DOCSLIB.ORG

Osta Van 0771671

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Osta Van 0771671 Eindhoven University of Technology MASTER Thermal comfort in hospital wards a comparison between two indoor conditioning systems van Osta, M.P.A. Award date: 2017 Link to publication Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain __________________________________________________ Thermal comfort in hospital wards A comparison between two indoor conditioning systems __________________________________________________ Mike van Osta student nr. 0771671 Building Physics and Services Eindhoven University of Technology Supervisors: prof. dr. H.S.M. (Helianthe) Kort dr. ir. M.G.L.C. (Marcel) Loomans dr. A.K. (Asit) Mishra ir. W. (Wim) Maassen PdEng Date: 26-01-2018 Master Thesis: 7SS37 II Summary Summary Health care facilities need to become more energy efficient in order to reach upcoming nearly zero energy requirements (nZEB). However, for hospitals comfort and safety of the patients is paramount. In this research these two perspectives are combined. In situ measurements are compared with questionnaires involving 169 voluntary participating individual patients in two hospitals during summer and autumn. Energy demand is determined with dynamic building simulations and energy performance calculations. For most medium stay patients, indoor temperatures between 21°C and 23°C are experienced as comfortable. This is independent of hospital and season. Warmer indoor temperatures must be possible for patients needing this due to personal preference or health conditions. More influence on temperature and air quality is experienced by patients lying in a single patient room with the ability to open a window (p<0.01). The fraction of patients who find it necessary to control indoor temperature increases with the length of stay of the patient (p=0.03). Comfort models predict thermal comfort different than patients’ perceive. For hospitals, upper and lower limit of the adaptive comfort limits may be shifted down for better agreement with orthopedic hospital patients. Broader temperature ranges and sustainable systems, e.g. heat pumps and ground storage, lower the energy consumption. However, it is concluded that renovation of the building façade with increased heat resistance has the biggest influence and is certainly needed to reach nZEB requirements. M.P.A. van Osta III IV Table of Contents Table of Contents Summary ................................................................................................................................................ III Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... V Acknowledge ......................................................................................................................................... VII Nomenclature ........................................................................................................................................ IX 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Research question ................................................................................................................... 2 1.2. Scientific relevance of the research ........................................................................................ 2 2. Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 4 2.1. Data collection ........................................................................................................................ 4 2.2. Data analysis ........................................................................................................................... 8 2.3. Building Simulations .............................................................................................................. 10 3. Measurement Results ................................................................................................................... 13 3.1. Indoor climate conditions ..................................................................................................... 13 3.2. Experience of patients .......................................................................................................... 14 3.3. Comfort standards ................................................................................................................ 18 3.4. Discussion .............................................................................................................................. 22 3.5. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 24 4. Simulation Results ......................................................................................................................... 26 4.1. Dynamic building simulation ................................................................................................. 26 4.2. Energy performance calculation ........................................................................................... 27 4.3. Discussion .............................................................................................................................. 29 4.4. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 30 5. General Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 31 6. General Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 33 7. Further Research and Implementation ......................................................................................... 34 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 35 M.P.A. van Osta V Appendices Appendix A Impression of measurement location ............................................................................... 38 Appendix B Measurement equipment and characteristics .................................................................. 41 Appendix C Questionnaire Patient’s comfort Survey ........................................................................... 45 Appendix D Activity level and clothing insulation................................................................................. 