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The Centre for Information Studies at Auckland College of Education has delivered a range of courses to primary, intermediate and secondary teachers throughout New Zealand since 1991 using distance delivery methods. The courses have focused on designing strategies, frameworks and learning experiences that enhance information literacy in classrooms. These papers credit to one of three specialist diplomas: the Diploma of Teacher Librarianship; the Diploma of Information Studies; or, the Diploma of Information Technology. The course referred to in this paper is called Telelearning. It was converted to web-based delivery in 1999. The main considerations in the conversion of the course were to maintain the original course aim and objectives, to ensure adequate support for the students in their use of the technology, and to make sure that the use of the technology actually added value to the learning process.

This study examines the perceived productivity of office occupants in moderate thermal environments in Chile. Specifically, it analyses environmental parameters and contrasts participants’ self-rep...

Today, identifying energy poverty is one of the scientific community's challenges. In this sense, using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) assumes getting to know which areas are the most vulnerable. This study considers the development of a new territory energy poverty evaluation indicator, called Poverty Adaptive Degree Hourly Index (PADHI). The novelty of this indicator is that it combines the number of inhabitants in poverty with the hourly heating and cooling degrees of each climate, determined using adaptive thermal comfort limits based on ASHRAE 55-2017. The area studied focuses on Chile and its 346 municipalities. The application of the adaptive comfort model can exceed 90% in the north of the country and be below 20% in the most meridional areas. The results also outlined that the municipalities defined as PADHI's 10th decile are those which have a higher risk of energy poverty in their population, a higher percentage of income poverty and climatic severity. A cluster analysis was also run for this decile, identifying two risk groups with the aim of identifying the critical areas. This methodology applied to Chile, but international in nature, allows identifying priority areas on which the measures needed to reduce energy poverty can be focused. © 2020 International Energy Initiative

There are two types of occupants in nursing homes: older adults and caregivers. Because the former has different physiological qualities, they are more sensitive to high and low temperatures, presenting discrepancies with caregivers regarding thermal sensation. The objective of this exploratory research was to determine to what extent the range of thermal comfort differed between older adults and caregivers in three nursing homes in Gran Concepción. Indoor and outdoor temperature and relative humidity were monitored during winter and spring. Simultaneously, a thermal sensation and preference survey was applied while clothing insulation, metabolic rate, and adaptive responses were observed. Neutral temperature was calculated using Griffiths’ method for both groups to determine the comfort ranges and compare them. The older adults presented a higher neutral temperature than the caregivers with a difference of 0.8 °C in winter and 1.74 °C in spring. Regarding the adaptive response, both occupant types performed the same actions to achieve comfort, but older adults had less control over these. It is hoped that this study can lay the groundwork regarding comfort temperatures for older adults in Chile and integrate a discussion regarding their well-being on a local and global scale.

Shared office spaces represent a challenge regarding thermal comfort. They have a diversity of occupants and expectations, and they require social interaction, which could imply restriction in adap...

This paper discusses the application of Integrated Design Process for the design of low-cost housing in Chile. It aims to question common practice for the development of housing based on prescriptive regulations and non-interdisciplinary work, which has resulted in poor quality building requirements. The first stage consisted in defining performance requirements for aspects such as energy demand, U value, air tightness and indoor air quality for a specific case of low-cost houses located in the city of Temuco. An integrated design process was carried out by an interdisciplinary team of professionals specialized in each of the performance aspects that were taken into account. The construction and post-occupancy stages were characterized by verifying the performance requirements, which resulted in a low-cost house prototype that included strategies for energy efficiency and a healthy indoor environment.

In New Zealand school libraries, the nature of educational activities performed by school library staff is unclear. Three parallel case studies were conducted to explore the actual work of school library team members. Ways of working with teachers and each other were explored in interviews and focus groups and the characteristics of information service provision were compared with those reflected in the wider literature. While many practices were affirmed for their positive influence on teaching and learning, areas for further development were identified. These are discussed in terms of creating change and strengthening learning outcomes.

