“Natural paints”, that are mainly made from vegetable oils are considered to be less hazardous to health than organic paints. They do not have a clear definition or classification by constituents. This study aims to determine the effects of “natural paints” application with different compositions to wood on the indoor air quality. Natural paints containing organic components had worse perceived air quality than the natural paints owing to the pungent odor of aldehydes and alcohol. In the natural paints, high release of terpenes derived from vegetable oils had a masking effect on aldehydes.

Abstract

This is an account that should be heard of an important struggle: the struggle of a large group of experts who came together at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to warn the world about the risk of airborne transmission and the consequences of ignoring it. We alerted the World Health Organization about the potential significance of the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the urgent need to control it, but our concerns were dismissed. Here we describe how this happened and the consequences. We hope that by reporting this story we can raise awareness of the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and the need to be open to new evidence, and to prevent it from happening again. Acknowledgement of an issue, and the emergence of new evidence related to it, is the first necessary step towards finding effective mitigation solutions.

The importance of effective ventilation as one of the measures against COVID-19 is widely recognized worldwide. In Japan, at the early stage of the pandemic, in March 2020, an official announcement was made about basic ventilation measures against COVID-19. WHO also used the term “long-range aerosol or long-range airborne transmission” for the first time in December 2021. Based on the aerosol infection control measures before 2021 by the Japanese government, we conducted experiments on methods related to partition placement as an element of effective ventilation methods. In July 2022, the governmental subcommittee on Novel Coronavirus Disease Control provided an emergent proposal about effective ventilation methods to prevent two types of aerosol infection; infection by large aerosol on the air current and infection by small floating aerosol diffusion in a room. They also showed the way of setting droplet prevention partitions, which do not block off ventilation based on this investigation’s results.

Abstract

The introduction of semi‐outdoor spaces to urban spaces and offices has increased in recent years. In previous studies, environmental grade has been defined as the level of control for the thermal environment set for an architectural space based on the use, where “semi‐outdoor environment” is an environmental grade division that exists as a gradation between indoors and outdoors. This study aims to clarify effects of various environmental grades on thermal comfort. Field surveys were conducted in five semi‐outdoor spaces in Tokyo from 9 to 25 September 2021, consisting of thermal environment measurement, questionnaires about thermal comfort and impression of surveyed spaces and real‐time sensation voting. By impression evaluation and comparison of the regression curves of standard new effective temperature (SET*) against percentage of “uncomfortably warm,” the surveyed spaces were classified into two categories: “outdoor tendency” and “indoor tendency.” The difference in thermal comfort for the diverse semi‐outdoor environment could be evaluated by the difference in spatial characteristics such as “sense of weight” of the top surface in addition to the difference in environment control. By regression analysis of real‐time sensation voting result using hierarchical Bayesian approach, environmental grade was clarified to affect the correlation between pleasantness/unpleasantness and air velocity.

Abstract

Activity‐based working (ABW) is attracting attention as a new style of working to improve workplace productivity in Japan. The purpose of this study is to clarify the changes in the working style of office workers by implementation of ABW. In this paper, a questionnaire survey was conducted in a research facility; once before the ABW renovation and twice after the renovation. We found that accustoming to the ABW leads to changes in the style of working, such as the choice of seats, and that being able to work where you want to work leads to increased workplace productivity.

When alcohol is applied to wooden surfaces, the amount and composition of released substances and secondary products influence the perceived air environment. This study aimed to determine the effects of applying alcohol to indoor wood surfaces on volatile organic compounds emissions and perceived air quality. The perceived air quality in the room deteriorated and the odor rating decreased when cleaning work was performed indoors with 130 mL/m² of alcohol applied to unpainted wood interior and furniture surfaces. Furthermore, the airborne concentration of acetaldehyde was detected more than the indoor guideline values.

This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of a 48-h independent power outage system, evaluate the indoor thermal environment under power outage conditions, and improve residential awareness of disasters through a power outage experience. A power outage experiment was conducted in a collective residence with a 48-h independent power system. The available power for each dwelling unit was limited based on the type of heat source, at 700 and 1200 W for cogeneration (CG) and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) heating, respectively. The power supply was halted when the available power limit was exceeded. During the experiment, the thermal environment, temperature, humidity, amount of power generated by the CG and SOFC, and load power of the dwelling units were analyzed. We also conducted a questionnaire survey to evaluate the indoor environment and infrastructure. The results showed that home appliances could be used because all dwelling units were supplied with sufficient power, at 700 and 1200 W. The most important appliances were electric fans, refrigerators, lighting, mobile phones, and computer chargers. Therefore, the experiment demonstrated that a comfortable evacuation living condition can be realized by using CG and SOFC during a power outage in the summer.

In this study, we conducted subject experiments to determine an effective biophilic design for urban offices to improve the health and comfort of workers. This experiment showed that indoor environment satisfaction, the impression of a workspace, ease of work, and self-estimated productivity were improved when subjects could see greenery through the window with a balanced amount of sunlight through the green. Additionally, cognitive function in subjects was restored during the break period of the short-term memory test, resulting in higher test scores.

Activity-based Working (ABW) is attracting attention as a new style of working to improve workplace productivity in Japan. The purpose of this study is to clarify the changes in the working style of office workers by implementation of ABW. In this paper, a questionnaire survey was conducted in a research facility; once before the ABW renovation and twice after the renovation. We found that accustoming to the ABW leads to changes in the style of working, such as the choice of seats, and that being able to work where you want to work leads to increased workplace productivity.

To improve indoor air quality, it’s necessary to accurately control the body odor emitted by humans living under various environmental conditions and lifestyles. The purpose of this study was to obtain a better understanding of the effects of changes in physical quantities due to insufficient sleep on the emission of human bioeffluents causing body odor and the perceived air quality. The experiment involved two conditions of sleep time. Different biogenic substance concentrations and sensory evaluations of the odor in the chamber were obtained when the occupants' sleep times was different, even for the same CO₂ concentration in the room.

As a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, telecommuting has been recommended by many companies since March 2020 in Japan. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, the telecommuting implementation rate, including working from home, may continue to increase.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the impact of working from home on the individual satisfaction and productivity of workers in companies that introduced the telecommuting system from April 2020 as a countermeasure against COVID-19.

Questionnaire surveys of workers who normally work at an activity-based working office were conducted in order to compare the effects of working from home and at the office. The survey targets were workers of a research and development institute located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Approximately 210 employees work in the facility, of which 85% are researchers and 15% are in clerical positions. In this study, the results of three questionnaire surveys are described. We conducted a survey of “conventional office work period” in February 2020, a survey of “recommended work from home period” in April 2020, and a survey of “combined work from home and at the office period” in July 2020 where workers could choose to go to work or work from home.

From the survey results, it was found that the working environment at home had large individual differences, and the illuminance and CO₂ concentration levels often deviated from the standards of the “Ordinance on Health Standards in the Office”. Despite the environment with large differences, the satisfaction level of the thermal environment, air quality and sound was significantly higher at home. It was also found that when working from home, self-efficacy regarding control of the indoor environment increases. This is considered to be one of the reasons for the increase in satisfaction of environmental qualities at home.

As an advantage of working from home, most office workers chose “reduction of coronavirus infection risk”. Next, more than half of the respondents chose “having no commuting stress” and “having a reduced dress code” as advantages. On the other hand, “lack of face-to-face communication” became the highest disadvantage of working from home. The degree of satisfaction with interpersonal communication was significantly lower at home than at work. In particular, the decrease in the satisfaction of informal communication was large.

Compared to the period when workers could only work at the office or at home, the period with relative freedom to choose between both options showed a great increase in the satisfaction with the work environment and a decrease in the difficulty of performing office activities.

In addition, a high correlation was found between the frequency of working from home and commuting time. Workers with longer commuting hours tended to work at home more frequently. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the higher the frequency of working from home, the higher the degree of satisfaction with the working environment at home.

The most common response to the ideal rate of working from home was two times a week, but the actual rate was only 25% in the survey conducted in July. It is presumed that there were many situations in which employees chose to come to the office in order to proceed with their work duties more efficiently.

Ornamental plants are frequently used in office workplaces to improve the well-being and productivity of employees. Additionally, the WELL Building Standard includes definitions for precondition and optimization features related to biophilia. Hence, there is a growing interest in biophilic design and indoor greenery. However, the growth of indoor plants may become stunted due to unfavorable lighting conditions. Therefore, a method for evaluating the light environments required for indoor plants to thrive is needed.

 The purpose of this study is to apply a spectral irradiance simulation to develop a method for evaluating the appropriate light environment for indoor plants based on plant physiology. We used field measurements to verify the accuracy of the spectral irradiance simulations, which were performed by Adaptive Lightning for Alertness (ALFA), a circadian lighting design software. After verification, we calculated the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), which is strongly correlated to photosynthesis, from the measured and predicted values of spectral irradiance. Based on knowledge of the relationship between PPFD and the light saturation and light compensation points of plants, we evaluated the suitability of the light environment in the building for plant growth.

 The measurements were performed on a sunny day (October 5, 2019). The spectral irradiance was measured in the horizontal and vertical planes at desk and overhead heights (FL+800, 2000 mm) in a university classroom. In the simulation, measurement-based lighting distribution characteristics, spectral distribution, as well as the reflectance of each material were provided as input, and the spectral irradiance was calculated in a 3D model of the classroom. The accuracy of the simulation was verified by comparing the predicted and measured spectral irradiances both inside and outside the classroom.

 The results demonstrate that the ALFA sky model produced errors when predicting the spectral irradiance in wavelength ranges that simulate the Fraunhofer line of sunlight (380–400 nm) and the absorption bands of H₂O and O₂ molecules in the atmosphere (approximately 680, 730 and 750 nm). In the 405–710 nm wavelength range, the measured and calculated spectral irradiance were almost the same. At indoor measurement points where the influence of direct solar radiation and light luminaire were significant, the spectral irradiance was predicted with a high degree of accuracy. Errors in this study were mainly caused by errors in the spectral transmittance of the glass models, as well as input errors in the spectral reflectance of the ground surface and the surrounding buildings.

 By calculating the PPFD from the measured and simulated spectral irradiance values, it was possible to evaluate the light environment, in an indoor space based on knowledge of plant physiology such as light saturation and light compensation points of plants. This method can be applied to the planning of supplementary lighting for plants and the planning of indoor plant placement that makes effective use of daylight.

This field survey was conducted during the summer in actual bedrooms, and used polysomnography to evaluate how the thermal environment affected sleep quality. Sleep quality was evaluated by analyzing electroencephalogram, electro-oculogram, and electromyogram signals, which were measured continuously during sleep. It was found that the effect of the thermal environment i.e., air temperature, velocity and turbulence, on sleep quality varied according to the sleep cycle and stages. In relation, the effect of air turbulence depends mainly on the air temperature. Air turbulence affected sleep when temperatures were low or neutral. Under warm temperatures, air turbulence had few effect on sleep.

Information on air-conditioning and ventilation has been continuously disseminated in response to the Japanese Government's announcement of the need for appropriate ventilation measures against the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and the issuing of an emergency presidential discourse by the presidents of Engineering Societies. In this paper, we add to the information the latest knowledge on the behavior of SARS-CoV-2 in air, describe its diffusion characteristics in the built environment, and summarize the effects of temperature and humidity on the virus. Then we recommend varying approaches of air-conditioning control for facility type.

© 2020 Architectural Institute of Japan. All rights reserved. Since the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held during the hot summer, promotion of outdoor heat is an urgent issue as one of environmental measures. “Cool Tree” as a cool spot to create a beautiful shade of lumber with laminated wood, operating with zero energy using only solar energy, with the concept of “design like Japan”, “complete off-grid system” and “ultimate recycling ecology” was developed, and field measurements were carried out.

© 2020 Architectural Institute of Japan. All rights reserved. This study proposes operational strategies for combinations of equipment, including an electric vehicle (EV), in a house using self-consumption. The aim of this is to attain both comfort and efficient energy management under several household and regional conditions, focusing on the frequency of the EV's use as well as the residents' schedules. As operational strategies for self-consumption of surplus power, storage battery (BT) charging, EV charging and daytime operation of heat pump water heater (EC) were assumed. Moreover, the amount of self-consumption, CO2 emissions, and the cost-effectiveness of different equipment combinations were calculated and compared.

© Copyright © 2020 Nakano and Tanabe. In this work, thermal adaptation characteristics and thermal comfort zones were investigated in urban semi-outdoor environments in Tokyo. Four spaces with different levels of environmental control, i.e., heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) spaces and non-HVAC spaces, were selected for the seasonal field surveys lasting over a period of 80 days. The survey consisted of the thermal environment measurement, questionnaire survey, and observation of occupancy conditions. The occupants were adapting themselves to fit within a certain range of standard effective temperature (SET∗). Clothing adjustment was the principal form of behavioral adaptation. The dominant factor affecting the clothing adjustment was the daily mean outdoor temperature, and not the immediate environment, in both the non-HVAC and the HVAC spaces. The total number of occupants and the mean occupancy period of the day had a strong linear relationship with the daily mean air temperature of the occupied zone in the non-HVAC spaces. No correlation was found between the thermal environment and the occupancy conditions in the HVAC spaces. Adaptive thermal comfort zones, not comfort temperatures, were derived directly from the subjective votes. The comfort zone in SET∗ was found to be 23–28°C for the predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD), 18–29°C for HVAC spaces, and 14–32°C for non-HVAC spaces. Occupants in semi-outdoor environments were tolerant to their thermal environment two to three times wider in range than the one predicted by the PPD. These findings are expected to be useful in the design and assessment of urban semi-outdoor environments.

© 2020 Architectural Institute of Japan. All rights reserved. Renewable energy is the focus of the 5th Strategic Energy Plan in Japan. Electric load management systems such as Demand Response (DR) are necessary to increase renewable energy usage. The focus of this study is pre-cooling operations in the daytime, during summer, to reduce electric load during DR. The aim of this study is to evaluate (1) the effectiveness of electric demand shift by "Pre-cooling", and (2) the effect on comfort and health of the residents who switch to "Pre-cooling".

To accurately simulate human physiology and thermal comfort, certain human physiological and comfort models categorize the human body into multiple parts. Most of these body parts are normally clothed, which must be quantified in the simulation. However, existing databases of clothing evaporative resistance only characterize the evaporative resistance of the whole body and not those of individual body parts. This implies that each body part has the same level of clothing evaporative resistance. In this research, we measure the local clothing insulation and evaporative resistance. Here, we present the local thermal characteristic values as well as the values for the whole body.

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd The headspace method is used frequently for measuring the emissions rates of chemical compounds from building materials when operating labeling systems for these materials. A numerical investigation of transient formaldehyde concentration distribution in confined small glass desiccators was conducted in this study. To clarify the impact of the desiccator geometry on the formaldehyde emission and diffusion characteristics, three-dimensional (3D) laser-based measurement was first conducted to define the detailed inner geometries of the different commercial desiccators. A petri dish containing water was used as the sorbent for test specimens of formaldehyde emission sources produced inside the desiccators. Fundamental experiments concerning formaldehyde emission rates and sorption onto the sorbent were next performed using high- and low-emission types of building materials in the desiccators. Transient and steady numerical analyses were conducted for formaldehyde emissions from the building materials, molecular diffusion, and sorption onto the water sorbent. Transient analysis of the formaldehyde diffusion field over 24 h revealed that the total amount of dissolution of formaldehyde in the water was not significantly affected by the desiccator geometry in the building material of the inner diffusion control type. For evaporative/external diffusion emission-type, however, the formaldehyde emission rate was strongly affected by the desiccator shape. To obtain reproducible emission rate measurements in desiccators with different geometrical shapes, substantial adjustment is needed for the relative positions of the emission source and the sorbent in terms of the equivalent diffusion length, Ld.

The understanding of a relationship between office design and intellectual productivity is becoming increasingly important due to the introduction of new styles of working, such as activity-based working (ABW). The satisfaction of subjects, such as office workers, was examined in both an ABW office and a conventional office. Based on questionnaire results, changes were made to the ABW office layout to resolve dissatisfaction. As a result, compared to a conventional office, we found that not only the introduction of various furniture and free seats, but also devising to change space planning according to anticipated actions led to an improvement satisfaction.

© 2019 In Japan, low thermal insulation performance in existing houses is a considerable issue that may lead to health problems. Therefore, it is necessary to acquire technologies and knowledge regarding thermal insulation renovation. On the other hand, with the spread of photovoltaic panels, urban scale energy management and self-consumption have become important. The purpose of this study is to introduce a net-zero energy house which was designed, built, and analyzed by the team of Waseda University and Shibaura Institute of Technology in the ENEMANE HOUSE 2017 competition. The team proposed a renovation method which insert highly insulated walls into the existing structure, creating not only highly insulated areas but also non-insulated areas called “loggias.” By opening and closing the windows of the loggia according to the season, it functions as a passive system and enables residents’ behavioural adaptation to the environment. On the other hand, to aim for self-consumption and leveling of reverse power flow, a heat pump water heater and a storage battery were operated according to solar radiation prediction. Actual measurements confirmed the implementation and effect of this operational method. Moreover, the energy consumption was greatly reduced, while thermal comfort was maintained by thermal insulation and efficient equipment introduction.

