Impact of Ethnic differences on the design requirements for (personal) climate systems

设计用于为用户提供热舒适性的气候控制系统可以在从建筑物到汽车的广泛应用中找到。舒适性是一个基本的设计特征，它已被证明会影响工作场所的生产力和车辆驾驶员的警惕性。人体热舒适领域的大部分原始研究是在欧洲和北美进行的（Fanger，1970）。根据对这一问题的有限研究，这一方法没有考虑到族裔和地域差异。然而，最近在舒适性设计中引入了新的元素。一个是调整区域气候的要求，另一个是在较大的建筑控制中引入个人气候控制选项，使建筑控制总体上使用更少的能源。汽车气候系统也是个人控制系统，但目前是基于最坏的情况下，往往是基于西方用户的数据。更多地了解地理或种族差异对舒适性要求的可能影响，可能有助于设计更具体的气候控制系统，从而节省能源、资源，以及对车辆很重要的重量（即燃油）。虽然Fanger模型拒绝了相关种族差异的存在，但我们实验室最近的研究强调了亚洲群体和英国群体之间的巨大差异，无论是男性还是女性。在一个研究有和没有太阳辐射的汽车环境中的优选温度的范例中，观察到优选空气入口温度的差异高达5摄氏度，以实现相同水平的热舒适度。为了为车辆或建筑物设计真正舒适的热环境，重要的是要了解种族特征的影响，并确定是否有必要，在节约能源的背景下，一个机会，具体的地理环境设计要求。对不同种族人群的热舒适要求的详细了解尚未得出。该项目将调查种族差异对热舒适的影响，更具体地说，试图确定物理/生理/感知因素是否在变化中起作用。

Climate control systems, designed to provide thermal comfort to the user, can be found in a wide range of applications, from buildings to cars. Comfort is an essential design feature, which has been shown to affect productivity in the workplace, and vigilance in vehicle drivers. Much of the original research in the area of human thermal comfort was conducted in Europe and North America (Fanger, 1970). In this approach, ethnic and geographical differences are not considered, based on limited research on this matter. However, more recently new elements have been introduced in comfort design. One is to adjust requirements for the regional climate, while another is to introduce personal climate control options within the larger building control, allowing the building control overall to use less energy. Car climate systems are also personal control systems, but are currently specified based on worst case scenarios, and often based on western users' data only. More knowledge on possible influences of geographical or ethnic differences in comfort requirements may allow the design of more specific climate control systems, with potential savings in energy, resources and, important for vehicles, weight, i.e. fuel.While the Fanger model rejects the presence of relevant ethnic differences, recent studies in our lab have highlighted substantial differences between Asian and British groups, both in males and females. In a paradigm studying the preferred temperatures in a car-like environment with and without solar radiation differences in preferred air-inlet temperature of up to 5 degrees C were observed to achieve the same level of thermal comfort To design truly comfortable thermal environments for vehicles or buildings, it is important to understand the impact of ethnic characteristics and determine whether there is a need or, in the context of energy savings, an opportunity for specific geographical environmental design requirements. A detailed understanding of the thermal comfort requirements of different ethnic groups has not yet been derived. This project will investigate the effect of ethnic differences on thermal comfort and, more specifically, try to determine whether physical / physiological / perceptual factors play a role in the variation.