Occupant Comfort

Buildings are designed for people, and those people are trying to accomplish a task whether its
raising a family, running an office, or manufacturing a product. The building needs to keep
people comfortable, efficient, healthy, and safe as they set about their task.
Green design seeks to create buildings that keep people comfortable while minimizing negative
environmental impacts.
Thermal Comfort
Maintaining a persons thermal
comfort means ensuring that they
dont feel too hot or too cold. This
means keeping the temperature,
humidity, airflow and radiant
sources within acceptable range.

Why its important

Creating comfortable conditions is one of the biggest uses of energy in buildings and it is also
critical to the happiness and productivity of its users. Often factors such as airflow and radiant
temperature are overlooked in a design, leading to higher energy use and occupancy
dissatisfaction.
Metrics
To keep people comfortable you need to provide the right mixture of temperature, humidity,
radiant temperature and air speed. The right level of these variables depends on what activity is
occurring, how active the people are, and what they are wearing. Everyone has slightly different
criteria for comfort, so comfort is often measured by the percentage of occupants who report
theyre satisfied with the conditions.
Design Strategies
Some ways to keep people comfortable are to use the suns heat to warm them, use the wind or
ceiling fans to move air when its too warm, and keeping surrounding surfaces the correct
temperature with good insulation. HVAC equipment like boilers, fans, and heat exchangers can

temper the air temperature and humidity, but surface temperatures and moving air have to be
considered too.
Visual Comfort
Maintaining visual comfort means
ensuring that people have enough
light for their activities, the light
has the right quality and balance,
and people have good views.

Why its important

Good lighting helps create a happy and productive environment. Natural light does this much
better than electric lighting. Having good views and sight-lines gives people a sense of control
of their environment and provides a sense of well-being.
Metrics
Good lighting is well-distributed, is not too dim or too strong, and uses minimal energy. Lighting
is often measured either by the amount of light falling on a surface (illuminance) or the amount
of light reflecting off of a surface (luminance). These are objective measures, but how people
experience this light is often subjective (i.e. are they comfortable?, do they experience
glare?). Good visual comfort also generally means that as much of this light is natural light as
possible. Humans are hard-wired to like the suns light and it saves energy.
Design Strategies
Daylighting design strategies like high or clerestory windows, light shelves, and well-placed
skylights can help distribute sunlight inside a space. When you do need to use artificial lights,
you can reduce energy use by using efficient fluorescents or LEDs, with daylighting dimming
controls, effective fixtures, and good lighting design. Good controls can automatically balance
natural and artificial lighting. Most lights should have occupancy sensors.
Air Quality

In addition to air thats the right

temperature and humidity for
thermal comfort, its important that
air is clean, fresh, and circulated
effectively in the space.

Why its important

If air is too stale or is polluted, it can make people uncomfortable, unproductive, unhappy, and
sick. Fresh air helps people be alert, productive, healthy, and happy.
Metrics
Fresh air requires a certain percentage of outside air circulating into spaces. Clean air requires
pollutant and pathogen levels to be below certain thresholds.
Design Strategies
Air can be kept fresh with high ventilation rates, either using natural ventilation such as operable
windows and skylights, or active systems such as HVAC fans and ducts. Clean air can be
achieved by filtering air, by flushing spaces with fresh outside air, and by not contaminating the
air with impurities from the building, such as volatile organic compounds from paints or
materials.
Acoustic Comfort

Acoustic comfort means having the

right level and quality of noise to
use the space as intended.

Why its important

People are more productive and happy when theyre not distracted by noises from outside or
from surrounding spaces and occupants. Acoustic comfort is especially important for schools and
office buildings.
Metrics
How humans perceive sounds and loudness is a subjective measure. However, you can create a
comfortable environment by controlling objective measures like decibel level (sound pressure),
reverberation time, and the sound reflection and damping properties of materials.
Design Strategies
Creating barriers and sound breaks between sources of noise is important. You can optimize
room shape and size to reduce echoes and reverberation. And you can use acoustic tiles on
ceilings and walls to dampen the sound.
- See more at: http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/buildings/occupantcomfort#sthash.eNe6rjxe.dpuf
Climate Analysis
Climate is the most important environmental factor and the first one that architects and engineers
should consider when designing a building. To achieve a net zero energy building, the design
must consider the buildings specific site climate.
The climate can dictate what passive design strategies are most suitable and effective for the
building site. For example, strategies that are perfect for a hot dry location may be
counterproductive in a cold humid climate.