50 Appendix E General measurement results ........................................................................................... 52 Appendix F Measurement Results Hospital A ....................................................................................... 56 Appendix G Measurement Results Hospital B ...................................................................................... 64 Appendix H Additional Measurements ................................................................................................. 72 Appendix I Statistical Analysis ............................................................................................................... 74 Appendix J Observations ....................................................................................................................... 89 Appendix K Comfort standards ............................................................................................................. 90 Appendix L Building Characteristics ...................................................................................................... 93 Appendix M Simulation results for individual scenarios....................................................................... 97 VI Acknowledge Acknowledge This report is a result of my graduation research to achieve the master degree in Building Physics and Services at Eindhoven University of Technology. This research is executed as part of the nZEB Hospital project that Royal HaskoningDHV executes in cooperation with students from TU/e which is supported by TVVL and REHVA. I would like to thank all people from the area of hospitals, consultants and the university who have contributed to the realization of this research. I would like to thank prof. dr. Helianthe Kort, dr. ir. Marcel Loomans, and dr. Asit Mishra from TU/e for their contribution, support and advice during useful conversations. I would like to thank ir. Wim Maassen PdEng from Royal HaskoningDHV and TU/e for his support, advice, and for giving
Load more

Recommended publications
  • ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2010 3 © American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc
    © American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (www.ashrae.org). For personal use only. Additional reproduction, distribution, or transmission in either print or digital form is not permitted without ASHRAE’s prior written permission. 2.2 It is intended that all of the criteria in this standard be average person seated at rest. The surface area of an average applied together since comfort in the indoor environment is person is 1.8 m2 (19 ft2). complex and responds to the interaction of all of the factors that are addressed. metabolic rate (M): the rate of transformation of chemical energy into heat and mechanical work by metabolic activities 2.3 This standard specifies thermal environmental condi- within an organism, usually expressed in terms of unit area of tions acceptable for healthy adults at atmospheric pressure the total body surface. In this standard, metabolic rate is equivalent to altitudes up to 3000 m (10,000 ft) in indoor expressed in met units. spaces designed for human occupancy for periods not less than 15 minutes. naturally conditioned spaces, occupant controlled: those spaces where the thermal conditions of the space are regulated 2.4 This standard does not address such nonthermal envi- primarily by the opening and closing of windows by the occu- ronmental factors as air quality, acoustics, and illumination or pants. other physical, chemical, or biological space contaminants that may affect comfort or health. neutrality, thermal: the indoor thermal index value corre- sponding with a mean vote of neutral on the thermal sensation 3. DEFINITIONS scale. adaptive model: a model that relates indoor design tempera- percent dissatisfied (PD): percentage of people predicted to tures or acceptable temperature ranges to outdoor meteorolog- be dissatisfied due to local discomfort.
    [Show full text]
  • Thermal Comfort Metabolic Rate and Clothing Inference
    Thermal Comfort Metabolic Rate and Clothing Inference Christos Timplalexis1, Asimina Dimara1, Stelios Krinidis1, and Dimitrios Tzovaras1 Centre for Research and Technology Hellas/ Information Technologies Institute 6th Km Charilaou-Thermis 57001, Thermi-Thessaloniki, Greece fctimplalexis, adimara, krinidis, [email protected] Abstract. This paper examines the implementation of an algorithm for the prediction of metabolic rate (M) and clothing insulation (Icl) values in indoor spaces. Thermal comfort is calculated according to Fanger's steady state model. In Fanger's approach, M and Icl are two parameters that have a strong impact on the calculation of thermal comfort. The es- timation of those parameters is usually done, utilizing tables that match certain activities with metabolic rate values and garments with insula- tion values that aggregate to a person's total clothing. In this work, M and Icl are predicted utilizing indoor temperature (T ), indoor humidity (H) and thermal comfort feedback provided by the building occupants. The training of the predictive model, required generating a set of train- ing data using values in pre-defined boundaries for each variable. The accuracy of the algorithm is showcased by experimental results. The promising capabilities that derive from the successful implementation of the proposed method are discussed in the conclusions. Keywords: thermal comfort · metabolic rate · clothing insulation. 1 Introduction In modern societies people spend almost 90% of their time indoors [6]. Stud- ies have shown that indoor thermal conditions may impact on the occupants' attendance and cognitive performance [10]. Consequently, indoor thermal con- ditions should be regulated so that they do not have any negative effect to the occupants' feeling or execution of activities.
