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Optimal control of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVACs) aims to minimize the energy consumption of equipment while maintaining the thermal comfort of occupants. Traditional rule-based control methods are not optimized for HVAC systems with continuous sensor readings and actuator controls. Recent developments in deep reinforcement learning (DRL) enabled control of HVACs with continuous sensor inputs and actions, while eliminating the need of building complex thermodynamic...

Optimal control of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVACs) aims to minimize the energy consumption of equipment while maintaining the thermal comfort of occupants. Traditional rule-based control methods are not optimized for HVAC systems with continuous sensor readings and actuator controls. Recent developments in deep reinforcement learning (DRL) enabled control of HVACs with continuous sensor inputs and actions, while eliminating the need of building complex thermodynamic...

Our planet is changing, and as with any drastic upheaval to patients' surroundings, global environmental changes affect individual health. Climate change is a major threat to ecosystems and the wellbeing of current and future generations of people. From wildfire-related evacuation of hospitals to the spread of Lyme disease and heat-related deaths and injuries, the health effects of climate change are becoming increasingly clear in Canada.1Howard C Buse C Rose C MacNeill A Parkes M The Lancet...

Providing a thermally comfortable environment is considered to be an essential requirement for effective learning in classrooms. Providing thermal comfort by using active but energy intensive environment control systems is not sustainable in a vast country like India. Though national building codes provide some specifications for classrooms, it is not known whether adherence to these standards ensures thermal comfort in a sustainable manner. This paper presents results obtained from a...

The impact of climate change on agricultural practices is rising question marks on future food security of billions of people in tropical and sub-tropical region. Recently introduced, Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) techniques encourages the practices of sustainable agriculture, increasing adaptive capacity and resilience to shocks at multiple levels. However, in reality, it is extremely difficult to develop a single framework for climate change resilient agricultural practices for different...

Building air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation (ACMV) systems are responsible for significant energy consumption and yet, dissatisfaction with the thermal environment is prevalent among the occupants, revealing a widespread disparity between energy-efficiency and indoor thermal-comfort in buildings. This paper presents an indoor-climate control framework that bridges this gap between energy and comfort. The framework comprises two main components: a thermal-comfort prediction model,...

Building air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation (ACMV) systems are responsible for significant energy consumption and yet, dissatisfaction with the thermal environment is prevalent among the occupants, revealing a widespread disparity between energy-efficiency and indoor thermal-comfort in buildings. This paper presents an indoor-climate control framework that bridges this gap between energy and comfort. The framework comprises two main components: a thermal-comfort prediction model,...

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) is extremely energy-consuming, accounting for 40% of total building energy consumption. Therefore, it is crucial to design some energy-efficient building thermal control policies which can reduce the energy consumption of HVAC while maintaining the comfort of the occupants. However, implementing such a policy is challenging, because it involves various influencing factors in a building environment, which are usually hard to model and may be...

Many factors exist in the internal environment of building. These factors could be biological, physical, or chemical, and they determine the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of any given building. Indoor environmental quality and indoor air quality (IAQ) are used interchangeably in certain literatures; however, there is a fundamental difference between the two. While IEQ refers to the entire internal environment of a building, IAQ refers to the condition of air present within the building....

A total of 15 classrooms went through on-site assessments/inspections, including measurements of temperature (T), and concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). In addition, the level of surface biocontamination/cleaning effectiveness was assessed by measuring adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels on students' desks. Based on the data, the quality of facilities in the buildings was low. Classroom occupancy exceeded ASHRAE 50 person/100 m2 standard in all cases indicating...

The emerging Internet of Things (IoT) technology enables smart building management and operation to improve building energy efficiency and occupant thermal comfort. In this paper, we perform data analysis using the IoT generated building data to derive accurate thermal comfort model for smart building control. Deep neural network (DNN) is used to model the relationship between the controllable building operations and thermal comfort. As thermal comfort is determined by multiple comfort...

It is important to create comfortable indoor environments for building occupants. This study developed artificial neural network (ANN) models for predicting thermal comfort in indoor environments by using thermal sensations and occupants’ behavior. The models were trained by data on air temperature, relative humidity, clothing insulation, metabolic rate, thermal sensations, and occupants’ behavior collected in ten offices and ten houses/apartments. The models were able to predict similar...

Comfortable indoor climate is anticipated in hot-humid tropical condition. University classrooms are such kind of space which quality can improve the occupant’s performance directly. Due to lack of their adaptation ability, like the fixed schedule of activities and clothing causes extra heat gain from the environment and make hazardous situation. In this research, we focused to find out the comfortable condition of university classrooms in Bangladesh. The field monitoring was conducted at...

Human individual differences widely and markedly affect thermal comfort and should be carefully considered in the design and operation of the built environment. This paper aims to list and examine the magnitude and significance of individual difference in the preferred/neutral/comfort temperature through reviewing previous climate chamber and field studies. Causal factors for individual differences are investigated, including sex, age and etc. There is no clear and consistent conclusions as...

A two-­week-l­ong intervention study was performed in two classrooms in an elementary school in Costa Rica. Split-­cooling air-­conditioning (AC) units were installed in both classrooms. During the first week, the air temperature was reduced in one classroom while in the other (placebo) classroom the fans were operated but no cooling was provided. During the second week, the conditions were exchanged to create a 2 × 2 crossover design in which each pupil was their own control. A total of 37...