Fernando del Ama Gonzalo¹, Belén Moreno Santamaría² and Juan A. Hernández Ramos^3
1Department of Sustainable Product Design and Architecture, Keene State College, New Hampshire, USA, NH, USA
²Department of Construction and Architectural Technology, Technical School of Architecture of Madrid, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Madrid, Spain
³Department of Applied Mathematics, School of Aeronautical and Space Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Pza. Cardenal Cisneros, Madrid, Spain

Part of the book: Sustainable and Healthy Building Environments

Abstract

The Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT) is the total sum of the walls, floor, and ceiling temperatures, taking into account the solid angle formed by each of them from the measurement point. MRT also influences comfort indicators, such as physiological equivalent temperature (PET) or predicted mean vote (PMV). What we experience and feel concerning thermal comfort in a building is related to the air temperature and the temperature of the surfaces in that space. Office buildings are one of the most energy-demanding typologies since the cooling requirements are much higher than those required in residential buildings. Glazed enclosures favor natural lighting but cause high thermal loads due to solar radiation. Usually, office buildings’ cooling systems comprise air-to-air heat pumps and indoor split units. However, radiant systems such as chilled ceilings and walls are considered more effective in increasing the comfort of the occupants. This chapter discusses the influence of the Mean Radiant Temperature to achieve a comfortable environment in office buildings exposed to solar radiation and how it improves the predicted mean vote of users. In addition, the chapter proposes an analytical method to calculate energy savings and measure the influence of different radiant indoor surfaces, such as Water Flow Glazing facades or partitions and chilled ceilings.

Keywords: mean radiant temperature, Water Flow Glazing, healthy office buildings, glazed facades, sustainable architecture