Heat transfer coefficients are often used to describe the thermal behavior of radiant systems in buildings and how they transfer heat between their cooled/heated surfaces and the room. In addition to current standards, several studies have been conducted to determine such heat transfer coefficients by means of experiments and simulations. Inconsistency is evident in the values and expressions derived for this purpose. The present study investigated possible sources of discrepancy in an extensive literature review of articles, standards and guidelines that focus on the heat transfer coefficients of cooled/heated surfaces. Measurement data provided by different authors were analyzed to compare both the amount of heat transfer and the estimated heat transfer coefficients. These estimated values and expressions were used to predict the measured data reported in other articles, to examine their accuracy. Larger deviations and prediction errors were found in the total and convective heat transfer values than in radiant heat transfer, which had a range of errors within +/- 20% throughout the literature. The major sources of error were shown to be the calculation procedure for each heat transfer mechanism, the choice of reference temperature and its measurement height and position, and room dimensions. It is suggested that heat transfer coefficients should be chosen by matching the calculation/measurement conditions in which they were obtained to the purpose and conditions in which they will be applied.

This paper describes an example application of Thermo Active Building System (TABS) in a publishing company headquarters building located in the urban area of Tokyo, Japan. The successful integration of architectural, structural and building services design made it possible for this technology to be implemented. Since a part of the structure is utilized as a radiant surface instead of mounting ceiling panels, the floor height was greatly reduced. Some of the most important features of the novel TABS implemented in this building, are the alternately arranged nomal and reversed beams, which form a concave-convex salb structure. The bottom surface of the concave slab and beam structure works as a radiant surface for the lower floor, while the hollow space works as a passage for supply air for the upper floor. On the other hand, the hollow space in the convex structure works as a passage for return air and smoke exhaust from the lower floor.This means that all the space formed by slabs and beams are utilized for the building services. In addition, the building structure is effectively utilized as a radiant surface with a large heat storage capacity redacting electricuty demands during the peak period Furthermore, indoor temperature variation could be made smaller. In addition to the essential points of TABS, this paper reports the results of a mock-up experiment of the radiant cooling and heating system during the construction phase, and the results of the heat balance in a room. Moreover, it reports the results of a questionnaire distributed to occupants to investigate the indoor environment after the commencement of operation.

<p>Saving energy in the residential is required under the influence of global warming and electricity shortage caused by natural disaster in Japan. For the purpose of promoting zero energy house, "ENEMANE HOUSE 2017", a competition of Zero-Energy House was held. This paper shows the overview of the building and equipment planning, and also the evaluation of thermal environment and energy in the zero energy house which the consortium of Waseda University and Shibaura Institute of Technology proposed in the competition. This zero energy house demonstrates a method of renovation of housing using low-insulated outer wall of an existing industrialized house. The aim of the facility planning was not only the compatibility of energy-saving and comfort but also the increase in self-consumption of surplus power. </p>

Recognizing the value of open-source research databases in advancing the art and science of HVAC, in 2014 the ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II project was launched under the leadership of University of California at Berkeley's Center for the Built Environment and The University of Sydney's Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Laboratory. The exercise began with a systematic collection and harmonization of raw data from the last two decades of thermal comfort field studies around the world. The ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II (Comfort Database), now an online, open-source database, includes approximately 81,846 complete sets of objective indoor climatic observations with accompanying "right-here-right-now" subjective evaluations by the building occupants who were exposed to them. The database is intended to support diverse inquiries about thermal comfort in field settings. A simple web-based interface to the database enables filtering on multiple criteria, including building typology, occupancy type, subjects' demographic variables, subjective thermal comfort states, indoor thermal environmental criteria, calculated comfort indices, environmental control criteria and outdoor meteorological information. Furthermore, a web-based interactive thermal comfort visualization tool has been developed that allows end-users to quickly and interactively explore the data.

&nbsp;Since a number of residential houses in Japan have built before 1980, they have very poor thermal insulation. With poor thermal insulation specification, the indoor thermal environment in winter could be so uncomfortable. The low temperature in houses could cause occupants' common cold, higher blood pressure, heat shock, and many other diseases.<br>&nbsp;Chapter 1 comprised previous studies, including ones about CASBEE Housing Health Checklist, and introduced the purpose of this research.<br>&nbsp;CASBEE Housing Health Checklist by Japan Sustainable Building Consortium (JSBC) is a type of software used to assess the health of residences. Answering 50 questions allows residents to identify the aspects of their home that affect their health. The score on the warmth is the sum of points for 7 questions about warmth in the checklist. The perfect score for each question is 3 points, therefore the perfect score for 7 questions is 21 points. Questions about warmth are intended to evaluate the thermal environment of both living rooms and non-living rooms. The first question is about the coldness of living room, the 2nd is about the coldness of bedroom, the 3rd is about the dryness of the bedroom, the 4th and the 5th are about the coldness of sanitary spaces, the 6th is about the coldness of toilet, and the last question is about the coldness of Corridor/Stairs/Closet. Examples of questions are as follows: &ldquo;Do you feel cold during heating the living room?&rdquo;, &ldquo;Do you feel cold in the toilet in winter?&rdquo;<br>&nbsp;The purpose of this research is proposing a method to calculate the score on the warmth, and making it possible to evaluate health performance of detached house by using room temperatures of simulation results. As using this method, it could be possible to indicate the necessity of thermal insulation of houses or help the occupants to consider an improvement of thermal insulation performance.<br>&nbsp;The calculation method to calculate the score on the warmth in a house is proposed in Chapter 2. Score on the warmth in CASBEE Housing Health Checklist is calculated from the temperatures that are simulated in the previous case study using a heat load simulation. The method to calculate the scores from temperatures is based on other studies about thermal sensation, health, dwelling performance and so on. For example, the score to the question of &ldquo;Do you feel cold in the toilet in winter?&rdquo; is calculated from operative temperature (OT), floor surface temperature of the toilet, and the OT difference between the bedroom and the toilet at late-night. Regarding converting OT into scores, 8&deg;C corresponds to 0 points, and 15&deg;C corresponds to full points. This allocation is decided based on the study that indicates the average toilet temperature that occupants felt cold was approximately 8&deg;C, and the average temperature that does not feel cold was approximately 15&deg;C.<br>&nbsp;Using the score on the warmth, it is possible to predict the crisis rate of catching a cold in winter. The predicted crisis rates are indicated in Chapter 3. The temperatures calculated in the case study simulation of houses with various thermal insulation levels are used to predict the crisis rates. For example, if a house with no insulation is replaced with a house which insulation performance meets the Japanese energy saving standard (so-called &ldquo;H25 Standard&rdquo;), the score raises approximately 6 points, and the rate of catching a cold in winter decreases approximately 15 %.

&nbsp;In the 23 wards of Tokyo, air-conditioners have been set up in all classrooms of public elementary and junior high schools since 2014. In Japan, the proportion of installing air conditioners in public classrooms of public elementary and junior high school is 49.6%, which is rapidly increasing. There is concern that energy consumption of elementary and junior high school will increase even further in the future. However, in Japan, the "Building Energy Efficiency Act" came into effect in 2016, and the thermal performance of the building's envelope and the method of calculating the primary energy consumption were determined. According to the specified method of calculation, two indices, Building Perimeter Index (BPI) and Building Energy Index (BEI) are obtained.<br>&nbsp;The purpose of this investigation is to comprehend the energy consumption situation of elementary schools in the Tokyo S ward, which is equipped with air conditioning facilities in all classrooms. First, we calculate the thermal performance of the envelope and the primary energy consumption according to the method prescribed in the "Building Energy Efficiency Act" and examine the correlation. Next, we compare the calculation result obtained by this calculation method with the actual measurement value. The following conclusions were obtained.<br>&nbsp;1) The average primary energy consumption of the primary school in S ward is 498 MJ /m² per year. This significantly exceeded the primary energy consumption average of elementary and middle schools, 356 MJ /m² per year nationwide and 305 MJ /m² per year in the 6th climate zone including Tokyo.<br>&nbsp;2) The primary energy consumption of the elementary schools in S ward are classified into two categories based on the completion year. For these two model schools, the calculations were conducted based on the "Building Energy Efficiency Act". BPI and BEI for both school A of the new specification and school B of the conventional specification were less than 1.0, and satisfactory results were obtained. The BPI was lower in school A than that in school B, and the difference in thermal performance of the envelope appeared to be remarkable. The BEI of school B was lower than that of school A.<br>&nbsp;3) In addition, we calculated the energy consumption based on the type of building. The school building shows substantial air- conditioned energy consumption, and the gymnasium building shows significant lighting energy consumption. The consumption equipment ratio of the school building and the gymnasium were exceedingly different.<br>&nbsp;4) The energy consumption of the air-conditioning equipment accounts for 60% of the total consumption. The air conditioning energy consumption per floor area of school A exceeds that of school B. Converting to the calculation per air-conditioning floor area, the value for school A becomes lower than that of school B.<br>&nbsp;5) The design values of the primary energy consumption calculated from the "Building Energy Efficiency Act" were 454 MJ /m² per year for school A and 341 MJ /m² per year for school B. However the measured value of the primary energy consumption of the entire school was 585 MJ /m² per year in case of school A and 449 MJ /m² per year in case of school B. The design value was estimated to be approximately 3/4 of the measured value of the entire school, and the primary reason behind this difference is the use of kitchen equipment not being included in the calculation earlier

With growing attention to sustainability and recognition of the impact of global warming problems, energy supply and consumption have become critically important. This paper presents the construction of a modeling platform accommodating cooperative energy management systems (EMSs), which virtually produces the model of a smart city with a distribution network (DN) by using a wide range of data obtained from the real world. The platform involves models of various EMSs, governing the operation of a power system or controlling consumer-installed devices, and simulating the power flow, electrical losses, and voltage in the DN. In addition, indices measuring the sustainability of the model city, such as CO2 emission, are estimated from scenarios, for example, photovoltaic system installation, electric vehicle penetration, etc. The results can be visually displayed and the platform is highly versatile and applicable to various types of issues associated with smart cities. Two case studies are presented in detail.

The introduction of photovoltaic power systems is being significantly promoted. This paper proposes the implementation of a distributed energy management framework linking demand-side management systems and supply-side management system under the given time-of-use pricing program for efficient utilization of photovoltaic power outputs; each system implements a consistent management flow composed of forecasting, operation planning, and control steps. In our framework, demand-side systems distributed in the electric distribution network manage individual energy consumption to reduce the residential operating cost by utilizing the residential photovoltaic power system and controllable energy appliances so as not to inconvenience residents. On the other hand, the supply-side system utilizes photovoltaic power maximally while maintaining the quality of electric power. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is evaluated on the basis of an actual Japanese distribution network simulation model from both the supply-side and demand-side viewpoints.

We developed a cough machine that can generate human-like cough to evaluate the infection risk in indoor environments. The cough expired volume, propagation distance and velocity of cough, total mass of droplets and droplet size were compared with experimental results of subjects. Using the cough machine, the droplet deposition on horizontal surfaces and the position of facial mucous membranes were measured. It was shown that the number of droplet deposited on the facial mucous membranes decreased drastically over 90 cm. On horizontal surfaces, the droplet deposited most at 50-60 cm and over 90% of the droplet deposited within 90 cm.

© 2017 The Authors. Indoor Air published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Conditions in which exhaled and dermally emitted bioeffluents could be sampled separately or together (whole-body emission) were created. Five lightly dressed males exhaled the air through a mask to another, identical chamber or without a mask to the chamber in which they were sitting; the outdoor air supply rate was the same in both chambers. The carbon dioxide concentration in the chamber with exhaled air was 2000 ppm. Chamber temperatures were 23°C or 28°C, and ozone was present or absent in the supply airflow. When dermally emitted bioeffluents were present, the perceived air quality (PAQ) was less acceptable, and the odor intensity was higher than when only exhaled bioeffluents were present. The presence or absence of exhaled bioeffluents in the unoccupied chamber made no significant difference to sensory assessments. At 28°C and with ozone present, the odor intensity increased and the PAQ was less acceptable in the chambers with whole-body bioeffluents. The concentrations of nonanal, decanal, geranylacetone, and 6-MHO were higher when dermally emitted bioeffluents were present; they increased further when ozone was present. The concentration of squalene then decreased and increased again at 28°C. Dermally emitted bioeffluents seem to play a major role in the sensory nuisance experienced when occupied volumes are inadequately ventilated.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the causal relationship between certain factors through longitudinal research on health and living environment. Based on a questionnaire survey administered online to 5000 Japanese women in February 2011, and a follow-up survey of 3053 subjects undertaken in February 2013, an analysis was performed on 1575 people with a history of low back pain. First, causal relationships between 2 factors, "Chronic low back pain" and "Stress and fatigue," were analyzed using cross-lagged effects modeling and synchronous effects modeling. Similarly, causal relationships between 2 factors, "Stress and fatigue" and "Satisfaction with living environment," were analyzed using the 2 models. It was revealed that "Satisfaction with living environment" affects "Stress and fatigue," and "Stress and fatigue" affects "Chronic low back pain." Covariance structure modeling was used to show that "Satisfaction with living environment" indirectly affects "Chronic low back pain" through "Stress and fatigue" using longitudinal data. Accordingly, it was shown that improving the satisfaction with living environment can improve health in terms of stress, fatigue, and chronic low back pain. Moreover, it was suggested that CASBEE Health Checklist 6 score (group with good housing environment) and health variables were related.

Home energy management systems (HEMSs) are the system to manage the energy usage in houses. The use of HEMSs, and especially those which are capable of automatically controlling home energy appliances such as air-conditioners (ACs), is expected to manage energy utilized in domestic field effectively. In the present study, we focused on automatic AC operation by HEMS with the combined goal of improving thermal comfort while reducing electricity costs. In general, the room temperature and electricity consumption of an AC are highly dependent on the characteristics of the installation environment. so that the derivation of an appropriate AC operation plan is generally a difficult task. To tackle this problem, an energy management method to provide AC operation plan tailor-made for the target AC installation environmental by learning the characteristics of the installation environment (CIE) from the historical operation result data is proposed. The efficacy of the proposed method is verified via numerical and real-world experiments. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

&nbsp;Currently, most detached houses in Japan are airtight wooden structures that have a high risk of vapor condensation in the wall cavities. Vapor condensation in insulation material is a primary contributor to mold growth in wall cavities. Indoor mold concentrations depend not only on indoor mold sources, but also on infiltration from concealed spaces, such as beam space and crawl space. The air pollutants infiltrate houses from these spaces by indoor decompression via the ventilation system, and mold that infiltrates through the glass wool used for heat insulation may remain and grow on the material. In order to measure the mold concentrations in glass wool, a new method is required for air cavity sampling. A method using a Teflon tube inserted into thin spaces in wall cavities or crawl spaces is useful for accomplishing this task. The surface of Teflon is very smooth, but mold adheres to it because of friction or static electricity. The objectives of the present investigation were to develop a method to measure mold concentration using Teflon tubes and to characterize the movement of mold spores between heat insulators.<br>&nbsp;The following conclusions were obtained from this study:<br>&nbsp;(1) The mean rates of mold retention in 0.3, 0.5, and 1.0 m Teflon tubes, which were washed three times with sterilized physiological salt solution, were 5%, 21%, and 37%, respectively. This indicated that retention rates increase with increases in Teflon tube length, and it was concluded that a useful sampling method for concealed spaces must use a Teflon tube that is about 0.3 m long, given the retention rate. Data from inter-laboratory testing indicated that a Teflon tube that is 1 m long is unsuitable for this sampling method.<br>&nbsp;(2) The amount of mold spores in the glass wool heat insulator decreased the more it was washed using sterilized physiological salt solution to clarify the movement of mold spores. After the third wash, the desorption rate of mold spores in the glass wool was about 85%, showing that three rounds of washing were required to measure the mold movement.<br>&nbsp;(3) Measurement of the movement of mold spores inside the heat insulator showed that the quantity of mold spores adhering to the heat insulator decreases exponentially with an increase in length of the Teflon tubes.<br>&nbsp;(4) In this range of the wind velocity, the movement of mold spores between insulators through the heat insulator is not significantly influenced by wind in the small chamber.<br>&nbsp;(5) The experimental results indicate that the quantity of mold spores displaced from the heat insulator by air transportation was not significant.

