Sustainable Thermal Comfort in Buildings Through Prioritizing Occupant Needs

A major reason for the poor satisfaction with thermal environment is the lack of individual and personal control over the environment. Building environment control systems can be designed by incorporating personalized control systems for greater satisfaction at much less energy consumption. In this article, Asit Kumar Mishra and M Ramgopal present a simple three-level approach that can achieve this goal and lead to a sustainable thermal comfort system.

- Asit Kumar Mishra and M Ramgopal

Recent studies show that many occupants of air-conditioned buildings are not satisfied with the thermal environment even though the environment meets the currently followed thermal comfort standards. This cannot be justified in view of the large amount of energy spent in maintaining the thermal environment. Studies suggest that a major reason for the poor satisfaction with thermal environment is the lack of individual and personal control over the environment and the designing of indoor spaces for a theoretical, average occupant, instead of actual individuals. Hence, it is suggested that building environment control systems be designed by incorporating personalized control systems for greater satisfaction at much less energy consumption. A simple three-level approach is suggested to achieve this goal, which can lead to a sustainable thermal comfort system.