Page 171 - New Trends in Green Construction

APPROACH TO THE ANALYSIS OF THERMAL COMFORT IN EXISTING PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL BUILDINGS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY: SMARTPOLITECH
Irene Amigo Gamero, Beatriz Montalbán Pozas
Keywords: thermal comfort, smart building, public building, sensorization, energy efficiency, energy saving, user.
1. Introduction
Energy efficiency in Spanish public buildings is a necessary challenge to address nowadays, on account of the obsolete real estate stock and the excessive energy consumption associated with its usage. Likewise, the hygrothermal conditions within them are very far from the stipulated values measuring interior comfort. User interaction with building emerges among the various factors that could influence both parameters. It seems necessary to analyse the interior comfort to determine the potential for improvement of energy efficiency in the use of buildings, and this interest increases in a possibly warmer scenario, as a result of climate change. The analysis is proposed from an adaptive model perspective, where users can interact with their environment to improve their comfort conditions, compared to some standards of approximation to comfort (Zomorodian, Tahsildoost and Hafezi, 2016). The sensorization infrastructure SmartPolitech, installed in the Polytechnic School of Caceres and distributed in buildings of the 90s with a high energy consumption and a high user population, allows the development of this comfort study.
2. Materials and methods
This study of thermal comfort is based on the methodological application of an objective survey and a subjective survey. These two approaches are proposed since it is proven that people with pro-environment attitude tend to be more permissive in accepting the interior environment of buildings (Yang, Yan and Lam, 2014). The objective survey is based on the constructive definition of buildings, inventory facilities, characterization of the conditions of occupancy and use, and operational conditions of facilities. In addition, real-time objective data on temperature and humidity are collected through the SmartPolitech sensor system. The system is based on the communication of the sensors with the database. The sensors can publish the data directly, or they can be consulted. The temperature and humidity sensors are RAY STH, wireless sensor with WiFi communication and battery powered, it has an accuracy of +/- 0.5 oC and +/- 3% RH. For the objective analysis of thermo-hygrometer comfort conditions, the Spanish regulatory ranges established by the Regulation of thermal installations in buildings (RITE) was employed.
The second part, the subjective survey, is based on knowing the user's perception of the temperature and humidity conditions of the interior spaces. To carry out the study surveys are conducted using the ASHRAE scale (American Society of Heating, 2010), referring to clothing level and metabolic rate, and characterizing the active user. The subjective survey is relevant because, according to some studies, the comfort range, in an adaptive environment, would be wider.
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New Trends in Green Construction