Occupant Response Research Articles

Effect of Indoor Environment on Occupant Air Comfort and Productivity in Office Buildings: A Response Surface Analysis Approach

Indoor air quality is a significant factor influencing occupant comfort, health and productivity. Indoor air comfort and its relationship to occupant comfort and productivity are widely documented. Statistical correlation between the two has been highlighted in scientific literature. This paper investigates any unique correlations between non-air quality parameters (such as lux level, temperature, and noise level) and indoor air comfort and presents a study investigating the effect of indoor environmental quality on occupant air comfort and productivity. This study was conducted by collecting data on indoor environmental parameters using remote sensors and an online survey for occupant responses for twelve months. Data analysis was performed using Response Surface Analysis to present mathematical relationships between indoor environmental quality parameters and occupant air comfort. Results show that carbon dioxide up to 600 ppm, VOC up to 25% (by volume) and humidity up to 60% have a positive impact on occupant air comfort and productivity. Our research highlighted that some non-air quality parameters, such as outdoor temperature and lux levels, affect occupant air comfort. These results would enable built environment professionals to design and operate offices (subtropical desert climate) conducive to occupant comfort and productivity.

Sitting posture influence in autonomous vehicles for the evaluation of occupant safety in side impact

IntroductionAutonomous vehicles will give vehicle drivers greater freedom to engage in other activities while the vehicle is in operation that will lead to changes in the seating configurations as well as driver posture. Although it is expected that these vehicles will prevent crashes, collisions will still happen. Ensuring the adequate protection of occupants in these new unconventional positions is the main challenge. The objective of this study was to evaluate and analyse occupant responses in non-standard seating positions that may be expected to occur in automated vehicles occupants under side impact conditions. MethodsFinite Elements Method simulations were performed using the WorldSID 50th male dummy positioned in the driver position. A validated simplified vehicle model with fully deformable driver-side components was used. To explore the sensitivity to side impact across various occupant activities, five scenarios were defined: normal driving (S0), fall-back ready (S1), work (S2), leisure (S3) and relax/sleep (S4). All scenarios were subjected to the Euro NCAP Side Tests Protocols (deformable barrier and oblique pole impact). ResultsAs the distance from the pole impact point to the B-pillar decreased, the structure deformation increased due to the B-Pillar deformation. In cases S2 and S3 predicted thorax injury values were the highest, whereas scenarios S3 and S4 were the worst situation in deformable barrier impact test. Good pelvis protection was provided in all pole impact scenarios, but pelvis injury values were the highest in all scenarios in deformable barrier impact test. ConclusionsAttending to the new scenarios due to the new available driver activities, current safety standards are not enough to guarantee the highest level of protection. Reclined seating scenarios required a wide range of impact positions to be covered since injury responses were influenced by the initial impact alignment of the dummy relative to the vehicle and the pole. Large rotations of the seatback lead to high chest compressions.

Indoor environmental quality-based space categorization framework: the case of health-care facilities

PurposeIndoor environmental quality (IEQ) in buildings has an impact on people’s health, productivity and comfort. Maintaining the highest possible IEQ level in complex buildings, such as health care, is difficult due to economic and organizational constraints. This study aims to categorize the vicinities in a typical health-care facility in terms of importance and criticality in relation to the various IEQ factors, as well as to develop an IEQ assessment procedure.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive literature review, established standards and structured interviews with industrial hygiene professionals in health-care settings were used in this study. To test the applicability of the developed IEQ assessment procedure, a pilot study was conducted in an existing health-care facility.FindingsThis study categorized health-care facilities into various vicinities and discovered three respondents group had varying IEQ perceptions (facility managers, environmental health specialists and nurses). According to the findings, indoor air quality is the most important and dominant factor influencing overall IEQ in health-care facilities. The trial application of the framework shows that much work is needed to improve the level of response and readiness of facility management and occupants to allow for the effective use of the developed procedure.Originality/valuePrevious research did not include a detailed categorization of vicinities in health-care buildings based on IEQ requirements. The findings of this study will help to close this knowledge gap and guide facility managers and operators in recognizing the relative importance of different IEQ factors, maintaining functional requirements and identifying priorities when developing maintenance and operational procedures and allocating resources.

