Physiology of thermoregulation and impacts on human comfort in air-conditioned space

• Main Author: Lee, Kai Wen
• Other Authors: Soh Yeng Chai
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/139675
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This project is concerned with thermal comfort analysis in energy efficient buildings. In the development of new and energy efficient HVAC systems, a deeper comprehension and knowledge on the physiology of thermoregulation would be beneficial in associating the ambience with the impact on human comfort. Through this project, we also wish to learn proper interpretation of the indoor environmental settings and subsequently assess human comfort appropriately. We can then fine-tune current human comfort indices to cater better to Singapore’s tropical rainforest climate and translate these findings into designing HVAC systems that optimizes both energy efficiency and human comfort. The first part of this paper aims to establish a positive relationship between upper extremity skin temperatures (in our case the forearm and dorsal side of the hand) and actual thermal comfort of occupants in an air-conditioned space. The second part of the paper aims to establish the applicability in utilizing machine learning techniques to predict thermal comfort with upper extremity skin temperature data. Field studies were performed in an air-conditioned environment within school compound to simulate a typical workplace environment.