Occupant productivity and office indoor environment quality: A review of the literature

This review examines scientific literature on the effect of gender on indoor thermal comfort. Gender differences have been generally considered to be small and insignificant but this review shows that a growing number of studies have found significant differences in thermal comfort between the genders. Clearly more than half of the laboratory and field studies have found that females express more dissatisfaction than males in the same thermal environments. Very few studies have found males to be more dissatisfied than females. A meta-analysis shows that females are more likely than males to express thermal dissatisfaction (ratio: 1.74, 95% confidence interval: 1.61–1.89). However, most studies found no significant difference in neutral temperatures between the genders. Females are more sensitive than males to a deviation from an optimal temperature and express more dissatisfaction, especially in cooler conditions.

Practical Implications
We should no longer neglect the more rigorous requirements that females have for indoor thermal environments. Gender differences indicate that females have, on average, a greater need for individual temperature control and adaptive actions than males. The results of this review suggest that females should primarily be used as subjects when examining indoor thermal comfort requirements, as if females are satisfied it is highly probable that males are also satisfied.

Thermal comfort and gender: a literature review

Individual difference in thermal comfort: A literature review

Based on United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), building sector accounts for 40% of total energy consumption. In European countries, 36% of total greenhouse gas emissions is attributed to buildings. In this respect, green roofs are considered to be one of the most appropriate sustainable solutions to resolve the urban heat island-related issues. Roofs account for nearly 20–25% of overall urban surface areas. Energy saving, thermal insulation, shading and evapotranspiration features highlight the key role of green roofs in overall thermal performance of buildings and microclimatic conditions of indoor environments. Within the scope of this research, the concept of green roofs and facades is comprehensively analysed in a holistic and thematic way. Following a historical overview of the technology, the research is split into various subfields such as energy saving in buildings through greenery systems, multifunctional thermal benefits including evapotranspiration, thermal insulation, shading and thermal comfort features, evaporative cooling for reducing cooling demand and minimising wind driven convection losses. The results achieved from the literature survey clearly indicate that green roofs and facades are key solutions to mitigate building-related energy consumptions and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the previous works, heat flow through the building roofs in summer can be reduced by approximately 80% via green roofs. The green roofs are reported to consume less energy in the range of 2.2–16.7% than traditional roofs during summer time. A similar tendency is observed for the winter season depending on regional and climatic conditions. The temperature difference between conventional and greens roofs in winter is found to be about 4 °C, which is remarkable. Energy demand of buildings in summer is highly dependent on the plant intensity as it is reported to be 23.6, 12.3 and 8.2 kWh/m2/year for extensive, semi-intensive and intensive greenery surface, respectively. Greenery systems are also capable of providing thermally comfortable indoor and outdoor conditions. It is underlined that the annual average accumulation of CO2 reaches the level of 13.41–97.03 kg carbon/m2 for 98 m2 of vertical greenery system. The results of this research can be useful for dwellers, builders, architects, engineers and policy makers to have a good understanding about the potential of green roofs and facades to mitigate building-related energy consumptions and carbon emissions in a renewable, sustainable, energy-efficient and cost effective way.

Green roofs and facades: A comprehensive review

An evaluation model for indoor environmental quality (IEQ) acceptance in residential buildings

The combined effects of noise and temperature on environmental perception and acceptability were studied on 18 lightly clothed subjects (0.6 clo), individually exposed for 2 h in a climatic chamber. Three homogeneous climatic conditions were chosen (air temperature at 18, 24 or 30 degrees C, air velocity =0.1 m/s). For each of them, three different noise levels were continuously maintained (35, 60, 75 dBA, recorded fan noise). The 18 subjects were divided into three groups and each group experienced only one single thermal condition, at each level of noise, during three different experimental sessions. Subjective answers about perception and comfort were obtained at t = 30 and 120 min. Main results indicate that acoustic perception decreases when thermal environment is far from thermoneutrality. Although the combined effects of noise and temperature did not influence the physiological data, our results show that whatever the ambient temperature, thermal unpleasantness is higher when noise level increases. Finally, equivalence between acoustic and thermal sensations is proposed for short-term exposure (1 degree C = 2.6 dBA) and for steady state (1 degrees C = 2.9 dBA). In conclusion, this study strongly suggests that interactions between environmental components do exist, right from perceptual level, and might explain some combined effects on cognitive performance.

N. Pellerin

Papers

Effects of steady‐state noise and temperature conditions on environmental perception and acceptability