| 1. |
- Schweiker, Marcel, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluating assumptions of scales for subjective assessment of thermal environments – Do laypersons perceive them the way, we researchers believe?
- 2020
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Ingår i: Energy and Buildings. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-7788. ; 211
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- People's subjective response to any thermal environment is commonly investigated by using rating scales describing the degree of thermal sensation, comfort, and acceptability. Subsequent analyses of results collected in this way rely on the assumption that specific distances between verbal anchors placed on the scale exist and that relationships between verbal anchors from different dimensions that are assessed (e.g. thermal sensation and comfort) do not change. Another inherent assumption is that such scales are independent of the context in which they are used (climate zone, season, etc.). Despite their use worldwide, there is indication that contextual differences influence the way the scales are perceived and therefore question the reliability of the scales’ interpretation. To address this issue, a large international collaborative questionnaire study was conducted in 26 countries, using 21 different languages, which led to a dataset of 8225 questionnaires. Results, analysed by means of robust statistical techniques, revealed that only a subset of the responses are in accordance with the mentioned assumptions. Significant differences appeared between groups of participants in their perception of the scales, both in relation to distances of the anchors and relationships between scales. It was also found that respondents’ interpretations of scales changed with contextual factors, such as climate, season, and language. These findings highlight the need to carefully consider context-dependent factors in interpreting and reporting results from thermal comfort studies or post-occupancy evaluations, as well as to revisit the use of rating scales and the analysis methods used in thermal comfort studies to improve their reliability.
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| 2. |
- Schweiker, Marcel, et al.
(författare)
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The Scales Project, a cross-national dataset on the interpretation of thermal perception scales
- 2019
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Ingår i: Scientific data. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2052-4463. ; 6:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thermal discomfort is one of the main triggers for occupants' interactions with components of the built environment such as adjustments of thermostats and/or opening windows and strongly related to the energy use in buildings. Understanding causes for thermal (dis-)comfort is crucial for design and operation of any type of building. The assessment of human thermal perception through rating scales, for example in post-occupancy studies, has been applied for several decades; however, long-existing assumptions related to these rating scales had been questioned by several researchers. The aim of this study was to gain deeper knowledge on contextual influences on the interpretation of thermal perception scales and their verbal anchors by survey participants. A questionnaire was designed and consequently applied in 21 language versions. These surveys were conducted in 57 cities in 30 countries resulting in a dataset containing responses from 8225 participants. The database offers potential for further analysis in the areas of building design and operation, psycho-physical relationships between human perception and the built environment, and linguistic analyses.
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| 3. |
- Ampatzi, Eleni, et al.
(författare)
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On the linguistic challenges of cross-national research in thermal comfort: The effects of language choices in Greek and Swedish thermal perception questionnaires used in two large-scale surveys conducted two decades apart
- 2020
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Ingår i: Proceedings of Windsor 2020 Resilient comfort. - 9781916187634 ; , s. 367-380
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent analyses on translations of the widely used ASHRAE scale have highlighted differences between the interpretation of thermal perception scales attributed to contextual factors. This study examines the influence of language choices for thermal perception scale anchors used in questionnaire studies. It focuses on the translations of the subjective scales for thermal perception in the Swedish and Greek languages, which differed between the two surveys. The first set of translations and datasets belongs to the Smart Controls And Thermal Comfort project whilst the second set belongs to the surveys conducted within the framework of the International Energy Agency - Energy in Buildings and Communities Program Annex 69 “Strategy and Practice of Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Low Energy Buildings”. This paper presents the findings of a comparative analysis between the two datasets in relation to the wording of the scales and the resulting category widths. The method of successive categories is used to estimate the psychological widths of the scale categories in order to examine the scales’ behaviour. The paper discusses linguistic and climatic factors that may influence the way the translations are perceived and used.
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| 4. |
- Chinazzo, Giorgia, et al.
(författare)
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Quality criteria for multi-domain studies in the indoor environment: Critical review towards research guidelines and recommendations
- 2022
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Ingår i: Building and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0360-1323.