Generating Human Arm Kinematics Using Reinforcement Learning to Train Active Muscle Behavior in Automotive Research.

Computational human body models (HBMs) are important tools for predicting human biomechanical responses under automotive crash environments. In many scenarios, the prediction of the occupant response will be improved by incorporating active muscle control into the HBMs to generate biofidelic kinematics during different vehicle maneuvers. In this study, we have proposed an approach to develop an active muscle controller based on reinforcement learning (RL). The RL muscle activation control (RL-MAC) approach is a shift from using traditional closed-loop feedback controllers, which can mimic accurate active muscle behavior under a limited range of loading conditions for which the controller has been tuned. Conversely, the RL-MAC uses an iterative training approach to generate active muscle forces for desired joint motion and is analogous to how a child develops gross motor skills. In this study, the ability of a deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) RL controller to generate accurate human kinematics is demonstrated using a multibody model of the human arm. The arm model was trained to perform goal-directed elbow rotation by activating the responsible muscles and investigated using two recruitment schemes: as independent muscles or as antagonistic muscle groups. Simulations with the trained controller show that the arm can move to the target position in the presence or absence of externally applied loads. The RL-MAC trained under constant external loads was able to maintain the desired elbow joint angle under a simplified automotive impact scenario, implying the robustness of the motor control approach.

Effects of a Public Real-Time Multi-Modal Transportation Information Display on Travel Behavior and Attitudes

This study reports on an experiment in downtown Seattle, Washington, to evaluate whether installing a public real-time multi-modal transportation information display screen in an office building lobby caused changes in building occupant self-reported awareness, attitudes, satisfaction, and usage of alternative transportation modes including transit, car-sharing, ride-sourcing, and bike-sharing services. Workers in the test building and two nearby control buildings were surveyed immediately before the screen was installed (N=550) and again six months later (N=455). Little evidence was found that exposure to the real-time display affected respondent travel choices, satisfaction, familiarity, or attitudes toward alternative modes. Although most respondents (70%) had noticed the screen and had generally positive reactions, two-thirds of this group never actually used it. These results, along with building occupant responses to open-ended questions, indicate limited benefits from this installation and suggest that site selection, screen placement, and marketing may help to maximize the effects of these types of displays on traveler satisfaction and mode shifting.

Implementation and calibration of active small female and average male human body models using low-speed frontal sled tests

Objective The objective of this study was to implement active muscles in a computationally efficient small female finite element model (54.1 kg, 149.9 cm) suitable for predicting occupant response during precrash braking and low-speed frontal sled tests. We further calibrate and compare its results against an average male model (78.4 kg, 174.9 cm) using the same developmental approach. Methods The active female model (F05-OS + Active) was developed by adding active skeletal muscle elements (n = 232) to the Global Human Body Models Consortium (GHBMC) 5th percentile female simplified occupant model (F05-OS v2.3). The muscle properties and physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA) for each muscle were taken from the M50-OS + Active v2.3 model but PCSAs were mass scaled to a 5th percentile female. A total of 8 simulations were conducted; 2 acceleration pulses (1.0 g and 2.5 g), 2 models (F05-OS + Active and M50-OS + Active), and 2 muscle states (activation and control; e.g., no activation). Each model’s kinematics and reaction forces were compared with experimental data. Occupant responses of 6 5th percentile female and 6 50th percentile male volunteers (n = 12 total) were used. The data depict occupant response in precrash braking and low-speed frontal sled tests in a rigid test buck. All procedures were reviewed and approved by the Virginia Tech institutional review board. Each volunteer was in a relaxed state before the applied acceleration. Results The occupant peak forward excursion results of both active models reasonably match the volunteer data for both pulse severities. The differences between active and control models were found to be significant by Wilcoxon signed-rank test (p < .05). The reaction loads of the active and control models lie within the experimental corridors. Conclusions To the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to concurrently calibrate and compare equivalently developed computational models of females and males in precrash and low-speed impacts. The modeling approach is capable of capturing the varied kinematics observed in the relaxed condition, which may be an important factor in studies focused on the effects of low-g vehicle dynamics on the occupant position. Finally, the computationally efficient modeling approach is imperative given the long duration (>500 ms) of the events simulated.