Indoor air quality of homes, workplaces, public buildings, and cabins of transportation vehicles plays an essential role in the health and well-being of individuals. During recent decades, interest in indoor air research increased significantly as is reflected in the increasing number of scientific publications and international standards. Various ambient (outdoor) air quality standards and regulations have been established within many countries to protect public health. However, indoor air quality standards with legally binding force are scarce. Currently, consumer demand is helping to drive manufacturers using product labels indicating so-called "low emissions" as a marketing tool.

The authors evaluate indoor air quality in apartments built according to the South Korean Clean-Healthy House construction standard. The evaluation includes three types of residential units with differing gross floor areas. Indoor air was analyzed for formaldehyde (observed range 52.0-99.2 ug/m(3)), acetaldehyde (14.6-61.0 ug/m(3)), benzene (0.6-1.3 ug/m(3)), toluene (161.8-371.0 ug/m(3)) ethylbenzene (6.5-17.0 ug/m(3)), xylene (14.7-45.0 ug/m(3)), and styrene (37.7-112.5 ug/m(3)). The concentrations of all analyzed substances were within the South Korean guidelines. The findings confirm that the Clean-Healthy Homes initiative has led to a greatly improved indoor air environment compared to existing newly built apartment blocks in South Korea. However, this construction standard is applied only to large apartment developments comprising 1,000 or more units, and it seems that further effort should be made to extend the standard to stand-alone residences and small-scale apartment blocks in order to ensure that indoor air quality is maintained more widely.

PVC floor material is widely used in Korean homes, and people customarily sit or lie on the floor surface. This could potentially put residents of such homes at high risk of exposure to semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). However, there is a current lack of information regarding the degree of SVOC contamination in Korean homes. Therefore, this study was implemented to measure SVOC concentration in the air and house dust in homes and kindergartens, places where children spend long periods of time. The substances analyzed were 2E1H, D6, DEP, TBP, TCEP, DBP, TPP, DOA, and DEHP. Amounts of 2E1H, D6, DEP, DBP, and DEHP were detected in the air of the homes included in the study, and the average air concentrations of DBP and DEHP were 0.53 mu g/m(3) and 0.28 mu g/m(3), respectively. The average dust DEHP concentrations in the rooms of homes and kindergartens were 2,800 mu g/g and 4,350 mu g/g, respectively, showing that higher values were measured in kindergartens. The measured DEHP concentrations in the dust of both homes and kindergartens where PVC floor materials are used were high.

&nbsp;The purpose of this research is to evaluate the economic value of certification of green buildings based on j-reit (Japan Real Estate Investment Trust) owned office buildings. In the recent years, assessment systems for the environmental performance of buildings are being widely used in Japan. Some analyses were conducted in Japan to investigate whether green building certificates have a positive influence on the contract rent. However we need to investigate profits and expenses of the real estate rent to clearly explain the economic benefits of green buildings.<br>&nbsp;In this research, we analyze the office building annual data in Japan which was disclosed by J-REIT. Operating benefits and utilities costs of 657 buildings in January 2014 － December 2014 was analyzed. Regarding the objective office, the total leased area is under 50000 m² and each building was divided into green building certified or Non-certified. Subject green building certifications are Tokyo Top-Level Business Facility and CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency).<br>&nbsp;The net operating incomes of Top-Level Business Facility or CASBEE certified office buildings over 10000 m² of total building area are bigger than that of not certified office buildings. The utilities costs of Top-Level Business Facility certified office buildings are the same as that of not certified office buildings, but the utilities cost of CASBEE certified office buildings is bigger than that of not certified office buildings. The net operating incomes of CASBEE certified office buildings over 3000 m² and less than 10000 m² of total building area are bigger than that of not certified office buildings. The utilities costs of CASBEE certified office buildings over 3000 m² and less than 10000 m² are the same as that of not certified office buildings. The net operating incomes of expired CASBEE certified office buildings over 10000 m² of total building area are bigger than that of not certified office buildings. The utilities costs of expired CASBEE certified office buildings are the same as that of not certified office buildings. Using these results, the environmental performance of Top-Level Business Facility certified office buildings over 10000 m² of total building area and expired CASBEE certified office buildings over 10000 m² of the area, CASBEE certified office buildings over 3000 m² and less than 10000 m² of the area may be high in the value of the real estate.<br>&nbsp;The utilities costs of buildings are not always related to the energy consumption, because an energy source, a type of contract and a contract fee are different in each building. In this survey, the primary energy consumption of CASBEE real estate buildings is correlated with the utilities cost of the buildings. The objective buildings do not install the regional air-conditioning.

Despite the fact that the special characteristics of indoor air pollution make closed environments quite different from outdoor environments, the conceptual ideas for assessing air quality indoors and outdoors are similar. Therefore, the elaboration of International Standards for air quality characterization in view of controlling indoor air quality should resort to this common basis. In this short review we describe the possibilities of standardization of tools dedicated to indoor air quality characterization with a focus on the tools permitting to study the indoor air chemistry. The link between indoor exposure and health as well as the critical processes driving the indoor air quality are introduced. Available International Standards for the assessment of indoor air quality are depicted. The standards comprise requirements for the sampling on site, the analytical procedures, and the determination of material emissions. To date, these standardized procedures assure that indoor air, settled dust and material samples are analyzed in a comparable manner. However, existing International Standards exclusively specify conventional, event-driven target-screening using discontinuous measurement methods for long-lived pollutants. Therefore, this review draws a parallel between physico-chemical processes in indoor and outdoor environments. The achievements in atmospheric sciences also improve our understanding of indoor environments. The community of atmospheric scientists can be both ideal and supporter for researchers in the area of indoor air quality characterization.This short review concludes with propositions for future standardization activities for the chemical characterization of indoor air quality. Future standardization efforts should focus on: (i) the elaboration of standardized measurement methods and measurement strategies for online monitoring of long-lived and short-lived pollutants, (ii) the assessment of the potential and the limitations of non-target screening, (iii) the paradigm shift from event-driven investigations to systematic approaches to characterize indoor environments, and (iv) the development of tools for policy implementation. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Waseda University and various enterprises proposed a Zero-Energy-House(ZEH) called "Nobi-Nobi HOUSE" in ENEMANEHOUSE2014. In this ZEH, we carried out a design for the ZEH technology, and was build in Tokyo at January 2014. After the relocated in Shizuoka, it was measured every four seasons in energy consumption, electric-generating capacity and indoor environment. This report shows design of "Nobi-Nobi HOUSE" for ZEH and result of measurement.

Infectious disease is transferred through 3 main routes, contact, droplet and airborne infection. It is known commonly that contact infection causes many of health-care associated infection. Control of contact infection can be achieved by maintenance of hand hygiene and cleaning of hospital interiors. However, the effectiveness of hand hygiene maintenance depends on individual conscientiousness. High frequency contact surfaces have not been clearly defined by commonly used guidelines, nor have effective cleaning methods been established. Therefore, it is important to use scientific methods to estimate the degree of contamination on the surfaces in examination rooms in order to determine which areas should be intensively cleaned. A field measurement was conducted using an Adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) measurement method (EnSURE® &amp
SuperSnap™
Hygiena) in examination rooms. We set the standard values on the basis of the case study by NHS Foundation Trust as RLU (Relative Light Unit) per 100 cm2. A measurement of less than 800 RLU is considered clean, 801-1599 RLU is caution, greater than 1600 RLU is recommended for immediate re-cleaning when the measurement accuracy of the equipment was taken into consideration. The attitude survey was conducted as objects of medical and cleaning staff who are assigned to the visitor examination room. The aim of questionnaire is to establish connections between conscientiousness about surface contamination of medical and cleaning staff and the substance of surface contamination. The results of a field measurement reveal that the ATP value of the patient's chair handrail after the work occurred in a significantly higher range than those of samples before the work (p &lt
0.05). The handrail of the doctor's chair has a significantly greater contamination than the patient's chair (before and after the work: p &lt
0.01) because the doctor's chair was about twofold greater contact frequency in the mean. The handrail of the doctor's chair and the outside doorknob were evaluated as high contaminated before the start and after the end of medical service. The doctor's chair had uneven surface seems one of the reason of its high-contamination. The levels of contamination in these areas might be improved by changing the timing and/or the frequency of cleaning. The inside doorknob is susceptible to contamination greater than the outside doorknob because the inside was strongly gripped to open the door. It was suggested that not only the contact frequency but also the features of surfaces and the strength of contacting pressure make difference in contamination. The attitude survey showed that medical staff are attentive to high touching surface but cleaning staff are attentive to dust-collecting surface. Surface contamination level can be decreased by changing cleaning staff consciousness. In this study, investigation was conducted before the start and after the end of medical service but the effectiveness of a single cleaning is not clearly evaluated. However, it will be possible to discuss the change of contamination in the work time by comparison observed value between before and after work.

A new predicting model (OTn model) is proposed for the local thermal sensation with ASHRAE seven-point scale under the condition of non-uniform thermal environment based on the Zhang model. Especially, the prediction accuracy to the thermal sensation of the hot side is improved by this model. To develop the prediction model, the subjects experiment in the climate chamber is conducted under the condition from cold side to hot side. The local thermal sensations to the operative temperature under the conditions of steady state are predicted by the proposed model (OTn model) and original Zhang model respectively, and compared with the present subject experiments. As a result, it is found the accuracy of the local thermal sensations in the hot side is much improved by comparing with the Zhang's results on the whole.

Ten patient rooms were assessed for environmental surface contamination using an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) test kit before and after terminal room cleaning was performed following patient discharge. The degree of environmental surface contamination was evaluated and the effectiveness of cleaning was examined using ATP values. It was found that the overbed tables, cabinet handles, light switches and television remote controls were highly contaminated. The ATP values found on the overbed tables after cleaning were often higher than those of the same surfaces before cleaning due to a high contamination rate. Cross-contamination from surfaces having high degrees of contamination being cleaned just prior to the overbed tables could be also a reason for high ATP values. The risk of contagion, therefore, can be reduced by preventing cross-contamination via the cleaning cloth by modifying the following: cleaning procedures for highly contaminated surfaces, cleaning sequences, and timing for changing used cloths according to the level of environmental surface contamination.

In recent years, natural ventilation system have attracted greater attention as an alternative to reduce building energy consumption. And natural ventilated buildings have been increasingly applied even in large office buildings. In Japan, outdoor air of middle season as natural ventilation season has wide variation range of temperature and humidity. Therefore, determining the criteria of outdoor air to introduce natural ventilation is an important factor to achieve energy saving and comfortable indoor thermal environment. In this paper, switching conditions to natural ventilation in 42 buildings with natural ventilation system were investigated and classified in six groups. Each type was evaluated with the reference weather data of 2000yr versions from three aspects: 1) total operating hours, 2) continuity, defined as the daily average hours of operating natural ventilation, 3) the quality of supply outdoor air. The total operating hours of the six types in basic setpoints ranged from 972h to l,278h. Continuity was between 6.2 and 8.3.

Recent studies have reported that indoor house dust contains a large volume of SVOC chemical substances such as phthalates and it is showing a relationship with children's asthma and allergic dermatitis. In particular, plasticizers contained in PVC building materials such as DBP and DEHP are the primary SVOC substances that pollute indoor environments. Therefore, The Micro-chamber method is to measure the emission rate of SVOCs from building products and to confirm what kind of SVOCs are emitted from a variety of products that are used indoors kindergarten. As results, the DBP and DEHP were detected in all building materials based on the result obtained from measuring the building materials produced in Japan, South Korea, and China. On the other hand, TCEP and TPP were not detected from all the building materials tested in this study. The DBP and DEHP emission rates (95 percentile) from the PVC sheets used for the measurement in this study were 2.60 [μg/m2·h] and 11.63[μg/m2·h] respectively. Moreover, it appears that there is a different type of plasticizer added to each product and detected for each country. In addition, toys, shoes, crayon and eraser were emitted C16, DBP and DEHP and also variety SVOCs like as D6, BHT, DEP, TBP, C20 and DOA. Especially, shoes were detected 9 substances among targeted 12. These results were considered that is because shoes are made a several materials.

In recent years, indoor air pollution due to phthalate esters has gained increasing attention. In particular, phthalate esters present in house dust have been reported to have a considerable impact on infant health. This study was investigated the concentration of phthalate esters in indoor air and house dusts in residential houses (n=21). Collected indoor air and house dust were analyzed for 11 substances. As a result, phthalate esters concentrations in indoor air were 0.7∼29.3μg /m3 for 2E1H, 0.1∼2.0μg /m3 for D6, 0.1∼0.9μg /m3 for DBP and 0.1∼1.2μg /m3 for DEHP. The concentrations of DEP, TBP, D6, BHT and DBA in house dust were less than detection limit. But, these were detected for TCEP (20∼40μg/g), DOA (2∼70μg/g), DBP (15∼200), DEHP (50P:810(μg/g), 95P:4660(μg/g)). Assuming that an infant intakes 10.3 mg/kg/day of house dust in 95 percentile, infants would intake 47.9μg /kg/day DEHP which exceeds the guidelines for tolerable daily intake (TDI) and reference dose (RfD).

Different kinds of adaptive opportunities are selected in bedrooms, such as air conditioning and natural ventilation
however, the thermal environment created by these measures is not necessarily good for sleep. In this research, a field survey was carried out to investigate the effect of the total thermal environment and its variation on sleep. First, we investigated the effect of airflow and found that an increase in air turbulence causes an increase in the duration of wakefulness. Next, we adjusted the comfort equation for sleep and calculated the thermal load on the body and its variation. We found that both negative and positive increase in the heat load on the body causes an increase in the probability of awakening. An increase in its variation also resulted in an increase in the probability of awakening. We concluded that when planning a pleasant thermal environment for sleep, it is important to consider the total thermal environment and to take into account the effect of its variation as potential cause of sleep disruption.

This study examines the relationship between individual thermal satisfaction and worker performance. Field measurements and a questionnaire survey were conducted within an organization participating in the COOL BIZ energy conservation campaign. A subjective experiment was also conducted in a climate chamber with eleven Japanese male subjects, testing five scenarios combining operative temperature (25.5 degrees C and 28.5 degrees C), clothing (with and without suits), and cooling items (desk fan, air-conditioned shirt, mesh office chair). From the individual analysis, actual air temperature in the COOL BIZ office was poorly correlated with self-estimated performance, whereas perceived thermal satisfaction correlated well with self-estimated performance (R-2 = 0.944, p < 0.001). The results of the subjective experiment indicate that performance during simulated office work (i.e. multiplication and proof reading tasks) increased with greater individual thermal satisfaction (R-2 = 0.403 and 0.464, p < 0.001). The finding that perceived thermal satisfaction of occupants is reflected in objective measurement of office work performance has practical implications for the evaluation of thermal satisfaction in real offices as a means to boost workplace productivity. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Owing to the enormous damage caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, a 15% reduction in peak power consumption was required to address the gap between demand and supply capabilities in the summer of 2011. Electricity-saving measures are promoted in offices today for both environmental and safety reasons, and indoor office environments have changed greatly. This paper aims to reveal to what extent workers' awareness of electricity-saving has changed since the earthquake disaster had an impact on energy consumption and productivity. The authors have conducted continuous fieldwork and questionnaire surveys in seven electricity-saving office buildings in the summers of 2011-2013. Additionally, our laboratory's past research data were collected together and analyzed. The results show that excessive indoor air temperatures, such as 28 degrees C, were avoided, and the desk level illuminance greatly decreased, from 750 lux to around 400 lux, after the earthquake. People learned to implement electricity saving in a proper way that does not spoil workers' comfort, and workers' acceptability zone for the indoor environment was extended by the experience of electricity-Saving. Moreover, when we compared individual differences in the way environmental information is perceived, it was shown that differences in the workers' awareness of electricity-saving had a more profound effect on their satisfaction with the indoor environmental quality than those in their gender or age. Mechanical power-saving is definitely important; however, building devices that induce the occupants' energy-saving actions are vital. Our results will be considerably useful to other countries, whether or not they experience a natural disaster. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In Japan, many people feel cold in housing during winter. In this study, focusing on comfortable thermal environment for people sensitive to cold in housing during winter, subjective measurements were carried out experimentally. People sensitive to cold and not so selected as subjects were exposed to climate chamber controlled to 5 °C, heating room controlled to 21 °C, and non-heating room controlled to 14 °C, 16 °C, 18 °C. The results of this study are as follows: (1) the whole body and hand/foot thermal sensation correlates well with the thermal comfort in both groups of subjects
(2) in case of examining skin temperature of extremities during winter, that of fingers should be measured instead of back of hand and instep, and (3) people sensitive to cold felt cold, especially in their foot during experiment all the time. When examining the comfort of residents in housing, it is very important to considering difference of their constitution.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the casual relationship for from longitudinal research with health and living environment. Based on a questionnaire longitudinal survey administered online to Japanese women 3054 in 2011 and 2013, about 1500 people with a history of low back pain, covariance structure analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between satisfaction of living environment, stress-related health and chronic low back pain. The models showed that there was a causal effect from "stress and fatigue" to "chronic back pain", while a second causal effect was shown from "satisfaction of living environment" to "stress and fatigue."Taken together, this suggests that "satisfaction of living environment" influences levels of "stress and fatigue" which in turns manifests itself as "chronic low back pain".

