A Comparative Study on Cooling Period Thermal Comfort Assessment in Modern Open Office Landscape in Estonia

Martin Kiil,Jarek Kurnitski,Raimo Simson,Martin Thalfeldt

doi:10.3390/atmos11020127

Martin Kiil, Jarek Kurnitski + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11020127

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Journal: Atmosphere	Publication Date: Jan 23, 2020
Citations: 5	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Tallinn University of Technology, Aalto University

Abstract

Local thermal comfort and draught rate has been studied widely. There has been more meaningful research performed in controlled boundary condition situations than in actual work environments involving occupants. Thermal comfort conditions in office buildings in Estonia have been barely investigated in the past. In this paper, the results of thermal comfort and draught rate assessment in five office buildings in Tallinn are presented and discussed. Studied office landscapes vary in heating, ventilation and cooling system parameters, room units, and elements. All sample buildings were less than six years old, equipped with dedicated outdoor air ventilation system and room conditioning units. The on-site measurements consisted of thermal comfort and draught rate assessment with indoor climate questionnaire. The purpose of the survey is to assess the correspondence between heating, ventilation and cooling system design, and the actual situation. Results show, whether and in what extent the standard-based criteria for thermal comfort is suitable for actual usage of the occupants. Preferring one room conditioning unit type or system may not guarantee better thermal environment without draught. Although some heating, ventilation and cooling systems observed in this study should create the prerequisites for ensuring more comfort, results show that this is not the case for all buildings in this study.

Highlights

Modern low energy office buildings require energy efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems which can provide comfortable and healthy indoor environment.In temperate climate countries, mechanical ventilation and active cooling systems are common practice in such buildings
This study was based on thermal comfort (TC) measurements in open office environments in Tallinn
First or second category comfort in fourinbuildings outenvironments of five were still. This measured study wasgeneral based thermal on TC measurements open office in inconvenient Tallinn

Summary

Introduction

Modern low energy office buildings require energy efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems which can provide comfortable and healthy indoor environment.In temperate climate countries, mechanical ventilation and active cooling systems are common practice in such buildings. Modern low energy office buildings require energy efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems which can provide comfortable and healthy indoor environment. In terms of occupant positions and density, can be very different from initial design and vary significantly, resulting in changing conditions and dynamic settings which makes it difficult to design the systems adequately to ensure stable thermal environment. Open office layout design is used commonly in most office buildings mainly to allow flexibility in workspaces allocation [9]. This creates a difficult task for HVAC systems design, requiring careful planning to assure adequate conditions in the occupied zone in different layout cases

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