    [Show full text]
  • Objective Measurement of Heat Transport Through Clothing
    International Journal of Engineering Research and Development e-ISSN: 2278-067X, p-ISSN: 2278-800X, www.ijerd.com Volume 2, Issue 12 (August 2012), PP. 43-47 Objective Measurement of Heat Transport through Clothing Devanand Uttam Department of Textile Engineering, Punjab Technical University, Giani Zail Singh Campus, Bathinda-151001(Punjab) India Abstract––Heat transport analysis of any solid or porous material is an important issue for textile, mechanical, chemical, production, aeronautical and metallurgical engineers. The maintenance of thermal balance is probably the most important physical comfort attribute of clothing and has occupied the attention of many textile research workers. Transmission of heat through a fabric occurs both by conduction through the fibre and the entrapped air and by radiation. Practical methods of test for thermal conductivity measure the total heat transmitted by both mechanism. An objective measure is one carried out with the aid of instruments that do not depend on the opinion of a human being. In this paper, the various instruments which are utilized for objective measurement of the heat transport properties of clothing; are discussed. Keywords–– Alambeta, Guarded hot plate, Heat transmission, Togmeter I. INTRODUCTION The heat transmission behavior of a fabric critically important for human survival and plays a very important role in maintaining thermo-physiological comfort [1]. Clothing is an important issue for general consumer, active athletes and for those who practice jogging, skiing, golf or other sports just for fitness in their time [2]. Many researches and industries are engaged to develop the functional active fabrics that are most suitable for the comfort point of view.
    [Show full text]
  • ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2017
    ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2017 (Supersedes ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2013) Includes ANSI/ASHRAE addenda listed in Appendix N Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy See Appendix N for approval dates. This Standard is under continuous maintenance by a Standing Standard Project Committee (SSPC) for which the Standards Committee has established a documented program for regular publication of addenda or revisions, including procedures for timely, documented, consensus action on requests for change to any part of the Standard. The change submittal form, instructions, and deadlines may be obtained in electronic form from the ASHRAE website (www.ashrae.org) or in paper form from the Senior Manager of Standards. The latest edition of an ASHRAE Standard may be purchased from the ASHRAE website (www.ashrae.org) or from ASHRAE Customer Service, 1791 Tullie Circle, NE, Atlanta, GA 30329-2305. E-mail: [email protected]. Fax: 678-539-2129. Telephone: 404-636-8400 (worldwide), or toll free 1-800-527-4723 (for orders in US and Canada). For reprint permission, go to www.ashrae.org/permissions. © 2017 ASHRAE ISSN 1041-2336 ASHRAE Standing Standard Project Committee 55 Cognizant TC: 2.1, Physiology and Human Environment SPLS Liaison: John F. Dunlap Abhijeet Pande*, Chair Thomas B. Hartman* Michael P. O’Rourke Josh Eddy*, Secretary David Heinzerling* Gwelen Paliaga Sahar Abbaszadeh Michael A. Humphreys Zaccary A. Poots* Peter F. Alspach* Daniel Int-Hout, III Julian Rimmer* Edward A. Arens* Kristof Irwin Stefano Schiavon Richard M. Aynsley Essam E. Khalil* Lawrence J. Schoen* Robert Bean* Thomas Lesser* Peter Simmonds Atze Boerstra Baizhan Li Aaron R.