Recently, residences are becoming more insulated and airtight for energy saving action. In such residences, floor heating (radiative system) and air conditioner (convective system) have become widely used. So the thermal comfort in rooms heated by floor heating or air conditioner was compared by the thermal manikin. The experiment for the thermal manikin was performed in the artificial climate chamber. When sensible heat loss became thermal neutrality, the thermal comfort in rooms heated by floor heating or air conditioner was compared by air temperature. In the result, for all conditions air temperature by floor heating was lower than that by air conditioner.

Sorptive materials can be used to improve the air quality by adsorbing harmful chemicals and other pollutants in indoor air. This study aims to (1) investigate the differences in the reduction performance values with changes in surface area ratios of sorptive materials for the two test methods (constant concentration supplying method and emission material method, hereinafter CCSM and EMM); (2) discuss whether the sorption flux "F-s" and equivalent ventilation rate "Q(eq)", which are two ways of representing the results, can accurately represent the reduction performance; and (3) suggest a method for compensating for disparities between the two test methods.Under the standard sorption area condition, CCSM yielded F-s with higher performance than EMM. The evaluation using F-s gave more advantage to a smaller sorption area condition, and CCSM was less influenced by the area than EMM. Changes in the area ratios resulted in changes in F-s, but Q(eq) was less affected. However, for an identical area ratio condition, F-s resulted in steady values, while Q(eq), fluctuated owing to subtle changes in chamber concentrations. Compensation using the HBF (Hoetjer-Berge-Fujii) equation could improve EMM performance value and thus reduce the disparity between the two methods. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami which occurred on March 11, 2011 caused widespread damage and electricity shortage. So the Japanese government has directed large-scale electricity users to curb their consumption by 15 percent of what they used last summer. However, excessive saving electricity forces office workers to be patient, and it can lead to productivity decline. In this study, the field survey and questionnaire survey were conducted in six buildings saving on electricity to study the indoor environment, the workers productivity and energy conservation. As a result, it was found that the rise of temperature leads to the sharp decline of productivity and comfort, and that power saving of lighting made less dissatisfaction for office workers and reduced more electric energy than turning up the air conditioning. Office workers can keep productivity if there are no dissatisfactions for them. Therefore, lowering illuminance is found to be more effective for saving electricity than turning up the air conditioning.

Information on the compositions of construction products is useful to construction designers, builders and occupants to help establish good indoor air quality and building environment. Existing measures to deliver this information, such as labelling or material safety data sheets, have not been adequate for construction products. The study aims to evaluate the status of the current information-delivery system and clarify requirements for a future system. A questionnaire survey on the current status and requirements of an information-delivery system for construction-product compositions was conducted in Japan. In total, 203 manufacturers, including two associations, and 35 users responded. Responses relating to 439 and 226 products from manufacturers and users, respectively, were obtained. Majority of the manufacturers and users responded that a standardized scheme is needed. Large discrepancies were noted between the delivery levels required by users and the actual levels from manufacturers in terms of the information-delivery range and display elements. The limitations of information delivery for manufacturers differed between composite products or equipment and products in which the compositions played an important role in quality and performance. Concerns included the cost and manpower required to examine the compositions for new information-delivery system and the importance of maintaining consistency with existing systems.

Semi-outdoor environment is defined as a grade of environmental control in thermal environmental planning, falling in between indoor and outdoor environment. Thermal adaptation of occupants, together with building and equipment, needs to be taken into account for planning such environment. Behavioral and psychological adaptation was found to be influential the thermal comfort, and context of thermal environment was found to be important to understand the adaptive process from literature review. Environmental context was categorized into social, architectural, and personal elements. A concept model of adaptive thermal comfort in semi-outdoor environment was proposed. Problems concerning applitation of existing thermal comfort standards were discussed. Adaptive comfort zone, not comfort temperature, needs to be investigated through field surveys considering the Japanese context suth as geographical location, climate, degree of environmental control and general-purpose of the architectural space. Adaptive comfort zone needs to lee presented together with the definition of environmental context.

Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) have low volatility and tend to adhere to dust particles. Recently, many scientific papers show that SVOCs may have a health risk, especially affect for children. Wensing showed that infants take dust 10 times more than adults. Considering the health damages and the intake of dust, the risk of infants exposing to SVOCs might be high. Therefore, it is necessary to assess SVOCs pollution situation of the residences and children welfare facilities which are the main life space for infants. Although many results of measurements for the SVOCs concentrations of dust at residences have been reported in Japan and overseas, few of them are at children welfare facilities. In this paper, we measured SVOCs concentrations of dust at four child welfare facilities, to assess the degree of SVOCs pollution in those places.As a result, in many cases the SVOCs concentrations of dust at children welfare facilities were high compared with that of residences. Also, higher SVOCs concentrations were observed in rooms with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) flooring materials compared with that in rooms with wood-based flooring material.

Some field surveys were conducted in the offices in Tokyo to investigate worker&#039;s comfort and productivity under the saving electricity after the Great East Japan Earthquake. However, we need nationwide survey because saving electricity is ongoing all over Japan now. In this study, we conducted web-based questionnaire in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka to know the workers&#039; awareness and measures of saving electricity. As a result, similar saving electricity measures were implemented in three areas and lowering illuminance made less dissatisfaction than turning up the set point of the air conditioning. It is estimated that workers&#039; awareness of saving electricity was different because of the areal targeted value of saving electricity. Workers&#039; satisfaction of the office environment was affected to a large degree by not only indoor environment or their gender and age, but also their feelings.

The effects of indoor air quality on symptoms, perceptions, task performance, cerebral blood flow, fatigue, and mental effort of individuals working in an office were investigated. Twenty-four right-handed Danish female subjects in an office were exposed in groups of two at a time to two air pollution levels created by placing or removing a pollution source (i.e. a used carpet) behind a screen. During the exposure, the subjects performed four different office tasks presented on a computer monitor. The tasks were performed at two paces: normal and maximum. When the pollution source was present, the air quality was perceived to be worse and more errors were made when subjects typed text at the maximum pace. No other changes in subjective responses, performance, or physiological measurements were associated with different exposures. Although cerebral blood flow and voice analysis did not detect any effects caused by modifying pollution exposure, they were well correlated with increased mental effort when the tasks were performed at maximum pace and subjectively reported fatigue, which increased during the course of exposure, respectively. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Climate change and the urgency of decarbonizing the built environment are driving technological innovation in the way we deliver thermal comfort to occupants. These changes, in turn, seem to be setting the directions for contemporary thermal comfort research. This article presents a literature review of major changes, developments, and trends in the field of thermal comfort research over the last 20years. One of the main paradigm shift was the fundamental conceptual reorientation that has taken place in thermal comfort thinking over the last 20years; a shift away from the physically based determinism of Fanger's comfort model toward the mainstream and acceptance of the adaptive comfort model. Another noticeable shift has been from the undesirable toward the desirable qualities of air movement. Additionally, sophisticated models covering the physics and physiology of the human body were developed, driven by the continuous challenge to model thermal comfort at the same anatomical resolution and to combine these localized signals into a coherent, global thermal perception. Finally, the demand for ever increasing building energy efficiency is pushing technological innovation in the way we deliver comfortable indoor environments. These trends, in turn, continue setting the directions for contemporary thermal comfort research for the next decades.

The Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011 caused widespread damage, especially electricity shortage. Therefore the Japanese government has directed large-scale electricity users to curb their consumption by 15 percent of what they used in the previous summer. Most companies in Tokyo were saving electricity by reducing their use of lights and air conditioning systems in their offices. decline. Few field investigations have been conducted under special conditions including after big disasters. Purpose of this study is to find efficient strategies for saving electricity that do not decrease workers' productivity so much. In this report, energy consumption of existing building have analyzed and prepared between before the great east Japan earthquake and after. Further, it experimented on the conditions which changed an illumination setup and an air-conditioning setup under power-saving environment, and conducted the sensitivity analysis of each item in analyzing the power consumption on each condition.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the living environment for health promotion focusing on chronic low back pain symptoms. The questionnaire survey was conducted including 4,040 adult women with a medical history of low back pain. The method of covariance structural modeling-based multi-group analysis was used. The findings are as followings
(1) Exploratory factor analysis revealed that living environment, housework and chronic low back pain consisted of 23 items and five factors: " chronic low back pain ", " stress and fatigue ", " total hours of housework ", " enjoying housework " and " satisfaction of living environment ". (2) "Stress and Fatigue" have affected "Chronic Low Back Pain " greatly. (3) "Enjoying Housework" and "Satisfaction of Living Environment" had a slightly negative direct effect on "Chronic Low Back Pain " although they had greater positive indirect impact on "Chronic Low Back Pain " through "Stress and Fatigue". (4) Path coefficients to "stress and fatigue" from " enjoying housework " was greater in the elderly group than younger groups. (5) Path coefficient to "chronic low back pain" from "total hours of housework" was a negative relationship in non-exercise group. Because for those who do not have regular exercise, housework time was working as an exercise, could have fewer chronic low back pain was suggested.

A human thermoregulation model called JOS-2 was developed based on the Stolwijk model and our previously developed (in 2002) JOS model. In this model, the whole body was idealized as 17 spherical or cylindrical body segments (Head, Neck, Chest, Pelvis, right and left Shoulders, right and left Arms, right and left Hands, right and left Thighs, right and left Legs, and right and left Feet). The Head segment consists of four layers-core, first layer, second layer, and skin-and the other segments consist of two layers-core and skin). All body segments have artery and vein blood pools. In addition, the limb segments have a detailed vascular system consisting of superficial veins and arteriovenous anastomoses (AVA). Thermoregulatory mechanisms such as vasoconstriction, vasodilation, perspiration, and shivering are considered. The physical parameters of this model, such as height, weight, sex, age, body fat percentage, basal metabolic rate, and cardiac index, can be changed. This paper describes the equations and coefficients as well as the model validation for stable, nonuniform, transient conditions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A questionnaire was conducted on web targeting 1,000 females to clarify the influence of residential environment and satisfaction with it on occupants' stress and health. Female occupants of 76.8% reported that they have been feeling more than 1 kind of stress. Especially the stress due to their residential environment continued for long period. A covariance structural model on the relationship among residential environment, stress and health of occupants was developed. It was shown that 73% of 'health could be explained with 5 factors, 'stress', 'satisfaction level with residential environment', 'relaxation effect', 'total hours of relaxation', 'total score of CASBEE health check list'. The model revealed that total score of CASBEE health check list had positive effect on satisfaction level with residential environment and subjective health, while negative effect on stress. The model indicated that satisfaction level with residential environment had a great impact on the levels of stress and subjective health. It was observed that total hours of relaxation had greater impact on the effects of it for working females, while total score of CASBEE health check list had on satisfaction level with residential environment for housewives.

Residential and commercial building sector accounts for more than 30% of final energy consumption in Japan and an increase from the past is remarkable. In order to realize a low-carbon society, further strengthening of energy saving measures is essential. Japanese government is considering a mandatory policy scheme which forces all residential and non-residential buildings to meet the energy efficiency standard by 2020. This research aims to marshal trends on regulations for energy efficiency of residential and non-residential buildings within countries which implements advanced measures, and to obtain referential knowledge for Japan's energy efficiency measures.

Little is known of workers' comfort and productivity under special conditions, particularly after large disasters. The Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 caused enormous damage, leading to a 15% peak-power reduction to address power shortages. We investigated occupants' comfort and productivity in five office buildings in Tokyo during the summer season under mandatory electricity savings implemented after the earthquake. We changed the temperature, illumination and ventilation rate settings to investigate their effects on thermal comfort, productivity and energy levels. Occupants were more receptive towards decreased illumination than increased temperature. Awareness of power savings was increased, with more than 90% of people accepting the poor indoor environment in the light of recent events. Set-point temperature and clothing recommendations made by the Super Cool Biz campaign were followed in most offices. However, self-estimated productivity was 6.6% lower than the previous summer. Thus, electricity-saving strategies that do not affect productivity are required.

Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC) are contained in building materials including plasticizers and flame retardants, and adverse effects for the human body have been are concerned. It is important to understand of SVOC behavior to reduce exposure risk. The principal aim of this study was to clarify the emission mechanism of DEHP from building materials which is a kind of SVOC. First for some PVC floor tile, emission rates by three methods (FLEC, CLIMPAQ, Little's chamber) and by Micro chamber method were compared. Second experiment was investigated DEHP emission rates from cushion floor under varying air flow volume using micro chamber. In addition, the airflow characteristic of micro chamber was investigated using computational fluid dynamics. Micro chamber method can measure SVOC emission faster than other methods. DEHP emission rate is subject to the airflow velocity near the building-materials surface, the thickness of fluid film under steady state condition.

In addition to clarifying the indoor concentration when natural materials and industrial building materials are used and the indoor concentration decreasing effect due to formaldehyde adsorption, the purpose of this study is to clarify the validity of a measurement method for each construction phase as a method of identifying the cause of high chemical concentration. For this experiment, we built an experimental house from wall materials characterized by natural materials and from industrialized building materials and measured the concentration of formaldehyde (DNPH-HPLC method) and of VOC (sampling using Glass Prepacked ATD Tubes and GC-MS analysis) at each construction phase over a period of a year. As a result, we discovered an inflow of formaldehyde from inside the walls as well as indoor pollutants. In response to this, it is necessary to verify the emission rate of the materials on the outside of the airtight layer (for example, heat insulating materials and the back of the outer wall). An increase in the concentration of TVOC was apparent after construction of the wall materials and floor boards and a decrease over a relatively long period was not evident. It is necessary to consider TVOC concentration for VOCs Vaporization building materials, such as adhesives highlighted in the past, and also for constituents of the plastering material. It is also necessary to conduct measurements at each construction phase to identify the cause of emission (particularly measurements after carrying out wet construction using coating and adhesive) and to establish curing period from the measurement results.

Air-cleaning systems using a low concentration of chlorine dioxide (ClO2) gas for prevention against infection by the influenza virus have been developed. ClO2 gas is easily decomposed by indoor climate factors. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of indoor environmental factors on the decrease of ClO2 gas concentration. The reaction (decay) rate constant was also determined. High air temperatures and light irradiation accelerated the decrease of ClO2 gas concentration; the latter had the greatest influence on the decrease of ClO2 gas concentration among the conditions. A quicker decay of concentration and greater value of the reaction rate constant of ClO2 was found when a UV lamp was used; this is because the gas absorbs irradiation in the UV range. ClO2 gas concentration was significantly reduced when an evaporative humidifier was employed due to adsorption and a chemical reaction between the gas and the filter in the humidifier.

Phthalates are used as plasticizers and flame retardants in building materials and phthalates emitted in indoor environment tend to adhere to house dust According to Wensing, infants take dust lOtimes as adults, so an investigation on the concentration of phthalates in house dust is important. This study was measured the concentration of DEHP for house dust and compared for house dust before and after renovation in Korea houses. And, using micro-chamber method, for the building products of Japan and South Korea were measured the emission rates of semi volatile organic compounds. Floor product in Korea is higher than the emission rates of DEHP for floor product in Japan.

Negative pressure room is indispensable for controlling airborne pathogens such as measles or tuberculosis bacilli. Previously, we proposed layouts to reduce droplet nuclei in the negative pressure room, however, a problem that droplet nuclei in the negative pressure room leaked promptly to a corridor when the door was opened remained unsolved. The push-pull local exhaust has not yet been discussed as a partition of space to prevent leakage. We discussed the conditions of push-pull airflow which prevents air leakage and maintains the air pressure balance even if the door has opened. We modelled installation of a push-pull device in substitution for a door between a corridor and an anteroom. We analyzed the dynamics of droplet nuclei in the corridor and the anteroom using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. We evaluated the effect by counting the number of droplet nuclei in the corridor which leaked from the negative pressure room. The leakage of the droplet nuclei was small if the airflow velocity from the push device was 0.05 to 0.3 m/s, and also low if the airflow velocity to the pull device was more than 0.2 m/s. Larger width of the push-pull device resulted in lower leakage of the droplet nuclei. Wider space between the push device and the pull device also resulted in lower leakage of the droplet nuclei. In the case of the same air volume, doubling the push-pull device width was more efficient than doubling the airflow velocity. The push-pull airflow design is effective as both a local exhaust and as a space partition instead of a door.<br>

Thermal comfort in a heated room is much affected by the characteristics of envelop, especially its thermal insulation properties and the heating system. Coupled convection-radiation simulation is conducted to estimate heat release from a floor heating system or a wall-mounted air-conditioning unit under the same equivalent temperature with simulated human body under five building insulation levels including three levels of Japanese energy conservation standards for residential building. A human body model is placed on the floor in a seated posture and controlled by comfort regulation of thermal manikin. In computations, sensible heat release from the human body is matched for different heating systems by properly controlling temperature of the heating panels under the floor or hot air from the air-conditioner. When heat loss from the bottom of the heating panels is neglected, heat release from the floor heating system is smaller than that from the air-conditioning unit.