Different climate
zones around the
world

A sites climate is dictated by its latitude, altitude, and terrain. A site located at 60N on a
mountain top will require very different design strategies from a site at 7S at sea level. Climate
influences many aspects of building design such as what the indoor temperature should be, what
are the factors defining human thermal comfort, and predicting energy loads for the building.
A common misconception is that climate and weather are interchangeable terms to describe the
same thing. This is not true. Climate refers to the average atmospheric conditions over a long
period of time where weather refers to the daily temperatures and atmospheric conditions. For
example, climate change refers to the changing daily weather patterns over a long period of time.
Climate Classification
Designers can choose passive design strategies suited for their building based on the climate
type. Specific classifications of climates vary, however they can all be useful in determining
appropriate design strategies. For instance, the Kppen-Geiger climate classification system is
internationally used, however the US Department of Energy has a guide to US climate zones, and
the state of California has its own specific guide to California climate zones.
Climate classification systems are useful in determining overall passive design strategies to
implement, however they often do not consider microclimates. Microclimates are small areas
that feature different climate characteristics from the overall climate zone they are located
within. They are caused by different topographies, bodies of water, vegetation, and site
surroundings. For example, San Francisco is famous for its microclimates. It can be very sunny
and feel warm in some neighborhoods, while its foggy and cold less than a mile away. This is
caused by that citys famously hilly topography, among other factors. Also see Building Site
Surroundings.

Dive Deeper
Temperature
Temperature varies throughout the day and throughout the year
and is the most obvious metric to consider for passive heating and
cooling design.

Reading Temperature Charts

Temperature data can be visualized in a variety of ways. Use the
information here to learn about the basic temperature charts you'll
come acroos in Revit and some tips for getting the most out of
them.
Humidity
Humidity can be just as important as temperature for human
comfort. Learn how to use humidity metrics to inform your
design.

Solar Position
The sun is the primary source of heat and light. When designing
for it, you need to account for how it moves through the day and
through the year, and when it is obscured by clouds.
Reading Sun Path Diagrams
Sun path diagrams can tell you a lot about how the sun will
impact your site and building throughout the year. Stereographic
sun path diagrams can be used to read the solar azimuth and
altitude for a given location.
Sky Conditions & Precipitation
As the sun moves, it can encounter sky conditions that can
intensify it or obscure it. It is important to understand these
metrics and account for them when designing high performance
buildings.
Temperature

Temperature varies throughout the day and throughout the year and is the most obvious metric to
consider for passive heating and cooling design.
Two basic aspects of temperature are dry bulb temperature and wet bulb temperature. From these
metrics you can learn about both the air temperature and the humidity.

Temperature
data given
as a monthly
average and
as a daily
average
(Graphs
from Revit)

Dry Bulb Temperature

Dry bulb temperature is simply the temperature of the air. It does not consider moisture. It is
measured in degrees Celsius, degrees Fahrenheit, or Kelvin and can be measured with a
thermometer exposed to the air. It is commonly referred to as the air temperature and is reported
in basic weather reports.

Wet Bulb Temperature

Wet bulb temperature is the air temperature that takes into account the cooling potential of
evaporation. It is measured by exposing
a moistened thermometer bulb to air
flow (wrapping a thermometer bulb in
wet cloth and swinging it in the air).
The evaporation of the moisture
depends on the humidity of the air
(think about how slowly it takes wet
hair to dry on a humid day). Similar to
the dry bulb temperature, wet bulb
temperature can be measured in
degrees Celsius, degrees Fahrenheit, or
Kelvin. Together, dry bulb and wet bulb
temperatures can describe humidity.
Degree Days
To get a sense for the heating and
cooling requirements for your building
site, a comfortable temperature range
Degree days are temperature past a threshold,
needs to be set. This range, often
referred to as the comfort zone, can multiplied by time
then be compared to the building sites
actual temperatures over time. When the sites temperature is outside of the comfort zone, it is
measured in heating or cooling degree days.
For example

If the weather is an average of one degree warmer than comfortable for one day, we say
the building needs one degree day" worth of cooling to stay comfortable.

If the weather is an average of ten degrees warmer for one day, or is one degree warmer
for ten days, then the building needs ten cooling degree days.

If the weather is ten degrees below the comfortable minimum for a day, then the building
needs ten heating degree days.

Degree days are not just useful to estimate heating and cooling needs; they also help make
comparisons between buildings more fair. A building in a mild climate like San Francisco will
need less heating and cooling energy than a building in a cold climate like Moscow, even if the
Moscow building is much better built. Comparing the energy intensities of different buildings
with the heating and cooling degree days at each site helps make these comparisons more
accurate representations of how efficiently the buildings are designed.

This graph from Montreal shows

that in January there are almost
800 heating degree days to stay
comfortable
(Graph from Ecotect)

Reading Temperature Charts

Temperature data can be represented in a variety ways. Fully utilizing temperature

charts will help inform your design decisions and make sure you are considering all
the data.

