Local thermal sensation modeling-a review on the necessity and availability of local clothing properties and local metabolic heat production

S. Vesela*, B. R. M. Kingma, A. J. H. Frijns

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal(Systematic) Review article peer-review

Abstract

Local thermal sensation modeling gained importance due to developments in personalized and locally applied heating and cooling systems in office environments. The accuracy of these models depends on skin temperature prediction by thermophysiological models, which in turn rely on accurate environmental and personal input data. Environmental parameters are measured or prescribed, but personal factors such as clothing properties and metabolic rates have to be estimated. Data for estimating the overall values of clothing properties and metabolic rates are available in several papers and standards. However, local values are more difficult to retrieve. For local clothing, this study revealed that full and consistent data sets are not available in the published literature for typical office clothing sets. Furthermore, the values for local heat production were not verified for characteristic office activities, but were adapted empirically. Further analyses showed that variations in input parameters can lead to local skin temperature differences (Delta T-skin,T-loc = 0.4-4.4 degrees C). These differences can affect the local sensation output, where Delta T-skin,T-loc = 1 degrees C is approximately one step on a 9-point thermal sensation scale. In conclusion, future research should include a systematic study of local clothing properties and the development of feasible methods for measuring and validating local heat production.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)261-272
Number of pages12
JournalIndoor Air
Volume27
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2017

Keywords

  • input parameters
  • local clothing properties
  • local metabolic rates
  • local thermal sensation
  • thermal modeling
  • thermophysiological models
  • PERSONALIZED VENTILATION
  • HUMAN RESPONSE
  • WIDE-RANGE
  • HUMAN-BODY
  • COMFORT
  • INSULATION
  • MOVEMENT
  • SYSTEM
  • WIND
  • TEMPERATURE

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