Recently, multi-split type air-conditioning system, as it is called, multiple air-conditioning system has occupied a central position in the air-conditioning systems for office buildings against a backdrop of the convenience and the economic efficiency. Additionally, by inovationing the system which can provide simultaneous cooling and heating or which is more efficient in energy, it takes advantages of central air-conditioning system Minimization of consumption energy and maintain of good condition in inhabited environment. But, the annual performance evaluation of multi-split type air-conditioning system in the whole building has never been performed. So, the purpose of this research is re-evaluation of the air-conditiong design method by conducting the simulation and performance evaluation of multi-split type air-conditioning system. In first report, the knowledges such as the estimate value of the air-conditioning efficiency have been reported by conducting several performance evaluations in buildings.

There are increasing developments and uses of building materials which have sorptive and reduction ability for chemicals in indoor air, and test method for reduction performance of them has been required. For formaldehyde reduction performance test of those materials, JIS A 1905 was established Feb. 2007. Our group has developed the air flow control unit for 20L small chamber in order to evaluate reduction performance of sorptive building materials. JIS A 1905 describes the two methods [part.1:Measurement of adsorption flux with supplying constant concentration of formaldehyde (hereinafter, Constant Concentration Supplying Method (CCSM)) and part.2:Measurement of capability for suppressing formaldehyde emission (hereinafter, Emission Material Method (EMM))] for reduction performance test, but differences of test methods might provide different result values even if the same material was tested. In this paper, when changed area ratios (i.e. loading factor) of specimens under the same test method, it was investigated what differences would be made in performance values. As a result, when changed area ratios of specimens, (sorption flux( showed different values depending on area ratios but (equivalent ventilation rate( was less affected by area ratios. However, under the same area ratio condition, sorption fluxes showed even and steady values, while equivalent ventilation rates did fluctuating values depending on changes of chamber concentrations. When the same sorptive material tested, sorption fluxes gained from CCSM (JIS A 1905-1) showed 1.6 (for sorptive material DM) and 3.2 (for sorptive material TG) times higher values in compared with EMM (JIS A 1905-2). It was suggested that compensation of formaldehyde concentration with HBF equation could improve the performance value from EMM and reduce the disagreement between CCSM and EMM.

Building materials emit many kinds of chemical substances, such as aldehydes and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). Efforts are currently being directed towards new technological developments to mitigate the occurrence of such indoor air pollution. Techniquesto counter this type of air pollution from indoor surfaces include adsorption, dissolution, and sealing. The present study investigates the effectiveness of sealer paints in reducing chemical substance emission rates. A new evaluation method is described for studying reductions in chemical emissions by these paints. The method is based on detection of aldehydes or VOCs emission following sealerpaint application versus a control without sealer, and the calculation of an emission factor. All paints showed significant reductions in emission factors for formaldehyde and for a number of other VOCs. Reduction rates for formaldehyde were as high as 67.2[%], depending on the sealer being tested. Future research will examine the durability of this sealing effect over extended periods of time.

Phthalates are used as plasticizers and flame retardants in building materials and phthalates emitted in indoor environment tend to adhere to house dust. According to Wensing, infants take dust 10times as adults, so an investigation on the concentration of phthalates in house dust is important. This study examined the concentration of phthalate in house dust in Japan and Korea. Specially, Korea house much used polyvinyl flooring as floor product and also used floor heating system during the winter. As a result, the amount of the collected dust per square meter in Japan house was more than the one in Korea house. In addition, the amount of house dust in Japan was more than the one in Korea house, even in under dust 63μm. And the concentration of DEHP in the houses investigated in Korea was higher than 50 percentile in Germany and some Korea houses were higher than 95 percentile in Germany. Japan houses investigated had lower concentration of DEHP in house dust than 95 percentile in Germany, and some house in Japan were lower than 50 percentile in Germany.

This study proposes methods of the multi-split type air-conditioning system model based on refrigerants thermodynamic properties that improve the computational speed reserving accuracy and extrapolability, and reduce physical parameters setting work. The purpose is to improve the quantitative performance assessment of the multi-split type air-conditioning system. The approximation method of refrigerative physical properties value using the neural network improves the computational speed. When the heat load of indoor equipment is input to the multi-split type air-conditioning system model, the amount of consumption energy is the output. It is found the proposed model can calculate approximate outputs in cases of not only JIS but other conditions.

For the improvement of the air quality of indoors, it is necessary to determine the kinds and the concentration of the chemical substances that emit from building products and production parts. On this study, the heating temperature, the amount of the nitrogen filling, and the heating time, etc. was executed as an important item related to the measurement of bag method. It was a tendency that the recovery percentage raises with the rise of the heating temperature as a result of examining the recovery percentage by using the standard test solution, too. Therefore, 65 degrees of the heating temperature is preferable. However, the recovery percentage is less than 80% at even 65 degrees in heating temperature, and it has been understood that it is unsuitable in the measurement in the bag method in Tetradecan. In addition, it has been understood that the bag value calculated from the chamber method becomes small more than the bag value calculated from the bag method.

The environment of workplace in an office involved in creative work was evaluated in 2005 and 2006. The M Company has installed partition based task/ambient conditioning systems (TAC) and several environment-friendly systems, such as double-skin and thermal-storage structures. It was intended to investigate the influence of the worker's behavior and task conditioning on worker's thermal comfort and productivity. In this survey, immediate thermal environment and worker's behavior were measured, and occupants' surveys of thermal comfort and feeling of fatigue were conducted. We found that both activity level of occupant and exposed thermal environment is greatly different one by one. It is suggested that an increase in metabolic rate according to worker's behavior influenced on their thermal comfort. Based on the knowledge obtained from this investigation, needs for TAC are discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This study was intended to evaluate the effects of improvement of thermal satisfaction on productivity by introducing cooling methods. Cooling methods used in this study were a desk fan, a mesh office chair and a fan-mounted shirt, lite cooling effect of the methods was evaluated by a thermal manikin; and a subjective experiment was conducted in a climate chamber. The experimental conditions were: operative temperature at 25.5°C with suit, at 28.5°C with suit, at 28.5°C with lighter clothing ensemble, at 28.5°C with lighter clothing and a desk fan, and at 28.5°C with lighter clothing and all three cooling methods. Under the conditions with cooling methods, the subjects felt cooler; the thermal satisfaction was improved and their level of fatigue after task was lowered. The relationships obtained from the results of thermal satisfaction, fatigue and work performance suggested that the work performance was improved and the level of fatigue was lowered by improving thermal satisfaction of occupants.

Air-conditioners are going to be set up in public elementary schools. The installation rate reached 64% in Tokyo 23 wards in 2007. The increase of energy consumption is a concern as air-conditioner use spreads all over the country. In this study, the forecast of energy consumption until 2030 is illustrated. This is calculated by forecasting the number of classes in which air-conditioners have been installed and the air-conditioning load in each 47 prefectures. In addition, the energy-saving measures such as natural ventilation and Low-e glass are accounted. It is possible to reduce energy consumption to the level of 1990 by 2030, when all the measures and improvement in COP of air-conditioner are taken.

Field survey and questionnaire survey was made to a building with manually operated natural ventilation system to investigate the optimum way to operate the system. From the field survey amount of ventilation air volume was measured and it was known that in day time air was getting out of the noon and in night air was getting in to the noon from bottom of the window
and getting out from the top. It was known that the frequency of the window operation was low. Although from the questionnaire survey it was known that the office workers were well willing the way of manually operating. Furthermore it was indicated that the factor of the window opening is related to outdoor temperature and time. Also by factor analyzing the reason of opening and closing the window it was known that the psychological reasons are similarly important as physiological reasons.

In recent years, commissioning (Cx) is attracting attention as the key process for energy saving during building operation phase. This research is particularly focused on Cx in high energy-consuming building defined by the Law concerning the Rational Use of Energy. For better efficient operation, heat source system simulation is developed and considered about the combination of heating source equipments, cooling water temperature and capacity usage ratio of free cooling. The quantity control is changed when low cooling load arises in transitional season and free cooling utilization increases for the proper setting of chilled water temperature in winter. As this improvement plan is reflected the actual building operation, it can reduce the energy consumption by 219.7 MJ/(m2.year), running cost by 2,339,000 yen/year and carbon-dioxide emissions by 8.7 kg-CO2/(m2.year), compared to the present heat source system operation. It is shown that the necessary of Cx for global environment conservation in this research.

To investigate the effect of thermal environment and the ventilation rate on productivity, a subjective experiment was conducted. The conditions were the combination of thermal environment: operative temperature of 25.5°C and 28.5°C; and the ventilation rate: 11m3/(h-p) and 90m 3/(h-p). Eleven subjects participated in a 350min exposure and worked on three-digit multiplication tasks for 180min. The percentage of dissatisfied with air quality was higher in the higher temperatures and in the lower ventilation rates. The performance of the task was not significantly different among the conditions. The increase of the level of fatigue was more in the higher temperature condition. Correlation between the percentage of dissatisfied derived from perceived air quality and the fatigue level was obtained. The relationships of the task performance and the satisfaction vote of the indoor environment and the level of fatigue were obtained.

The aim of this study is to accelerate simulation software developments by abstraction of source code. ITermStructure the "interface" for a time period is developed to make complex term structure general. By using "Composite-Pattern", all the concrete term classes which implement ITermStructure can be integrated into complex tree structure. By using "Generics", specifications of schedules class shall not be specified until scheduler classes is declared and instantiated by a client code. Since the program code developed in this research and a code made by a client were separated clearly, developed scheduler classes is generally applicable for long term simulation programs.

In this study, a subjective experiment was conducted in a climatic chamber to investigate the effect of moderately hot environment on performance, fatigue, and especially the relationship between performance and fatigue. The climatic chamber was conditioned at operative temperature of 25°C (insulation value of 0.96clo), 28°C (insulation value of 0.96clo), and 28°C (insulation value of 0.61clo). Fourteen subjects were exposed in the environment for six hours. In this experiment subjects' performance at 28°C condition was lower than at 25°C condition, while they felt fatigue more strongly at 28°C condition than at 25°C condition. Besides, correlation between personal rates of complaints of fatigue and performance in z-score was observed with correlation coefficient of -0.72. From the linear regression model, increase in 10% of fatigue corresponded to the decrement in z-score by 0.083point.

A field measurement was conducted to investigate the thermal environment of an office with preset temperature of 28°C in summer. A questionnaire survey on the workers was also conducted during the measurement to evaluate the effect of the thermal environment on productivity. The air temperature tended to be higher in the area with high density of heat sources. The air temperature could reach over 30°C at the time when the air-conditioning system started its operation in the mornings. Fluctuation of the supply air temperature was observed after the room temperature reached to the setting. To elevate the preset temperature in the existing buildings, systematic and operational adjustments of HVAC systems may be necessary for proper thermal environmental control. From the questionnaire, over 70% of the workers were thermally dissatisfied in July and August. The correlations were obtained that when the workers are thermally satisfied, the self-estimated performance is higher and the level of fatigue is lower.

Conventional multi-zonal ventilation measurement methods by multiple types of perfluorocarbon tracers use a number of different gases equal to the number of zones (n). The possible n x n+n airflows are estimated from the mass balance of the gases and the airflow balance. However, some airflows may not occur because of inter-zonal geometry, and the introduction of unnecessary, unknown parameters can impair the accuracy of the estimation. Also, various error factors often yield an irrational negative airflow rate. Conventional methods are insufficient for the evaluation of error. This study describes a way of using the least-squares technique to improve the precision of estimation and to evaluate reliability. From the equations' residual, the error variance-covariance matrix Lambda(q) of the estimated airflow rate error is deduced. In addition, the coefficient of determinant using the residual sum of squares and total variation is introduced. Furthermore, the error matrix (m)Lambda(q) from the measurement errors in the gas concentration and gas emission rate is deduced. The discrepancy ratio of the model premises is defined by dividing the diagonal elements of the former by those of the latter. Moreover, the index of irrationality of the estimated negative airflow rate is defined, based on the different results of the three estimation methods. Some numerical experiments are also carried out to verify the flow rate estimation and the reliability evaluation theory. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The rise of the concern to the air quality in recent years was received, and Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) announced the self-imposed restraint concerning the VOCs decrease of the vehicle cabin. However, because the case of making public with the measurement data was few, the VOCs concentration and substances that was the emitted from the measurement of the vehicle cabin were measured in this study. As a result, it has been understood that the TVOC concentration might not be decreased though it is a vehicle where substances such as toluene and xylene are decreased. Moreover, the substances that emitted from parts with generation gas concentrate device (MSTD) was measured, and estimate of the VOC concentration in the cabin was tried from parts. As a result, to raise the estimate accuracy, needing the thing matched to an actual component temperature has understood the setting of the component temperature. It is understood that the SVOCs is emitted from parts, too, and has understood the decrease of the concentration that parts contain is necessary for similar VOCs. The toluene content of parts with the highest concentration of the toluene has been decreased. The toluene concentration in the cabin has decreased by using the toluene decrease part for the vehicle.

Simpler and easier measurement method is required for ventilation rate. Improved PFT (Perfluorocarbon Tracergas) method by our group, which is a passive constant emission and passive sampling system, is applied in this paper. In order to verify the precision of PFT method, field measurements were conducted using three tracer gas techniques (PFT passive constant-emission, SF6 constant-injection and CO2 constant-concentration method) in a multi-family residential building with pressure control chambers. Differential pressures between indoor and outdoor were measured simultaneously and ventilation rates were calculated. Four measurement methods were applied simultaneously under four ventilation conditions. PFT method may include its unique errors referred from passive technique and might overestimate AERs (Air Exchange Rates) in cyclic reversal conditions of airflow. Under all other conditions except PFT method of condition 3, the results obtained from four methods agreed well with each other. In addition, as a result of the numerical calculation, the PFT method was suggested that it might have possibility to overevaluate a ventilation rate when the reversing cycle was relatively long over the stationary state arrival time. Under disturbance conditions except a long term cyclic reversal of airflow, however, the availability of PFT method for ventilation rate was verified.

Fundamental evaluation of the performance field experiment and model experiment of air-conditioning system with floor thermal storage were analysed on following 3 aspects. 1) The temperature distribution to the floor slab was able to be confirmed by the distributed temperature sensor on the field measured data. 2) The domination of the system was able to be verified by understanding the building heat characteristic based on the comparison of a variety driving patterns. 3) The influence that the supply temperature and the supply distance gave to the amount of the thermal storage was able to be confirmed by the model experiment.

The purpose of this study was to calculate future energy consumption in case new improvement glass facade design is adopted. At fast, glass facade buildings in Tokyo were investigated through the use of the architectural magazines. Questionnaire was consisted of glass facade detail survey. 'Total energy consumption figure calculated from PAL simulated by a heat and air transfer system simulation program for building and from total glass area. If increasing rate of glass area was small and "PAL = 200" and "Efficient heat source system" were innovated, energy consumption from glass facade buildings was heiow the 2008 value. It was understood mat beefing up the current standards drastically and innovating the method of thermal high-performance design of building facade were needed.

Recent years, a great number of simulation programs for a HVAC system are developed with the increase of computational capacity. Some of them have a modular structure to improve flexibility and reusability. In this paper, abstract class of HVAC devices was developed to give modules greater independence. Using template method pattern and adopter pattern, new modules were easily added without compiling whole program such as numeric solvers or user interfaces. Three HVAC components written in different programming languages (namely, C#, C++, and Basic) were simultaneously solved. Components from HVACSIM+(J) and TRNSYS written in FORTRAN also worked effectively.

Subjective experiments were conducted in order to investigate the effect of indoor humidity on subjective thermal comfort under the constant SET^* conditions. Two levels of SET^*, SET^*26℃ and SET^*28℃, were set. Four relative humidity conditions, 35%RH, 55%RH, 65%RH and 75%RH, were examined for each SET^*, adjusting the air temperature. Subjects were exposed in a climate chamber for 180 minutes. They were asked to walk up and down 12 steps every 10-minute during the first 90 minute, 20 steps every 5-minute during next 15 minutes, and then 12 steps every 10-minute again during the last 75 minutes. Effects of indoor humidity on subjectve thermal comfort, humidity sensation were moderate under the steady state. It would be because of higher temperature at lower humidity in order SET^* to be kept at constant for 4 humidity conditions. People felt the air was warmer and reported greater discomfort at high humidity when their metaboric rate was higher. Subjective dryness sensation was lower under the transient conditions with 1.6met of metabolic rate than steady state with 1.2met. It was observed that their skin moisture was significantly higher at high humidity even under the constant SET^* conditions.