Tabular temperature data can be clearly represented in a variety of

different charts.
Monthly Design Temperatures
Of course, temperatures are not always consistent at the same time of day or year. Designs that
always achieve occupant comfort must consider extreme circumstances as well as average
conditions.

Monthly temperature design data graph

(from Autodesk Revit)
The graph above shows not only monthly temperatures averaged from historical climate data,
but also two levels of uncommon extremes.
The green boxes show the historical averages of monthly highest and lowest dry bulb
temperatures; your site is virtually guaranteed to experience these temperatures in these months,
so they must be designed for.
The extensions of the boxes show extreme temperatures only recorded 1% of the time in
historical data. Your site is not likely to experience these often, but for a robust design, you
should consider them.

You can see that this site has significantly less variation than the
previous graph. In April, a peak temperature of 64 F has occurred,

but generally the temperature range will be between 48 and 57 F

for the month.
Diurnal Weather Averages
Diurnal temperature data shows daily cycles of temperature and radiation on the site. The data
typically includes dry bulb temperature, wet bulb temperature, direct solar radiation, and diffuse
solar radiation as a daily average for each month. From this data you can study the difference
between dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures (relative humidity indicator), the difference between
nighttime temperatures and daytime temperatures (known as the diurnal swing), and solar
radiation patterns in addition to much more.

This
diurn
al
weath
er
chart
from
Revit i
s from
Nashv
ille,
TN.

Annual Temperature Bins

For some sites, heating will dominate your design requirements most of the year; for other sites
cooling will dominate. You can quickly see what temperatures are experienced at your site most
often by looking at a histogram of temperature throughout the year. This is referred to as
temperature bins.

Annual temperature bins for a colder site, mostly requiring heating

for comfort. The graph also displays the frequency of wet bulb and
dry bulb temperatures, suggesting the climate does not have humid
summers.
(Graph from Autodesk Revit)
Humidity
Humidity can be just as important as temperature for human comfort. Too much humidity can
amplify the heat and make it feel muggy, while not enough humidity can be uncomfortably
dry.
Warm air can hold more moisture than cold air can, but people don't perceive the absolute
number of water molecules in the air (absolute humidity which is measured as density), they
perceive relative humidity which is represented as a percentage of water vapor in the air.

This graph of
temperature
bins compares
wet bulb and
dry bulb
temperatures a
nd helps
understand
humidity.
The larger the
difference
between the
dry and wet
bulb
temperatures,
the drier the air

and the lower

the relative
humidity is.
You can see
that
Copenhagen is
relatively
humid because
the
temperature
bins are
roughly the
same size and
distribution for
wet and dry
bulb
temperature.

People generally consider 40% to 55% relative humidity to be comfortable. Below 40% will
feel dry, above 55% will feel muggy and wet (unless the temperature is cold).
Humidity also affects what passive heating or cooling strategies will be most effective. For
instance, evaporative cooling is much more effective in dry climates.
Controlling humidity is also an important function of active HVAC systems. There is a lot of
latent heat in water, and de-humidifying the air requires cooling that water which can require a
lot of cooling energy. See more on heat energy flows in buildings.
Humidity can be determined by comparing wet bulb and dry bulb temperatures. At 100%
humidity the air is completely saturated and the dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures will be
the same. In all other scenarios, the wet bulb temperature will always be less than the dry bulb
temperature due to evaporative cooling. The larger the difference between the dry and wet
bulb temperatures, the drier the air and the lower the relative humidity is.
Humidity data is often displayed in a psychrometric chart. To learn how to read these charts, see
the Psychrometrics page.
Like temperature, humidity varies throughout the day and year, and robust design requires
designing for a range of humidities. You can graph humidity variation to help set your design
requirements.

Humidity
variation
through a
year at a
site
(Graph
from
Autodesk
Revit)

The graph above shows average humidity in morning and evening from the historical record,
with a thick colored band illustrating average daily range in humidity. The much wider
translucent band bounded by dotted lines shows the full range of maximum and minimum
humidity in the historical record. As with temperature variation, these extremes are not
experienced often, but should be considered in the design.
Besides affecting cooling energy demands, humidity can also affect other sustainable design
factors, such as the design of the building envelope. By understanding the humidity ratio of an
air stream, we can identify at what temperature water will condensate (also known as the dew
point). With this knowledge so we can prevent issues such as mold and decreased insulation
performance with the proper placement of a vapor and water barriers in exterior walls and roofs.
A good resource for comprehending the interactions between temperature, relative humidity, and
dew point can be found at Dew Point Calculator.