Influence of patio on indoor environment in a Chinese traditional folk house in summer

A case study is performed on the influence of the patio on the indoor environment of a traditional folk house group,named Zhangguying village in Hunan province,in the summer of 2007.Measurements include indoor and outdoor air temperature,indoor and outdoor illuminance,indoor and outdoor air speed,and carried out from August 5th to 10th.The results show that the patio,acting as a ＂buffer zone＂,can reduce the ambient impacts on the indoor thermal environment of rooms because the temperature of the patio is lower than that of the outdoor temperature but higher than that of the rooms.The patio can improve the indoor lighting environment because the illuminance of the patio is lower than that of outdoor and higher than that of the rooms.But the effect is too limited,because the illuminance of the rooms is lower than the national standards.This study shows that the shading design is the primary consideration in this kind of climate.The wind speed of the patio is stable and similar to that of the hall and the stack effect of the patio is not obvious.It shows that the patio is useful for natural ventilation,caused by wind pressure,in summer.

On Ecological Design of Indoor Environment Based on Energy-conservation and Gas Emission-reduction

With the rapid development of economy, requirements on indoor environment design are getting higher and higher, but its prosperity brings ecological environment serious destruction and over consumption of resources. Under the global environment of the sustainable development, the principles of indoor environment design were analyzed ecologically and corresponding implementation methods were proposed to provide reference for energy-conservation and gas emission-reduction in the ecological system of indoor environment.

Investigating path loss characteristics of UWB signals in vacancy indoor environment based on time-domain technique

The path loss analysis model based on 5 rays in vacancy indoor environment is proposed. The relationship between multipath overlapping and the path loss is analyzed mathematically. Time-domain technique is introduced to compute reflection coefficient in a very short time interval. A 5 rays path loss calculation method, which is satisfactory accurate, is developed. 5 typical environments are involved to analyze and generalize the common path loss characteristics in vacancy indoor environment. The simulation result shows that the path loss can be characterized as 3 zones with different path loss exponent as distance between transmitter and receiver increasing.

Energy consumption,indoor environmental quality,and benchmark for office buildings in Hainan Province of China

With rapid economy growth,building energy consumption in China has been gradually increased.The energy consumption and indoor environmental quality of 51 office buildings in Hainan Province,a hot and humid area,were studied through collection of verified data in site visits and field tests.The result revealed that,electricity accounted for 99.79% of the total energy consumption,natural gas 0.17%,and diesel 0.04%.The air conditioning dominated the energy use with a share of 43.18%,equipment in the particular areas 26.90%,equipment in the office rooms 11.95%,lighting system 8.67%,general service system 7.57%,and miscellaneous items 1.73%.Statistical method including six indicators obtained the energy consumption benchmark with upper limit of 98.31 kW-h/m2 and lower limit of 55.26 kW-h/m2.According to ASHRAE standard(comfortable standard) and GB/T 18883-2002(acceptable standard),the indoor environmental quality of 51 sampled office buildings was classified into three ranks:good,normal and bad.With benchmark of building energy consumption combined with indoor environmental quality,it was found that only 3.92% of sampled buildings can be identified as the best performance buildings with low energy consumption and advanced indoor environmental quality,and the buildings classified into normal level accounted for the maximum ratio.

Specific Enthalpy Based Heat Stress Index for Indoor Environments without Radiation Effect

Over 100 human thermal indices have been developed to predict the combined thermal impact on the body.In principle,these indices based on energy thermal budget equations should not only be the most complex but also be the most accurate.However,the simple indices based on algebraic or statistical models[e.g.,the wet-bulb globe temperature(WBGT)]continue to be the most popular.A new heat stress index,the enthalpy dry-bulb temperature(EnD)for indoor environments is developed and validated in this study.The EnD index is unique in that it uses the air specific enthalpy,not the wet-bulb temperature,to measure the latent heat transfer from the skin to the surrounding environment.Theoretically,the EnD index can be treated as the equivalent temperature based on the convective heat transfer coefficient h_(c).Comparison is made between the EnD index and the widely used WBGT index based on the experimental data taken from three independent studies available in the scientific literature.The results show that the EnD index can reduce the overestimation of the dry-bulb air temperature and thus reduce heat stress in most cases,especially for hot and humid environments.It can be concluded that the EnD index has the potential to replace the WBGT index as the standard heat stress index in the future.

