Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Human Comfort
Human Comfort
Human Comfort
whether it’s 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.
Our interface to the world is through our senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell, and
taste. Each one of these senses can lead to a greater or lesser degree of comfort
Building better is not only about avoiding problems, it should also be about creating
positively pleasurable and healthy living places.
Comfort is about the physical environment in its
totality. The issues which are most obviously
associated with comfort are:
• Temperature
• Humidity
• Noise
• Light
• Smell
• Temperature and Humidity
Temperature is the most significant component to the experience of comfort in a
space. Maintaining a person’s thermal comfort means ensuring that they don’t feel
too hot or too cold. This means keeping the temperature, humidity, airflow and
radiant sources within acceptable range. In the process our bodies’ metabolism
generates heat, which must dissipate into the surrounding air or surfaces.
Some ways to keep people comfortable are
Passive design strategies use ambient energy sources instead of purchased energy like electricity or natural gas.
These strategies include daylighting, natural ventilation, and solar energy.
Active design strategies use purchased energy to keep the building comfortable. These strategies include
forced-air HVAC systems, heat pumps, radiant panels or chilled beams, and electric lights.
Adjusting For Seasons
Radiation
Natural Ventilation
Convection
Opening Size
When not to use natural ventilation
When light strikes a surface, its energy is either transmitted, abosorbed, or reflected. The color of a
surface represents the frequency of the spectrum reflected back to the observer. A surface that is
white has most of the spectrum reflected back equally, whereas one that is black has had most of
the energy absorbed.
The main focus on visual comfort has traditionally been light levels, contrast, and glare. The first is the more intense the task,
the brighter the light required. This is the main reason operating rooms are much brighter than offices, which are in turn
much brighter than living rooms . The second pertains to contrast: the greater the contrast, the easier the comprehension.
This is why almost every publication uses black text on white paper. The final point is that glare is undesirable, as it makes it
difficult to see the object of attention.
Daylighting design strategies like high or clerestory windows, light shelves, and well-placed skylights can
help distribute sunlight inside a space.
Even when you can’t use daylighting, good lighting design can reduce energy use significantly. Both are
important in Net Zero Energy Buildings.
Views are measured by drawing a line of sight from a location in the building to any exterior windows; if the line of
sight to an exterior window is unbroken, that location has a view. The line of sight must be drawn at the
appropriate height for occupants; for instance, typical office workers or students are usually sitting, with eye level
assumed to be 42" (1.1m) above floor level by some building rating systems.
In order to be considered a view, the window must provide a reasonable vantage point outside the building. One
rule considers view windows ("vision glazing") to be any glazing above 30" (.75m) and below 90" (2.3m) from the
finished floor in a room. Skylights and very high windows don’t count.
When designing the external works, emphasis should be put on to create and preserve natural
habitats by providing extensive lawns, keep the area is natural state, trees and hedges, green roofs,
and green facades. In some cases which the area of plot is small, rooftop planting can replace ground
sealed by construction work.
Environment plays an important role in satisfying basic human needs and quality of life. It can help to
reduce stress and also can speed up recovery. In addition, it can affect humans on a psychological
and physical level by acting as a recuperative and stimulating factor for our creative functions. In
densely developed cities, it is critical for human health to strike a balance between making space
accessible to people and preserving flora and fauna. According to some studies, dealings with nature
will affect human's mental health, whereas leisure activities in nature directly benefit to physical health
Acoustic Comfort
Acoustic comfort means having the right level and quality of noise to use the space as intended.
6) Get good PATTERN CONTROL. Make sure sound systems for a room get
good sound coverage. This will prevent feed-back and other sound
distortions.