Thermal Comfort

WELL's thermal comfort focuses on optimizing temperature, humidity, and air movement to enhance occupant well-being and productivity. It utilizes standards like ASHRAE, emphasizing proper HVAC design, individual controls, and monitoring. The Lumnia building implements this through thermal audits and personal climate options, aiming for a stable and comfortable environment.

WELL v2 Scorecard for Thermal Concept

Based on our analysis, we estimate the points that Lumnia Building would have received for Thermal based on the WELL v2 Scorecard to be 8 out of 16 points.

Compliance with WELL standards in Thermal Comfort concepts

T01 Thermal Performance

LUMNIA building complies with WELL standards in terms of thermal comfort:

Provide Acceptable Thermal Environment: The LUMNIA building is designed to "Provide an Acceptable Thermal Environment". This implies that the building's HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) systems are designed to maintain comfortable temperatures for occupants.

Compliance heavily relies on ongoing monitoring of thermal conditions. This involves measuring air temperature, radiant temperature, humidity, and air speed.
Data logging and analysis are crucial for demonstrating that the required conditions are maintained for the specified percentage of occupied hours.
Evidence of compliance includes HVAC system design specifications and commissioning reports verifying system performance with ongoing monitoring data showing adherence to PMV requirements.
ASHRAE 55 Compliance, evidence that the building design and operation adheres to ASHRAE 55 standards is important.

In conclusion, to be certain of the Lumnia buildings compliance, detailed WELL certification documentation would need to be reviewed. However, the available information indicates that the building implements strategies that align with the requirements of WELL's thermal comfort criteria.

[Fulfills T01.1, T01.2]

Link to >>> Air

T04 Individual Thermal Control

Personal Cooling/Heating options

The LUMNIA building does includes Personal Cooling/Heating options, however, it does not provide specifics on how these personal cooling and heating options are implemented.

Therefore, here we assume that buildings comply with providing personal cooling and heating options through the following means within LUMNIA building:

Thermostats: Individual thermostats within office areas or zones allow occupants to adjust the temperature to their preference.
Personal comfort devices: This could include desk fans or under-desk heaters provided to employees.
Task conditioning: Systems that provide localized heating or cooling directly at the workstation, such as adjustable air diffusers.

[Fulfills T04.1, T04.2, T04.3]

Individual / personal heating unit

Independent Area Climate Control

Building Automation System

T06 Thermal Comfort Monitoring

Monitor Thermal Environment

LUMNIA building complies with WELL standards to "Monitor Thermal Environment" through "Mandatory auditing of thermal environment".

Building Automation System (BAS) Data:

Modern office buildings like Lumnia often have sophisticated BAS that continuously monitor environmental conditions. Data logs from the BAS can provide evidence of ongoing thermal comfort monitoring and this data would show trends in temperature, humidity, and other relevant parameters.

Sensor Calibration Records:

To ensure accurate monitoring, sensors must be regularly calibrated. Records of sensor calibration would be necessary to demonstrate the reliability of the monitoring data.

Monitoring Plans:

Documentation of the building's thermal comfort monitoring plan, including the frequency of measurements and the locations of sensors.

Performance Testing Reports:

Periodic performance testing reports that verify that the thermal comfort systems are functioning as intended.

[Fulfills T06.1]

T07 Humidity Control

Manage Relative Humidity

This WELL feature focuses on maintaining optimal humidity levels within indoor environments to promote occupant health and prevent issues like mold growth and respiratory problems.

Key aspects include:

Maintaining humidity within a specified range (typically 30% to 60%) that monitoring humidity levels regularly. Implementing HVAC systems capable of controlling humidity by addressing potential sources of excess moisture.
This implies that the building's HVAC systems are designed to control not only temperature but also other factors that contribute to thermal comfort, which includes humidity.

Given the Lumnia building's WELL Platinum certification, it's highly probable that it has robust humidity control measures in place. And modern, high-performance office buildings typically incorporate sophisticated HVAC systems with humidity control capabilities. Given the fact that the building has "mandatory auditing of thermal conditions" this would strongly suggest that humidity is also being monitored.

[Fulfills T07.1]

Link to >>> Air

Link to >>> Light

T09β Outdoor Thermal Comfort

T09β.1 Manage Outdoor Heat

WELL recognizes that outdoor heat can significantly impact indoor comfort and health. Strategies to manage it often include:

Shading: Providing shade for building facades, outdoor walkways, and gathering areas to reduce radiant heat gain. This can be achieved through building orientation, overhangs, screens, and vegetation to achieve overall more than 50% shading for pedestrian pathways and building entrances. In addition, more than 25% of parking spaces and more than 25% of all plazas, seating areas, exercise facilities

Beside shading, it have other additional attribute that contribute to manage outdoor heat.

Albedo: Using materials with high solar reflectance (high albedo) on roofs and pavements to reduce heat absorption.
Vegetation: Incorporating trees and other plants to provide shade and cool the air through evapotranspiration.
Air Movement: Designing outdoor spaces to promote natural ventilation and airflow, which can help dissipate heat.

T09β.2 Avoid Excessive Wind

High winds can cause discomfort and disrupt activities in outdoor spaces. WELL promotes strategies to mitigate these effects for winds are not expected to exceed 11 mph for more than 5% of hours in the year :

Building Form and Orientation: Designing buildings to minimize wind tunnel effects and deflect strong winds.
Windbreaks: Using vegetation, screens, or other structures to buffer outdoor areas from prevailing winds.
Microclimate Design: Carefully considering the arrangement of buildings and landscaping to create comfortable microclimates.

T09β.3 Support Outdoor Nature Access

WELL emphasizes the importance of connecting building occupants with nature. Project achieves the following features: