Indoor Comfort, Thermal Indices, and Energy Assessment of Multi-Family Colonial Revival Style Buildings

Abstract

Colonial Revival style residences have unique architectural features amongst others. They are common multi-family residences in the United States with no or limited information about their performance. The research purpose is to assess indoor comfort, energy performance, and thermal indices in multi-family Colonial Revival style residences. The research questions include (i) Do Colonial Revival style buildings perform better than other old buildings? (ii) Do the buildings consume additional electricity than typical and other old buildings? The research examined four case studies in Hartford County, Connecticut. The investigation explored comfort surveys, monitoring, collection of actual electricity usage, and assessed thermal indices using mathematical models. The average indoor temperature of 25.4 °C and relative humidity (RH) of 61.3% are reported. About 67% of the residents are thermally comfortable. The research noted significance between thermal sensation and other variables, excluding how occupants feel about the air movement. The average number of hours of temperature exceeds 28.0 °C and 30.0 °C marks for over 11.4% and 2.5% of the time, respectively, except in one of the buildings. The mean indoor temperatures are within the applicable bands of the adaptive comfort models. The averages of actual thermal sensation vote (TSV) ranged from 3.32 to 4.37 on a 7-point sensation scale. The mean neutral temperatures varied from 24.2–25.6 °C. The average monthly electricity bill is within the national average for residences in summer, excluding in August. The mean wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 21.1–22.3 °C and summer simmer index (SSI) of 30.1–32.4 °C are calculated as feasible bands for thermal indices in the buildings. The basements are more comfortable than other spaces within the case studies. The research outcomes can be used for future developments of Colonial Revival style and other similar buildings. The study recommends interventions such as retrofit to improve the performance of some existing Colonial Revival style buildings, especially the older ones that are less insulated with outdated equipment and appliances.

Occupants’ Perceptions of Comfort, Control, and Adaptation in Colonial Revival Style Residences

“…The current research revisited two previous related studies on multi-family Colonial Revival style buildings [1,2]. The first study focused on energy assessments [1] and the second examined summertime overheating and heat indices [2] in a case study of buildings. The current study does not replicate the findings of the two previous studies.…”

“…More than 90% of US residential buildings are constructed with timber materials [1,2,49], and over 40% of the existing buildings in the study area were built more than 70 years ago [1,2,50]. Baechler et al [51] and the US Department Energy Building America Program [52,53] defined the main "Building America" climate regions (i.e., marine, hotdry, mixed-dry, hot-humid, mixed-humid, cold, and very cold) using a similar illustration as shown in Figure 1.…”

“…Table 2 highlights the main features of the case study buildings, including the thermo-physical properties of their components. Additionally, the configuration, average plot size of each case study, average floor area, and other crucial features of the units have been captured in two previous papers [1,2] and will not be discussed further in the current study. Table 2 highlights the main features of the case study buildings, including the thermo-physical properties of their components.…”

“…The paper investigates and discusses occupants' perceptions of thermal comfort, control, and adaptation in selected Colonial Revival style residences in the cold region of the United States. The current study considers this category of residential buildings due to their attractiveness and availability within the study area [1,2]. The main goal of the research is to investigate whether the residents' perceptions of thermal comfort significantly influence their perceptions of control and adaptation within the buildings in warm season.…”

“…Moreover, past investigations have evaluated occupants' perceptions of thermal comfort using various rating scales [1,[11][12][13], while indoor monitoring of environmental variables was conducted concurrently in those buildings [1,2,[11][12][13]. Observations [32], formal [33] and informal interviews [33,34], and walk-throughs [32] have also been used in conjunction with thermal comfort surveys to understand people's perception of comfort, environmental control, and adaptation within the thermal environment [32][33][34].…”