Developing a hybrid cooling vest for combating heat stress in the construction industry

Abstract

Many frontline workers in Hong Kong construction industry have to perform physically demanding work under hot working conditions, which could reduce work efficiency and time and increase the occurrence of heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. This study aimed to develop a hybrid, new cooling vest (NCV) to combat heat stress in the construction industry. Following the functional clothing design process, the problem identification was conducted. Preliminary ideas were formed through the analysis of available types, research, survey, literature review, and brainstorming. The design was refined through the use of desirable phase change material packs, fans with high wind velocity/long duration, and fabrics with thin, vaporpermeable, wind/water/abrasion-resistant properties, and UV protection, as well as clothing ergonomic design that considers fit, mobility, convenience, and safety. The desirable thermal functional performance in NCV was previewed through a computer-aided design platform (CAD) S-smart system. The design criteria were established and the prototype was developed. The environmental chamber testing results showed that in a hot environment, the mean skin temperature (35.8 °C vs. 36.59 °C), heart rate (110 beats/min vs. 116 beats/min) and core temperature of the subjects with NCV were significantly lower than those with the control (without NCV). A significantly longer exercise time was obtained with NCV compared with the control (22.08 min vs. 11.08 min). The significant improvements in levels felt coolness, dryness, comfort, and physical recovery were observed with NCV. Results suggest that NCV can reduce the thermal stress of construction workers and improve their work performance and comfort.

Weather and labor productivity in construction: a literature review and taxonomy of studies

“…skin temperature and heart rate). Other studies attempted to alleviate heat stress through different inventions such as providing fans and studying different fabrics specifications (Guo et al, 2019), developing a safety helmet that can reduce heat (Ghani et al, 2017) and developing a water cooling garment (Bartkowiak et al, 2015). The majority of studies in this cluster collected data using experimental methods either in the field or in a lab (e.g.…”

Electronic-components less fully textile multiple resonant combiners for body-centric near field communication

“…They are also found in personal protective equipment because they can be used to create fabrics with electromagnetic barrier properties 3 , 4 , or to measure environmental parameters to warn the operator in the event of danger, for example, firefighter clothing 5 . Then, e-textiles can be used in sports to monitor performances and the physiological parameters 6 , 7 , and also help the recovery 8 , 9 . The fashion world has also started to take over e-textiles.…”

A Numerical Analysis of the Cooling Performance of a Hybrid Personal Cooling System (HPCS): Effects of Ambient Temperature and Relative Humidity

“…Among existing hybrid personal cooling systems, the combination of PCM packs and ventilation fans has been widely chosen [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. For HPCSs incorporated with PCMs and ventilation fans, the PCM packs are generally discretely positioned at different body sites.…”

“…In this paper, based on the validated numerical model reported in our previous study [ 26 ], we performed a numerical parametric study to investigate the effects of environmental temperature and relative humidity (RH) on the cooling performance of the new HPCS. Human physiological responses (e.g., mean skin temperature, local skin temperature, and core temperature) to the new HPCS under different environmental conditions were examined and compared.…”