In the improvement of the air quality of indoors, it is necessary to determine the kind and the concentration of the chemical substances that emit from building products and production parts. In this paper, the investigation of the following three items was executed. 1. The background concentration and the background substances of three kinds of bags (PVF, FEP, ALF) were evaluated. 2. A standard solution was dropped to the bag and the collection rate of each VOC substances was measured. 3. The calculation of the Emission rate was tried by measuring VOC emitted from permeate tube using the Bag method. In these experiments we found that the background concentration of FEP was the lowest in three kinds of bags. It was confirmed that collection rate of DEHP was low. But Some VOCs such as toluene was a high collection rate. Moreover, emission rate from the bag method is steady from stirring it when sampling it.

In previous studies, it was difficult to evaluate the productivity only by task performance. In this study, we tried to evaluate productivity not only by task performance but also by human reaction, which especially meant fatigue. Fatigue was measured by subjective votes and biological signal, which were human voice and flicker value. It is said that the Lyapunov index of human voice has possibility to evaluate fatigue. The experiment was conducted under the condition of 800k and 3k to examine the effect of light environment on productivity. Subjects were fourteen. As a result of the experiment, we could not find a significant difference on task performance of addition task between 31x and 8001x conditions. On the other hand, the increasing rate of symptoms from subjective votes was significantly higher on 3k conditions than on 800k, and a standard deviation of Lyapunov index of "g", "p" increased more under 3k than 800k. There were significant differences on fatigue in the experiment.

A subjective experiment was conducted to examine the influence of road traffic noise on productivity. Multiplication task or short-term memorization task were assigned to thirty-two subjects in the indoor environment with only background noise (LAeq32dB) or with recorded road traffic noise (LAeq70dB). As a result, subjects evaluated the environment with road traffic noise as significantly unacceptable and discomfort compared to the environment with only background noise. From the correlation analysis, subjects who reported higher acceptability on the indoor environment tended to be less tired and were able to maintain higher concentration on task. The evaluation of indoor environment by occupants can be related to their state at work.

Demand for electric power in private sector is increasing year by year in Japan. Especially during summer season, a high demand for electricity exists due to cooling load. Since an excess of capacity reduces the efficiency of electrical power plant, load leveling is needed. Natrium-Sulfur (NaS) energy storage system is a new technology that provides load leveling. In this paper, actual operation performance of NaS energy storage system was evaluated based on real operating data collected from building management system. Efficiency of NaS energy storage system was 73% including power conversion system (PCS). Power consumption of auxiliary machine (mostly electrical heater) was also measured and reported. Total efficiency of NaS storage system was evaluated in a correlation with average outdoor air temperature, and takes value between 50%~65%.

Subjective experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of humidity on human comfort and productivity under transient conditions from hot and humid environment to thermally neutral condition. Two climate chambers, "Chamber 1" and "Chamber 2", adjoined each other were used for this study. Subjects were exposed to 30 degrees C/70%RH air in Chamber 1 for 15 min with 2.0 met of metabolic rate. Then they moved into Chamber 2, where 4 humidity conditions, 30, 40, 50 and 70%RH were examined. Air temperature was adjusted to keep SET* constant at 25.2 degrees C for all conditions. Subjects were exposed in Chamber 2 for 180 min performing 2 kinds of simulated office work.Positive effects of low humidity on subjective pleasantness were found under transient condition at low humidity due to more evaporation from human body, while no significant difference in thermal sensation and humidity sensation among 4 relative humidity levels was obtained. Subjective performance was found to be at the same level under all conditions. However, subjects reported to be more tired at 70%RH after humidity step change. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Subjective experiments with task conditioning systems, 3DU(+), PEM, TU, and RCU were conducted to investigate the effect of three different types of Task air-conditioning systems on thermal comfort in a climate chamber. The chamber was conditioned at 28 degrees C/50%RH with task systems and 26 degrees C/50%RH without them. Under the condition with the task conditioning systems, the average rating of comfort sensation was between comfortable (0) and slightly uncomfortable (-1). For males it was between -0.5 and -0.7 and for females between -0.3 and -0.4. This was equal to or even better than that in condition without task system. It was found that these systems were effective in providing thermal comfort. The parts to which subjects wanted to diffuse air were different for each system. However, the individual control of task conditioning system contributed to create the preferred environment. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In recent years, natural ventilation system is widely used for sustainable buildings. However, systems without proper managements and maintenances are often observed. Noise and pollution are major problems in the urban environment. Wide investigation was conducted for 72 buildings. The reason of less use of natural ventilation system was investigated by the field measurements and questionnaire to the designers, building managers and occupants. The reasons are classified into three categories, 1) complains of occupants, 2) control system of natural ventilation, 3) clear understanding of the natural ventilation system by building managers and occupants. It is found that the actual use time of natural ventilation system tends to decrease and that the designers need to keep contact to the building managers and check whether the system run without problem for long time after it starts to be operated. Sustainable operation was discussed in this paper.

The current status of Japanese office buildings is taken as an example and the balance of environmental concerns and office productivity are discussed. To promote the effort for energy conservation, it is important to estimate the indoor environmental quality from the aspect of office workers' productivity. Our experiments on the effect of moderately high temperature on productivity are noted. They showed that the effects of thermal environment on task performance were contradictory among the task types. However, the subjects complained of the feeling of mental fatigue more, and more cerebral blood flow was required to maintain the same level of task performance in the hot condition than at a thermal neutral condition. For evaluating task performance, the cost of maintaining performance, namely, fatigue and mental effort, is important in evaluating and predicting productivity. For long periods of exposure, indoor air temperature has effects on workers' performance.

This study reports results from two different experiments examining reactions between ozone and common building materials that can lead to the formation of secondary products and particulate-phase materials. Monitored species include sub-micron particles and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In the first set of experiments, various building materials were placed in a 20 L stainless-steel chamber and exposed to ozone. The materials included expanded polystyrene, a natural rubber adhesive, cedar board, Japanese Cyprus board and silver fir board, as well as d-limonene, which is a known constituent of certain woods and cleaning products. The combination of ozone and either d-limonene, cedar board or cypress board produced sub-micron particles, with most of the increase occurring in the size range of 0.01-0.5 mu m diameter. This was not observed for the other materials. In the case of cedar board, the consequence of ozone exposure over an extended time interval was monitored. As the exposure time elapsed, the concentration of sub-micron particles moderately decreased. In the second set of experiments, unwaxed or waxed plastic tiles were placed in the 20 L chamber and exposed to ozone. Sub-micron particles and organic compounds were measured during the course of the experiments. In the case of the waxed tile, the number of 0.0 1-1.0 mu m size particles grew about 50 x 108 particles m(-3); particle growth was significantly less for the un-waxed tile. For both the waxed and un-waxed tiles, the emission rates of heptane, nonane, nonanal, and decanal increased after ozone was added to the supply air. (However, it is not clear if some or all of this production was due to ozone reacting with the sorbent used for sampling or with compounds captured by the sorbent.) This study provides further evidence that ozone-initiated reactions with building materials can be a significant source of both sub-micron particles and secondary organic compounds in indoor environments. (C) 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Subjective experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of humidity on human comfort and productivity under transient conditions from hot and humid environment to thermally neutral condition. Two climate chambers, "Chamber 1" and "Chamber 2", adjoined eath other were used for this study. Subjects were exposed to 30℃/70%RH air in Chamber 1 for 15 minutes with 2.0 met of metabolic rate. Then they moved into Chamber 2, where 4 humidity conditions, 30%RH, 40%RH, 50%RH and 70%RH were examined. Air temperature were adjusted to keep SET constant at 25.2℃ for all conditions. Subjects were exposed in Chamber 2 for 180 minutes performing 2 kinds of simulated office work. Skin wettedness and skin moisture declined more at low relative humidity just after moving into Chamber 2. Subjects reported greater pleasantness at 30%RH and 40%RH than at 50%RH and 70%RH, while no significant difference in thermal sensation, comfort sensation and humidity sensation among 4 relative humidity levels was obtained. Though significant differences in the task performance among conditions were not found for 3 hours test, subjective complaints related to fatigue at 50%RH and 70%RH were higher than at 30%RH and 40%RH.

The impact of the work motivation on the occupants' work performance of serial one-figure addition task and proofreading task was studied in two conditions, i.e., the condition A under cool condition (22℃) and the condition B under neutral condition (25℃). During the occupancy of 120 minutes under each condition, the subjects performed the above tasks with financially motivated situation and without motivated situation. The subjects also answered the questionnaire, which asked the indoor environmental quality and sick building syndrome symptoms during the conditions. It was found that there was significant difference in the performance of theses two tasks between the motivated situation and the non-motivated situation. Under the motivated situation, the performance curve of the addition task performed under condition A and that under condition B were alike in shape. The shape of the performance curve under condition A with non-motivated situation was similar to those with motivated situation. The performance of addition task was well correlated with the thermal acceptability vote for the motivated situation. On the other hand, the good correlation was not found between the performance and thermal acceptability for the non-motivated situation.

In Korea, sick house syndrome has been a major social concern recently. From May 2004, Indoor Air Quality Management Act regarding public buildings and newly built apartment buildings has been being enforced in Korea. Korean government supports researches on the actual conditions of this subject and makes efforts to regulate indoor air pollution. This study has been conducted to understand the present state of indoor air pollution by chemical pollutants in newly built Korean housing. Including two model houses, seven newly built houses were surveyed in January and in June. Investigation was conducted on indoor air concentration of chemical pollutants, passive flux from building materials, ventilation rate, temperature and relative humidity. We used a passive measurement methods developed by us, which are composed of passive diffusive samplers, ADSEC (Advanced Diffusive Sampling Emission Cell) for passive flux, vials containing PET for ventilation rate. In all of the surveyed houses except model houses, the concentrations of formaldehyde and VOCs which main ingredients were toluene, methylbenzene and xylene were high and exceeded the guideline value of Japan. The air exchange rates were 0.2〜0.3 ACH under the closed windows and without mechanical ventilation operation according to the indoor air standard sampling method in newly built apartment buildings.

This study discusses the reasons for the inconsistency between the glass and the acrylic desiccator methods which have been used in Japan to classify building materials for the emission rate of formaldehyde. Evidences from experiments showed that the theoretical equations used in the glass desiccator method were not applicable to the acrylic desiccator method. Three-dimensional models for the two desiccators were built for numerical calculations to analyze emission, diffusion and absorption associated with the desiccator methods. The results showed that the time to reach the steady state in the acrylic desiccator method is much long which deviates from the conditions of the equations to apply. Smaller exposed area of the testing materials and larger volume of the desiccator in the acrylic desiccator method are included as the major factors for the delay in the formation of steady state.

Concentrations of acetaldehyde and the ventilation rates were measured in an experimental house for three years. And the emission rates from the materials were measured using small chambers. 1) The concentrations of acetaldehyde changed with the temperature for three years. 2) The influence of the temperature and the concentration upon the emission rate of acetaldehyde was lower than the influence in the case of formaldehyde. 3) The emission rates of acetaldehyde from the materials in three years were as same as the rate from the materials in two years.

Recently, indoor air pollution caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from building materials is known as sick building syndrome or multiple chemical sensitivity. As the countermeasure for this indoor air chemical pollution problems, building code was amended in 2002 and it was enforced in 2003. Labeling system of building material corresponding to formaldehyde emission rate is also started in Japan. Although the emission rate measurement with small test chamber based on JIS A 1901 has already been conducted, the existing methods for emission rate measurement require large-scale instruments and they are not always suitable for measuring a large number of building materials. This paper reports the results of numerical analysis of VOCs emission rate from building materials in various passive type flux measurement cell and the performance of these cells are to be clear. Furthermore, in order to supplement the emission rate data from various passive type flux measurement cell, we propose the index of effective diffusion length scale, 'L_d" and report on the analytical results.

In this study, office work productivity was evaluated by performance and fatigue. Experiments were conducted under Task and Ambient Lighting (TAL) system, to examine the effect of controlling illuminance level on work desk with task lights. Twelve male subjects were exposed in the experimental chamber conditioned at 25℃, 40%RH, and 700lx. Three conditions were compared, which were 700lx under Ambient Lighting system, 700lx under TAL system with controllable task lights, and 700lx under TAL system with uncontrollable task lights. When the subjects could not control the task lights, performance was significantly lower than that when they can control the task lights. Although there was no significant difference on the complaints of fatigue between controllable and uncontrollable task light, the correlation between fatigue and performance showed that 10% increase of complaints on fatigue might result in 6.5% decrease of performance. We also calculated the cost effectiveness of productivity in the case of this experiment. The cost effect increased by performance improvement was big because of the high personnel cost. The individual control system in the light environment was cost-effectiveness.

Subjective experiments were conducted in order to evaluate the effects of air temperature and humidity on subjective thermal comfort. Three levels of air temperature, 25℃, 28℃, 30℃ were set. Three humidity conditions, 30%RH, 50%RH, 70%RH were examined for each air temperature. The effects of air humidity were great at high air temperature or high humidity, although those were found to be moderate under the thermally neutral conditions. Subjective humidity sensation were not affected by the air temperature at 30%RH and 50%RH. No differences were obtained among conditions in odour intensity, acceptability of odour, and BUT. The results gotten in these experiments were conpaired with the data obtained in the subjective experiments carried out at Waseda University by Tanabe and Kimura and the subjective experiments at KSU by Rohles et al. The higher correlations between SET* and subjective thermal sensation vote and between SET^* and comfort sensation vote were found than between PMV and thermal sensation and between PMV and comfort sensation vote. It is concluded that the effects of humidity on thermal comfort can be estimated by using SET^*.

This paper presents a method to develop and tune HVAC system models with BMS data using recurrent neural networks (RNN). To update RNN models automatically online, we eliminate ad hoc adjustment technique in three points. One is in selection of inputs variables. We propose a method of calculating the necessity of input variables with using connections' weights of neurons. Second is in the selection of hidden layers unit numbers. We introduce "Cross-validation" method and it gives criterion to evaluate parametric model. Last is in selection of training data. We apply cluster analysis to BMS data to evaluate scarcity of data. Proposed approaches are tested real measurements of actual buildings in Japan.

The human thermoregulation model COM (Complex Thermal Environment Comfort Model) was developed, incorporating the blood flow model for extremities and the conductive heat transfer model at contacting skin surfaces. The whole body model has 17 body segments, each consisting of 2 compartments for core and skin. Each core compartment of extremities has artery and vein blood pool in its center. The central blood compartment exchanges heat with blood pools and the tissues except extremities. The heat balance equations for each tissue are described. The current model is able to predict fairly well for the body temperature distribution under unsteady state conditions.

Subjective experiments with a desktop based task conditioning system were carried out to investigate the benefits of system in an office like chamber. The experiments were conducted under three different combinations of ambient air temperature and relative humidity, (1) 27℃/40%RH, (2) 30℃/40%RH, and (3) 30℃/70%RH. Each of 16 college age subjects was exposed to the three different experimental room air conditions. There were six supply air flow patterns for task air conditioning, which parameters included isothermal air flow and non-isothermal airflow with three different air velocities. Setting of task condition was fixed at first, and then the subjects were allowed to control the environment freely after certain period in the subjective experiments. Thermal sensation, airflow sensation, and other variable were investigated. The way the subjects controlled the task system was also monitored. It was considered that the task conditioning system could keep subjects thermally comfortable with their ambient temperature higher than condition without it. Questionnaire responses under the 'preferred air' condition revealed the importance of adjustment of task conditioning.

The concentrations of formaldehyde and the ventilation rates were measured in an experimental house for two years. The emission rates from the materials were separately measured by using of a small chamber. It was found that the concentrations in the house was increased during the summer season. The total emission amount in the ventilated room was about 10 times as large as that in the non-ventilated room. The emission rates from the materials in the ventilated room were 70% of those from the materials in the non-ventilated room. Emission from particle board was lasted for two years experiment.

Subjective experiments were conducted in a climatic chamber to evaluate the effect of individual control of air velocity on productivity of office work. Computer-based tasks simulating typical office work were asked to subjects. Not only task performance but also subjective fatigue was measured. Under the condition of constant air velocity (CAV) subjects were not allowed to control air velocity and under the condition of preferred air velocity (PAV) they were allowed to control it. The chamber was conditioned at air temperatures and mean radiant temperature of 31℃, and relative humidity of 50%. The acceptability of air velocity of PAV was significantly higher than that of CAV. There was no significant difference of task performance between CAV and PAV. According to the evaluation of subjective symptoms of fatigue, the rate of complaint on the mental fatigue was higher at CAV than that at PAV. Providing individual control of air velocity was able to reduce subjective feeling of mental fatigue.

