ASHRAE Journal - February 2020 - 69

COLUMN IEQ APPLICATIONS

FIGURE 1 SinBerBEST technology on workstation desk.
1

3
4
5
6
7

Elevated Air Movement
High-Performance PoE (Power Over Ethernet) Based
Dimmable Ceiling Luminaire
Personal Desk Fan
Desktop Sensor
User Personal Space Setting (UPSS) Integrated Software
Dimmable Task Lamp
Monitored Plug Load (Inset)

FIGURE 2 Closed-loop control over PoE lighting and
roller blinds utilizing desktop sensor maximizing
daylight while providing individual task lighting.

5
7
3

6
Data is Harvested, Processed
And Displayed Through UPSS.

and hot desks (Figure 1). Each work desk is equipped
with an environmental sensor that senses temperature,
relative humidity, CO2 concentration and lux levels
(Figure 2). The building technologies used in this space
include 1) elevated air movement and increased temperature setpoint air-conditioning system; 2) demand control ventilation (DCV); 3) occupancy positioning system
(OPS); 4) user-personalized space setting (UPSS) software; 5) plug load monitoring and control; and 5) Power
over Ethernet (PoE) lighting. More than 1,000 sensors
and monitoring devices have been installed to provide
real-time data on occupancy and occupant activities as
well as system performance. The data is fed into a smart
building management system that adjusts air conditioning, air movement, lighting and power controls to
optimize energy usage while providing a comfortable
environment for its occupants. All computational programming and algorithms were custom-made.

Elevated Air Movement and Increased Temperature
Setpoint Air-Conditioning System
Reducing air conditioning (AC) reliance is becoming
increasingly important due to the growing population
in tropical countries. Many commercial buildings in
the tropical climates are overcooled, causing energy
waste and occupant dissatisfaction. This problem can
be addressed in part by increasing the indoor air temperature, and simultaneously increasing the air movement with fans as needed. This approach can enhance
the thermal satisfaction of the occupants as they prefer

air movement to still air and have direct control of the
environment. Also, this option can provide substantial
energy savings. Our energy analysis for tropical buildings has shown that up to 45% in mechanical energy
savings can be achieved by increasing the cooling temperature setpoint.
Through laboratory and ﬁeld testing, we found that
changing the setpoint from 23°C to 26°C [73°F to 79°F]
with ceiling fans increased satisfaction from 60% to 90%
(Schiavon et al., 2017; Lipczynska et al., 2018). Also, the
best cognitive performance (as indicated by task speed)
was obtained at 26°C [73°F] (Schiavon et al., 2017). In
this smart building, 27 ceiling fans have been installed
while the air temperature is set at a minimum of 26°C
[73°F]. Additionally, each work desk has a desk fan for
personalized comfort to achieve higher satisfaction rates
(Figures 1 and 2). Most importantly, a smart control based
on occupant feedback tells the system whether it is preferred to increase or decrease air movement or temperature using the UPSS (Figure 3).

Demand Control Ventilation (DCV)
At the core, the smart ventilation system automatically adjusts the space ventilation requirements
according to the occupancy level of the ofﬁce, saving up
to 20% of AC energy. Using CO2 sensors in the indoor
environment, the control algorithm modulates the
volume of outdoor airﬂow into the entire ofﬁce via
the air-conditioning mechanical ventilation equipment (Chao et al., 2004). The new innovation in this
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