Efficiency programs seem to ignore the fact that the only reason why society uses energy in buildings is to condition people and generate domestic hot water. One would then think that all design ought to begin with the physiological and psychological needs of the occupants. However, in the real world most energy efficiency programs focus exclusively on enclosures and equipment and have superficial Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) requirements. The hope is that the assembled systems will deliver the desired indoor climate with the modeled energy. The flaws in this approach are demonstrated in the poor results from thousands of post occupancy evaluations.
During this session, participants will learn the human sciences behind thermal comfort and air quality and how energy and exergy efficiency is the natural outcome from engineering the indoor environment using human factor design tools.
Learning Objectives:
- Avoiding discomfort within the built environment is what drives energy use.
- Occupants don’t care about energy models, they care about how they feel.
- The body’s respiratory systems and how they are impacted by the quality of air.
- The body’s thermoregulatory systems and how they are impacted by the architecture, enclosure and interior systems as the primary control points before mechanicals.