A large chamber for measurement of VOCs emission rates from building materials and furniture was developed. The chamber system is consisted of a stainless inner chamber operated slightky above atmospheric pressure, an outer chamber, which controls temperature of the inner chamber, and an air control unit, which supplies purified air. It is able to control humidity and ventilation rate of the inner chamber. The measurement of YOCs emission rates from system kitchen units were performed using the large chamber.

Synopsis : A modified 65MN(Multi-Nodes) thermoregulation model is tested for the evaluation of the skin temperature distributionin each body part under solar radiation. The present model can be also applicable for the coupled analysis of CFD and radiation. Skin surface temperature distributions predicted by this model are compared with those by subjective experiments in the real scale experimental atrium under solar radiation. Predicted each skin surface temperature almost corresponds to that of subjective experiment with the accuracy around 1 degree Celsius difference. However, the prediction accuracy on the legs and arms is poor by comparison with that on other body parts, which must be required the improvement of prediction accuracy on the legs and arms. As a whole, the present model is a useful tool for the prediction of skin surface temperature distribution under solar radiation.

The purpose of this survey is to clarify the status of standards on ventilation requirements for residential buildings in European and North American countries. This paper reports the minimum ventilation rate for the residential buildings in eleven countries which are described in the literatures. The airflow rate and air change rate are calculated for a model house proposed by The Architectural Institute of Japan. As a result, the values of air change rate is around 0.5 ACH in almost all countries.

Subjective experiments with a non-isothermal task conditioning system were conducted to investigate impacts of the system on thermal comfort and productivity in a climate chamber of Kanto-Gakuin University. Japan. All subjects participated in 'default condition test: 26℃/50%RH' at first. Then a half of the same subjects participated in 'standard condition test: 26℃/50%RH' and the remainder subjects participated in 'task-ambient test: 30℃/50%RH+TAC', just one week later again separately. Thermal, humidity, comfort sensations, and other psychological factors were investigated. The way the subjects controlled the task system was also monitored. In addition to that, subjective productivity was investigated from the subjective, physiological/mental, and performance assessment points of view. It was considered that the task conditioning system could keep people thermally comfortable even in 30℃/50%RH condition. Local thermal sensation was improved with TAC operation. Subjective symptom voting showed that the TAC operation had advantage to alleviate fatigue compared to the case without it.

Resently, Task/Ambient Air Conditioning System is widely used for improving the thermal environment and meeting the individual requirements for thermal comfort condition. The purpose of this study is to clarify the thermal comfort of Task Unit with isothermal air flow. In this study, we carried out the experiments at ambient air temperatures of 24, 26, 28, 30℃ and supply air velocity of 0.34, 0.69, 1.17, 1.77, 2.50m/s using the Task Unit. From the measurement results, the cooling effect of the upper body was confirmed by the thermal manikin experiment. Thermal sensation votes were strongly related with ambient air temperature. Under the 28℃ condition, thermal sensation vote reached nearly neutral by using 0.34, 0.69m/s isothermal air flow. In the preferred velocity conditions, subjects felt the air flow more preferable than fixed velocity conditions. The effectiveness of this Task Unit system was confirmed under moderate high temperature condition.

Designing semi-outdoor environments such as atria or open-style cafes is a popular technique in modern architecture to provide occupants with natural outdoor elements in an artificial environment. Occupants are likely to expect a thermal environment differing from the indoors, and thermal adaptation is expected to play a major role in achieving comfort. Seasonal field surveys were conducted in four semi-outdoor environments for short-term occupancy with different levels of environmental control. Observations were made on occupancy conditions and clothing adjustments. Sets of 2,248 questionnaires and corresponding thermal environmental data were also collected throughout the survey. Clothing adjustment was affected largely by outdoor temperature and less by the immediate thermal environment. Number of occupants and time of occupancy decreased following the daily mean air temperature decrease in non-air-conditioned semi-outdoor environments. Occupants in semi-outdoor environments were tolerant of a two to three times wider range of environmental conditions compared to that predicted by PPD. ©2004 ASHRAE.

Subjective experiments were conducted both in summer and winter in order to clarify the effects of humidity environment and indoor chemical pollutants on subjective comfort and productivity, and evaluate the seasonal difference of their reactions. Subjects were exposed to the three levels of humidity conditions and two indoor air quality levels performing the simulated office works. Concentration of formaldehyde was lower in low humidity environment. The effects of environmental humidity and indoor air quality on subjective thermal comfort were moderate under thermally neutral conditions in both seasons. Perceived air quality was affected by indoor air quality under the polluted condition and by humidity environment under the clean condition. Irritations of mucous were found under polluted conditions in winter though they were not found in summer. Environmental humidity had larger effects on skin moisture than indoor air quality. Subjective performance was higher under clean condition than polluted condition with same humidity. Subjective performance was higher and their dificulty of concentration was lower under high humidity than that under low humidity in winter. The seasonal differences of eye dryness, BUT and skin moisture were found.

In January 2003, JIS A1901 on "Determination of the emission of volatile organic compounds and aldehydes for building products -Small chamber method" was published. We have proposed and developed a small chamber for determining chemical emission rates from building materials. In this paper, the performance characteristics of small chamber were examined especially background concentration, airtightness and mass transfer coefficient in the chamber. The performance test method was proposed because that was not clearly stated in related standards. The measurement method for mass transfer coefficient by used the filter paper is applicable for the calibration with the measurement for evaporation-controlled materials. Several small chambers have been used to determine chemical emissions for building materials. However, it is difficult to compare with the result from different chambers. In this paper, formaldehyde concentration with two small chambers was discussed by the relation with loading factor (L) and ventilation rate (n). It was observed that it has possibility to compare with the linear of n/L versus 1/C with used the equilibrium concentration for the segment.

Emission rates of aldehydes and VOCs from wall coverings and powder type adhesives for wall coverings were investigated by using a small chamber. First, the measurements of emission rates were carried out for 16 types of wall covering materials. It was observed that the emission of formaldehyde from one of the samples was 17μg/m^2h after one day, though that from almost all samples was less than 2μg/m^2h. The emission from wall coverings was much lower than the other building materials like floorings. Next, the measurements of emission rates were carried out for 3 types of powder type adhesives for wall covering materials. The emission for TVOC was very low with around 25μg/m^2h, but one of them for formaldehyde was high with 40μg/m^2h. It was found that all powder type adhesives were not low emission.

Surface weighting factors of the whole human body for both standing and seated postures are calculated based on the numerical calculation of angle factors for the simple prediction of the thermal radiation field. To verify the validity of these factors, they are compared with previous results by Nakamura or Olesen. As a result, surface weighting factors are different from previous results which are always constant independent of the scale of indoor spaces. Especially, surface weighting factor to the under surface for a standing posture is approximately 4 times larger than that of Nakamura in the small indoor spaces. The position of human body and the scale of indoor spaces have influence on surface weighting factors. In addition, appropriate surface weighting factors are proposed corresponding to the scale of indoor spaces, which enables to the accurate prediction of the thermal radiation field.

In order to clarify the effects of low humidity caused by the use of different types of contact lenses, the subjective experiments were carried out during the summer season. Total of 37 college-aged subjects, namely 10 ones with naked eyes, 7 with hard contact lenses, 10 with soft contact lenses and 10 with glasses, were exposed to 4 different conditions for 180 minutes. In all conditions, SET^* was kept constant at 25.2℃. As the results of experiments, the sensations of eye dryness and discomfort caused by wearing contact lenses were observed. Break up time of hard contact lenses wearers tended to be shorter than that with naked eyes, while the environmental humidity did not affect on their break up time. It was concluded that the effects of wearing contact lenses on subjects' eyes were stronger than that of environmental humidity.

A questionnaire survey on the possession of electric appliances and its influence on the energy consumption in household were conducted in 1996. It was found that the increase in the consumption of residential electricity was due to the use of higher number of electric appliances. This reflects the higher economic status of the household and their life style. The relationship between electric consumption for lighting and others and the influencing factor is evaluated by using the multi-variate analysis. The results of this study are expected to provide fundamental information in order to enhance residents' awareness of the importance of energy conservation.

Subjective experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of environmental condition of buffer space on thermal comfort in succeeding environment. Climate chamber was divided into 3 rooms and controlled to represent indoor, buffer, and outdoor spaces, where subjects made successive transitions from indoor to outdoor and back. Two separate thermal sensation scales were used to distinguish subjective votes describing the thermal state of environment and subject himself. A clear impact of environmental condition was observed on physiological parameters, though only minor influence was found for thermal and comfort sensations in post-transition period. The effect was negligible 30 minutes after transition.

Subjective experiments were conducted in a climatic chamber to evaluate the effect of thermal environment on productivity. Chamber was conditioned at operative temperatures of 25.5℃, 28℃, or 33℃. The effects of thermal environment on task performance were modest and contradictory among the task types. According to the evaluation of fatigue feeling, the subjects most complained of mental fatigue at 33℃. The cerebral blood oxygenation was monitored by the near infrared spectroscopy. Concentration of total and oxygenated hemoglobin increased and that of deoxygenated hemoglobin decreased at 33℃. Evaluation of fatigue feeling and monitoring cerebral blood oxygenation might be applied to the measurement of productivity.

Thermal comfort for car occupants is important factor for automotive design. We have been developing efficient solar reduction glass for vehicles. We also developed a numerical simulator to predict and evaluate the thermal environment and thermal comfort in vehicles. In this simulation, firstly distribution of solar radiation energy through the glass can be calculated actually, and then temperature and air flow distribution, and human comfort can be computed by a combined analysis of CFD (computational fluid dynamics), thermal radiation and body temperature control model which corresponds to shapes of a vehicle and human body. The thermal environment differences between solar reduction glass and normal glass should be clear, which makes the effects of functional glass clear from the view point of human comfort. We can calculate comprehensive situations and indices of thermal comfort evaluation. Using this simulator, it was confirmed quantitatively that Asahi Glass's solar reduction glass could reduce the air-conditioning power than normal glass in summer condition. Further more, it was confirmed quantitatively that our functional glass could supply more comfortable environment for passengers inside car occupants. This result shows the latest value of automotive glass depending on human feelings. Copyright © 2003 SAE International.

A small-scale chamber, ADPAC, was developed to measure chemical emission rates from building materials. Measurement results from wall covering adhesive, flooring, and insulation materials were shown in this paper. The test pieces with wall covering adhesives were produced at the day of measurement. First measurement was conducted 15 hours after the production of the test piece, when chemical concentration in the chamber was considered to be steady state. Measurements were repeated after 4, 7, 14, and 28 days. It was found that emission of formaldehyde was observed even for the product indicated of "non-formalin". Emission rates were higher during the first day, but decreased rapidly after 1 or 2 weeks. Flooring materials and thermal insulation material EPS were also evaluated.

The purpose of this study is to clarify thermal comfort and ventilation effectiveness of displacement ventilation system ia a music hall which requires large outdoor air for the ventilation. Displacement ventilation is characterized by naturally generated stratification in density (thermal) and scalar concentration (pollutant). It was considered appropriate to keep good indoor air quality even if reducing the amount of outdoor air. The black lamp was installed in all seats in order to simulate the heat source from the audience. From the measurement result, the local mean age of air in the respiration point of the displacement ventilation system was about 1/3 of the complete mixing condition. The horizontal distribution of local mean age of air in the occupied zone was little. Vertical temperature distribution in the occupied zone was within an acceptable range, and the horizontal temperature distribution of the hall was almost uniform. It was found that the displacement ventilation system maintained comfortable thermal environment with relatively high air conditioning load, while it kept indoor air quality in the occupied zone within an acceptable range.

This paper aims at clarifying the influence that the ventilation characteristics have on formaldehyde concentration in a house. The indoor formaldehyde concentration, ventilation rates and routes have been measured using an experimental house. The formaldehyde concentration has been calculated by characteristics of emission rates. It was found that the room in which polluted air flows is higher than that of an inflow of outdoor air. It is important to design ventilation routes into which polluted air doesn't flow. The calculated concentration is consistent with the measurement results excluding the period after being made airtight. After being sealed, the experiment value decreased gently as compared with the calculation value.

Field surveys were conducted at an office with multinational workers in Japan to investigate the differences in the way groups of occupants perceive the environment under real working conditions. Returned questionnaires, 406 in total, were classified into three groups according to their nationality and sex. Only 26% of workers reported their working environment to be comfortable. A significant neutral temperature difference of 3.1 °C was observed between the Japanese female group and the non-Japanese male group under their usual working conditions. Japanese females reported a higher frequency of sick building syndrome related symptoms compared to other groups. Occupant comfort and reported frequency of SBS symptoms were closely related to deviation of the thermal sensation vote from neutral. The thermal environment was found to be a major factor affecting occupant comfort in the concerned office. Differences in the perception of the indoor environment were negatively affecting the ratings of their working environment. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The 65-node thermoregulation model was developed, based on the Stolwijk model. The model has 16 body segments corresponding to the thermal manikin, each consisting of four layers for core, muscle, fat and skin. The 65th node in the model is the central blood compartment, which exchanges convective heat with all other nodes via the blood flow. Convective and radiant heat transfer coefficients and clothing insulation were derived from the thermal manikin experiments. A thermoregulation model combined with radiation exchange model and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is proposed. The comprehensive simulation method is described. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

A calculation method combined with measurements for predicting convective heat transfer coefficient at skin surface of thermal manikin under solar radiation is proposed. Present method is based on a calculation of steady state heat balance on skin surface of thermal manikin by the numerical simulation of solar radiation and thermal radiation combined with measurements of indoor climate and thermal manikin. Convective heat transfer coefficient at skin surface of thermal manikin is predicted in air-cooling conditions including the insulation effect of solar radiation on thermal manikin in an experimental atrium. As results, (1)it is considered convective heat transfer coefficient at each skin surface is affected by the velocity distribution of the thermal manikin. (2)No significant difference is found in convective heat transfer coefficient at each skin surface whether direct solar radiation reaches the thermal manikin or not. (3)Mean air velocity derived by convective heat transfer coefficient of whole body almost corresponds weigted mean measured velocity, and ratio of mean air velocity also corresponds to that of the supply air velocity in each case.

The aim of the study is to propose a prediction method of indoor Formaldehyde concentration based on the emission characteristics in small chambers for a full-scale experimental house. Concentrations of Formaldehyde, temperatures, humidity, ventilation rates and routes, and emission rates from the interior surface were compared with the predicted data. It was found that indoor concentrations calculated with the emission rates using FLEC and the ventilation rates agreed well with the measured results. Indoor concentration was influenced by temperature and ventilation rate, and it decreased gradually by time. The speed of decay was lower than that in small chambers. The predicted indoor concentrations considering the decay speed aereed well with the measured results.

To alleviate worker's thermal discomfort in a moderately hot environment, a new cooling vest was designed and proposed in this paper. To investigate the effect of the cooling vest and to collect the knowledge for the design of comfortable cooling vest, subjective experiments were conducted. Two kinds of cooling vests, the new one and the commercially available one, were used for comparison. The new cooling vest had more insulation and its surface temperature was higher than the commercially available one. Experiments were performed in the climatic chamber where operative temperature was controlled at 30.2°C and relative humidity was at 37% under still air. In addition, experiment without cooling vest was carried out as a control condition. The results obtained in these experiments were as follow: 1) By wearing both types of cooling vest, the whole body thermal sensation was closer to the neutral conditions than those without cooling vest. This effect was estimated to be equal to the 5.7°C decrement of operative temperature. The subjects felt more comfortable with the cooling vest than without it. They felt more thermally acceptable than that without cooling vest. Wearing the cooling vest was useful to decrease the sweating sensation. 2) The local discomfort was observed when the local thermal sensation was "cool"∼"cold" with the cooling vest. 3) The new cooling vest kept the skin temperature at chest at about 32.6°C. On the other hand, by wearing the commercially available one, it lowered to about 31.1°C. By wearing the new cooling vest, there was a tendency that local thermal sensation vote was higher and local comfort sensation vote was more comfortable than those of the condition wearing the commercially available one. It is important for the design of a comfortable cooling garment to prevent over-cool down from the body.

