Sensitivity Analysis for the PMV Thermal Comfort Model and the Use of Wearable Devices to Enhance Its Accuracy

This paper studies the sensitivity of the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) thermal comfort model relative to its environmental and personal parameters. PMV model equations, adapted in the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 55–Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy, are used in this investigation to generate two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) comfort zone plots for different combinations of parameters. It is found that personal parameters such as clothing and metabolic rate, which are usually ignored or simply assumed to be constant values, have the highest impact. In this work, we demonstrate the use of smart wearable devices to estimate metabolic rate. The metabolic rate for an occupant during normal life activities is recorded using a Fitbit® wearable device. This example is used to do the following: (1) demonstrate the PMV expected error range when personal parameters are ignored, and (2) determine the potential of using a wearable device to enhance PMV comfort model accuracy.

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