Fifty Years of PMV Model: Reliability, Implementation and Design of Software for Its Calculation

In most countries, PMV is the reference index for the assessment of thermal comfort conditions in mechanically conditioned environments. It is also the basis to settle input values of the operative temperature for heating and cooling load calculations, sizing of equipment, and energy calculations according to EN 16798-1 and 16798-2 Standards. Over the years, great effort has been spent to study the reliability of PMV, whereas few investigations were addressed to its calculation. To study this issue, the most significant apps devoted to its calculation have been compared with a reference software compliant with EN ISO 7730 and the well-known ASHRAE Thermal Comfort Tool. It has been revealed that only few apps consider all six variables responsible for the thermal comfort. Relative air velocity is not considered by ASHRAE Thermal Comfort Tool and, finally, the correction of basic insulation values due to body movements introduced by EN ISO 7730 and EN ISO 9920 Standards has only been considered in one case. This implies that most software and apps for the calculation of PMV index should be used with special care, especially by unexperienced users. This applies to both research and application fields.

[1]  F. Alfano,et al.  The role of measurement accuracy on the thermal environment assessment by means of PMV index , 2011 .

[2]  P. Höppe,et al.  The physiological equivalent temperature – a universal index for the biometeorological assessment of the thermal environment , 1999, International journal of biometeorology.

[3]  R. Yao,et al.  A theoretical adaptive model of thermal comfort – Adaptive Predicted Mean Vote (aPMV) , 2009 .

[4]  Andrea Frattolillo,et al.  A General Approach for Retrofit of Existing Buildings Towards NZEB: The Windows Retrofit Effects on Indoor Air Quality and the Use of Low Temperature District Heating , 2018, 2018 IEEE International Conference on Environment and Electrical Engineering and 2018 IEEE Industrial and Commercial Power Systems Europe (EEEIC / I&CPS Europe).

[5]  Stefano Schiavon,et al.  Web application for thermal comfort visualization and calculation according to ASHRAE Standard 55 , 2014 .

[6]  Boris Igor Palella,et al.  Notes on the implementation of the IREQ model for the assessment of extreme cold environments , 2013, Ergonomics.

[7]  Rehan Sadiq,et al.  Improving the energy efficiency of the existing building stock: A critical review of commercial and institutional buildings , 2016 .

[8]  Francesca Romana d’Ambrosio Alfano,et al.  Fifty years of Fanger's equation: Is there anything to discover yet? , 2018, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics.

[9]  J. Malchaire,et al.  On the Effect of Thermophysical Properties of Clothing on the Heat Strain Predicted by PHS Model. , 2016, The Annals of occupational hygiene.

[10]  B. Palella,et al.  On the transition thermal discomfort to heat stress as a function of the PMV value. , 2013, Industrial health.

[11]  G. Cannistraro,et al.  Notes on the Use of the Tables of Standard ISO 7730 for the Evaluation of the PMV Index , 1996 .

[12]  E. E. Broday,et al.  Comparative analysis of methods for determining the clothing surface temperature (tcl) in order to provide a balance between man and the environment , 2017 .

[13]  Evandro Eduardo Broday,et al.  The approximation between thermal sensation votes (TSV) and predicted mean vote (PMV): A comparative analysis , 2019, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics.

[14]  R. Ricciu,et al.  Uncertainty in the evaluation of the Predicted Mean Vote index using Monte Carlo analysis. , 2018, Journal of environmental management.

[15]  L. T. Wong,et al.  Student learning performance and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in air-conditioned university teaching rooms , 2012 .

[16]  G. Havenith,et al.  Correction of clothing insulation for movement and wind effects, a meta-analysis , 2004, European Journal of Applied Physiology.

[17]  J. Malchaire,et al.  Evaluation of the metabolic rate based on the recording of the heart rate , 2017, Industrial health.

[18]  H. Mayer,et al.  Modelling radiation fluxes in simple and complex environments—application of the RayMan model , 2007, International journal of biometeorology.

[19]  Bjarne W. Olesen,et al.  Thermal comfort: Design and assessment for energy saving , 2014 .

[20]  Evandro Eduardo Broday,et al.  Comparative analysis of methods for determining the metabolic rate in order to provide a balance between man and the environment , 2014 .

[21]  E. A. Grigorieva,et al.  A comprehensive catalogue and classification of human thermal climate indices , 2014, International Journal of Biometeorology.

[22]  Stephen Budiansky,et al.  US Environmental Protection Agency: Political pollution unabated , 1983, Nature.

[23]  P. Fanger,et al.  Extension of the PMV model to non-air-conditioned buildings in warm climates , 2002 .

[24]  Boris Igor Palella,et al.  On the measurement of the mean radiant temperature and its influence on the indoor thermal environment assessment , 2013 .

[25]  Salvatore Carlucci,et al.  Review of adaptive thermal comfort models in built environmental regulatory documents , 2018, Building and Environment.

[26]  K. Mui,et al.  An Application-Based Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Calculator for Residential Buildings , 2015 .

[27]  G. Havenith,et al.  The Universal Thermal Climate Index UTCI compared to ergonomics standards for assessing the thermal environment. , 2013, Industrial health.