People's subjective response to any thermal environment is commonly investigated by using rating scales describing the degree of thermal sensation, comfort, and acceptability. Subsequent analyses of results collected in this way rely on the assumption that specific distances between verbal anchors placed on the scale exist and that relationships between verbal anchors from different dimensions that are assessed (e.g. thermal sensation and comfort) do not change. Another inherent assumption is that such scales are independent of the context in which they are used (climate zone, season, etc.). Despite their use worldwide, there is indication that contextual differences influence the way the scales are perceived and therefore question the reliability of the scales’ interpretation. To address this issue, a large international collaborative questionnaire study was conducted in 26 countries, using 21 different languages, which led to a dataset of 8225 questionnaires. Results, analysed by means of robust statistical techniques, revealed that only a subset of the responses are in accordance with the mentioned assumptions. Significant differences appeared between groups of participants in their perception of the scales, both in relation to distances of the anchors and relationships between scales. It was also found that respondents’ interpretations of scales changed with contextual factors, such as climate, season, and language. These findings highlight the need to carefully consider context-dependent factors in interpreting and reporting results from thermal comfort studies or post-occupancy evaluations, as well as to revisit the use of rating scales and the analysis methods used in thermal comfort studies to improve their reliability.My individual contribution: Runa T. Hellwig: Conceptualization, Methodology, Visualization, Writing - Original Draft \ my contribution like all authors Investigation, Writing - Review & Editing, ResourcesInvestigation, Writing - Review & Editing, ResourcesRuna T. Hellwig: Conceptualization,Methodology, Visualization, Writing - Original DraftRuna T. Hellwig: Conceptualization,Methodology, Visualization, Writing - Original DraftRuna T. Hellwig: Conceptualization,Methodology, Visualization, Writing - Original DraftAuthor statementAll authors: Investigation, Writing - Review & Editing, Resources Marcel Schweiker: Conceptualization,Methodology, Visualization, Formal analysis, Writing - Original Draft Rucha Amin: Conceptualization,Methodology Susanne Becker: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - Original Draft Joon-Ho Choi:Conceptualization, Methodology Chungyoon Chun: Conceptualization, Methodology Lyrian Daniel:Writing - Original Draft Renata De Vecchi: Writing - Original Draft Stephanie Gauthier:Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - Original Draft Runa T. Hellwig: Conceptualization,Methodology, Visualization, Writing - Original Draft Gesche M Huebner: Conceptualization,Methodology, Writing - Original Draft Jungsoo Kim: Conceptualization, Methodology Jakub Kolarik:Writing - Original Draft M.C. Jeffrey Lee: Conceptualization, Methodology Karin Schakib-Ekbatan:Conceptualization, Methodology Despoina Teli: Conceptualization, Methodology Conrad Voelker:Writing - Original Draft

Adaptive comfort plays an important role in defining comfort standards when considering comfort in buildings in free-running mode, including adaptation to external temperatures, opening windows and changing clothing. In this regard, two international standards provide the fundamental basis to model the necessary equations: EN 16798 (formerly 15251) and ASHRAE 55–2017. This research intends on assessing the feasibility of applying these standards to the Chilean context, where a legal framework has begun to be implemented to regulate the occupant's comfort in social housing. Extensive monitoring of inhabitants in existing units under free-running mode has been undertaken in several social housing projects in the city of Concepcion (Chile) and the collected data has been contrasted against the international standards. Results show that users in these houses show more tolerance to cold temperatures, thus, despite being allocated below the standards' lower limits, they are considered to be in thermal comfort. As a result, the outcomes of this research can shed light on the feasibility of applying international standards to social housing and low-income families in Chile. The study presents a proposal for a novel adaptive comfort model for Chile. The new model proposes adapting the thermal comfort threshold's lower limit in order to develop a national standard that better reflects the inhabitants' needs and socio-economic culture. The study demonstrates how the proposed model best fits the thermal comfort conditions in social housing in Chile.

