A113 Office IEQ efficiency

Efficiency assessment of indoor environmental policy for air-conditioned offices in Hong Kong

Brief:

To reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions through thermal energy conservation, air-conditioned offices in the subtropics are recommended to operate within specified ranges of indoor temperature, relative humidity and air velocity. As thermal discomfort leads to productivity loss, some indoor environmental policies for air-conditioned offices in Hong Kong are investigated in this study with relation to thermal energy consumption, CO₂ emissions from electricity use, and productivity loss due to thermal discomfort. Occupant thermal response is specifically considered as an adaptive factor in evaluating the energy consumption and productivity loss. The energy efficiency of an office is determined by the productivity which corresponds to the CO₂ generated. The results found that a policy with little impact on occupant thermal comfort and worker productivity would improve the office efficiency while the one with excessive energy consumption reduction would result in a substantial productivity loss. This study is a useful reference source for evaluating an indoor thermal environmental policy regarding the energy consumption, CO₂ emissions reduction, thermal comfort and productivity loss in air-conditioned offices in subtropical areas.

Further information:

Wong LT, Mui KW, 2009. Efficiency assessment of indoor environmental policy for air-conditioned offices in Hong Kong, Applied Energy 86(10) 1933-1938.