Actual conditions of residents’ cooling behaviors related to visual and auditory sensation and estimation of their effect on energy saving in Japan

Abstract

The article aims to investigate residents’ cooling behaviors and to examine the possibilities for reducing thermal discomfort, changing the duration of air-conditioner use, and reducing cooling load through behaviors influencing visual, auditory and other sensation. A questionnaire was administered in Kyoto, Japan during summer 2010. The results indicated that: (a) to cool down, many residents engage in daily cooling behaviors other than using air-conditioners, such as using rugs, sprinkling water, bamboo blinds, and having cool-colored interior elements. In addition, many of these behaviors were negatively correlated with the length of air-conditioner use; (b) cooling behaviors include acts to lower the temperature (e.g., sprinkling water and bamboo blinds) and acts to obtain non-heat-related cooling effects (e.g., using rugs, a cool-colored interior, scents with cooling effects, wind chimes, music with cooling effects); (c) a comparison between the simulated cooling load of four groups (categorized according to the use of bamboo blinds and a cool-colored interior) found that the cooling load of the group using both is about 10% lower than the group using neither.