An integrated approach to evaluate thermal comfort in air-conditioned large-space office

With the continuous promotion of urbanization, numerous large-scale public buildings appear in cities. With the characteristics of large floor area and high personnel density, creating a thermally comfortable environment is a significant task for large-scale buildings. However, an uneven thermal environment is usually detected in large-scale spaces, indicating that some areas are overcooled while some lack cooling. Meanwhile, this nonuniform environment causes discomfort to occupants. This study proposes an integrated approach to investigating the thermal status of a large-space office based on the PMV-PPD thermal comfort model. This combined method not only provides an insight into the spatial distributions of indoor environmental parameters, such as air temperature, air velocity, and mean radiant temperature, but calculates the spatial distribution of PMV index. The spatial profiles of thermal comfort index reveal that PMV values are lower than -0.5 in the middle area and higher than 0.5 in the side areas. Such spatial distributions of PMV values mean that occupants feel either cold or warm within the target space. Thus, the integrated method offers a comprehensive evaluation approach for the indoor environment of a large-space office. Furthermore, for ways to avoid a nonuniform thermal environment, possible causes of the uneven thermal environment and feasible suggestions are discussed, providing useful guidance for design and operation of HVAC in large-space buildings.