Mean radiant temperature review Super excited to see that the review of mean radiant temperature that I authored is to be published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews! Worked on this particular review for a really long period of time - and hopefully it would provide an in-depth review into the concept, its shortcomings and limitations as much as its benefits in the design of building systems. The current understanding of mean radiant temperature assumes many things: that it is almost equivalent to the measurement of globe thermometers - and is therefore singlular to an indoor space, and can sometimes even be approximated by air temperatures.
A brief history of delivering thermal comfort We understand the built environment as a whole where its very existence chanllenges the well-being of all of us at the get-go of mankind: we had to fight for our own livelihood, and manages to stay as warm as possible to avoid the frigidness quietly steals away our lives in our dreams. Our ancestors managed to do things the smart ways, by first finding shelter, next finding means to reshape the thermal environment of shelters, i.
We are not AIR. Conventional HVAC system designs uses air temperature as the only indicator of thermal comfort states - so long as the temperatures sits within a range, it is safe to assume that person is comfortable - at least that’s what the current standards are telling us.
We are individual humans that are different. Needless to say, the differences between the occupants are somewhat striking: between men and women, and between occupants of different build, age and weight, the heat-producing mechanism alone would result in a wide range of metabolic rates, let alone the differences caused by different muscle/fat ratios, etc.