ASHRAE Journal - February 2020 - 11

TECHNICAL FEATURE

The purpose of this article is to
FIGURE 1 Mechanical system and sensor layout for the gymnastics center.
demonstrate a low-cost and practical
Supply/
method for estimating ideal comfort
Return
parameters in public buildings. The
From/To
Front
Viewing
Above AHU
method could be used by building
Entrance
Area
GM
owners, operators, managers and
Gymnastics
Ofﬁ
ce
Center
researchers. Moreover, it can serve
to inform day-to-day operations,
Supply From
operating standards and policy,
Above AHU
retroﬁt analysis, code and standard compliance and generate new
scientiﬁc knowledge. This method
can also overcome some of the considerations and challenges posed
by ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2017,
Occupant Survey Device (See Image Right)
Thermal Environmental Conditions for
Temperature and Relative Humidity Sensor
Occupancy Sensor
Human Occupancy, on sample size,
Thermostat
frequency and repetition and occupant effort. This article presents: 1)
gymnastics center in eastern Ontario, Canada. The
the proposed method and its implementation in a case
building is controlled as a single zone, using one central
study, 2) the case study results and 3) a discussion of
thermostat to control two rooftop units for cooling and
the proposed method's ﬁndings, limitations and future
a hydronic radiator system for heating. The gymnastics
considerations.
center has minimal solar gains as it consists of small
Methodology
windows to admit daylight. The period was six months
The proposed method uses electronic survey devices
long, between September 2017 and February 2018. The
to allow occupants to continuously provide feedback
gymnastics center consists of highly variable occupancy
regarding their comfort. The devices use a ﬁve-point
rates 12 hours a day, seven days a week. During the
scale for occupants to report their perception of the
weekdays, there are times when only two or three staff
indoor environment (Figure 1). The devices are battery
members are present in the gymnastics area; however,
powered and rely on a router to send data to a local com- up to 40 occupants can be present on the weekends. The
puter, where the survey responses are stored. To minigymnasts are between 8 and 16 years old and typically
mize inaccurate survey responses rapid button pushes
participate in one-hour gymnastic sessions.
are automatically ﬁltered out. Sensors are distributed
Electronic Survey Devices
throughout the space of interest to simultaneously
Electronic survey devices were installed near the exit
monitor indoor environmental conditions. Occupants
door of the main gym area, as shown in Figure 1, to evalucan respond to the survey questions at any time, as
such, continuous measurements at a high resolution are ate occupant satisfaction after experiencing the indoor
required to ensure the indoor environmental conditions environment during their one-hour workout. Electronic
survey devices were provided for both male and female
are captured for each survey response.
responses to be recorded separately, allowing for an
Case Study
in-depth analysis of occupant thermal comfort in the
As a proof of concept, a case study was conducted to
gymnastics center, the results of which were presented
demonstrate the proposed method's ability to estimate
by Berquist, Ouf & O'Brien (2019). In the present work,
ideal thermal conditions for later use in building conanalysis is performed to facilitate the control of the
trol. Figure 1 shows the ﬂoor plan of the case study buildbuilding for all occupants' thermal comfort. Therefore,
ing, which consisted of a single-zone, 1580 m2 (17,000 ft2) the results for males and females are combined and
FEBRUARY 2020

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ASHRAE Journal - February 2020

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