Analysis of Three-Wheeler Vehicle Structure at the Event of Side Pole Crash

This work reports on the simulation of three-wheel vehicles in the event of a side pole crash. In this study, the dynamic characteristics of the three-wheeler vehicle during pole collision were studied using finite elements. The TWV model used here was created using CATIA v5 and simulated using LS-DYNA which is widely used by the automotive industry to analyze vehicle design and predict a car’s behavior in a collision. Moreover, in this study, the finite element model of the side hybrid 5th percentile male dummy was developed for studying the driver and occupant responses in crash events of side pole. Based on the analysis results obtained from the existing model of TWV, modifications were made on the side structure by means of adding energy-absorbing components. Then, the modified TWV was analyzed under the same condition as the existing one. The result of the simulations shows that with the modification, 80 mm more living space, 630 N reduction of impact force, and 0.8 kJ of additional absorbed energy were obtained. So with the modified model, the safety and crashworthiness of the TWV were greatly improved during side collision without affecting the appearance and weight of the existing models.

Thermal sensation, sick building syndrome symptoms, and physiological responses of occupants in environments with vertical air temperature differences

Vertical air temperature differences (VTDs) can have important influences on thermal comfort and the evaluation of air distributions. The air distributions might create either positive or negative VTDs. However, no research has clearly revealed the effect of different directions of VTDs on human comfort. To create environments with positive and negative VTDs in this study, the air temperature of half of the body was maintained at an air temperature of 25 °C, whereas the other half of the body (the upper or lower body part, respectively) was exposed to air temperatures of 22 °C, 25 °C, 28 °C, and 31 °C, respectively. That is two series of experiments with the same VTD value but different directions were compared, based on 16 subjects seated in a climatic box in a climate chamber. The thermal sensations, sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms, and physiological responses of occupants were studied. The results showed that subjects were more sensitive to the VTD at the upper body part in warm environments with respect to thermal sensations, perceived air quality, and sweat intensity. The analysis indicated that there were more discomfort and heat stress for positive VTDs than negative VTDs. Thus, the criterion for acceptable negative VTDs should be different with the positive VTDs incorporated in current standards. Overall, the directions of the VTDs were suggested to be considered for evaluating the thermally stratified air distributions based on both of thermal comfort and energy efficiency in buildings.

Lighting System Control Data to Improve Design and Operation: Tunable Lighting System Data from NICU Patient Rooms

ABSTRACT The advancement of LED and controls technology, computing capacity, and software provides new opportunities for researchers and designers to work together to further optimize spaces for occupant benefit. Lighting system control data from five neonatal intensive care unit patient rooms was collected over a 25-week monitoring period and analyzed to better understand occupant response to a tunable lighting system with automatic transitions throughout the day. Lighting systems are very rarely refined after installation based on actual use. Objective data detailing how the lighting system is used by the actual occupants highlights the opportunities for optimization after installation and provides insight for improving the next design. As use of the data becomes more commonplace, it can be leveraged for design recommendations. The collection of the data required no additional cost beyond the time for examining the data. The analysis revealed several clear opportunities for improvement, including adjustments to the default control setting at night, re-labeling of the control stations, and adjustments to the nighttime fade rate. The patient room occupants were active users of the different zones, dimming options, and manual overrides made available by the lighting system.