Building Simulation Software tools support designers to analyse and identify certain users’ behavioural patterns; besides, they can predict future trends about the energy demand and consumption in buildings, as well as CO2 emissions, design analysis, energy efficiency, or lighting. These tools allow to collect and report information about such processes. However, understanding the results from simulations usually implies interpreting an extremely large amount of data or graphs, which can be a complex task. Therefore, there is a need of alternatives that ease this interpretation of results, hence complementing classic simulation tools. Under the widespread EN 15251 model criteria, this paper presents a novel technology to improve reporting tools of building simulation software by using linguistic description of data and timespan computational perceptions. A data-driven software architecture for automatically generating linguistic reports is here proposed, which provides designers with a better understanding of the data from building simulation tools. In order to show and explore the possibilities of this technology, a software application has been designed, implemented and evaluated by experts. The survey showed that usefulness and clarification were better evaluated than simplicity and time-saving for the three kinds of report, though always above 7 points out of 10, being most of p-values of contingency below 0.05.

Currently, energy performance indicators for buildings are associated with the primary energy source consumption, CO2 emissions or net energy distribution, which together set the building’s energy efficiency. The evaluation is frequently based on setpoint temperatures and hours of operation. However, these fixed parameters are not suitable for social housing simulation as their performance tends to be in free running, excluding extremely cold or warm conditions. Therefore, a more successful assessment for the efficiency of these buildings is the users’ capability to live within adaptive comfort ranges without air conditioning systems. The aim of this research is to analyze new Chilean standards for sustainable social housing in the context of climate change using the adaptive comfort approach addressed in EN 15251:2007. Using EnergyPlus simulation software, 16 parametric series are analyzed for current conditions and validated against on-site measurements. Meanwhile, a prediction for the climate in 2050 has also been taken into account. The case study is the most widespread low cost dwelling model. The study demonstrates that the period of time within thermal comfort conditions varies substantially if analysis is done using the adaptive comfort standard or the Sustainable Construction Code (CCS) for Chilean housing. Considering climate change, the percentage of time fluctuates from −19.00% to 24.30%. Concluding that the adaptive comfort model has a greater capacity to positively assess indoor temperatures for social housing in Central-Southern Chile. This research also establishes that it is possible to provide homes where standards are improved within comfort conditions without using artificial means, 99.67% of the time currently and 88.89% in the future.

Fuel poverty is commonly associated with fuel price, energy consumption, income and building features to maintain comfortable conditions. Most studies are based on existing conditions with future m...

This paper presents the results of a field study on thermal comfort in school buildings in Chile, the aim of which was to determine the comfort temperature of primary school children. Results are given for twelve schools that are located in Santiago, a city with relatively low temperatures in winter and high temperatures in summer, and that are typically free-running, as they have neither a heating nor a cooling system. The methodology included measurements of thermal parameters complemented with questionnaires based on the adaptive comfort model and modified to be understood by 9–10 year-old students. The fieldwork was organised into two phases: winter (July–August) and spring (November–December), and in each phase students answered the questionnaire up to three times per day over a period of three to four days. The results show that indoor temperatures in the classrooms are extremely low during occupancy hours in winter and quite high in spring, but the students' thermal sensation votes show that they tend to adapt quite dramatically to this wide variation. Comfort temperature is significantly lower than that calculated from the adaptive comfort model as established for adults, with temperatures as low as 14.7 °C - 15.6 °C in winter and 22.5 °C – 23.1 °C in spring. Additionally, students from highly vulnerable schools voted for a lower comfort temperature in winter than those from less vulnerable realities, thereby implying that there is a strong relation between comfort temperature and the socio-economic background of school children in this context.