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The perception, physiology, behavior, and performance of building occupants are influenced by multi-domain exposures: the simultaneous presence of multiple environmental stimuli, i.e., visual, thermal, acoustic, and air quality. Despite being extensive, the literature on multi-domain exposures presents heterogeneous methodological approaches and inconsistent study reporting, which hinder direct comparison between studies and meta-analyses. Therefore, in addition to carrying out more multi-domain studies, such investigations need to be designed, conducted, and documented in a systematic and transparent way. With the goal to facilitate and support future multi-domain studies and their meta-analyses, this work provides (1) a range of criteria for multi-domain study design and reporting (i.e., defined as quality criteria), and (2) a critical review of the multi-domain literature based on the described criteria, which can serve as guidelines and recommendations for future studies on the topic. The identified quality criteria encompass study set-up, study deployment and analysis, and study outcome, stressing the importance of adopting a consistent terminology and result reporting style. The developed critical review highlights several shortcomings in the design, deployment, and documentation of multi-domain studies, emphasizing the need for quality improvements of future multi-domain research. The ultimate goal of this work is to consolidate our knowledge on multi-domain exposures for its integration into regulatory resources and guidelines, which are currently dominated by single-domain knowledge.
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| 5. |
- Földváry Ličina, Veronika, et al.
(författare)
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Development of the ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II
- 2018
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Ingår i: Building and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0360-1323. ; 142, s. 502-512
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recognizing the value of open-source research databases in advancing the art and science of HVAC, in 2014 the ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II project was launched under the leadership of University of California at Berkeley's Center for the Built Environment and The University of Sydney's Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Laboratory. The exercise began with a systematic collection and harmonization of raw data from the last two decades of thermal comfort field studies around the world. The ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II (Comfort Database), now an online, open-source database, includes approximately 81,846 complete sets of objective indoor climatic observations with accompanying “right-here-right-now” subjective evaluations by the building occupants who were exposed to them. The database is intended to support diverse inquiries about thermal comfort in field settings. A simple web-based interface to the database enables filtering on multiple criteria, including building typology, occupancy type, subjects' demographic variables, subjective thermal comfort states, indoor thermal environmental criteria, calculated comfort indices, environmental control criteria and outdoor meteorological information. Furthermore, a web-based interactive thermal comfort visualization tool has been developed that allows end-users to quickly and interactively explore the data.
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| 6. |
- Hellwig, Runa T., et al.
(författare)
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A framework for adopting adaptive thermal comfort principles in design and operation of buildings
- 2019
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Ingår i: Energy and Buildings. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-7788. ; 205
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The concept of adaptive thermal comfort was formulated many decades ago and has been validated in numerous field studies. As a result, wider acceptable indoor temperature ranges based on adaptive models have been included in international and national standards and the adaptive approach to thermal comfort is regarded as a significant contributor in achieving low energy building design and operation. Despite the ever-increasing scientific literature on adaptive comfort around the world, the overall understanding of how to translate the adaptive principles into design practice and concepts for operating buildings is still limited, which suggests a gap between the scientific outcomes and the real-world applications. This discussion paper identifies the challenges and gaps in using the principles of adaptive thermal comfort by design practitioners and discusses them in light of relevant research findings. More than 100 literature sources were reviewed in support of the discussion. The paper then proposes a framework that aims to facilitate the adoption of adaptive comfort principles in design and operation of buildings and describes the outline of an imminent guideline for low energy building design based on the concept of adaptive thermal comfort.
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| 7. |
- Hellwig, Runa T., et al.
(författare)
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Applying adaptive principles: Developing guidance for planning practice
- 2019
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Ingår i: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMFORT AT THE EXTREMES: ENERGY, ECONOMY AND CLIMATE.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- One of the major challenges of building industry today is to provide indoor spaces allowing the occupants to make themselves comfortable while achieving low energy consumption. Considering the observed increasing temperatures and a more extreme climate, this becomes even more urgent and difficult to accomplish. It is therefore necessary to rely on approaches than contribute to sustainable building design, such as the adaptive approach to thermal comfort which postulates that people are not passive recipients of their environment but adapt behaviourally, physiologically and psychologically. The concept of adaptive thermal comfort was formulated many decades ago and has been validated in numerous field studies. Temperature thresholds based on adaptive models have been included in international and national standards. However, the overall understanding of how to translate the adaptive principles into design practice and concepts for operating buildings is still limited. Subtask B of IEA Annex 69 addresses this gap: “Strategy and practice of adaptive thermal comfort in low energy buildings”. The subtask aims to develop guidelines for low energy buildings that include the principle of adaptive comfort. This paper discusses the challenges and gaps identified in using the principles of adaptive thermal comfort in building design and operation and outlines the contents of the imminent guideline.