Rear-End Impacts - Part 2: Sled Pulse Effect on Front-Seat Occupant Responses

&lt;div class="section abstract"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;This study was conducted to assess the effects of differing rear impact pulse characteristics on restraint performance, front-seat occupant kinematics, biomechanical responses, and seat yielding. Five rear sled tests were conducted at 40.2 km/h using a modern seat. The sled buck was representative of a generic sport utility vehicle. A 50&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; percentile Hybrid III ATD was used. The peak accelerations, acceleration profiles and durations were varied. Three of the pulses were selected based on published information and two were modeled to assess the effects of peak acceleration occurring early and later within the pulse duration using a front and rear biased trapezoidal characteristic shape.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;The seatback angle at maximum rearward deformation varied from 46 to 67 degrees. It was lowest in Pulse 1 which simulates an 80 km/h car-to-car rear impact. The seatback plastic deformation was greater in the pulse with the rear biased trapezoidal acceleration profile, Pulse 4, than in the front biased trapezoidal acceleration profile, Pulse 5 (46 degrees v 41 degrees). Coincidingly, the longitudinal head displacement was slightly greater in the Pulse 4. There was limited relative motion between the ATD torsos and the seatbacks. The relative motion between the ATD torso and the seatback was less than 7 cm in all tests. The head, chest and pelvis peak acceleration and timing varied depending on the pulse. All peak head, chest, pelvis and upper and lower-neck moments occurred prior to maximum seatback dynamic deflection. The biomechanical responses were all well below injury assessment reference values. The seatback structural restitution was the highest in Pulse 1 which had the lowest amount of dynamic and plastic seatback deformation and had the highest lap belt load. All peak belt loads occurred in the rebound phase of the ATD.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;The sled coordinate-based data was used to determine the effective restraint stiffness. The results were used to develop a spring-mass model. The model will help understand the effects of pulse characteristics on predicted chest acceleration for future research.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;In conclusion, the results from this study show that pulse shape has a measurable effect of seat and ATD kinematics in high-speed rear impacts and should considered for future research and testing.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

Biomechanical Responses of the THOR-AV ATD in Rear Facing Test Conditions

&lt;div class="section abstract"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;The THOR-AV dummy is a modified THOR dummy being developed for occupant safety testing in upright and reclined seating postures. The dummy has a new neck with improved biofidelity in rear impact, a pelvis/abdomen/lumbar design to improve seating posture, and a pelvis anthropometry that mimics human submarining responses for reclined seat testing. The dummy was evaluated against postmortem human subject (PMHS) corridors in rearward facing impact conditions (56 km/h impact speed, 38g acceleration) in both 25° and 45° seatback configurations. Biofidelity Ranking System (BRS) scores were calculated in accordance with NHTSA’s latest calculation algorithm. The BRS scores for THOR-AV seat loading are 1.58 (“good” biofidelity) and 2.94 (“marginal” biofidelity) for the 25° and 45° configurations respectively. The BRS scores for THOR-AV occupant responses are 1.95 and 1.38 for the 25° and 45° configurations respectively, both corresponding to “good” biofidelity. From the evaluation, the dummy motion in the vertical direction is lacking compared to PMHS responses. The dummy durability is promising, with no damage observed in the test series.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

The comfort and energy impact of overcooled buildings in warm climates

Around 18% of global carbon emissions can be attributed to building heating or cooling, driven by the adoption of “international” thermal comfort standards such as ASHRAE-55, which imply an homogenous indoor environment. We argue that the importation of such standards to warm climates results in indoor cold discomfort due to “overcooling”: a phenomenon anecdotally recognised worldwide but not studied or defined systematically. Unlike under- or over-heating, overcooling is the purposeful over-expenditure of energy, that creates conditions of cold thermal discomfort. We examine data for warm and temperate climates from a global thermal comfort database spanning 27 countries with over 90,000 occupant responses to investigate overcooling of air-conditioned buildings. We suggest that overcooling is best defined by taking the intersection of thermal sensation and preference and, using this definition, we find that 17% of building occupants in the examined data can be classed as being overcooled. We estimate the cooling energy demand of overcooling imposed through the adoption of the ASHRAE-55 standard using computer simulations that move building occupants from being overcooled to comfortable. The results suggest around 15% of cooling energy demand could be saved through a simple upward adjustment of set-point temperatures by 2 °C in warm climates. Such an adjustment in the Global South, which contains the majority of the warm regions of the Earth, could have a dramatic impact on the evolution of future cooling energy demand which is expected to triple by 2050.

