The effect of local cooling and air quality by task/ambient conditioningsystem on productivity

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The task/ambient conditioning air conditioning systems attract attention in recent years from the aspect of energy conservation. In this study, the effects of respirable air quality or local cooling on workers’ productivity were studied. We used infrared spectroscopy to measure cerebral blood flow in an effort to evaluate the mental workload. It was confirmed that the mental workload level to maintain task performance was increased in the hotter environment than in the thermally neutral condition. Theanalyses indicate that local cooling of the task fan had better impact on mental workload than simply controlling thermal sensation via room temperature. The cerebral blood flow was not able to detect the small differences of air quality that was normally experienced in daily life.