Real-time measurement of thermal comfort by using an open networking technology

In this paper, a new measurement system was proposed to conduct real-time measurement of predicted mean vote (PMV). PMV is a well-recognized thermal comfort index for human beings but it is a complicated mathematical function. Thus, such measurement work has been regarded as difficult so far. By employing an open networking technology, the problems present in this work were solved. Inside the system, smart sensors were employed to handle individual own tasks including measurement and data manipulation. They transferred data over a network in which open communication protocols were adopted. The data transfer greatly facilitated one of the sensors to derive the PMV values. Six smart sensors were developed with open networking capabilities. They were employed to demonstrate that an open networking technology enabled the system to successfully handle real-time PMV measurement. Also, six favorite attributes were obtained for the system, namely low cost, small dimension, ease of installation, easy and low-cost operation, ease of retrofit in existing spaces and independence of particular manufacturers. Therefore, it was found that such technology was an essential element inside the system to handle a complicated measurement work.