3.2.1
Thermal Comfort
INDOOR
ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY
DESIGN STAGE
3.2 Indoor Environmental
Quality
Benefits for Office Building
Office buildings with good thermal
control design help to lower the
energy consumption of the air-
conditioning system and allow future
tenants to provide a comfortable
indoor thermal environment within
their own office units.
Green Strategies for Office Building
z
Install thermometers to monitor
the room temperature to avoid
excessive cooling. Avoid setting
air conditioning temperature
below 23°C in summer months
z
Clean dust filters and air-side
system regularly. Remove
obstructions at air inlets and
outlets of the air conditioning
and ventilation units
Benefits for Office Unit
Good control of thermal comfort in
the work place:
• Increase well-being, and lessens
fatigue
• Increase job satisfaction
• Improve staff morale
• Staff find it easier to concentrate
and make more attempts at solving
difficult tasks
• Increase productivity
Green Strategies for Office Unit
z
Find theobvious placeswhereair
can sneak into your office, then
make repairs to plug the leaks by
caulking, weather stripping and
using plastic covers
z
If necessary, use fans to enhance
the cooling effect by increasing
cool air circulation
z
Dress light to minimise the use
of air conditioning
z
Switch off lighting and heat-pro-
ducing appliances that are not
in use to reduce air conditioning
load
z
Place thermometers and
hygrometers in conspicuous
locations to monitor the com-
fort level (air temperature and
relative humidity) for the room
occupants
z
Zoning of the office to allow user
to set the temperature
z
Relative humidity is recom-
mended to be less than 70%;
Recommended room tempera-
ture is 24˚C-26˚C
z
Set the fan coil to low fan speed
as the normal setting. Use a high
fan speed rather than lowering
the temperature setting to cater
for increased cooling demand
z
Solar control filmapplied to glass
panels to reduce energy use for
cooling
Thermal Comfort
Overview
Thermal comfort means that a person wearing a normal amount of
clothing feels neither too cold nor too warm. It is important for both
one’s well-being and productivity.
Some offices spaces set their air conditioning at very low temperatures
(often below 20˚C) with the intention of providing a comfortably cool
indoor environment for their customers. However, a decrease in indoor
temperature is not the only factor ensuring a comfortable environment.
Humidity, air speed, clothing and nature of the activity are also factors
that affect human comfort.
z
Conduct regular occupancy
surveys and air temperature and
humidity monitoring
BEAM Plus NB V1.2 IEQ 13a
The air temperature shall be
sustained at the design value
within ± 1.5˚C.
BEAM Plus BI V1.0 IEQ 7
The air temperature within the
project space shall be ± 1.5˚C
of the set temperature when
the air side system is operating
at steady state under normal
occupied periods.
DESIGN STAGE
3.2.1 Thermal Comfort
Office
BUILDING
Office
UNIT
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