Showing papers by "Philomena M. Bluyssen published in 2008"

Management of the Indoor Environment: from a Component Related to an Interactive Top-down Approach:

Abstract: Over the last century, management of the indoor environment was focused only on its single components (thermal comfort, noise, light, air quality) and to a lesser extent on interrelations between these components in the so-called bottom-up approach. Although standards and guidelines are met, the quality of the indoor environment, as experienced by the occupants, is not acceptable and could be unhealthy, causing health and comfort problems. Inappropriate communication between stakeholders of the indoor environment, during the life-cycle of a building, also causes problems. Internal and external drivers can influence the wishes and demands of the end-users, which consequently change over time and are now very different from 100 years ago. The indoor environments need to be able to anticipate those changes. An interactive top-down approach, next to the traditional bottom-up approach, is presented as a possible solution.