Hardware Implementation of STM32 Microcontroller-Based Indoor Environment Monitoring System

Microcontroller is widely used in the intelligent life of modern society. Intelligent development based on Microcontroller to solve the actual needs of people’s life, work, study and other fields is the core of Microcontroller application. Therefore, it is a task for researchers to understand the structure and performance of microcontroller, develop software, and be familiar with the method and process of intelligent development based on microcontroller. And with that in mind, this paper designs and produces a physical hardware system for indoor environment detection based on STM32 microcontroller. The system can detect the light intensity, temperature and humidity, and CO gas concentration in the indoor environment;and the data is integrated and processed by the STM32 microcontroller to display the current parameter values of each quantity in the indoor environment on a 3.5-inch resistive screen;at the same time, the PC can also log in to the OneNET cloud platform through the web page, and display the light intensity, temperature and humidity, and CO gas concentration values in the indoor environment in real time in the device created by OneNET for real-time viewing. The system can also display the light intensity, temperature and humidity, and CO gas concentration values in the indoor environment in real time. The hardware system has been tested and tested to achieve its function.

Indoor Environmental Requirements in Green Building in Jordan

The aim of this study is to provide stimulating and comfortable environments for the occupants and minimize the risk of green building related health problems. Researcher has developed a number of assumptions that helps to resolve the research problems, which includes the application of the indoor environmental quality and will highlight the required design standards of it to provide a healthy environment to the houses and chosen AREE （Aqaba residence energy efficiency） as a case study. The theoretical part goes through a brief study to definition of the required design standards which includes eight kinds of issues： indoor environmental quality intents, control of environmental tobacco smoke, control of chemicals contaminants, design well ventilated buildings, provide daylight/view, energy efficient lighting, thermal comfort, consider acoustics and its uses in all the elements of internal spaces. Than we going through the uses of these requirements by using descriptive analytical approach, we chose one case study （AREE）. To analyze the uses of their requirements of the indoor environmental quality and we also collect the information about this house from the owner of the AREE, then draw conclusions and list of references.

Indoor Environment Quality Monitoring and Evaluation System Based on LoRa Communication

Indoor environmental quality has always been the focus of people’s long-term attention. How to monitor the indoor environmental level conveniently and accurately is a problem that people pay attention to now. After research, an indoor environment level monitoring system based on LoRa communication is designed. The system is mainly divided into two parts, the detection node, and the monitoring terminal. Temperature, humidity, light intensity, noise, formal-dehyde, and carbon dioxide are detected through the node with STM32F103ZET6 microcontroller as the controller;the data is sent to the monitoring terminal for display through LoRa communication. At the same time, the T-S fuzzy neural network (TSFNN) is improved by the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to classify the indoor environment quality level. Experimental test: the total error of the improved TSFNN model test set is reduced by 8.6007. The system can monitor the indoor environment level objectively and reliably, and has high practical value.

Influence of the 60 Hz Magnetic Field on the Airborne Microbial Distribution of Indoor Environments

The aim of this work was to analyze the effect of the magnetic field generated by the household appliances on the airborne microbial surrounding these equipment located on indoor environments with particular interest in the environmental fungi.A simultaneous environmental study was carried out in locals of three different geographical places of Havana,Cuba,which have televisions,computers and an electric generator.The air samples were made by a sedimentation method using Malt Extract Agar.The concentration of total aerobic mesophilic as well as fungi and yeasts were determined in rainy and little rainy seasons by applying as factors:exposure time of dishes(5 to 60 min)and distance to the wall(0 and 1 m)at a height of 1 m above the floor.The predominant fungal genera were Cladosporium,Penicillium and Aspergillus.In the dishes that were placed at 0 and 0.5 m from the emitting sources were observed that some bacteria colonies formed inhibition halos,a great diversity of filamentous fungi and an increase in the mycelium pigmentation as well as the pigments excretion.In the rainy season,the highest amounts of fungi were obtained in all samples.In the little rain season the count of the Gram-negative bacilli increased three times the Gram-positive cocci.