Study on the influence of seating orientation during frontal impacts by child occupant human body model response analysis

Objective Autonomous driving cars must be developed to ensure that children will have the highest level of protection in case of collision. Changes to the vehicle cabin design (different seat orientations, fully reclining seats, etc.) may significantly impact child occupant safety. Understanding child occupant responses under these new conditions is necessary to decrease risk and enhance child safety. In this study, child occupant response in different seating orientations exposed to frontal impacts with a focus on the head injuries and kinematics was analyzed. Methods Finite elements simulations were performed using the PIPER 6-year-old human body model (HBM). All simulations were carried out in a generic full vehicle environment. The child model was positioned in an adequate generic car restraint system (CRS) in the left rear vehicle seat in 4 seating orientations: 0° (forward-facing position), 30°, 60°, and 90° (living room position). Two scenarios were evaluated for all seating orientations according to the left front seat backrest position: reclined position nominal upright and rest position (55°). All seat configurations were subjected to the mobile progressive deformable barrier frontal impact (European New Car Assessment Programme [Euro NCAP] frontal impact testing protocol). A total of 8 scenarios were simulated in LS-DYNA. Results Based on the Euro NCAP injury risk rate, 90° seating orientation (living room position) was the safest among all selected scenarios independent of the left front seat backrest position. The worst case was found in 60° seat rotation. The highest values for Head Injury Criterion (HIC) and head acceleration (Acc 3 ms) were noted for this case. Higher Brain Injury Criterion (BrIC) values were observed at higher seat rotation angles. Hence, a 90° seating orientation showed the highest BrIC value. Attending to the skull stress, greater head injuries were caused principally by contact with the vehicle interior (seat headrest). Maximum stress values were reached at 30° and 60° seating orientations with the front seat in rest position. In 90° seating orientation, high stress values were also identified. Conclusions These results show that attending to these new seating orientations, current child safety standards are not sufficient to ensure children the highest level of protection. Other additional criteria such as BrIC or skull stress that offer a way to capture brain injuries should be used.

Biomechanical analysis of thorax-abdomen response of vehicle occupant under seat belt load considering different frontal crash pulses

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to understand the biomechanical response and injury risk of thorax and abdomen of vehicle front seat occupants caused by seat belt load under different frontal crash pulses. Methods: A vehicle-seat-occupant subsystem finite element (FE) model was developed using the a assembly of vehicle front seat and seat belt together with the THUMS (Total Human body Model for Safety) AM50 (50th% Adult Male) occupant model. Then the typical vehicle frontal crash pulses from different impact scenarios were applied to the vehicle-seat-occupant subsystem FE model, and the predictions from the occupant model were analyzed. Results: The modeling results indicate that the maximum sternal compression of the occupant caused by seat belt load is not sensitive to the peek of the crash pulse but sensitive to the energy contained by the crash pulse in the phrase before seat belt load reaching its limit. Injury risk analysis implies that seat belt load of the four crash scenarios considered in the current work could induce a high thorax AIS2+ injury risk (&gt;80%) to the occupants older than 70 years, and a potential injury risk to the spleen. Conclusions: The findings suggest that control of the energy in the first 75 ms of the crash pulse is crucial for vehicle safety design, and thorax tolerance of the older population and spleen injury prevention are the key considerations in developing of seat belt system.

