Human response to an individually controlled environment

Forty-eight subjects tested an individually controlled system (ICS) at room air temperatures of 20, 22 and 26 degrees C. Human response to a reference condition without the ICS at a room air temperature of 22 degrees C was also collected. ne ICS incorporated Personalized Ventilation (PV), an under-desk air terminal device supplying cool air, a chair with convectively heated backrest, an under-desk radiant heating panel and a floor-heating panel. The temperature of the PV air and the under-desk air was kept at 20 degrees C. The subjects were provided with control of the flow rate and direction of the personalized air and under-desk airflow rate, the temperature of the convection flow from the chair, and the surface temperature of the heating panels. The results reveal that the thermal and air quality acceptability was significantly higher with the ICS at all room temperatures compared to the reference condition. The ICS could satisfy more than 85% of the subjects in regard to both thermal comfort and inhaled air quality.