    [Show full text]
  • Human Comfort and Health Requirements
    13357_Bradshaw_3p_c01.f.qxd 3/15/06 10:19 AM Page 3 Chapter 1 Human Comfort and Health Requirements COMFORT CONDITIONS THERMAL COMFORT STANDARDS HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY THERMAL INDICES HEAT VS. TEMPERATURE THE COMFORT CHART BODY TEMPERATURE CONTROL ASHRAE’S THERMAL COMFORT STANDARD DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS HEAT BALANCE INDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY EVAPORATION RADIATION TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY EXTREMES CONVECTION-CONDUCTION HEAT STRESS COMBINED EFFECTS RESPONSE TO EXTREME COLD METABOLISM AIR QUALITY AND QUANTITY CLOTHING AIR CONTAMINANTS ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ODORS DRY-BULB TEMPERATURE VENTILATION HUMIDITY MEAN RADIANT TEMPERATURECOPYRIGHTED MATERIAL AIR MOVEMENT 3 13357_Bradshaw_3p_c01.f.qxd 3/15/06 10:19 AM Page 4 4 THERMAL CONTROL CONCEPTS Thermal and atmospheric conditions in an enclosed space need for large windows, which provided light and ventilation are usually controlled in order to ensure (1) the health and in older commercial and institutional buildings. Although comfort of the occupants or (2) the proper functioning of windows are still important for aesthetics, daylighting, and sensitive electronic equipment, such as computers, or certain natural ventilation, windowless interior spaces may now be manufacturing processes that have a limited range of tem- used to a much greater extent. Air conditioning allows for perature and humidity tolerance. The former is referred to as more compact designs with lower ceilings, fewer windows, comfort conditioning, and the latter is called process air less exterior wall areas, and less land space for a given en- conditioning. The conditions required for optimum opera- closed area. Conditioned air, which is cleaner and humidity- tion of machinery may or may not coincide with those con- controlled, contributes to reduced maintenance of the space.
    [Show full text]
  • How Is Performance in the Heat Affected by Clothing?
    Journal of Fiber Bioengineering and Informatics Review How is Performance in the Heat Affected by Clothing? Ingvar Holmér Thermal Environment Laboratory, Department of Ergonomics, Faculty of Engineering Lund University, Lund, Sweden Abstract: Adequate heat balance is critical to human performance in the heat. If heat balance cannot be maintained, the core temperature increases and body water dehydration leads to exhaustion and limit the performance. Clothing heat transfer properties, thermal insulation and water vapour resistance, modify heat exchange and may indirectly affect performance. Work in protective clothing quickly becomes exhaustive in impermeable garments, but can be easily completed with much less strain in permeable garments. Athletes, in particular in sports of endurance type, may produce more than 1000 W/m2 in an event lasting several hours. Physical examination of the heat balance of a runner reveals that a 20 % lower water vapour resistance of a covering running suit allows the runner a longer run time or a higher speed per km before critical physiological strain is reached. Keywords: performance, heat Stress, core temperature, skin temperature, water vapour resistance 1. Introduction 2. Human heat balance Physical or muscular performance is associated Heat balance is required for sustained work with overcoming various forms of external physical performance. If balance is not maintained heat loads or resistances such as for example lifting your is stored in the body and the tissue temperatures center of gravity in high jump or overcoming the increase. Increasing tissue temperatures, in particular resistance of wind or water in cycling or swimming. core temperature, is associated with increasing Most focus in exercise and sports physiology is on physiological strain and at some critical level the physiological and psychological factors that exhaustion is reached and work intensity cannot be determine performance [1].
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluation of the Efficacy of Personal Protective Equipment Against
    ORIGINAL Received: 10/22/2018 Accepted: 03/09/2019 ARTICLE Funding: none Evaluation of the efficacy of personal protective equipment against occupational exposure to cold Avaliação da eficácia dos equipamentos de proteção individual para a exposição ocupacional ao frio Simone Lorenzi Rossi1, Heléia Bortolosso1, Ricardo Silva2, Josiane Maria Muneron de Mello1, Marcelo Fabiano Costella1 ABSTRACT | Background: The temperature of climate controlled areas in the food industry varies from -35ºC to 12ºC to ensure the quality of food. However, this temperature range might be harmful to the health of workers. Objective: To analyze parameters related to occupational exposure to cold risks to calculate clothing insulation indices and establish the efficacy of personal protective equipment (PPE). Methods: In stage 1 we analyzed environmental variables (air temperature and velocity and relative humidity) and the metabolic rate; in stage 2 we calculated the resultant clothing insulation index; in stage 3 we calculated the basic clothing insula- tion required to maintain the thermal balance and investigated the efficacy of PPE.Results: While the air temperature was lower for activities developed in the freezing tunnel (secondary packaging department), required basic clothing insulation was higher for acti- vities involving operating forklifts.Conclusion: Protection was efficacious for 83.3% of the analyzed activities, however, occurrence of thermal discomfort cannot be ruled out as a function of excessive clothing. Although protection was insufficient for 16.7% of the analyzed activities, breaks for thermal recovery neutralized the risk of hypothermia. Keywords | cold temperature; heat transfer; personal protective equipment; food industry; occupational health RESUMO | Introdução: Os setores climatizados, no ramo de indústrias alimentícias, apresentam variações de temperatura de -35 a 12ºC, as quais são necessárias para garantir a qualidade dos alimentos.