Validation of MADYMO human body model in braking maneuver with highly reclined seatback

Dummies are applied to validate the restraint system and indicate injury risk, but it is not sufficient for alternative postures, for example, the highly reclined seatback posture in a driverless function and a long journey. Computer simulation provides valuable information and might overcome the disadvantages of the physical dummy and simulate the occupant response better than the dummy in alternative postures. HBMs were used to investigate the occupant kinematics in a frontal crash with a highly reclined seatback, but the kinematics of the occupant in the pre-crash was not considered in such simulation models. The postures of the occupant prior to a crash impact the injury severity. It was assumed that the occupant seats on the front seat with the seatback reclining fully, and a braking maneuver is expected in about 0.5 to 1 s before an accident in the autonomous driving mode. At this moment, the occupant's posture is totally different from the initial time. The occupant kinematics in the successive crash should be calculated and derived from this point. This study addressed the occupant's posture and kinematics in the pre-crash in the case wherein the seatback reclined rearward partly or fully. The study used the MADYMO human body model to simulate the occupant posture and a dataset of the volunteer test to validate the model. It may be used sensitively to investigate the kinematics of the occupant posture in a frontal crash with the reclined seatback, and in some other studies of the occupant response during autonomous driving.

Modelling mould growth in domestic environments using relative humidity and temperature

Damp and high levels of relative humidity (RH), typically above 70–80%, are known to provide mould-favourable conditions. Exposure to indoor mould contamination has been associated with an increased risk of developing and/or exacerbating a range of allergic and non-allergic diseases. The VTT model is a mathematical model of indoor mould growth that was developed based on surface readings of RH and temperature on wood in a controlled laboratory chamber. The model provides a mould index based on the environmental readings. We test the generalisability of this laboratory-based model to less-controlled domestic environments across different values of model parameters. Mould indices were generated using objective measurements of RH and temperature in the air, taken from sensors in a domestic setting every 3–5 min over 1 year in the living room and bedroom across 219 homes. Mould indices were assessed against self-reports from occupants regarding the presence of visible mould growth and mouldy odour in the home. Logistic regression provided evidence for relationships between mould indices and occupant responses. Mould indices were most successful at predicting occupant responses when the model parameters encouraged higher vulnerability to mould growth compared with the original VTT model. A lower critical RH level, above which mould grows, a higher sensitivity, and larger increases in the mould index all consistently increased performance. Using moment-to-moment time-series data for temperature and RH, the model and its developments could help inform smart monitoring or control of RH, for example to counter risks associated with reduced ventilation in energy efficient homes.

Effects of seat pan and pelvis angles on the occupant response in a reclined position during a frontal crash.

Current highly automated vehicle concepts include reclined seat layouts that could allow occupants to relax during the drive. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effects of seat pan and pelvis angles on the kinematics and injury risk of a reclined occupant by numerical simulation of a frontal sled test. The occupant, represented by a detailed 50th percentile male human body model, was positioned on a semi-rigid seat. Three seat pan angles (5, 15, and 25 degrees from the horizontal) were used, all with a seatback angle of 40 degrees from the vertical. Three pelvis angles (60, 70, and 80 degrees from the vertical), representing a nominal and two relaxed sitting positions, were used for each seat pan angle. The model was restrained using a pre-inflated airbag and a three-point seatbelt equipped with a pretensioner and a load limiter before being subjected to two frontal crash pulses. Both model kinematic response and predicted injury risk were affected by the seat pan and the pelvis angles in a reclined seatback position. Submarining occurrence and injury risk increased with lower seat pan angle, higher pelvis angle, and acceleration pulse severity. In some cases (in particular for a 15 degrees seat pan), a small variation in seat pan or pelvis angle resulted in large differences in terms of kinematics and predicted injury. This study highlights the potential effects of the seat pan and pelvis angles for reclined occupant protection. These parameters should be assessed experimentally with volunteers to determine which combinations are most likely to be adopted for comfort and with post mortem human surrogates to confirm their significance during impact and to provide data for model validation. The sled and restraint models used in this study are provided under an open-source license to facilitate further comparisons.

