A Novel Indoor Human Comfort Control Technique

Abstract

According to the National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS), humans spend about 86.9% of their time indoors. Living, working etc. International Energy Agency (IEA) recently stated the cooling sectors demand at international level will be doubled up-to 2050. Hence, thermal comfort will be a challenging parameter for developing countries like India. Thermal comfort depends on a variety of factors such as temperature, humidity, airspeed, clothing, and resident activity. This paper discussed the systematic study of the thermal comfort during various indoor conditions. First, we collected data (temperature, relative humidity, air speed, energy consumption in KWh) from a closed room in the government building. Next, the Predictive Mean Vote (PMV), Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied (PPD), Standard Effective Temperature (SET), which are indices of thermal comfort are determined using Center for Built Environment (CBE). This tool complies with ASHRAE 552017, ISO 77300:2005 AND EN 167981:2019 standards. Finally, we obtained an average setting temperature for Air conditioners (AC) in various Indian cities that satisfies the human body's thermal comfort. This novel concept will be useful to decrease the consumption of AC load in major Indian cities and government offices.