Study on thermal comfort and energy conservation potential of office buildings in subtropical Taiwan

Research studies indicate that indoor temperature has different effects on people's psychology and work productivity in different regions, and there is a potential for building energy conservation. This study aims to research the balance between thermal comfort, productivity, and energy conservation of air-conditioning systems in office buildings in Taiwan. Such understanding can provide detailed control logic of air-conditioning systems for energy-saving in office buildings. An experimental study was conducted in a climate chamber. A total of 948 thermal and productivity responses were obtained from the questionnaire survey and Vienna test system. The 80% satisfaction interval and 20% Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD) were also applied to explore the greater acceptable temperature range and energy-saving potential of the air conditioning system. Data analysis revealed that in Taiwan, the neutral temperature of the thermal sensation vote (TSV) was 26.8 °C, and the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) value was +0.84. The optimum temperature of the subjects was 26.2 °C, and the PMV value was +0.69. The 80% satisfaction interval of thermal comfort vote (TCV) was between 25.4 °C and 27.4 °C. Meanwhile, the optimum temperature to achieve the best productivity was 27 °C for men and 25 °C for women. Finally, three control logics were proposed for air-conditioned indoor environments in subtropical regions. The energy consumption gaps between control logics and different international benchmarks were compared through the office model of EnergyPlus. As a result, the air-conditioning system based on thermal comfort control can achieve 9.1% energy-saving potential.