A numerical simulation method is presented for the evaluation of thermal comfort of car occupants under direct solar radiation. Present method is based on a comprehensive combined analysis with multi-node thermoregulation model, which is integrated by the 65-node thermoregulation model (65MN: Multi Nodes) based on the Stolwijk model, radiation model including thermal radiation and solar radiation, and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). This paper focuses on the outlines of each numerical simulation method and discusses on the human body shape for predicting accurate boundary conditions of thermoregulation model. Applications of this method to car occupants are presented in the Part 2. Copyright © 2002 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

Thermal comfort for car occupants is important factor for automotive design. We have been developing the numerical simulator for the prediction of the thermal environment and thermal comfort in vehicles. In the previous paper, the comprehensive combined analysis method with multi-node thermoregulation model, radiation model and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) is proposed. In this paper, the applications of this method to car occupants are presented. We focused on investigating the effects of glass properties on thermal environment of compartment and thermal comfort for passengers. The calculated results were compared every part of glazing, front windshield, front sidelite and rear sidelite in summer condition. It was found that the differences of air temperature between normal glass glazing and functional one are not so much but the differences of human feeling are significant. Further more, the effects of functional glass on the reduction of air-conditioning power are simulated. This simulator was a useful tool for investigating the thermal environment differences between solar reduction glass and normal glass clear, which enable to make the effects of functional glass clear from the view point of thermal comfort. Copyright © 2002 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

To evaluate the effect of a cooling vest, subjective experiments were conducted in a climatic chamber. The chamber was controlled at an operative temperature of 33.0℃, relative humidity of 37%, and still air. The proposed cooling vest has ice bags inside. The skin temperature at cooling parts was kept about 33℃. There was no significant difference in the total sweat rate, evaporative heat loss from the skin, and skin wettedness of the subjects between when the cooling vest was worn and when it was not. Sweating sensations were significantly lower when the cooling vest was worn. Thermal and comfort sensations were closer to the neutral conditions when the cooling vest was worn. This effect was estimated to be equal to a 3℃ decrease of operative temperature. The whole body comfort sensation was greatly affected by the whole body thermal sensation. Excess cooling caused local thermal discomfort. When designing of comfortable cooling garments, it is important to decrease the whole body thermal sensation effectively and to prevent the body from cooling down excessively.

Six seasonal surveys were conducted to investigate the characteristics of indoor environment and occupant comfort in a high density heat load office building with multi-national workers. Horizontal air temperature difference of 4.6℃ was observed on the same floor. Indoor air quality was generally within the existing level of IAQ standards. Occupant comfort and reported frequency of SBS related symptoms were closely related to thermal sensation votes. A significant neutral temperature difference of 3.1℃ was observed between Japanese female occupant group and non-domestic male group. The thermal environment was found to be a major factor affecting occupant comfort in the concerned office.

Volatile organic compounds (VOC_s) and carbonyl compounds emitted from the preformed cellular plastics thermal insulation materials were measured to investigate the emission mechanisms. The emission tests were performed under 30℃ atmosphere by using the Field and Laboratory Emission Cell (FLEC). VOC_s and carbonyl compounds were determined qualitatively and quantitatively by a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The thermal insulation materials tested in this study were classified into four types, namely extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), expanded polystyrene foam (EPS), polyurethane form (PUF) and phenolic resin foam (PRF). EPS emitted styrene and toluene at emission rates ranged from 100-340 and 93-430μg/(m^2 h), respectively. These emission rates showed a good correlation (r=0.909) with densities of materials. XPS emitted low-boiling point compounds such as chlorometh-ane, chloroethane, bromomethane, or bromoethane, and showed emission rate ranged from 2300-6500, 7600-19000, 110-490 or 73-430μg/(m^2 h), respectively. The emission rates of styrene from XPS were 7.2-84μg/(m^2 h). PUF emitted 1,1-dichloro-l-fluoroethane (HCFC-141b) and showed emission rates of 790-890μg/(m^2 h). PRF emitted dichloromethane and showed emission rates of 1300-2100μg/(m^2 h). Emission rates of HCFC-141b or dichloromethane from the internal part of material were ranging from 55-77 or 4.9-5.2 times, respectively, as each surface emission rate. Emission of carbonyl compounds such as formaldehyde or acetaldehyde was not detected from all materials we tested. The field emission measurements were performed using FLEC at various places in a newly built house. It was observed that the surface of floor, ceiling board and tatami mat emitted styrene, and these emission rates were 19, 32 and 12μg/(m^2 h), respectively. It was suggested that these places emitted styrene through the thermal insulating materials (EPS), because flooring, ceiling and tatami are close to EPS and moreover tatami mat was a so-called "polystyrene tatami".

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of the environmental factors upon the concentration of formaldehyde using small chambers and to develop a prediction method of indoor air quality in houses. The results of the measured emission rates in the small chambers are asfollows. 1. The emission rate increases as temperature rises and its influence is larger than those of the other factors: the humidity, the ventilation rate, the concentration and the sink effect. 2. The emission process influences upon the emission rates and the process is influenced by these factors. 3. The characteristics of the emission rates influenced by these factors obtained from the experiments using the small chambers meet the characteristics of the calculated values using the proposed simple equations.

In order to study the behavior or the emission of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) in a newly built house, HAPs were measured at various places in residential air. In this investigation we used three different kinds of sampling method: that is, USEPA method TO-11 and TO-17 as an active sampling method for HAPs in residential air, DSD-carbonyl as a diffusive sampling method for carbonyl compounds in a closed space and FLEC (field and laboratory emission cell) as a chamber method for the determination of emission rates from building materials. As a result, the following was clarified. (1) In the newly built house before moving, the concentrations of toluene, formaldehyde, acetone and CFC-11 were higher than other compounds. (2) 1,4-dichlorobenzene and 1,1,1-trichloroethane were carried into the house by residents. (3) The emission rates of formaldehyde, acetone and CFC-11 were rapid and a wall cabinet in the kitchen emitted those compounds. (4) The concentration of formaldehyde, acetone and CFC-11 in indoor air was directly proportional to the room temperature. (5) It was recognized that the material of a wall cabinet in the kitchen emitted styrene and benzaldehyde and emission rates of those compounds were 470 and 200 μMg/(m^2 h), respectively. (6) Styrene and formaldehyde are remarkable compounds because their concentrations were very high (max 72 and 390 μg/m^3, respectively) and they are known to increase the risk of asthma and cancer.

Recent improvements in the hardware performance of telecommunication machines have allowed higher air temperature atmosphere. However, workers for maintenance must feel thermal discomfort under such a moderate heat stress. To alleviate it, new two types of cooling vests, "Cotton" and "Mesh", were designed and proposed in this paper. Subjective experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of proposed cooling vests. Four college-age male subjects and four middle-age male subjects were participated in the wear trial test. The chamber was conditioned at operative temperature of 30.2℃, relative humidity of 39%RH, and still air. By wearing new developed cooling vests, comfort sensations were closer to the neutral conditions. From comfort sensation votes it was estimated to be equal to about 1.5℃ decrement of operative temperature. Among college-age-subjects there were no significant difference in thermal sensations, but among middle-age-subjects there were the cooling effects of about 2℃ decrement of operative temperature for forty minutes. By wearing our cooling vests, the relative humidity under clothing was decreased and the sweating sensation value with the cooling vest was smaller than Control condition. The evaporative heat loss from skin with our cooling vests was about 53.5W/m^2. This value was smaller than Control condition of 68.3W/m^2.

A numerical simulation method is proposed for predicting the effective radiation area and the projected area of human body for any postures. This method is based on the solar heat gain simulation. To confirm the validity of this method, predicted effective radiation area factors and projected area factors for both standing and sitting postures are compared with those by the measurements. It was found that predicted figures are met quite well with those by the subjective experiments within 10% accuracy. The effective radiation area and the diagrams of the projected area factors for a person sitting on the floor are illustrated.

Thermal insulation of clothing is usually measured using a standing thermal manikin. In real life, however, people often sit on chairs and thermal insulation of the nude skin surface and that of clothing should be affected by the chairs. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of chairs on thermal insulation of the nude skin surface. Seventeen chairs, usually used in an office, were selected for this study. A thermal manikin was used for the thermal evaluation of the chairs. It was found that the area of the back of the chairs influenced the thermnal insulation of the manikin in general and the thermal insulation of the back of the manikin in particular as well as the contact area between the chair and the skin surface.

Thermal environments, indoor air quality, and ventilation effectiveness were measured and evaluated in an office installed both with floor-based and ceiling based systems. Two systems were compared. Major findings are as follows : 1. The horizontal air temperature gradients were within acceptable range and almost same for both systems. 2. The LPPDs were found less than 6% except 6.25% for ceiling-based system in summer. 3. Air temperatures and Δ EHTs at lower level with floor-based system tended to be cooler than those for the ceiling-based system. However the differences were not significant. 4. Subjective acceptability for indoor air quality was no difference between two systems. However lower figures were observed for floor-based airconditioning system in terms of the concentration or the number of air-born particles. 5. Ventilation performance index was greater for the floor-based system than the ceiling-based system. This field study quantitatively makes it clear that floor-based system can provide comparable thermal environment and better air quality in comparison with the ceiling-based system.

Thermal performance of the floor-supply displacement ventilation system was evaluated in a large climatic chamber designed to simulate a single span of an office building. Detailed measurements were conducted to determine the indoor environment and skin temperature of a thermal manikin. This floor-supply system could keep the temperature gradient in the room smaller because of the cooling effect through the air permeable floor. Having the heat sources lowered, the vertical temperature difference in the occupied zone became greater. Increasing the heat load, this effect was found more significant. A decrease in supply air volume caused an increase in vertical temperature difference. Having the heat sources clustered at one location, a temperature rise of 0.3-0.5℃ was observed near the heat source, but the temperature gradient was kept nearly constant throughout the room. The thermal stratification near the window was destroyed when the artificial sunlight was brought in to simulate typical summer conditions. An effect of cold draft was observed under the winter conditions, but the temperature stratification above 0.6m was kept undisturbed.

The thermal performance of a floor-supply displacement ventilation system was evaluated in a large climate chamber designed to simulate a single span of an office building. Detailed measurements were made to investigate the indoor environment and thermal characteristics of this system. The temperature gradient in the room could be kept smaller by the cooling effect of an air-permeable floor. Lowering the height of heat sources, increasing the heat load, and decreasing the supply air volume all caused greater vertical temperature differences in the occupied zone. The temperature gradient was kept nearly constant throughout the room, though a temperature rise of 0.3°C - 0.5°C (0.5°F - 0.9°F) was observed near the heat source when clustered at one location. Perimeter load caused by warm or cold windows resulted in a disorder of the thermal stratification. Thermal comfort in the perimeter zone was considerably influenced by the radiation from the window. © 1997 ASHRAE.

Results of laboratory measurements on the thermal performance of the floor-supply displacement ventilation system in comparison with a displacement ventilation system with sidewall mounted diffuser and a ceiling based distribution system are described. The experiments were performed in a controlled chamber configured to resemble a modern office space with modular workstation furniture and partitions. In addition to detailed measurements of temperature, air velocity, and tracer gas concentration, a skin temperature controlled thermal manikin was used to evaluate the non-uniformity of thermal environments produced by these systems. Thermal stratification was observed in both of the displacement ventilation systems which produced greater air temperature differences than the ceiling based system. Under the conditions of the appropriate supply air volume against indoor heat load the displacement ventilation systems could be operated to maintain acceptable thermal comfort and high ventilation efficiency in the occupant zone of the space, at the same time taking advantage of the temperature stratification to achieve energy savings in air conditioning.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate thermal comfort properties of surgical gowns made of dual functional finish cotton and nonwoven fabrics which have barrier properties of blood and micro-organism. Four types of surgical gowns, which were made of nonwoven fabrics with finish or without and were made of cotton with finish or without, were tested. The thermal insulations of four surgical gowns were measured with thermal manikin. Subjective experiments on thermal comfort, skin temperature and clothing microclimate were conducted. Six male subjects, between 26 and 28 years age old, participated in the wear trials tests. Typical activities for surgeons in the operation theater were simulated during the experimental sessions. Air temperature in a climate chamber was kept at 22℃ and its humidity was 60%RH. Air velocity was controlled at less than 0.15 m/s. Inner radiant temperature was almost equal to the air temperature. Basic thermal insulation of the dual functional finished nonwoven surgical gown was 0.87 clo, which was slightly higher than that of untreated (0.84 clo). However, the skin temperature of the subject wearing a dual functional finished surgical gown was significantly lower at P.05. When the subject wears the dual functional finished gown, the amount of sweating was less than that when wearing untreated. Microclimate temperature and humidity of dual functional finished surgical gown were lower than untreated and it was statistically significant. There was no significant difference in subjective humid and overall comfort sensation between finished and untreated ones. Thermal sensation of dual functional finished one was significantly different from untreated one only during the first exercise. The results of this study indicate that the dual functional finish surgical gown allowed heat to be transferred from the skin of subject to the atmosphere better than untreated. The nonwoven surgical gown showed no difference in comfort properties from cotton one.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of body posture on thermal insulation of clothing. Clothing ensembles including skirts were mainly investigated. A new thermal manikin was developed for this study. This manikin was able to change her body posture without increasing or decreasing her surface area. By changing posture from standing to seated, the total thermal insulation of clothing (It) was decreased by around 1.4%. The surface thermal resistance at nude (Ia) was increased by 8%. As a result, the basic thermal insulation of clothing (Icl) was decreased by 14%. The main reason for the decrease of basic thermal insulation (Icl) when the posture of thermal manikln changes from standing to seated was the increase of la at nude. The total thermal insulation of clothing for each body posture (Iti), when standing and seated, were compared. The parts affected by the changed posture were abdomen, hip and thighs, and especially under the skirt of 61cm length, the knees were most affected.

A comparative analysis is presented on the three conventional methods and our new one for evaluating the basic thermal insulation of cloting. A thermal manikin regulated at constant temperature over all parts was seated on a chair and, in the steady state, the environmental temperature, the amount of heat which the manikin lost, and the local skin temperature at nineteen points were measured for various clothing ensembles covering the body. From the data obtained were estimated the thermal insulation only by the skin when the manikin was unclothed and that by the total when clothed; based on these the basic thermal insulation of each clothing was evaluated by the current methods as well as ours and the results were compared. An investigation also on the role of the insulation by the outer clothing surface revealed that, if it was neglected, greater errors might be caused in estimating the basic thermal insulation of clothing.

Experimental results on the reduction in thermal resistance under increased air velocity on a standard summer clothing ensemble as well as the same ensemble plus a sweater or a wind breaker are described. A seated thermal manikin was exposed in a climatic chamber to different air velocities. It was found that the basic thermal insulation of the summer ensemble was reduced 25% at air velocity of 1.0 m/s. The basic clothing insulation with a sweater was changed much more by increased air velocity than that with a wind breaker. The equivalent temperature taking into account the reduction of clothing insulation was derived based on heat loss from a manikin.

The purpose of this study is to investigate thermal comfort requirements in the space with personal radiant heating system. During winter season warm air heating system often provides vertical temperature gradient. To create thermal comfort conditions and minimize individual differences, the personal radiant heating system may be one of the powerful tools. First, indoor thermal environments with warm air and radiant heating systems were compared. Secondly, 24 college-age female subjects wearing 0.67 clo standard clothing were exposed under office work activity (1.2 met) for 3 hours to four different thermal conditions. Experimental room is heated by totally 720W energy. Type 1 is heated only by 720W of warm air system. Type 2 is 480W of warm air and 240W of personal radiant heating. Type 3 is 240W of warm air and 480W of radiant panel. Type 4 is only 720W of radiant panel. Results shows that radiant heating system can create rather uniform temperature profile. However, when surface temperature become around 60°C, natural convection along the panel is increased and make around 0.3m/s air movement at sitting position and subjects may feel draught. Combination of warm air and personal radiant system with the view of thermal comfort was also discussed here.

A method to quantify the amount of tobacco smoke adhered on the surface material is proposed and the results of odor sensation experiment on adhered tobacco smoke using subjects are presented. First, we developed a new technique to quantify adhered tobacco smoke based on infrared spectroscopy. The experiment boxes were filled with different concentrations of tobacco smoke and after 14 hours tobacco smoke in the box was pulled out by ventilation. Then the subjects were asked to judge the intensity and acceptability of the odor of the air in the box. The odor in the box with a small amount of tobacco smoke adhered on the surfaces caused more than 60% of dissatisfied with one air change per hour. And it was showed that substance from tobacco smoke was adhered on the floor more than other surfaces. As results of field investigations we found that not only levels of tobacco smoke decides the amount adhered in the actual spaces.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the indoor air quality by making subjective assessment of perceived air pollution caused by human bioeffluents. One hundred and seven subjects were used as panel to report the odor intensities and acceptability of bioeffluents from fifty-four other subjects as occupants. It was found that 20% of judges described dissatisfaction caused by bioeffluents at 1.5 on the Yaglou's odor intensity scale. A ventilation rate around 7 liters per second per person was required to satisfy 80% of judges entering the chamber. In addition, the relationship between the ventilation rate per olf and the percentage of dissatisfied judges for Japanese subjects was investigated.