Research project on the notion of thermal comfort and energy optimization in confined spaces led by ESTP
The Foundation is helping to fund this study that aims to reduce energy consumption while improving user comfort
As part of this partnership, the Rexel Foundation provided funding for a research project on the concept of “comfort” in commercial buildings with the goal of developing new strategies for the control and improvement of indoor environmental conditions and reducing energy consumption.
Objectives
- Study occupants’ behavior according to their comfort requirements and degree of involvement in modifying indoor environmental conditions.
- Develop effective control strategies for the hybrid HVAC systems of new energy efficient buildings.
Project description
This research project consisted primarily in:
- An experimental analysis of inhabitants’ behavior and their perception of comfort according to various levels of control over indoor environmental conditions (from automatic to fully manual).
- The development (and test) of effective control strategies for hybrid HVAC systems with the aim of reducing the time spent in manual mode (lower efficiency, risk of rebound effect).
Expected results
In this study, were used both subjective (questionnaire) and objective (physical measurements) methods to evaluate indoor climate quality in ESTP classes. However, certain disparities were observed between the perceived quality and the measured quality in diverse indoor climate conditions. It thus appears necessary to organize a second study in order to compare the results between the four seasons and to evaluate indoor climate quality with various ventilation strategies.
