Investigation on indoor thermal environment of industrial heritage during the cooling season and its impacts on thermal comfort

Abstract

Global warming has increased the cooling energy consumption for the operation of built heritages, especially for industrial heritage which suffers from thermal performance deficiencies and are facing the dilemma of functional conversion. In order to satisfy the thermal comfort of users while preserving the value of the heritage, it is necessary to monitor the indoor environment and to analyze its impacts on thermal comfort of human beings. In present study, a cotton textile factory heritage located in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, was selected, where a long-term investigation of indoor environmental conditions as well as thermal comfort were conducted over a period of 78 days. What's more, the temperature distribution in space field was analyzed by applying CFD simulation. The obtained results show that: i) the indoor temperature fluctuates greatly and the relative humidity as well as CO2 concentration maintain at a high level, failing to provide a satisfactory indoor environment; ii) For most of the time, users report complaints about thermal discomfort, with the hottest mean thermal sensation vote (TSV) being close to warm (1.76) and the worst mean thermal comfort vote (TCV) reaching uncomfortable (−1.60); iii) The deviation between PMV and TSV demonstrates the limitations of the Fanger's model when applied in industrial heritage, and the thermal comfort perception of users are influenced by indoor humidity, CO2 concentration and outdoor temperature. The performed analyses suggest that the indoor thermal environment of industrial heritage fails to keep pace with the transformation of its nature and function. These findings will provide basic research for the retrofitting of industrial heritage.

Keywords

• Industrial heritage
• Indoor environmental quality
• Thermal sensation
• Thermal comfort