Hourly indoor thermal comfort and air quality acceptance with passive climate control methods

Nowadays, the effect of permeable coverings on conditioning of indoor air in real buildings, has become of special interest in the process of achieving a sustainable built environment. In these studies, the first hour of occupation is usually selected, because it is then that the strong effect of coverings is felt, due to the low ventilation rate that prevails during the unoccupied period. In this context, an hourly study enables us to understand the behaviour during working periods and the effect of coverings on indoor thermal comfort conditions, air quality acceptance and peaks of energy consumption.Results showed that permeable coverings reduce energy consumption and peak loads and this effect is controlled by air renewal. Consequently, during the summer season, indoor thermal comfort and acceptance of indoor air conditions were found to be better with permeable coverings. In winter, in offices with impermeable coverings inadequate operative conditions of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) induced a slight improvement on indoor air conditions, during the period of occupation. Further studies are required to assess the real effect of building materials and their use, and substitution of the current HVAC systems with this type of passive method. In particular, a suitable method to determine the adequacy of coverings and their active thickness needs to be developed.