A Quantitative Investigation of the Impact of Climate-Responsive Indoor Clothing Adaptation on Energy Use

Clothing adjustment by building occupants is a highly effective and prevalent thermal adaptation behavior aimed at achieving thermal comfort. This paper aims to quantify the impact of climate-responsive indoor clothing adaptation on heating/cooling energy consumption. A climate-responsive indoor temperature control strategy based on rural residents’ indoor clothing adaptation was proposed and integrated into building energy simulations. Indoor clothing insulations were obtained using a predictive model from the author’s prior research. These values were used to calculate indoor setpoint temperatures in terms of the PMV model, which were then input into the building energy simulations. The simulations were conducted using “Ladybug Tools” in Grasshopper. Four simulation scenarios were proposed for winter and summer, respectively, to compare heating/cooling energy use with different indoor clothing strategies (constant and dynamic) and thermal comfort requirements (neutral and 80% acceptable). The results indicated that indoor clothing adaptation significantly reduced indoor setpoint temperatures by 5.0–6.7 °C in winter. In contrast, the impacts on summer indoor setpoint temperatures were not significant. The impacts of indoor clothing adaptation on energy use were evident in both seasons and more pronounced in winter. With a neutral thermal comfort requirement (PMV = 0), total heating and cooling energy use decreased by 35.6% and 20.2%, respectively. The influence was further enhanced with lower indoor thermal comfort requirements. With an 80% acceptable thermal comfort requirement (PMV=±0.85), total heating and cooling energy use decreased by 63.1% and 34.4%, respectively. The climate-responsive indoor temperature control strategy based on indoor clothing adaptation and its impact on heating/cooling energy consumption suggested a viable approach for improving building energy efficiency in China’s rural area and similar cost-sensitive and fuel-poverty contexts.

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