Energy Performance versus Indoor Environment QualitymNon-traditional Form of Elementary Schools Renovation in Terms of Slovak Republic

The content of contribution is to analyse suggested renovation of school building in term of energy performance and indoor environment quality. There were three selected variants of possible reno ration of school building. At first, it was installation of equipment for heat recovery into existing mechanical ventilation system. There were further evaluated possibilities how to use glass atrium or ground air-heat exchanger in mechanical ventilation system. These suggested variants were analysed in field of energy performance, namely in term of impacts on heat demand for space heating in order to keep required parameters of indoor environment quality according to standard STN EN 15251 （operative temperature, relative air humidity, air change rate）. The analysis was elaborated by using energy simulation tool Design Builder in order to evaluate yearlong operation of buildings.

Questionnaire Research on Indoor Environment Quality i n China

With 1 185 pi eces of questionnaire, it is found that in China, people take fresh air, odor, e tc., as well as indoor air temperature, humidity, as the most important indoor a ir parameters. It is also found that there is a significant sensitivity differen ce in indoor environment between southerners and northerners in China. People fr om different regions have different demands for their working and living environ ment. Therefore, as a good design of air conditioning system, it is strongly rec ommended that the different demands of people from different regions should be t aken into consideration.

Subjective evaluation of indoor environmental quality of underground shopping malls in central district of Chongqing,China

Good indoor environmental quality enhances occupant health,comfort and productivity. In order to know the status of indoor environmental quality of underground shopping malls,five large underground shopping malls in five central districts of Chongqing,China,were surveyed. 2 411 questionnaires were distributed,and 98.5% of them were returned. From the results of questionnaire survey,the following conclusions were obtained:(1) in the five underground shopping malls surveyed,only shopping mall D in Nan'an district accords with the ASHRAE standard for good indoor air quality; (2) odors and sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms are widespread in the underground shopping malls. The SBS occurrence rates for women and salespersons are higher than those of men and customers,respectively; (3) in the evaluation of the indoor environment,the indoor air quality dissatisfaction rate is the highest,followed by the thermal environment; and (4) women and salespersons generally have higher rates of dissatisfaction with the indoor environmental quality of underground shopping malls than men and customers,respectively.

A systematic review on COVID-19 related research in HVAC system and indoor environment

The on-going COVID-19 pandemic has wrecked havoc in our society,with short and long-term consequences to people’s lives and livelihoods-over 651 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed with the number of deaths exceeding 6.66 million.As people stay indoors most of the time,how to operate the Heating,Ventilation and Air-Conditioning(HVAC)systems as well as building facilities to reduce airborne infections have become hot research topics.This paper presents a systematic review on COVID-19 related research in HVAC systems and the indoor environment.Firstly,it reviews the research on the improvement of ventilation,filtration,heating and air-conditioning systems since the onset of COVID-19.Secondly,various indoor environment improvement measures to minimize airborne spread,such as building envelope design,physical barriers and vent position arrangement,and the possible impact of COVID-19 on building energy consumption are examined.Thirdly,it provides comparisons on the building operation guidelines for preventing the spread of COVID-19 virus from different countries.Finally,recommendations for future studies are provided.

