At the web address below, the Center for the Built Environment at Berkeley shares a free tool for evaluating thermal comfort.
As the web page introducing the tool states, the CBE’s objectives were, in part, to “Develop a web-based graphical user interface for thermal comfort prediction according to ASHRAE Standard 55. Include models for conventional building systems (predicted mean vote) and also for comfort using the adaptive comfort model, and with increased air speeds (for example, when using fans for cooling).”
The CBE reports on the same website that, “The standard convention of attempting to maintain a narrow temperature band can be an energy-intensive practice. Instead, using CBE’s comfort prediction tools with ASHRAE Standard-55 as a guide, designers may find that a wider temperature band will provide adequate comfort and save a significant amount of energy…the tool can be used to assess the comfort of low-energy designs. A building that has provisions for air movement (such as ceiling fans or desk fans) can use the predicted mean vote (PMV) model with elevated airspeed. In a naturally ventilated building, the adaptive comfort model can be used. This tool…verif[ies] compliance with ASHRAE Standard 55-2013.”
The thermal comfort of various scenarios can be compared.
The CBE thermal comfort tool is available at: https://www.cbe.berkeley.edu/research/thermal-tool.htm#publications
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.