Thermal Comfort Assessment-A Study Toward Workersâ Satisfaction in a Low Energy Office Building

Rubita Rubita

doi:10.3844/ajassp.2012.1037.1045

Abstract

Problem statement: The government of Malaysia has raised their concerns towards the issue of workers comfort and workspace quality in a Low Energy Office (LEO) building. New energy efficient building concepts and technologies require a revision of comfort standards, to create a suitable thermal condition in avoiding occupant dissatisfaction, adverse effect on their productivity and overall building performance. Approach: Assessment was conducted using Babuc-A (Portable air quality monitor) and sets of questionnaire adapted from ASHRAE-2004 were 99 respondents selected using a stratified random sampling. Results: This study shows that the thermal comfort zone temperature was identified to be within the range of 21.6-23.6°C and relative humidity of 42-54%. Conclusion: The results suggested that the thermal condition was in the acceptable range of ISO7730 and a lower room temperature was preferred by Malaysian in an office environment compared with the temperature criteria cited in ASHRAE-55. To create an optimum comfortable workplace, temperature between 20-26°C and relative humidity between 40-60% must be maintained. Adequate ventilation must be provided at the minimum rate of 10 l/s of fresh air per person for general office space or every 10 m2 of floor space.

Highlights

British Standard BS EN ISO 7730 (ISO 7730, 1994) defines the term ‘Thermal comfort’ as: ‘that condition of mind which expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment.’Thermal comfort was defined by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) as that state of mind which expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment (ASHRAE, 2009)
Results of a study in Germany, which was conducted on workplace occupant satisfaction in 16 office buildings revealed that the occupants’ control of the indoor climate and the perceived effect of their intervention strongly influences their satisfaction with the thermal indoor quality (Wagner et al, 2007)
To enable a researcher to improve the thermal comfort in the workplace, the six parameters contributing to thermal comfort were measured and calculated using Fanger (1970) comfort model

Summary

INTRODUCTION

British Standard BS EN ISO 7730 (ISO 7730, 1994) defines the term ‘Thermal comfort’ as: ‘that condition of mind which expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment.’. Thermal comfort was defined by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) as that state of mind which expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment (ASHRAE, 2009). To enable a researcher to improve the thermal comfort in the workplace, the six parameters contributing to thermal comfort were measured and calculated using Fanger (1970) comfort model. This model which was based on Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied people (PPD) index and used of BS EN ISO 7730 and BS EN ISO 10551 British standards are recommended (HSE, 2008). The study on thermal comfort emphasize the importance of thermal comfort for office occupants and highlight that achieving thermal comfort in offices delivers more satisfaction for the occupants, and improves their performance (Nazanin et al, 2008)

MATERIALS AND METHODS

15. Analysis for this researched was divided into four sections:

RESULTS

DISCUSSION