.5. Experimental Procedure
2.6. Data Processing Method
2.6.1. Mean Radiant Temperature
2.6.2. Solar-Adjusted Mean Radiant Temperature
2.6.3. Data Analysis
3. Result Analysis
3.1. Environmental Test Results
3.2. Psychological Responses
3.2.1. Thermal Comfort without Direct Solar Radiation
3.2.2. Thermal Comfort under Direct Solar Radiation
4. Conclusions
- Outdoor air temperature and the intensity of outdoor solar radiation have a significant effect on the temperature change of the internal surface of windows. Changes in the surface temperature of the window trigger the fluctuation of the mean indoor radiant temperature and increase the non-uniformity of the indoor thermal environment. On a clear winter day, the fluctuation in the mean radiant temperature in the indoor near-window area can reach 7.8 °C, owing to the solar radiation;
- When the human body is not directly exposed to sunlight, the thermal comfort changes follow the general law under the action of longwave radiation from the window alone. When the human body is exposed to direct sunlight, the conventional indoor thermal environment evaluation indices underestimate the thermal sensation. The mean indoor radiant temperature must be corrected and the additional heat load caused by solar shortwave radiation should be considered;
- When the human body is directly exposed to sunlight, the threshold range of operative temperature to maintain thermal comfort is reduced. In this study, the maximum operative temperature that the human body can withstand decreased by approximately 0.5 °C.
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Nomenclature
CZ | Cold zone |
HSCWZ | Hot summer and cold winter zone |
PD | The subjective percentage of dissatisfaction |
PMV | Predicted mean vote |
SD | Standard deviation |
SHGC | Solar heat gain coefficient |
SMRT | Solar-adjusted mean radiant temperature |
TSV | Subjective thermal sensation vote |
U-value | The rate of transfer of heat through matter |
th enclosure | |
th window | |
The number of windows | |
The number of enclosure surface | |
th enclosure relative to the orientation of a human body, °C | |
The operative temperature | |
The mean radiant temperature | |
The mean radiant temperature of longwave radiation, °C | |
The solar-adjusted mean radiant temperature | |
The solar-adjusted operative temperature | |
The value of the ith sample in the X dataset | |
The mean value of the X dataset | |
The value of the ith sample in the Y dataset | |
The mean value of the Y dataset | |
Projected area factor | |
The Pearson correlation coefficient | |
Air temperature | |
Relative absorption coefficient referring to the solar radiation | |
Emissivity of the subject | |
Stefan–Boltzmann constant |
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Items | Male | Female | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Clothes (clo) | Max | 1.12 | 1.14 | 1.14 |
Min | 0.79 | 0.78 | 0.78 | |
Mean | 0.94 | 0.96 | 0.95 | |
SD | 0.11 | 0.13 | 0.12 | |
Age | Max | 38 | 36 | 38 |
Min | 23 | 21 | 21 | |
Mean | 26.2 | 25.6 | 25.9 | |
SD | 3.67 | 4.15 | 3.82 | |
Metabolic rate (met) | 1.2 |
Instrument | Variables | Range and Accuracy |
---|---|---|
HD 32.3 (Delta OHM, Veneto, Italy) | Air temperature | −40~100 °C (1/3 DIN) |
Relative humidity | 0~100% (±1.5%) | |
Air velocity | (±) | |
UX120-014M with the thermocouple wire of type K (Onset, Cape Cod, MA, America) | Surface temperature of envelope | −20~70 °C (±0.7 °C) |
H21-USB (Onset, Cape Cod, MA, America) | Air temperature | −40~75 °C (1/3 DIN) |
Delta LP PYRA (Delta OHM, Veneto, Italy) | Solar irradiance of outdoor and indoor environment | 0~2000 spectrum from 305 nm to 2800 nm |
Variables | T1 (°C) | T2 (°C) | T3 (°C) | T4 (°C) | T5 (°C) | T6 (°C) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Max. | 27.1 | 27.4 | 27.6 | 26.9 | 26.1 | 25.9 |
Min. | 17.2 | 17.5 | 17.3 | 16.9 | 18.9 | 18.5 |
Mean | 22.9 | 23.0 | 23.1 | 22.7 | 21.9 | 21.6 |
Median | 22.3 | 22.6 | 22.4 | 22.1 | 22.0 | 21.7 |
SD | 1.85 | 1.87 | 1.92 | 1.82 | 1.73 | 1.69 |
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Song, B.; Bai, L.; Yang, L. The Effects of Exterior Glazing on Human Thermal Comfort in Office Buildings. Energies 2024, 17, 776. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17040776
Song B, Bai L, Yang L. The Effects of Exterior Glazing on Human Thermal Comfort in Office Buildings. Energies. 2024; 17(4):776. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17040776
Chicago/Turabian StyleSong, Bing, Lujian Bai, and Liu Yang. 2024. "The Effects of Exterior Glazing on Human Thermal Comfort in Office Buildings" Energies 17, no. 4: 776. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17040776