Data acquisition technologies for assessing thermal comfort in the built environment

Abstract

Nowadays, many buildings are equipped with sensors that acquire large amounts of data, which can be useful to monitor, to understand and to identify thermal comfort conditions in buildings. The studies on thermal comfort of building interior spaces are not only numerical analysis based on program outcomes, but also experimental studies to confirm the results of the analysis. However, the most important factor in achieving the correct result in experimental analysis is to plan the data, to select the technology and to determine the test procedure. This study aims at providing an important source for experimental researchers working on thermal comfort by identifying data acquisition technologies that are utilized for capturing thermal comfort related data. Within this context, the study presents existing instruments utilized for monitoring thermal comfort conditions and provides a guideline with respect to technical properties, deployment strategies and time intervals. The findings of this study will be beneficial to practitioners and researchers for selecting and utilizing the most appropriate data acquisition technology for assessing thermal comfort in indoor environments.