The quality and controllability of the building façade can significantly contribute to building indoor environmental quality (IEQ) as well as the building's energy efficiency. Advanced technologies that support a façade's dynamic response to climatic changes, such as electrochromic (dynamic) glazing, have emerged as smart systems for IEQ and environmental sustainability. This research summarizes a four-season study of office workers moving from a floor with conventional blinds to work environments equipped with smart dynamic glazing which changes tint in response to weather condition to control daylighting levels. Multiple occupant environmental satisfaction surveys were conducted over one year to investigate differences in environmental and psychological responses to office settings with manual, and often static, facades as compared to offices with dynamic glazing. This research confirms that dynamic glazing significantly affected occupants' environmental satisfaction-enhancing individuals' environmental perceptions and psychological health-as compared to manual blinds. It reveals that the occupants in work environments with dynamic glazing reported 21.7% higher productivity gains, 24.8% increased ability to relax, 12.7% improved concentration, 25.3% better moods and 29.4% greater alertness than when they were in offices in the same building with manual shading devices. Also, the dynamic feature of the smart glazing showed a significant contribution to perceived work productivity while enhancing positive emotional responses by an average of 26%.Energies 2020, 13, 60 2 of 20 sustainability. Most significantly, dynamic glazing is known to contribute to reduced glare, thermal discomfort and reduced cooling loads. The visual transmittance of dynamic glazing can be increased or decreased based on pre-defined control algorithms, and it can control the illuminance of natural light admitted through glazing in an optimal way to enhance the visual quality and allow for continuous window views without compromising the thermal-quality condition. These technical merits have been especially important for office and healthcare facilities where the occupants' environmental health and work productivity are important.Recent research has investigated the efficacy of dynamic glass, focusing predominantly on energy performance. Tavares et al. investigated the energy conservation potential of adopting electrochromic windows in a Mediterranean climate [15]. The research confirmed that electrochromic glazing saved 15-20% energy in a cooling dominant climate depending on orientation, and the impact was most significant for the west façade. DeForest et al. simulated energy consumption of three building types in 16 U.S. climate zones, identifying that electrochromic windows outperformed other glazing choices in x of the 48 set of locations and building types [16]. Picco et al. used both experimental tests and computation simulations to evaluate the impact of electrochromic glazing on energy efficiency [17].This study tested four different...
The purpose of this research was to assess the performance of straw bales and carbonized rice hulls when used as natural insulation to regulate the indoor environment. Toward that end, specimens of straw bales and carbonized rice hulls were tested in the Korea Conformity Laboratories. Based on the results, real-scale mockup rooms insulated with these natural materials were constructed for cost analysis and performance evaluation. The cost analysis results showed that carbonized rice hulls are relatively cost effective and economically feasible. The thermal conductivity of carbonized rice hulls is lower than that of straw bales, and no difference in thermal performance was shown in relation to the different construction method used for each material. With regard to humidity, both mockup rooms built with each of the natural materials exhibited stable variations compared to the outside weather, and both materials sustained a general humidity within a comfortable 40–60% range. The straw bales mockup room was shown to produce a higher CO2 emission possibly due to the bio-metabolism (anaerobic fermentation), suggesting that this material should be used with caution. Carbonized rice hulls were proven to be a good natural insulation material and a good regulator of indoor humidity and would not yield CO2 due to bio-metabolism.
In the domain of building science and architectural design, the immersive virtual environment is being commonly adopted due to its convenience and cost-effectiveness, especially for research relevant to occupant behaviour in a building indoor environmental control. The goal of this study is to investigate whether such an immersive virtual environment condition could affect an occupant's thermal sensation and physiological response to ambient conditions differently, as compared to a real indoor environment, even though those two thermal conditions are the same or very similar. A series of human subject experiments using 18 participants was conducted in an environmental chamber. While thermal conditions were controlled at 20℃ to 30℃ in each environment, respectively, participants were asked to periodically report their thermal sensations on their body. Their heart rates were also continuously measured. The result of our experiments revealed that overall thermal sensations on the whole and local body areas showed some significant differences between the indoor environment and immersive virtual environment conditions during the same thermal conditions. Also, the heart rate difference between two environmental conditions was statistically significant at every thermal sensation level. These findings support the idea that significant physiological response differences could be affected by the immersive virtual environment condition.
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