SPACE SPECIFIC THERMAL COMFORT MODELING FOR INDIVIDUALLYOCCUPIED OFFICE

In-office buildings, there has been an increasing need for a comfortable working environment as people work for longer hours throughout the day. Thermal comfort contributes not only to productivity and efficiency but even to human’s health. Besides, the principal purpose of the HVAC system is to pro...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: WAN NORMARDHIAH, WAN ‘AIZUDDIN
Format: Final Year Project Report
Language:English
English
Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/37554/1/WAN%20NORMARDHIAH%20BINTI%20WAN%20%E2%80%98AIZUDDIN%2024pgs.pdf
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/37554/4/WAN%20NORMARDHIAH%20ft.pdf
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/37554/
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Summary:In-office buildings, there has been an increasing need for a comfortable working environment as people work for longer hours throughout the day. Thermal comfort contributes not only to productivity and efficiency but even to human’s health. Besides, the principal purpose of the HVAC system is to provide comfortable conditions for people. Therefore, the primary goal of this study was to evaluate the thermal comfort in a centrally air-conditioned individually occupied office. Environmental factors such as operating temperature, relative humidity, and airflow in the office were considered, which influence thermal comfort behaviour. The survey analysis using ASHRAE thermal sensation scale and comfort prediction using physical measurement was conducted as a preliminary result in thermal comfort evaluation. Based on the cooling load temperature difference method, the supply air was sufficient for the individually occupied office. Besides, Computational Fluid Dynamics was used to analyse the effect of HVAC component configurations such as supply and return diffuser number and position to the thermal comfort behaviour. The physical model of individually occupied office was modelled using CAD software while the temperature and distribution of air were simulated using Finite Volume Method by the Computational Fluid Dynamics tool. The results revealed that thermal comfort provides better conditions by reducing the volume flow rate from the supply air conditioning diffuser. In addition, the single supply with two return diffusers of the HVAC system improves the average airspeed in the office space by 37 % to the existing individual occupied office. This study can also be extended to various HVAC buildings such as retail facilities, hospitals, hotels, and educational facilities.