References

ASHRAE-55. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2017: Thermal Environmental Conditions for
Human Occupancy; ASHRAE: Atlanta, GA, USA, 2017.
Bae, W.-B.; Mun, S.-H.; Huh, J.-H. 2016. Real-Time Occupant Based Plug-in Device
Control Using ICT in Office Buildings. Energies 9:143,
https://doi.org/10.3390/en9030143.
Causone, F., Corgnati, S. P., Filippi, M., Olesen, B.W. 2009. “Experimental evaluation of
heat transfer coefficients between radiant ceiling and room.” Energy and Buildings,
41:622-628.
Chakroun, W.; Ghaddar, N.; Ghali, K. 2011. “Chilled Ceiling and Displacement Ventilation
Aided with Personalized Evaporative Cooler.” Energy Build., 43:3250–3257.
Dudzińska, A.; Kisilewicz, T. 2021. “Alternative Ways of Cooling a Passive School
Building in Order to Maintain Thermal Comfort in Summer.” Energies, 14:70.
https://doi.org/10.3390/en14010070.
EN 673, Glass in Building. Determination of Thermal Transmittance (U Value).
Calculation Method; British Standards Institution, London, 2011.
European Union (2018). Directive (EU) 2018/844 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 30 May 2018. Amending Directive 2010/31/EU on the Energy
Performance of Buildings and Directive 2012/27/EU on Energy Efficiency.
https://eur lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018L0844&from=EN.
(accessed on 24 November 2020).
Fanger, P. O. Thermal Comfort, Analysis and Application in Environmental Engineering;
Danish Technical Press: Copenhagen, Denmark, 1970.
Gutai, M., Kheybari, A. G. 2020. Energy consumption of water-filled glass (WFG) hybrid
building envelope, Energy and Buildings, 218:110050,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110050.
Hodder, S. G.; Loveday, D. L.; Parsons, K. C.; Taki, A. H. 1998. “Thermal comfort in
chilled ceiling and displacement ventilation environments: vertical radiant
temperature asymmetry effects”. Energy and Buildings. 27:167-173.
ISO 7730:2005. Ergonomics of the Thermal Environment-Analytical Determination and
Interpretation of Thermal Comfort Using Calculation of the PMV and PPD Indices
and Local Thermal Comfort Criteria. (Reviewed and Confirmed in 2015);
International Organization for Standardization (ISO): Geneva, Switzerland.
Karadag, R. 2009. “New approach relevant to total heat transfer coefficient including the
effect of radiation and convection at the ceiling in a cooled ceiling room”. Applied
Thermal Engineering. 29:1561-1565.
Kitagawa, K., Komada, N., Hayano, H., Tanabe, S. 1999. “Effect of humidity and small air
movement on thermal comfort under a radiant cooling ceiling”. Energy and Buildings.
30:185-193.
Lipczynska, A.; Kaczmarczyk, J.; Melikov, A. 2021. “The Energy-Saving Potential of
Chilled Ceilings Combined with Personalized Ventilation.” Energies, 14:1133.
https://doi.org/10.3390/en14041133.
Loveday, D. L.; Parsons, K. C.; Taki, A. H., Hodder, S. G. 2002. “Displacement ventilation
environments with chilled ceilings: Thermal comfort design within the context of the
BS EN ISO7730 versus adaptive debate”. Energy and Buildings. 34:573-579.
Masoso, O. T., Grobler, L.J. 2010. The dark side of occupants’ behaviour on building
energy use. Energy and Buildings, 42:173–177.
Moreno Santamaria, B.; Ama Gonzalo, F. d.; Aguirregabiria, B. L.; Hernandez Ramos, J.
A. 2020. “Evaluation of Thermal Comfort and Energy Consumption of Water Flow
Glazing as a Radiant Heating and Cooling System: A Case Study of an Office Space.”
Sustainability, 12:7596. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187596.
Pezzutto, S., Fazeli, R., De Felice, M., Sparber, W. 2016. Future development of the air conditioning market in Europe: an outlook until 2020, Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Energy
Environ. 5:649–669, https://doi.org/10.1002/wene.210.
Priarone, A.; Silenzi, F.; Fossa, M. (2020). Modelling Heat Pumps with Variable EER and
COP in EnergyPlus: A Case Study Applied to Ground Source and Heat Recovery Heat
Pump Systems. Energies, 13:794.
Rees. S. J.; McGuirk, J. J.; Haves, P. 2001. “Numerical investigation of transient buoyant
flow in a room with a displacement ventilation and chilled ceiling system”.
International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. 44:3067-3080.
Schiavon, S.; Melikov, A. 2009. “Energy-Saving Strategies with Personalized Ventilation
in Cold Climates.” Energy Build., 41:543–550.
Sekhar, S.; Gong, N.; Tham, K.; Cheong, K.; Melikov, A.;Wyon, D.; Fanger, P. 2005.
“Findings of Personalized Ventilation Studies in a Hot and Humid Climate.” HVACR
Res. 11:603–620.
Shin, M.-S.; Choi, J.-S.; Rhee, K.-N. 2021. “Cooling Capacity and Energy Performance of
Open-Type Ceiling Radiant Cooling Panel System with Air Circulators Energies,
14:5. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14010005.
Sierra, P., Hernandez J. A. 2017. Solar heat gain coefficient of water flow glazing. Energy
and Buildings, 139:133-145.
Spanish Regulation of Thermal Installations in Buildings RITE (2016). CO2 Emission
Factors and Coefficients of Transfer to Primary Energy of Different Final Energy
Sources Consumed in the Building Sector in Spain. Institute for Energy Diversification
and Saving (IDAE), Madrid.]
Strand, R. K.; Pedersen, C. O. 2002. “Modeling radiant systems in an integrated heat
balance based energy simulation program”. Ashrae Transactions. 108: 2.
http://www.p2pays.org/ref/36/35807.pdf. Accessed January 2, 2021.
Talami, R.; Jakubiec, J. A. 2020. “Early-Design Sensitivity of Radiant Cooled Office
Buildings in the Tropics for Building Performance.” Energy Build., 223:110177.
Walikewitz, N. Jnicke, B. Langner, M. Meier, F., Endlicher, W. 2015. The difference
between the mean radiant temperature and the air temperature within indoor
environments: A case study during summer conditions, Building and Environment,
84:151-161, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2014.11.004.