Comparative analysis of indoor thermal comfort in a residential building by applying dynamic clothing insulation

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to confirm the necessity and significance of applying a dynamic clothing insulation for controlling the thermal environment. For this purpose, the comparative analysis of indoor thermal comfort in the residential building was conducted with three different control methods: 1) DBT (dry-bulb temperature)-based control, 2) PMV (predicted mean vote)-based controls reflecting the fixed clothing insulation, 3) PMV-based control reflecting the dynamic clothing insulation. DesignBuilder was employed for a residential building modeling and the thermal comfort analysis which was accessed with PMV and PPD (predicted percentage dissatisfied) indicators. As a result, the PMV-based control applying the dynamic clothing insulation satisfied the comfort ranges of the PMV and PPD at all times regardless of the season. On the other hand, in the case of the DBT-based control, the average PMV value was out of the comfort range in both seasons, and the PPD value was more than twice that of the PMV-based control reflecting the dynamic clothing insulation. In addition, PMV-based control reflecting fixed clothing insulation resulted in a slightly cold condition in the morning and at night in both seasons as presenting PMV values below –0.5 and PPD values over 10%. In conclusion, from this study, the possibility was confirmed that the PMV-based control reflecting dynamic clothing insulation can provide a comfortable thermal environment for the occupants. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the accurate value of the clothing insulation in order to comfortably control the thermal environment, and a follow-up research should be conducted to develop a prediction model of the real-time clothing insulation. © 2021 Architectural Institute of Korea.