Application of statistical analysis of sample size:How many occupant responses are required for an indoor environmental quality(IEQ)field study

Determining required sample size is one of the critical pathways to reproducible,reliable and robust results in human-related studies.This paper aims to answer a fundamental but often overlooked question:what sample size is required in surveys of occupant responses to indoor environmental quality(IEQ).The statistical models are introduced in order to promote determining required sample size for various types of data analysis methods commonly used in IEQ field studies.The Monte Carlo simulations are performed to verify the statistical methods and to illustrate the impact of sample size on the study accuracy and reliability.Several examples are presented to illustrate how to determine the value of the parameters in the statistical models based on previous similar research or existing databases.The required sample size including“worst”and“optimal”cases in each condition is obtained by this method and references.It is indicated that 385 is a“worst case”sample size to be adequate for a subgroup analysis,while if the researcher has an estimate of the study design and outcome,the“optimal case”sample size can potentially be reduced.When the required sample size is not achievable,the uncertainty in the result can properly interpret via a confidence interval.It is hoped that this paper would fill in the gap between statistical analysis of sample size and IEQ field research,and it can provide a useful reference for researchers when planning their own studies.

Digital twin for healthy indoor environment:A vision for the post-pandemic era

Indoor environment has significant impacts on human health as people spend 90%of their time indoors.The COVID-19 pandemic and the increased public health awareness have further elevated the urgency for cultivating and maintaining a healthy indoor environment.The advancement in emerging digital twin technologies including building information modeling(BIM),Internet of Things(IoT),data analytics,and smart control have led to new opportunities for building design and operation.Despite the numerous studies on developing methods for creating digital twins and enabling new functionalities and services in smart building management,very few have focused on the health of indoor environment.There is a critical need for understanding and envisaging how digital twin paradigms can be geared towards healthy indoor environment.Therefore,this study reviews the techniques for developing digital twins and discusses how the techniques can be customized to contribute to public health.Specifically,the current applications of BIM,IoT sensing,data analytics,and smart building control technologies for building digital twins are reviewed,and the knowledge gaps and limitations are discussed to guide future research for improving environmental and occupant health.Moreover,this paper elaborates a vision for future research on integrated digital twins for a healthy indoor environment with special considerations of the above four emerging techniques and issues.This review contributes to the body of knowledge by advocating for the consideration of health in digital twin modeling and smart building services and presenting the research roadmap for digital twin-enabled healthy indoor environment.

Research progress on indoor environment of mushroom factory

Mushroom factory is an emerging production mode that is relied on facility and equipment by creating a suitable,steady,and uniform growing environment to accommodate the demand of edible fungus at each stage of growth.Therefore,an optimal range of key environmental factors(temperature,humidity,light,and CO_(2) concentrations)in mushroom facilities is crucial to achieving satisfactory production rates.This research aimed to provide an overview of recent progress on indoor environmental studies of mushroom cultivation facilities from three perspectives,1)the development of environmental monitoring and controlling systems;2)the application of computer modelling in addressing indoor environmental issues;3)the refinement of mushroom facility design,including structure and ventilation scheme.With the aid of cutting-edge technologies,accomplishments have been made in developing smart farming systems that facilitate real-time recording of environmental parameters and automatic regulation of equipment,which helps the establishment of growth model for specific mushroom species.Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)modelling has been adopted by researchers to investigate indoor airflow patterns and assess the distribution of critical environmental parameters.Studies have been conducted to modify the design of mushroom facility to improve the performance in structural stability,ventilation efficiency,and internal environmental condition.However,some existing problems still need further investigations,such as the lack of design guidelines,energy-saving strategies,and Artificial Intelligent(AI)quality control.Therefore,this overview was expected to provide constructive insights for future studies in addition to references of previous studies.

