Thermal performance of school buildings: Impacts beyond thermal comfort
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Other Title
Authors
Su, Bin
Jadresin-Milic, Renata
McPherson, Peter
Wu, Lian
Jadresin-Milic, Renata
McPherson, Peter
Wu, Lian
Author ORCID Profiles (clickable)
Degree
Grantor
Date
2022-05-10
Supervisors
Type
Journal Article
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
New Zealand
school building design
building envelope
thermal performance
occupant health
insulation
indoor health
indoor thermal comfort
school building design
building envelope
thermal performance
occupant health
insulation
indoor health
indoor thermal comfort
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Su, B., Jadresin Milic, R., McPherson, P., & Wu, L. (2022). Thermal Performance of School Buildings: Impacts beyond Thermal Comfort. International Journal of Environment Research and Public Health, 19, 5811. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ ijerph19105811
Abstract
Based on field study data regarding the winter indoor thermal environment of three classrooms with different building envelopes, this study compared and evaluated these environments, not only related to students’ thermal comfort but also to their health. The inadequacy of the conventional New Zealand school building for maintaining a comfortable and healthy winter indoor thermal environment has been identified. A classroom with thermal mass had 31%, 34% and 9% more time than a classroom without thermal mass when indoor temperatures met 16 C 18 C and 20 C respectively and has 21.4% more time than the classroom without thermal mass when indoor relative humidity was in the optimal range of 40% to 60%, in a temperate climate with a mild and humid winter. Adding thermal mass to school building envelopes should be considered as a strategy to improve the winter indoor thermal environment in future school design and development. Adding thermal mass to a school building with sufficient insulation can not only increase winter indoor mean air temperature but can also reduce the fluctuation of indoor air temperatures. This can significantly reduce the incidence of very low indoor temperature and very high indoor relative humidity, and significantly improve the indoor thermal environment
Publisher
MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)
Permanent link
Link to ePress publication
DOI
doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ ijerph19105811
Copyright holder
© 2022 by the authors
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Attribution 4.0 International