    [Show full text]
  • Thermal Insulation Characteristics of Sleepwear and Robes
    THERMAL INSULATION CHARACTERISTICS Of SLEEEWEAR AND RCBES by VIRGINIA MAY NOON B. S. Framingham State College, 1981 A MASTER'S THESIS submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF SCIENCE Department of Clothing, Textiles and Interior Design KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 1984 Approved by: tf^^rjn Majoij/o?/ PrProfessor LX> *J*** ( UllEDE b7ET35 N(c l TABLE OP CONTENTS c. z. Page LIST OF TABLES >i;Li LIST OF FIGURES \ #v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v i CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Objectives 3 Definitions 4 Assumptions 4 . Limitations 4 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 6 Introduction 6 Fabric Properties 6 Clothing Properties 10 Estimating Ensemble Insulation 13 3. METHODOLOGY 15 Independent and Dependent Variables 15 Garment and Fabric Selection... 15 Laboratory Procedures 23 Measurement of Clothing Insulation 27 Measurement of Clothing Area Factor 30 Measurement of Body Surface Area Covered 31 . 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 34 Fabric Variations 34 Fabric Thickness/Insulation Relationship 36 Design Variations 38 Designs in Tricot. 38 Designs in Broadcloth. 39 Designs in Flannel .40 Designs in Velour 40 One of a Kind Items 40 Ensemble Data 41 Statistical Differences vs. Meaningful Differences 43 5 CONCLUSIONS 45 Recommendations for Further Study 46 BIBLIOGRAEHY 47 APEENDIX .51 Tables 6-32 52-78 li LIST OF TABLES TABLE Page 1. Thermal Conductivity of Fibers 7 2. Thermal Insulation Values of Blankets for Selected Gap Widths 11 3. Fabric Characteristics 24 4. Garment Characteristics for Sleepwear 25 5. Garment Characteristics for Robes 26 6. Analysis of Variance for Fabrics Constructed in a Long-sleeve/ Long Gown 52 7.
    [Show full text]
  • Cooling Load Calculations and Principles
    Cooling Load Calculations and Principles Course No: M06-004 Credit: 6 PDH A. Bhatia Continuing Education and Development, Inc. 22 Stonewall Court Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677 P: (877) 322-5800 [email protected] HVAC COOLING LOAD CALCULATIONS AND PRINCIPLES TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 OBJECTIVE..................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 2.0 TERMINOLOGY ............................................................................................................................................................................. 2 3.0 SIZING YOUR AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEM .......................................................................................................................... 4 3.1 HEATING LOAD V/S COOLING LOAD CALCULATIONS........................................................................................5 4.0 HEAT FLOW RATES...................................................................................................................................................................... 5 4.1 SPACE HEAT GAIN........................................................................................................................................................6 4.2 SPACE HEAT GAIN V/S COOLING LOAD (HEAT STORAGE EFFECT) .................................................................7 4.3 SPACE COOLING V/S COOLING LOAD (COIL)........................................................................................................8
    [Show full text]
  • The Issue of Thermal Comfort of Medical Clothing in the Operating Room Dyna, Vol
    Dyna ISSN: 0012-7353 [email protected] Universidad Nacional de Colombia Colombia Abreu, Isabel; Ribeiro, Patrícia; Abreu, Maria José The issue of thermal comfort of medical clothing in the operating room Dyna, vol. 84, núm. 200, marzo, 2017, pp. 234-239 Universidad Nacional de Colombia Medellín, Colombia Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=49650910028 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative The issue of thermal comfort of medical clothing in the operating room1 Isabel Abreu a, Patrícia Ribeiro a & Maria José Abreu a a 2C2T – Centre of Textile Science and Technology, Department of Textile Engineering of University of Minho, Guimarães, [email protected] Received: December 04rd, 2015. Received in revised form: November 04rd, 2016. Accepted: February 13th, 2017. Abstract Medical clothes have the primary function of protection. However this function must be correlated with a good comfort experience to the user. The comfort is a very important issue, since professionals are exposed to stress situations that can influence, negatively, their performance work. More specific, thermal comfort plays a crucial role for the best performance of OR medical clothing, involving heat regulation and mass transfer between a clothed body and the environment, once clothing is the interface between body and environment. The aim of this work was to study the behavior of thermal properties of surgical scrub and clean air suits A comparison was made between this two types of clothing using Alambeta equipment, for stationary thermal properties and a Thermal Manikin, to allow the analysis of dynamic thermal properties, such as heat flux and thermal insulation.
