The Future of Thermal Comfort in an Energy- Constrained World

Download or read book The Future of Thermal Comfort in an Energy- Constrained World written by Tim Law and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-04-19 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dissertation investigates the scientific and business factors that have resulted in air-conditioning being a major contributor to climate-change. With his architectural background, the author demonstrates how a design methodology, not commonly adopted in scientific studies, may actually be a suitable way of dealing with a complex problem: the 'business as usual' scenario involving building science, sociological values and consumer behavior. Using his innovations as case studies, the author shows how good ideas cannot be evaluated on scientific merit alone and demonstrates why commercialization may have a pivotal role in deployment of research-based technology. He advances the theory of personalized thermal comfort which can potentially resolve the air-conditioning conundrum.