Portland State University School of Business Administration (SBA) Renovation + Personal Comfort Investigation

This poster discusses the results of a field study about indoor thermal comfort, based on investigations in Portland State University`s School of Business (SBA) classrooms. The field study was conducted by physical parameter monitoring and questionnaires. Both field monitoring and occupant surveys were performed at the same time during the regular class period.The measurement campaign consisted of measuring the environmental parameters such as temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH), CO2, and sound levels. The outdoor air temperature, humidity, and sound were registered every 2 hour period during class time. The intention for this project is to investigate thermal comfort of occupants by survey and compare that with the monitored indoor thermal comfort of the occupants. This could assist designers in measuring the energy needed to provide adequate thermal comfort. The results show that classrooms are nearly in a comfort zone and based on the location of the classrooms in the SBA the comfort level is different and students responds differently. The first significant goal in this project is to use these data to decrease the amount of energy that is used in this building by applying new methods in the renovation of these classrooms. The design group intends to execute passive strategies to reach this goal. The second goal is to enhance the educational environment, in terms of thermal conditions, to help students to be more focused on the subjects in the classrooms