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Aachen : RWTH Aachen University, E.ON Energy Research Center, Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate (EBC) 12 Seiten (2023)., Published by RWTH Aachen University, E.ON Energy Research Center, Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate (EBC), Aachen

12 Seiten (2022). doi:10.18154/RWTH-2022-01310

Aachen : RWTH Aachen University, E.ON Energy Research Center, Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate (EBC) 11 Seiten (2023). doi:10.18154/RWTH-2023-05614, Published by RWTH Aachen University, E.ON Energy Research Center, Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate (EBC), Aachen

Pre-registered pre-analysis plan for the study attract-hc: Attracting human capital for the Rhenisch mining area through comfortable, healthy, and productivity-enhancing indoor environmental spaces

Studies have focused on people’s physiological reactions to thermal conditions in indoor environments, neglecting the social consequences that could arise from them. Therefore, there is a gap in literature how these thermal comfort conditions could influence psychosocial aspects of our lives, such as how disconnected we feel from other people around us or how connected we feel with them, especially after being exposed to these conditions for many hours within an occupational context. This study attempted to address this gap in literature by exposing participants to two thermal conditions: a warm condition (28 ˚C) and a cool condition (21 ˚C) in a simulated office environment. The purpose of the study was to observe possible social consequences arising from a day at work under either of those conditions by focusing on social distance and empathy levels. 31 participants were recruited and exposed to both conditions, each condition at a different day (gap between days of at least one day for washout), and were asked to remain in the temperature-controlled environment for eight hours (between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.). Additionally, they were asked to complete a series of questionnaires, investigating their levels of social disconnection and empathy before and after both testing days. The temperature of the room was monitored throughout the process. The difference observed between pre- and post-measures for both conditions was not significantly different with regards to the feelings of social disconnection, despite the difference in responses observed within the raw data for each condition. In contrast, the difference observed in empathy levels between pre- and post-measures was significantly different between conditions. Individuals exposed to the cool condition reported lower levels of empathy after exposure, while participants exposed to the warm condition exhibited higher empathy levels after exposure. The results suggest that thermal conditions could influence people’s levels of empathy, which could have consequences both within a work environment and in private life. Further research is needed to support this. Implications of these outcomes and recommendations for further research are discussed., CLIMA 2022 conference, 2022: CLIMA 2022 The 14th REHVA HVAC World Congress

Thermal conditions experienced during daytime can be different from those experienced after working hours outdoors or at home. Since most dwellings in Central and Western Europe in the temperate climate zone are naturally ventilated (NV), while public spaces and offices are often air conditioned (AC), a substantial gap between daytime and evening thermal exposure can occur. This thermal gap likely reduces acclimation to the more ‘natural’ climate outdoors and in NV spaces, and therefore may affect thermoregulation and thermal perception. Structural information on how thermal conditions experienced during daytime (e.g. in offices) influence thermal perception and physiology in the evening (at people’s private homes). Therefore, the present study seeks to assess the impact of staying in cool vs. warm environments during daytime working hours on thermal perception and thermophysiology in the evening at home. In this hybrid laboratory and field study, 31 participants (41±17 years, BMI: 24±3 kg/m2) were exposed to a simulated workday in either 21 ˚C (cool) or 28 ˚C (warm) at two separate occasions. Thermal sensation, thermal preference and mean skin temperature were measured at eight timepoints throughout the day (lab) and evening (home) until the following morning. Preliminary results suggest that daytime thermal conditions affect people’s thermal perception and thermophysiology after working hours at home. The effect is most pronounced just after arriving at home and decreases over time. Importantly, our results raise the question whether conditioning of work places solely based on on-site productivity and comfort, but without considering the impact on comfort and well-being during leisure and recovery time at home, is the way to go in the future., CLIMA 2022 conference, 2022: CLIMA 2022 The 14th REHVA HVAC World Congress

Germany has 493 shopping centers mostly located in urban cities. According to STASTICA, the number of shopping centers was doubled in the last two decades .For consumers, good indoor air quality (IAQ) is a basic requirement for their shopping experience. This leads to very high air exchange rates for current operation of HVAC systems in shopping centers. Accordingly, achieving good IAQ in combination with increasing energy efficiency is a main issue for operation. Thus, previous studies were done to evaluate the intensity of shopping product emissions. Trained subject panels evaluated the emissions from retail products by using an intensity comparative scale. In this paper, we analyze the IAQ parameters not only by trained human panel, but also by analyzing the volatile organic compounds (VOC) through objective tests. In a first step, we cluster five different product groups: books, clothing, shoes, coffee and perfume. For these groups, we measure the emissions through a multi VOC sensor system and a trained human panel, depending on two main parameters: temperature and relative humidity. The multi VOC sensor system consists of electrochemical sensors which resistivity changes according to the oxidation reactions that happens on the surface of the sensors at high temperatures. We use the results to investigate the correlation between the intensity of VOCs in respect to the two main parameters. Finally, we used the subjective data along with the objective data, to evaluate the perceived odor intensity and correlate the evaluations with the measured VOC concentrations by the multi VOC sensor system. The evaluation and visualization is done in principle of statistical data analysis methods such as Friedman test. The results show the potential for the metal oxide semiconductor sensors technology for detection of VOCs and for prediction of perceived intensity based on objective data. Moreover, a product specific regression leads to better prediction results, which shows that different limit values are required for different shop types. Furthermore, the results show an influence of air temperature and humidity on subjective perception. Thus, for all products investigated, the perceived intensity and the percentage of dissatisfied people increases with rising temperature and relative humidity., CLIMA 2022 conference, 2022: CLIMA 2022 The 14th REHVA HVAC World Congress