Environment Optimization Scheme Based on Edge Computing Using PSO for Efficient Thermal Comfort Control in Resident Space

With the fast development of infrastructure and communication technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) has become a promising field. Ongoing research is looking at the smart home environment as the most promising sector that adopts IoT and cloud computing to improve resident live experiences. The IoT and cloud-dependent smart home services related to recent researches have security, bandwidth issues, and a lack of concerning thermal comfort of residents. In this paper, we propose an environment optimization scheme based on edge computing using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) for efficient thermal comfort control in resident space to overcome the aforementioned limitations of researches on smart homes. The comfort level of a resident in a smart home is evaluated by Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) that represents the thermal response of occupants. The PSO algorithm combined with PMV to improve the accuracy of the optimization results for efficient thermal comfort control in a smart home environment. We integrate IoT with edge computing to upgrade the capabilities of IoT nodes in computing power, storage space, and reliable connectivity. We use EdgeX as an edge computing platform to develop a thermal comfort considering PMV-based optimization engine with a PSO algorithm to generate the resident’s friendly environment parameters and rules engine to detects the environmental change of the smart home in real-time to maintain the indoor environment thermal comfortable. For evaluating our proposed system that maintenance resident environment with thermal comfort index based on PSO optimization scheme in smart homes, we conduct the comparison between the real data with optimized data, and measure the execution times of optimization function. From the experimental results, when our proposed system is applied, it satisfies thermal comfort and consumes energy more stably.

Design, construction and validation of MATELab: A novel outdoor chamber for investigating occupant-facade interaction

Testing of novel facade technologies with human volunteers is essential for improving occupant interaction with novel dynamic facade systems and to increase satisfaction with its modulation of light, sound, heat and mass transfer between the outdoor and indoor environments. In the past 10 years, there have been noticeable attempts to develop chambers that endeavour to assess the influence of facade technologies on occupant environmental perception and occupant-facade interaction. This paper firstly reviews existing state-of-the-art chambers for occupant-facade interaction and establishes the principal design criteria and performance characteristics required for such facade test chambers. The paper then demonstrates how this information is used to design and construct MATELab, a facade test chamber in Cambridge, UK, devised for capturing occupant environmental perception to, and interaction with, the facade in a realistic, yet sufficiently accurate manner. Finally, results from a preliminary measurement campaign in MATELab are used to validate the experimental setup, in particular its ability to capture high-resolution data for assessing: (i) the influence of facades on Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ); (ii) occupant environmental perception and interaction with the facade and (iii) do so similarly to typical office spaces. It was found that MATELab can successfully identify the correlations between facade performance and IEQ and that occupant response can be captured with sufficient frequency and in a realistic manner. However, further work is required to improve the experimental setup, in particular, to monitor luminance and direct solar radiation within the indoor space in a non-disruptive, yet experimentally efficient manner.

Assessment of Acclimation of 5th Percentile Female and 50th Percentile Male Volunteer Kinematics in Low-Speed Frontal and Frontal-Oblique Sled Tests

In order to accurately represent the response of live occupants during pre-crash events and frontal crashes, computational human body models (HBMs) that incorporate active musculature must be validated with appropriate volunteer data that represents a wide range of demographic groups and potential crash conditions. The purpose of this study was to quantify and compare occupant kinematic responses for unaware (relaxed) small female and midsize male volunteers during low-speed frontal and frontal-oblique sled tests across multiple test conditions, while recognizing, assessing, and accounting for potential acclimation effects due to multiple exposures. Six 5th percentile female and six 50th percentile male volunteers were exposed to multiple low-speed frontal and frontal-oblique sled tests on two separate test days. Volunteers experienced one test orientation and two pulse severities (1 g and 2.5 g) on each test day. A Vicon motion capture system was used to quantify the three-dimensional (3D) kinematics of the volunteers. Peak forward excursions of select body locations were compared within a test day and between test days for the same test condition to determine if and how acclimation occurred. Differences between demographic groups were also compared after accounting for any observed acclimation. Acclimation was not observed within a test day but was observed between test days for some demographic groups and some test conditions. In general, head, neck, and shoulder responses were affected, but the elbow, hip, and knee responses were not. Males generally moved farther forward compared to females during the frontal tests, but both groups moved forward similarly during the frontal-oblique tests. Overall, this study provides new female and male biomechanical data that can be used to further develop and validate HBMs that incorporate active musculature in order to better understand and assess occupant response and injury risk in pre-crash events and frontal crashes.