The effect of occupant distribution on energy consumption and COVID-19 infection in buildings: A case study of university building

Mokhtari, Reza; Jahangir, Mohammad Hossein

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.107561

Cited by 87 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…On the other hand, occupant density in buildings conditioned energy consumption, and posed a direct link between COVID-19 transmission risk and the number of occupants [ 73 ]. This should lead us to reflect on teleworking as a good preventive or public health containment measure, to the extent that the scope and employment situation permit.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitability, Resilience, and Satisfaction in Mexican Homes to COVID-19 Pandemic

Torres

Portillo

Cuerdo-Vilches

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Following the 2020 confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, housing has become the only safe place and this has exposed inequity in habitability. This research on the reality of confined households and the perception of their homes in the Mexican republic is based on a mixed participatory study, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches. The online questionnaire consisted of 58 questions in the quantitative approximation. The qualitative part required the provision of an image of the workspace, with testimonies and personal reflections. During the lockdown, all participants saw an increase in overall energy consumption; more than half reported not being in thermal comfort; and a third declared deficiencies in noise insulation. Regarding the perception of the telework/tele-study space, we found the following categories: bedrooms, living/dining rooms, studies and others. In addition, respondents had often adapted the workspace for both individual and shared use. In general, the households were satisfied with the size of their houses but would like landscaped spaces or better views outside. Confinement made housing the protective element against the pandemic. The consequences will have an effect globally, so new architectural design paradigms need to be rethought.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitability, Resilience, and Satisfaction in Mexican Homes to COVID-19 Pandemic

Torres

Portillo

Cuerdo-Vilches

et al. 2021

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Therefore, the home features are important factors to take into account. Among those features to define healthy housing, some are highlighted: construction materials and furniture that are environment and health respectful; overall comfort (hygrothermal, acoustic, and visual); lighting (specially daylighting); indoor air quality; safety; and social quality [ 60 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Confined Students: A Visual-Emotional Analysis of Study and Rest Spaces in the Homes

Cuerdo-Vilches

Martín

2021

IJERPH

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Confinement was adopted globally as a containment measure to face the COVID pandemic declared by WHO on March 2020. In Spain, the State of Alarm was established for three months. This implied the interruption of educational activities, having a higher incidence for children, since teaching would not be resumed until the following academic year, in September. This, together with the confusing initial information about COVID-19 transmission between children and their families, has made them one of the groups most vulnerable. In this study, a qualitative approach is made to secondary school students (aged 12). They were asked to share their experiences about confinement from the perspective of the home spaces, in relation to two main tasks relevant in this period: the tele-study and their relaxing time and well-being. Using images and narratives with an abstract and emotional description, the response of 46 children was obtained. A sentiment analysis was carried out from their testimonies. Results suggest a greater availability of tele-study spaces with daylighting, mainly in bedrooms, with laptops. For leisure and rest spaces, sofas, beds, and cohabitant gathering were preferred. Written testimonials were mainly positive. Housing features and family cohesion condition their resilience in situations of uncertainty, like confinement.

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“…Hou et al indicated that the quantum generation rate can be 28 h -1 in a classroom ( Hou et al, 2021 ). The value of 142 h -1 applied for the light exercise conditions, which has been used in several studies ( Buonanno et al, 2020 ; Mokhtari & Jahangir, 2021 ). The value of 857 h -1 is high enough to show the infection risks in a super spreader event of COVID-19, i.e., it is within 680-1190 /h (S. L. Miller et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal control of high-rise building mechanical ventilation system for achieving low risk of COVID-19 transmission and ventilative cooling

Sha

Zhang

2021

Sustainable Cities and Society

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As suggested by many guidelines, a high ventilation rate is required to dilute the indoor virus particles and reduce the airborne transmission risk, i.e., dilution ventilation (DV). However, high ventilation rates may result in high energy costs. Ventilative cooling (VC), which requires high ventilation rates like DV, is an option to reduce the cooling energy consumption. By combining DV and VC, this paper investigated the operation of the mechanical ventilation system in high-rise buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to minimizing the cooling related energy consumption and reducing COVID-19 transmission. First, a modified Wells-Riley model was proposed to calculate DV rates. The ventilation rate required to achieve VC was also introduced. Then, a new ventilation control strategy was proposed for achieving DV and VC. Finally, a case study was conducted on a real high-rise building, where the required DV rate and the impact of the settings of the mechanical ventilation on the energy savings were evaluated. The results indicate that the required ventilation rates vary from 36 m 3 /s to 3306 m 3 /s depending on the protective measures. When the occupants follow the protective measures, the proper settings of the mechanical ventilation system can reduce energy consumption by around 40%.

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The effect of occupant distribution on energy consumption and COVID-19 infection in buildings: A case study of university building

Cited by 87 publications

References 56 publications

Habitability, Resilience, and Satisfaction in Mexican Homes to COVID-19 Pandemic

Habitability, Resilience, and Satisfaction in Mexican Homes to COVID-19 Pandemic

Confined Students: A Visual-Emotional Analysis of Study and Rest Spaces in the Homes

Optimal control of high-rise building mechanical ventilation system for achieving low risk of COVID-19 transmission and ventilative cooling

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