SPHERICAL MOTION AVERAGE RADIANT TEMPERATURE SENSOR (SMART SENSOR)

Mean radiant temperature accounts for roughly 50% of an occupant's level of perceived comfort, however building controls and HVAC complaints are typically centred on air temperature. With the proliferation and acceptance of radiant technologies, which heat and cool more effectively, as well as problems with radiant asymmetry in zoned air delivery systems, the need for radiant temperature information is increasing. Accurate radiant temperature measurements from industry standard black globe thermometers are dependent on precise understanding of convective air movements. Directional cameras are very expensive with limited field of view. Our research has developed a novel mean radiant temperature sensor, coupling cheap electronic components and geometric weighting algorithms to provide spatially resolved mean radiant temperature measurements for any point in a defined space. Specifically, a LIDAR range finder is coupled with precise servos and a narrow field of view radiant temperature sensor, which allow spherical coordinates of radiant temperature readings to be recorded. This approach to visualizing and measuring directionality of radiant temperature could directly impact building climate controls. The device has been used with our research to record the mean radiant temperature of an outdoor pavilion, where standard black globe thermometers were unsuccessful, as well as to spatially assess the mean radiant temperature in office spaces deemed uncomfortable by occupants. The results presented in this paper will pull from results of concurrent studies to provide calibration, comparison, and spatial data for the SMART Sensor, as well as the geometric justification of the data.