Thermal discomfort is one of the main triggers for occupants’ interactions with components of the built environment such as adjustments of thermostats and/or opening windows and strongly related to the energy use in buildings. Understanding causes for thermal (dis-)comfort is crucial for design and operation of any type of building. The assessment of human thermal perception through rating scales, for example in post-occupancy studies, has been applied for several decades; however, long-existing assumptions related to these rating scales had been questioned by several researchers. The aim of this study was to gain deeper knowledge on contextual influences on the interpretation of thermal perception scales and their verbal anchors by survey participants. A questionnaire was designed and consequently applied in 21 language versions. These surveys were conducted in 57 cities in 30 countries resulting in a dataset containing responses from 8225 participants. The database offers potential for further analysis in the areas of building design and operation, psycho-physical relationships between human perception and the built environment, and linguistic analyses., Measurement(s)Natural Language • Demographics • humidity • response to temperature stimulus • temperature of air • geographic location • room temperature ambient airTechnology Type(s)Survey • sensorSample Characteristic - OrganismHomo sapiensSample Characteristic - EnvironmentbuildingSample Characteristic - LocationOman • Kingdom of Spain • Ecuador • Chile • Malaysia • Iraq • Poland • Nigeria • Iran • Italy • United States of America • Germany • Brazil • Jordan • Kingdom of the Netherlands • Greece • Sweden • Kingdom of Denmark • India • Sri Lanka • Uganda • South Korea • Republic of China • United Arab Emirates • Australia • French Republic • United Kingdom • Japan • Indonesia • China Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: 10.6084/m9.figshare.9805289

Children spend most of their lives in school classrooms, so the quality of the indoor environment is very significant for their academic performance and general well-being. This article presents the results of a research project that looked at thermal performance and passive design strategies in school classrooms located in three different climates of Chile. It is organized into two parts: firstly, it presents an assessment of the thermal conditions inside primary school classrooms based on measurements that were taken in both winter and summer. These showed that children are generally exposed to very low temperatures in winter, as most classrooms are neither heated nor cooled by active means. Secondly, it provides a parametric analysis of a basic school classroom typology at the same locations. This involved determining the impact of a large number of combinations of simple passive strategies on overall energy performance and identifying the best case for each location.

Currently, there are few studies aimed at evaluating the indoor thermal comfort of specific contexts such as that of Chile, where national standards are based on international references and are not mandatory. For this research, a field study was conducted in 19 buildings in Chile: 10 in Concepcion and 9 in Santiago. Thermal comfort surveys and simultaneous measurements were carried out to calculate users' comfort temperatures according to their thermal sensation and thermal preference. The comfort temperatures obtained are compared with the comfort ranges defined by national standards and differentiated by the modes of operation of the case studies: Heating Only (HT); Mixed Mode (MM); and Heating, Ventilated and Air Conditioned (HVAC). The results show that in general, occupants adapt themselves to the indoor operative temperatures, especially with regard to their thermal preference. The neutral temperatures range from 19.5 °C to 24.6 °C and the preferred temperatures range from 19.9 °C to 24.6 °C amongst all cases studied. With regard to the national thermal comfort standards, the Sustainable Building Certification system (CES), which is based on ASHRAE 55, and the Terms of Reference on Environmental Comfort and Energy Efficiency (TDRe), their adaptive method is applicable in HT and MM buildings when occupants have adaptive opportunities. The findings of the summer fieldwork in HVAC buildings do not match the steady-state method of ASHRAE 55 (0.5 Clo) since the neutral and preferred temperatures, as well as the operative temperatures, are below the range stipulated, although they do match the TDRe comfort range.

DOI: 10.7764/RDLC.17.3.499 As part of a thermal retrofitting process of existing housing, energy and thermal performance is normally predicted by dynamic simulation that supposes standardized patterns of building use, without considering the key role of the users in building's energy consumption. This represents a weakness in how the evaluation and design of retrofitting projects is structured, as integrally determining factors in thermal and energy performance are not considered. Integrated evaluations of the homes being improved will help to choose effective and objective guidelines. This work proposes a more objective and holistic evaluation that uses varied and compared techniques, involving the user in post-occupancy evaluation so that they provide feedback for the improvement's design. The integrated diagnosis comprises numerical calculations, onsite measurements, energy simulations and an estimation of the user's perception, with the goal of showing the different results obtained through the different methods. The study shows great differences in what users perceive and expect with the suggestions for thermal improvement obtained from the simulation. It is concluded that, to attain a higher user satisfaction and a better energy performance of the building, thermal improvement strategies must be defined not solely based on standards or previous cases but must consider the expectations of the inhabitants and including experimentally measured values of certain physical-construction properties to calibrate the dynamic simulations.