REHVA 14. HVAC World Congress, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 22 May 2022 - 25 May 2022; The REHVA European HVAC journal 59(5), 69-74 (2022). special issue: "CLIMA 2022 papers on health & comfort with focus on aerosols, IAQ and comfort", Published by REHVA Office, Brussels, Belgium

Aachen : RWTH Aachen University, E.ON Energy Research Center, Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate (EBC) 20 Seiten : diagramme (2022)., Published by RWTH Aachen University, E.ON Energy Research Center, Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate (EBC), Aachen

Aachen : RWTH Aachen University 1-14 (2022)., Published by RWTH Aachen University, Aachen

Aachen : RWTH Aachen University, E.ON Energy Research Center, Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate (EBC) 36 pp. (2021)., Published by RWTH Aachen University, E.ON Energy Research Center, Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate (EBC), Aachen

Thermophysiological comfort models allow the prediction of subjective thermal sensation for transient and inhomogeneous boundary conditions for a defined validation range. Furthermore, scaling approaches exist for these models to reflect differences in physiology. However, their validation ranges are relatively limited due to the low availability of high quality experimental metrics. The aim of the present work is to provide a high-resolution and well documented dataset to develop and empirically validate scalable modeling approaches. For this purpose, five subject test series with a total of 266 persons in the climate test bench „Aachen Comfort Cube“ (ACCu) of the RWTH Aachen are carried out. The experiments analyze interindividual differences with regard to the physiological parameters of gender, age and BMI. For this purpose, the body core temperature and the skin temperatures at up to 25 local measuring points are recorded and related to local and global subjective assessments of thermal sensation and thermal comfort. The results show statistically significant differences in skin temperatures for the examined comparative characteristics gender, age and BMI. For the comparative characteristic BMI, for example for moderately cool ambient conditions for the subgroup with a high BMI, skin temperatures of the hands and feet are up to 2 K higher, which means a shift of the heat emission to these body parts. This observation can possibly be attributed to the increased body fat percentage and the associated lower thermal conductivity of the tissue layers of the body parts near to the body center. In addition, in some cases, in particular in slightly warm ambient conditions, there are differences opposite the physiological reactions for the local subjective thermal evaluations. These findings indicate the need for separate scaling of the physiological and psychological sub-models. The results for the whole group of the subject tests are used to calibrate the 33-node comfort model (NOODEL). Due to the modular design of the physiological and psychological model, the calibration process is independent of each other. In addition, both partial models will be extended to include the parameters of gender, age, height and body weight respectively BMI. In addition, a CFD model of the ACCu is developed and empirically validated based on measurement data from several test series with thermal manikins. The CFD model enables the integration of the modified NOODEL as a „functional mock-up“ (FMU) via a „functional mock-up interface“ (FMI). Overall, it provides a simple and flexible way to apply the model to other environments.

Aachen : RWTH Aachen University, E.ON Energy Research Center, Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate (EBC) 14 Seiten : Diagramme (2021)., Published by RWTH Aachen University, E.ON Energy Research Center, Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate (EBC), Aachen

Aachen : RWTH Aachen University, E.ON Energy Research Center, Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate (EBC) 36 Seiten : Illustrationen, Diagramme (2021)., Published by RWTH Aachen University, E.ON Energy Research Center, Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate (EBC), Aachen

Aachen 18 Seiten : Illustrationen, Tabellen, Diagramme (2020). doi:10.18154/RWTH-2020-08332, Published by Aachen

Dissertation, RWTH Aachen University, 2020; Aachen : E.ON Energy Research Center, RWTH Aachen University, E.ON Energy Research Center 86, 1 Online-Ressource : Illustrationen, Diagramme (2021). = Dissertation, RWTH Aachen University, 2020, Thermophysiological comfort models allow the prediction of subjective thermal sensation for transient and inhomogeneous boundary conditions for a defined validation range. Furthermore, scaling approaches exist for these models to reflect differences in physiology. However, their validation ranges are relatively limited due to the low availability of high quality experimental metrics. The aim of the present work is to provide a high-resolution and well documented dataset to develop and empirically validate scalable modeling approaches. For this purpose, five subject test series with a total of 266 persons in the climate test bench „Aachen Comfort Cube“ (ACCu) of the RWTH Aachen are carried out. The experiments analyze interindividual differences with regard to the physiological parameters of gender, age and BMI. For this purpose, the body core temperature and the skin temperatures at up to 25 local measuring points are recorded and related to local and global subjective assessments of thermal sensation and thermal comfort. The results show statistically significant differences in skin temperatures for the examined comparative characteristics gender, age and BMI. For the comparative characteristic BMI, for example for moderately cool ambient conditions for the subgroup with a high BMI, skin temperatures of the hands and feet are up to 2 K higher, which means a shift of the heat emission to these body parts. This observation can possibly be attributed to the increased body fat percentage and the associated lower thermal conductivity of the tissue layers of the body parts near to the body center. In addition, in some cases, in particular in slightly warm ambient conditions, there are differences opposite the physiological reactions for the local subjective thermal evaluations. These findings indicate the need for separate scaling of the physiological and psychological sub-models. The results for the whole group of the subject tests are used to calibrate the 33-node comfort model (NOODEL). Due to the modular design of the physiological and psychological model, the calibration process is independent of each other. In addition, both partial models will be extended to include the parameters of gender, age, height and body weight respectively BMI. In addition, a CFD model of the ACCu is developed and empirically validated based on measurement data from several test series with thermal manikins. The CFD model enables the integration of the modified NOODEL as a „functional mock-up“ (FMU) via a „functional mock-up interface“ (FMI). Overall, it provides a simple and flexible way to apply the model to other environments., Published by E.ON Energy Research Center, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen

Aachen (2020). doi:10.18154/RWTH-2020-10366, Published by Aachen