Indoor Comfort, Thermal Indices, and Energy Assessment of Multi-Family Colonial Revival Style Buildings

Timothy O Adekunle

doi:10.3390/en14227468

Abstract

Colonial Revival style residences have unique architectural features amongst others. They are common multi-family residences in the United States with no or limited information about their performance. The research purpose is to assess indoor comfort, energy performance, and thermal indices in multi-family Colonial Revival style residences. The research questions include (i) Do Colonial Revival style buildings perform better than other old buildings? (ii) Do the buildings consume additional electricity than typical and other old buildings? The research examined four case studies in Hartford County, Connecticut. The investigation explored comfort surveys, monitoring, collection of actual electricity usage, and assessed thermal indices using mathematical models. The average indoor temperature of 25.4 °C and relative humidity (RH) of 61.3% are reported. About 67% of the residents are thermally comfortable. The research noted significance between thermal sensation and other variables, excluding how occupants feel about the air movement. The average number of hours of temperature exceeds 28.0 °C and 30.0 °C marks for over 11.4% and 2.5% of the time, respectively, except in one of the buildings. The mean indoor temperatures are within the applicable bands of the adaptive comfort models. The averages of actual thermal sensation vote (TSV) ranged from 3.32 to 4.37 on a 7-point sensation scale. The mean neutral temperatures varied from 24.2–25.6 °C. The average monthly electricity bill is within the national average for residences in summer, excluding in August. The mean wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 21.1–22.3 °C and summer simmer index (SSI) of 30.1–32.4 °C are calculated as feasible bands for thermal indices in the buildings. The basements are more comfortable than other spaces within the case studies. The research outcomes can be used for future developments of Colonial Revival style and other similar buildings. The study recommends interventions such as retrofit to improve the performance of some existing Colonial Revival style buildings, especially the older ones that are less insulated with outdated equipment and appliances.

Highlights

Colonial Revival style residential buildings have distinctive architectural features, forms, and significance in many parts of the United States (US) [1]
The study recommends interventions such as retrofit to improve the performance of some existing Colonial Revival style buildings, especially the older ones that are less insulated with outdated equipment and appliances
—(i) Do Colonial Revival style buildings perform better than typical buildings? (ii) Do the buildings use additional electricity than typical and other old buildings within and outside the region? The study is the first reported work that captures field data and presents the findings on indoor comfort, overheating, energy assessment, and thermal indices concurrently in multi-family residences

Summary

Introduction

Colonial Revival style residential buildings have distinctive architectural features, forms, and significance in many parts of the United States (US) [1]. They are popular multi-family residences in the country [1,2], with no or limited information relating to their performance and the thermal comfort of occupants. The specific purpose of the research is to examine indoor comfort, energy performance, and thermal indices in multi-family. —(i) Do Colonial Revival style buildings perform better than typical buildings? The study is the first reported work that captures field data and presents the findings on indoor comfort, overheating, energy assessment, and thermal indices concurrently in multi-family residences. Evaluate energy performance, overheating, and understand the indices at which occupants may be prone to heat stress in summer.

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