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| 8. |
- Hellwig, Runa T., et al.
(författare)
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Design of adaptive opportunities for people in buildings
- 2022
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Ingår i: Routledge Handbook of Resilient Thermal Comfort. - London : Routledge. - 9781003244929 ; , s. 193-209
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Adaptive opportunities for people are a key element in the adaptive thermal comfort approach. Research has led to a broad and solid foundation of knowledge, but design processes on how to support people’s behavioural control through building design are still missing. This chapter presents a design process for incorporating adaptive opportunities and discusses how such an approach enhances thermal resilience. The design process is facilitated with tools and exemplary design or operation actions for stakeholders. Non-energy using adaptive opportunities and the passive performance a building affords are the means to enhance not only human thermal comfort in buildings but also human resilience. This is because they offer people concrete options for acting and supporting their belief in their ability and skills to act in case of extreme weather events and can hence facilitate physiological adaptation. They are therefore paramount to build a resilient human-building interaction in a changing environment.
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| 9. |
- Hellwig, Runa T., et al.
(författare)
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Guidelines to bridge the gap between adaptive thermal comfort theory and building design and operation practice
- 2020
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Ingår i: 11th Windsor Conference: Resilient Comfort, WINDSOR 2020 - Proceedings. ; , s. 529-545
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adaptive thermal comfort guidelines have been developed within the work of Annex 69: “Strategy and practice of adaptive thermal comfort in low energy buildings”. The guidelines have been established based on a framework for adopting adaptive thermal comfort principles in building design and operation developed by the authors. The guidelines target building practitioners, addressing the critical interrelated role building planners, building operators and occupants play. A successful adaptive thermal comfort design, in which design for human thermal adaptation is foreseen, planned, and carefully embedded in the design and operation intent, is based on broad knowledge and understanding of the multiple quantifiable and non-quantifiable factors influencing human perception, as well as human building interaction. Adaptive building design follows a user-centric integrated design approach and therefore it is critical to consider the occupants' and the operators' role in buildings already in the design phase. This paper focuses on three main challenges identified earlier and how these are addressed in the guidelines, i.e. i) updating prevailing knowledge about human thermophysiology and adaptation, ii) developing a procedure for design of adaptive opportunities, and iii) providing guidance for operational planning and operation of adaptive buildings. The challenge for future research remains to assess the magnitude of how specific design decisions affect particular adaptive mechanisms.
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| 10. |
- Mahdavi, Ardeshir, et al.
(författare)
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Necessary conditions for multi-domain indoor environmental quality standards
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 12:20, s. 1-24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A discussion of sustainability in architecture cannot be meaningfully carried out without the inclusion of most buildings’ central purpose, namely the provision of indoor environments that are accommodating of occupants’ needs and requirements. To this end, building designers and operators are expected to demonstrate compliance with codes and standards pertaining to indoor environmental quality (IEQ). However, the majority of conventional IEQ standards, codes, and guidelines have a single-domain character, in that they address IEQ in terms of a number of isolated domains (i.e., thermal, visual, acoustic, air quality). In this context, the present contribution explores the current state of multi-domain IEQ evaluation approaches and the necessary conditions for their further development and application. Toward this end, a number of common building rating schemes were selected and analyzed in detail. The results of this assessment imply the necessity of both short-term improvements of the existing schemes in terms of the transparency and plausibility of the applied point allocation and weighting strategies and the fundamental need for a deeper empirically grounded understanding of the nature of occupants’ perception of and behavior in the built environments.
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