Cooling energy savings and occupant feedback in a two year retrofit evaluation of 99 automated ceiling fans staged with air conditioning

Miller, Dana; Raftery, Paul; Nakajima, Mia; Salo, Sonja; Graham, Lindsay T.; Peffer, Therese; Delgado, Marta; Zhang, Hui; Brager, Gail; Douglass-Jaimes, David; Paliaga, Gwelen; Cohn, Sebastian; Greene, Mitch; Brooks, Andy

doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.111319

Cited by 16 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Furthermore, trees and wetlands reduce local air pollutants by absorbing the toxins from the polluted air (Biswal et al, 2022;Bolund & Hunhammar, 1999), mitigating heat waves by evaporation through tree covers (Bowler et al, 2010;Kubilay et al, 2020) and reducing extreme weather events (Costanza & Kubiszewski, 2012;Prouty et al, 2020). However, global demand for energy consumption from cooling has increased the use of cooling appliances in the tropics, which is adequate for cooling and improves indoor environmental quality due to the heat (Miller et al, 2021).…”

Section: Local People's Identification and Characterization Of Es Dem...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the Demand for Ecosystem Services in Human-Dominated Topical Forest of Sabah, Malaysia

Kamlun,

Bürger-Arndt,

Fatah

2024

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Mapping the demand for ecosystem services (ES) is a profoundly debated research topic that needs to be investigated further to overcome spatial discrepancies between supply and demand in the literature. This study proposes a holistic approach to valuing ES, which is demanded by local people living adjacent to Sabah’s protected area in the southwestern part of Sabah, Malaysia. To assess the local people's demand for ecosystem services, we applied the 'ES Matrix Assessment' method. Timber, global climate regulation, recreation, and ecotourism are selected to illustrate the changes in ES demand patterns reported in the Klias Peninsula region. To identify the ES required by local people based on land-cover type, we used a weighted arithmetic mean approach. Then, using multiple regressions, we identified socio-demographic characteristics that influence demand for ES obtained from the Klias Peninsula's tropical forest. The 6-point Likert scale results showed that timber received medium (3) to highly relevant demand (4) among local people in the forest ecosystem, while climate regulation demand was the most highly relevant demand (5) in the forest ecosystem, and recreation and ecotourism are highly demanded in the forest ecosystem and water-based area. Overall, ethnicity, source(s) of income, distance from the protected area, length of residence, and education level have influenced the population's perception of ecosystem service demand in peat swamp forest, mangrove, and forest land, and these factors are statistically significant at the 1% to 5% levels. Our approach possesses the advantage of being intuitively straightforward, making it easy to convey to stakeholders and decision-makers across various ecosystem service (ES) applications. Therefore, our approach, while relatively simple, remains realistic and easy to apply, effectively raising awareness about the utility of the ecosystem services concept for stakeholders and policymakers.

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Section: Local People's Identification and Characterization Of Es Dem...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the Demand for Ecosystem Services in Human-Dominated Topical Forest of Sabah, Malaysia

Kamlun,

Bürger-Arndt,

Fatah

2024

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“…The elevated air movement from fans increases thermal comfort at higher air temperatures by accelerating convective and evaporative heat loss from occupants. Other bene ts of fans include improved air distribution, improved perceived air quality, HVAC rst cost savings, and energy savings [49][50][51] .…”

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confidence: 99%

Passive and low-energy strategies to improve sleep thermal comfort and energy resiliency during heat waves and cold snaps

Aijazi,

Parkinson,

Zhang

et al. 2023

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Sleep is a pillar of human health and wellbeing. In high- and middle-income countries, there is a great reliance on heating ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC) to control the interior thermal environment in the bedroom. However, these systems are problematic as they are expensive to buy and operate while being energy and environmentally intensive - problems that may increase due to climate change. Passive and low-energy strategies, such as fans and electrical blankets, may address these challenges but their comparative effectiveness for providing comfort in sleep environments has not been studied. We used a thermal manikin to experimentally show that many passive and low-energy strategies are highly effective in supplementing or replacing HVAC systems during sleep. Using passive strategies in combination with low-energy strategies that elevate air movement like ceiling or pedestal fans can enhance the cooling effect by three times compared to only passive options. We applied our experimentally measured heating and cooling effects to two historical case studies: the 2015 Pakistan heat wave and the 2021 Texas power crisis. Passive and low-energy strategies can reduce the sleep time heat or cold exposure by as much as 90%. The low-energy strategies we tested require one to two orders of magnitude less energy than HVAC systems, and the passive strategies require no energy input. Our results demonstrate that these strategies can also help reduce peak load surges in extreme temperature events. This reduces the need for utility loadshedding, which can put individuals at risk of hazardous heat or cold exposure. Our results may serve as a starting point for evidence-based public health guidelines on how individuals can sleep better during heat waves and cold snaps without HVAC.

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“…T o_max , which enables extending the natural ventilation period, and increasing the cooling set point temperature (during air-conditioning period). This is often substantiated by building energy performance simulation studies [42] and limited field studies exist [43]. However, the application and benefits of the cooling effect due to elevated air speed through the use of ceiling fans in Indian mixed-mode buildings is unclear, especially through field studies.…”

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confidence: 99%

Investigating Optimum Cooling Set Point Temperature and Air Velocity for Thermal Comfort and Energy Conservation in Mixed-Mode Buildings in India

2022

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In warm and hot climates, ceiling fans and/or air conditioners (ACs) are used to maintain thermal comfort. Ceiling fans provide air movement near the skin, which enhances the evaporation of sweat, reduces heat stress, and enhances thermal comfort. This is also called the cooling effect. However, AC usage behaviour and the effects of elevated air speed through the use of ceiling fans on indoor operative temperature during AC usage are not widely studied. This study investigated the optimum AC (cooling) set point temperature and air velocity necessary for maintaining thermal comfort while achieving energy conservation, in mixed-mode buildings in India, through field studies by using used custom-built Internet of Things (IOT) devices. In the current study, the results indicate a 79% probability that comfort conditions can be maintained by achieving a temperature drop of 3K. If this drop can be achieved, as much as possible, through passive measures, the duration of AC operation and its energy consumption are reduced, at least by 67.5 and 58.4%, respectively. During the air-conditioned period, there is a possibility that the cooing effect is reduced because of increase in operative temperature due to ceiling fan operation. Therefore, the optimum solution is to maintain the highest AC set point and minimum fan speed setting that are acceptable.

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Cooling energy savings and occupant feedback in a two year retrofit evaluation of 99 automated ceiling fans staged with air conditioning

Cited by 16 publications

References 22 publications

Mapping the Demand for Ecosystem Services in Human-Dominated Topical Forest of Sabah, Malaysia

Mapping the Demand for Ecosystem Services in Human-Dominated Topical Forest of Sabah, Malaysia

Passive and low-energy strategies to improve sleep thermal comfort and energy resiliency during heat waves and cold snaps

Investigating Optimum Cooling Set Point Temperature and Air Velocity for Thermal Comfort and Energy Conservation in Mixed-Mode Buildings in India

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