Priyadarshani, S and Rao, RR and Mani, M and Maskell, D (2022) Investigating the Role of Humidity on Indoor Wellness in Vernacular and Conventional Building Typologies. In: 5th IBPSA-Italy Conference on Building Simulation Applications, BSA 2022, 29 June 2022 through 1 July 2022, pp. 207-215.
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Abstract
Moisture in air is essential for human life. It drives all physiological processes and determines occupant wellness. As a crucial parameter of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), it is regulated by building typology and its constituent materials. Besides affecting heating and cooling energy requirements, indoor moisture also determines occupants' comfort and health. Occupant comfort, commonly referred to as thermal comfort, is paramount for building and indoor environment design. Currently available building simulation tools majorly incorporate temperature-related comfort models like PMV, PPD, and adaptive thermal models. In conjunction with temperature, indoor moisture levels impact occupants' skin-related and respiratory comfort, resulting in health issues such as skin irritation, allergies, respiratory infections, asthma, etc. Humidity has not been adequately dealt with in comfort studies. This study proposes a novel computational approach derived from an existing model to explain and assess humidity-related comfort in buildings. The study also involves real-time monitoring of indoor-outdoor temperature and humidity and occupant comfort-votes. The hygroscopic properties of building materials impact the regulation of indoor moisture, thereby impacting occupant comfort and health. This article examines humidity-related comfort aspects between conventional and vernacular building typologies. Results from the simulation have been used to explain the comfort votes obtained from an on-field survey of occupants. Skin temperature and wettedness derived through energy balance between the human skin and the indoor air parameters can be used as an indicator to assess skin-related comfort in indoor environments. Comfort is an essential indicator of wellness in an indoor environment. Clarity on approaches to evaluate different aspects of comfort attributed to building materials is crucial for built environment design for occupant wellness. Incorporating humidity-associated comfort parameters in building simulation tools could be beneficial in selecting materials for building design to cater to varying functionalities and health co-morbidities. © 2022 Free University of Bozen Bolzano. All rights reserved.
| Item Type: | Conference Proceedings |
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| Publication: | Building Simulation Applications |
| Publisher: | Free University of Bozen Bolzano |
| Additional Information: | The copyright for this article belongs to Author. |
| Keywords: | Architectural design; Building materials; Moisture; Structural design; Thermal comfort, moisture; Building simulation; Building typologies; Buildings materials; Human lives; In-buildings; Indoor environment; Indoor moisture; Occupant comforts; Occupant healths, Diseases |
| Department/Centre: | Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Sustainable Technologies (formerly ASTRA) |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Mar 2024 09:58 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Mar 2024 09:58 |
| URI: | https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/84409 |
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