initial research and hypotheses

While looking at the Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center, we became curious about the thermal comfort of occupants on the second floor, which was a rehabilitated space originally built over one hundred years ago, compared to the thermal comfort of occupants on the third floor, which was a new level completed in 2001. Some of the questions we wanted to investigate were:

1. What are the thermal conditions on the second and third floors?

2. On which floor are people more comfortable?

3. What are the differences in the HVAC system on these floors, and are they performing differently?

4. Are there other issues that might cause the second and third floors to have differing thermal conditions?

We chose to start our investigation by attempting to answer question #2 (On which floor are people more comfortable?) by casually but systematically surveying the occupants about how they typically feel thermally in their respective offices. A two step process, we showed each person a chart, from which they indicated to us their thermal comfort level.
THERMAL COMFORT SCALE
At the same time we recorded evidence of occupant 'adaptive behavior' to thermal conditions on prepared form.
STEP 2: These forms also provided space for recording Vaisala readings of ambient air temperature and relative humidity. Readings were taken at three different different heights to determine if asymmetric thermal radiation existed. CLICK on images above for enlargements. Image below illustrates recording Vaisala readings.
From the Thermal Comfort Scale (How Do You Feel Chart), we discovered that occupants were less comfortable in the CFPC Office on the third floor than in the Ecotrust Office on the second floor. Despite the occupant response, all Vaisala temperature recordings fell into the ASHRAE winter comfort zone of 68 to 76 degrees (see graph below). However, the readings in the CFPC Office had a larger range between minimum and maximum temperatures, which may be the cause of these feelings of discomfort to the occupants of the third floor. This led us to wonder if the difference in temperature ranges between floors may be a consequence of differently performing HVAC systems, leading to the hypothesis:

The northeast corner of the 2nd floor HVAC must heat more often and at higher temperatures than the northeast corner of the 3rd floor to maintain the ASHRAE thermal comfort zone.

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DATA & ANALYSIS CONCLUSION REFERENCES