Improved thermal comfort design of panel and convection heating in rooms where radiant heat exchange is of primary consideration

This thesis focuses on the development of a new human thermal comfort design method [(TC) Method) for the integrated design of heating systems in radiative room environments early in the architectural design process. Research has shown that traditional design methods such as the manual ASHRAE Standard Procedures [(AS) Method] and the automated methods [(DB) Methods] can inaccurately assess human thermal comfort in a radiative room environment often leading to human thermal discomfort and improper selection of heating equipment.; The parametric study tests typical base case rooms with a large grid of room geometries and ceiling heights. Both panel and convection heating systems are tested. Each room has a roof with one exterior wall and full length insulated window. Radiant panels have one linear, hot water ceiling panel along the window perimeter. An occupant is seated, at sedentary activity level, and wearing medium clothing. Their variations are tested.; The basic algorithms used by the (TC) Method use the Heat Balance Method, Fanger One-Compartment Model, steady-state conduction, and NBSLD Algorithms for radiant interchange. Validation is for methodology only.; The existing ASHRAE Standard Procedures Method, the existing Detailed Balanced Method, and the new (TC) Method are compared. Major design variables compared are panel area, room air temperature, room heating load, human thermal comfort, local thermal discomfort, and room surface conductances.; Major conclusions resulting from the parametric study are: (1) The (TC) Method was successfully developed to design for human thermal comfort in radiative room environments and can impart thermal knowledge earlier in the overall architectural design process. (2) The (TC) Method is more viable than traditional methods when designing radiative room environments as determined from the following results: (1) The (AS) and (DB) Methods can contribute to substantial oversizing of panel heating systems at high airchange rates. Thermal and local discomfort can also substantially increase at high airchange rates. Conversely, the (DB) Method can contribute to the marginal undersizing of convection heating systems at high airchange rates. (2) Preliminary results show that panel heating can be more energy efficient and cost effective than convection heating at high airchange rates and less energy efficient at low airchange rates. (3) The (TC) Design Charts impart knowledge early in the building design process and was successfully used to replace the (AS) method as a simplified design procedure for radiative room environments.