This study discusses a methodology proposal for the design of confortable and resilient educational facilities. Based on fieldwork performed in educational facilities throughout Chile, the first component of the methodology focused on determining confortable temperatures for school age children, which ended up being considerably lower than current standards, mainly due to the children’s ability to adapt. The second component of the methodology involved identifying the relationship between comfort and children’s school performance; this was aimed at establishing the benefits of improving the facilities’ quality in terms of the students’ health and wellbeing. Finally, the method included the development of a tool to view the findings of the thermal simulations in passive buildings, when the output is indoor temperature instead of energy demand.

New challenges for delivering more resilient and less energy-dependent office buildings require a better understanding of thermal comfort in different contexts and opportunities for adaptation. This study aims to determine comfort temperatures in 18 office buildings located in two Chilean cities. The methodology was based on a longitudinal fieldwork during 1 day in winter, spring and summer at each building, collecting data from surveys to the occupants and measurements. The results showed that comfort temperature varied consistently between both contexts and between different seasons, with wider seasonal variation of comfort temperatures in buildings where occupants are allowed to operate windows.

This manuscript is part of the research project "Integrated Design for Energy Efficient Housing Reconstruction." It exposes the diagnosis of energy and construction conditions of dwellings of 3 regions in the south central area of Chile, which was the most affected by the earthquake of February 27th, 2010. With this aim, it reviews predominant characteristics of the building envelopes in 22 cities. It analyzes energy performance and it recommends thermal improvements for dwellings either under construction stage or during occupancy stage, which are critical for energy savings and efficiency. It proposes strategies to improve energy efficiency through vertical envelopes, with a base case and two comparative scenarios. It proposes economic, constructive and architectural planning strategies, with the possibilities of social and financial implementation, which could help substantially to achieve energy efficiency., Este manuscrito forma parte del proyecto “Diseño Integrado para la Reconstrucción de Viviendas Energéticamente Eficientes”. Presenta evaluación y diagnóstico de condiciones constructivas y energéticas de viviendas de las tres regiones más afectadas en el centro-sur de Chile por el terremoto del 27 febrero de 2010. A ese propósito revisa e identifica, en el marco de la normativa actual, las condiciones generales y características de las envolventes predominantes en viviendas de 22 ciudades; analiza su comportamiento energético y recomienda medidas de acondicionamiento térmico de viviendas en ejecución o en uso, decisivas para el ahorro y la eficiencia energética. Formula una estrategia de mejoramiento energético residencial en las envolventes verticales con una base y dos escenarios de análisis comparativos. Propone una planeación económica, constructiva y arquitectónicamente efectiva, con posibilidades de implementación social y financiera, que podría colaborar sustancialmente a la eficiencia energética.

Integrated design is a strategy to develop sustainable architecture projects incorporating multidisciplinary work and environmental performance assessments, which has provided significant advancement to public buildings in developed countries. This paper presents a review of some aspects of integrated design for the planning and construction of energy efficient housing in the south of Chile, as part of the reconstruction process following the earthquake on 27th February 2010. Firstly, a synthesis is made of the characteristics, implicit conditions, participants, steps, resources and expected results of an integrated design approach according to existing references. This is then contrasted with normal housing design practice in Chile according to current building regulations and interviews with professionals in the field. The design processes of experimental houses and housing projects that place specific focus on energy performance are then analysed, with follow-ups and interviews to review significant aspects. After examining those experiences, the authors identify some particular features and resources of integrated design that promote environmental improvements.