    [Show full text]
  • Effect of Clothing Ventilation on Thermal Insulation and Vapor Resistance
    Effect of clothing ventilation on thermal insulation and vapor resistance Xiaoqun Dai1 and George Havenith2 1 Soochow University, College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Suzhou, 215006, P. R. China 2 Loughborough University, Human Thermal Environments Laboratory, Department of Human Sciences, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, UK Contact person: [email protected] Abstract: In this study, ventilation of clothing microenvironment, thermal insulation and vapor resistance of two jackets made of different materials were measured locally at front, back, side and arm by using an articulated thermal manikin in a controlled climate chamber (29±1°C, 40±10%RH). The various conditions of microenvironment ventilation were created by making the manikin stand and walk, combined with three wind speeds of <0.15, 0.4 and 2.0m/s respectively. The analysis of the measurement results showed that clothing ventilation affected vapor resistance more than it did thermal insulation. The effects of ventilation also varied because of different ways of ventilation arising: penetration through the fabric was proven to be the most effective way in vapor diffusion although it does not seem helpful for heat diffusion. Keywords: clothing ventilation, heat transfer coefficient, vapor diffusion INTRODUCTION Clothing ventilation has been considered as a major pathway for heat and vapor transfer. Clothing materials, body posture, movement and wind are all influential on the ventilation of the microenvironment. Some study was carried to investigate the effect of material air permeability on ventilation (Ueda and Havenith 2002). Many efforts were made to predicting convective heat transfer coefficient from change of posture, movement and wind, based on the data in a reference condition like standing with no wind.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study on the Thermal Comfort in Sleeping Environments In
    ARTICLE IN PRESS Building and Environment 43 (2008) 905–916 www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenv A study on the thermal comfort in sleeping environments in the subtropics—Measuring the total insulation values for the bedding systems commonly used in the subtropics Zhongping Lina, Shiming Dengb,Ã aInstitute of Heating, Ventilation, Air conditioning and Gas engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shangai 200092, China bDepartment of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China Received 9 March 2006; received in revised form 28 November 2006; accepted 10 January 2007 Abstract The total thermal insulation value of a bedding system significantly affects the thermal neutral temperature for sleeping environments and is therefore an important variable in the Comfort Equation developed for sleeping environments reported in a related paper. This paper reports on the measurement of the total insulation values for a wide range of bedding systems (through different combinations of bed, bedding and its percentage coverage over a human body, and sleepwear) commonly used in the subtropical regions using a thermal manikin. The total insulation values of the measured bedding systems varied greatly from 0.90 to 4.89 clo, depending upon bedding, bed and mattress, the type of sleepwear, and percentage coverage of body surface area by bedding and bed. The use of a Chinese traditional style bed—Zongbang bed can provide less insulation than the use of the conventional mattress commonly used in Hong Kong. The use of so-called air conditioning quilt (summer quilt) cannot help lower the total insulation significantly. On the other hand, some factors such as people sweating and moisture permeability of the quilts, etc., were not considered in the current study but may be further studied in future work.
    [Show full text]