Energy and comfort in contemporary open plan and traditional personal offices

Two office layouts with high and low levels of thermal control were compared, respectively traditional cellular and contemporary open plan offices. The traditional Norwegian practice provided every user with control over a window, blinds, door, and the ability to adjust heating and cooling. Occupants were expected to control their thermal environment to find their own comfort, while air conditioning was operating in the background to ensure the indoor air quality. In contrast, in the British open plan office, limited thermal control was provided through openable windows and blinds only for occupants seated around the perimeter of the building. Centrally operated displacement ventilation was the main thermal control system. Users’ perception of thermal environment was recorded through survey questionnaires, empirical building performance through environmental measurements and thermal control through semi-structured interviews. The Norwegian office had 35% higher user satisfaction and 20% higher user comfort compared to the British open plan office. However, the energy consumption in the British practice was within the benchmark and much lower than the Norwegian office. Overall, a balance between thermal comfort and energy efficiency is required, as either extreme poses difficulties for the other.

[1]  Hao Liu,et al.  A Simulation-Based Tool for Energy Efficient Building Design for a Class of Manufacturing Plants , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering.

[2]  Liu Yang,et al.  Thermal comfort and building energy consumption implications - A review , 2014 .

[3]  Gail Brager,et al.  Thermal comfort in naturally ventilated buildings: revisions to ASHRAE Standard 55 , 2002 .

[4]  Leah Zagreus,et al.  Air quality and thermal comfort in office buildings: Results of a large indoor environmental quality survey - eScholarship , 2006 .

[5]  J. F. Nicol,et al.  Developing an adaptive control algorithm for Europe , 2002 .

[6]  Raymond Asomani-Boateng,et al.  Closing the Loop , 2007 .

[7]  Mohamed El Mankibi,et al.  Genetic algorithms based optimization of artificial neural network architecture for buildings’ indoor discomfort and energy consumption prediction , 2012 .

[8]  Hongguang Jin,et al.  Full chain energy performance for a combined cooling, heating and power system running with methanol and solar energy , 2013 .

[9]  Javier Ballester,et al.  Analysis and sizing of thermal energy storage in combined heating, cooling and power plants for buildings , 2013 .

[10]  Fionn Stevenson,et al.  Adaptive comfort in an unpredictable world , 2013 .

[11]  J. V. Meel,et al.  The European office: Office design and national context , 2000 .

[12]  Cinzia Buratti,et al.  HVAC systems testing and check: A simplified model to predict thermal comfort conditions in moderate environments , 2013 .

[13]  Rob Harris Real Estate and the Future , 2006 .

[14]  Y Zhu,et al.  Progress in thermal comfort research over the last twenty years. , 2013, Indoor air.

[15]  Andreas Wagner,et al.  Thermal comfort and workplace occupant satisfaction—Results of field studies in German low energy office buildings , 2007 .

[16]  ed. Duffy,et al.  The Changing Workplace , 1991 .

[17]  A. Strauss,et al.  The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research aldine de gruyter , 1968 .

[18]  Edward Arens,et al.  Indoor Environmental Quality ( IEQ ) Title Are ' Class A ' temperature requirements realistic or desirable ? , 2009 .

[19]  Ali Keshavarz,et al.  Sizing the prime mover of a residential micro-combined cooling heating and power (CCHP) system by multi-criteria sizing method for different climates , 2013 .

[20]  Thomas J. Allen,et al.  Report of a Field Experiment to Improve Communications in a Product Engineering Department; the Non-territorial Office , 2015 .

[21]  Seyed Ataollah Raziei,et al.  Optimal demand response capacity of automatic lighting control , 2013, 2013 IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference (ISGT).

[22]  Yen Kheng Tan,et al.  Illumination control of LED systems based on neural network model and energy optimization algorithm , 2013 .

[23]  K. Kolcaba,et al.  An analysis of the concept of comfort. , 1991, Journal of advanced nursing.

[24]  Adrian Leaman,et al.  Productivity in buildings: the ‘killer’ variables , 1999 .

[25]  Antonio Colmenar-Santos,et al.  Solutions to reduce energy consumption in the management of large buildings , 2013 .

[26]  Walter M. Kroner Employee productivity and the intelligent workplace , 1999 .

[27]  E. Sundstrom,et al.  Privacy at Work: Architectural Correlates of Job Satisfaction and Job Performance , 1980 .

[28]  John F. Pile Interiors 3rd Book of Offices , 1976 .

[29]  Mithra Moezzi Are comfort expectations of building occupants too high? , 2009 .

[30]  G. Newsham,et al.  Linking indoor environment conditions to job satisfaction: a field study , 2009 .

[31]  Adrian Leaman,et al.  User and Occupant Controls in Office Buildings , 1993 .

[32]  D. Leighton,et al.  Keeping Good Company: A Study of Corporate Governance in Five Countries , 1996 .

[33]  L.F.M. Kuijt-Evers,et al.  Personal environmental control: Effects of pre-set conditions for heating and lighting on personal settings, task performance and comfort experience , 2015 .

[34]  Min Li,et al.  Can personal control influence human thermal comfort? A field study in residential buildings in China in winter , 2014 .

[35]  Koen Steemers,et al.  The Selective Environment , 2001 .

[36]  Mark Standeven,et al.  A BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH TO THERMAL COMFORT ASSESSMENT , 1997 .

[37]  José Domingo Álvarez,et al.  Optimizing building comfort temperature regulation via model predictive control , 2013 .

[38]  Isaac A. Meir,et al.  Post-Occupancy Evaluation: An Inevitable Step Toward Sustainability , 2009 .

[39]  Gail Brager,et al.  Occupant satisfaction in mixed-mode buildings , 2009 .

[40]  Edward Arens,et al.  Air Quality and Thermal Comfort in Office Buildings: Results of a Large Indoor Environmental Quality Survey , 2006 .

[41]  Dean Hawkes,et al.  The theoretical basis of comfort in the ‘selective’ control of environments , 1982 .

[42]  Standard Ashrae Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy , 1992 .

[43]  Lingfeng Wang,et al.  Intelligent Multiagent Control System for Energy and Comfort Management in Smart and Sustainable Buildings , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid.

[44]  J. F. Nicol,et al.  Thermal comfort as part of a self-regulating system , 1973 .