Machine Learning and Deep Learning Methods for Enhancing Building Energy Efficiency and Indoor Environmental Quality – A Review

The built environment sector is responsible for almost one-third of the world’s final energy consumption. Hence, seeking plausible solutions to minimise building energy demands and mitigate adverse environmental impacts is necessary. Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques such as machine and deep learning have been increasingly and successfully applied to develop solutions for the built environment. This review provided a critical summary of the existing literature on the machine and deep learning methods for the built environment over the past decade, with special reference to holistic approaches. Different AI-based techniques employed to resolve interconnected problems related to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and enhance building performances were reviewed, including energy forecasting and management, indoor air quality and occupancy comfort/satisfaction prediction, occupancy detection and recognition, and fault detection and diagnosis. The present study explored existing AI-based techniques focusing on the framework, methodology, and performance. The literature highlighted that selecting the most suitable machine learning and deep learning model for solving a problem could be challenging. The recent explosive growth experienced by the research area has led to hundreds of machine learning algorithms being applied to building performance-related studies. The literature showed that existing research studies considered a wide range of scope/scales (from an HVAC component to urban areas) and time scales (minute to year). This makes it difficult to find an optimal algorithm for a specific task or case. The studies also employed a wide range of evaluation metrics, adding to the challenge. Further developments and more specific guidelines are required for the built environment field to encourage best practices in evaluating and selecting models. The literature also showed that while machine and deep learning had been successfully applied in building energy efficiency research, most of the studies are still at the experimental or testing stage, and there are limited studies which implemented machine and deep learning strategies in actual buildings and conducted the post-occupancy evaluation.

Analysis and numerical simulation of indoor thermal environments in some university classrooms

In order to study the indoor thermal environments in university classrooms in Tianjin,a field study and a questionnaire survey for a main teaching building are carried out.First,the thermal sensations of participants in the typical classrooms are studied by 180 questionnaires.Then,based on the measured data,the temperature changes in the classrooms during a year are simulated by the DeST software.The results show that the indoor thermal environments in the northern classrooms on the first floor are better than those in other classrooms.And the measurement results accord with the simulation results.These results can be used as a reference for the study of the indoor thermal environments in other seasons.

Indoor environmental quality(IEQ)assessment of Nigerian university libraries:A pilot study

An indoor environmental quality(IEQ)assessment of academic libraries in Nigeria was conducted through ob-jective measurements.The selected university libraries were Abubakar Gimba Library;Awwal Ibrahim Library;and Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida Library Complex.The libraries were evaluated under operating conditions and during their peak usage periods.Measurements of the main descriptors of good IEQ,including the acoustical,visual,and thermal comfort conditions were performed using portable IEQ meters.The methodology employed for the assessment of these IEQ descriptors followed prescriptions of international standards ASHRAE standard 55 and ISO 7730.To determine the time of the day in which the library buildings can achieve optimum IEQ,measurements were taken in the morning and afternoon.The results obtained were compared with reference values found in the international Standard CIBSE Guide A for adequate IEQ compliance of academic libraries.The findings of this study are expected to help in improving the IEQ of academic libraries in Nigeria and other parts of the world.

The integration model of objective and subjective data of residential indoor environment quality in Northeast China based on structural equation modeling

Currently the indoor environment quality is described or evaluated mainly by the subjective or objective data.However,research increasingly has demonstrated that objective and subjective data both had some weaknesses to characterize the indoor environment quality,and they can compensate for each other's relative weaknesses.Hence,this study aims to develop an integration model to allow indoor subjective and objective data to be combined based on the structural equation modeling approach,using the Northeast China residential indoor environmental survey data.The results indicated that the integration model had a good fit for the survey data,and the model validity was confirmed.Moreover,in contrast to the subjective data(R^(2)=0.363)and objective data(R^(2)=0.239),the integrated data(R^(2)=0.553)improved the explanatory power on the satisfaction with the overall indoor environment.Furthermore,this integration model demonstrated that indoor subjective data assigned more weights to the integrated data than the corresponding objective data.The association strength of thermal environment and indoor air quality(0.43 or 0.47)was the strongest among the interactions of thermal,air quality,acoustic,and lighting environments.Consequently,the main contribution of this paper was that it provided a comprehensive model to accomplish the integration of indoor environmental subjective and objective data,promoting the ability to describe and assess the indoor environment quality.