Human body micro-environment: The benefits of controlling airflow interaction

•Human body micro-environment, convective flow, heat- and mass exchange are discussed.•The airflow interaction in the vicinity of the human body is complex and important.•Control of airflow interactions can improve thermal comfort and inhaled air quality.

This paper focuses on the micro-environment around a human body, and especially on its interaction with the surrounding environment. Research on the free convection flow generated by a human body (including the convective boundary layer around the body and the thermal plume above the body), its interaction with external invading flows and the resulting heat- and mass transfer, all of which are important for thermal comfort and inhaled air quality, is discussed. The benefit arising from control of the airflow interaction in the micro-environment, in terms of thermal comfort and inhaled air quality, is demonstrated by several methods that are applicable in practice.