Journal of Environmental Engineering (Transactions of AIJ)
Online ISSN : 1881-817X
Print ISSN : 1348-0685
ISSN-L : 1348-0685
Volume 83, Issue 748
Displaying 1-6 of 6 articles from this issue
  • Misaki AKIYAMA, Daisaku NISHINA, So SUGITA, Yuki ASAMI, Takahiro TANAK ...
    2018Volume 83Issue 748 Pages 503-513
    Published: 2018
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     In this research, alternative possibility of real space by whole sky image was examined by comparing with psychological evaluation results of real space, photograph and whole sky image. The whole sky image has a feature that images the whole space of 360 degrees horizontally and vertically from the shooting point, and it is becoming popular way to represent indoor space such as real estate properties. Specifically, the statistical test result such as correlation coefficient and t-test, and the average evaluation score profiles were compared in order to grasp the characteristics of each experiment from individual evaluation, image evaluation by SD method, and comprehensive evaluation. In addition, the evaluation structure based on the factor analysis result and determinants of satisfaction by multiple regression analysis were studied.

     Following is the knowledge gained from this study.
     · From the results of individual evaluation, image evaluation, and comprehensive evaluation, it is found that the evaluation criteria is similar between the real space and the whole sky image, especially the evaluation items such as the physical quantities in the vertical direction, the distribution of brightness and color tone over the entire space, the arrangement configuration of furniture and miscellaneous goods, and the space shape. Also, since the whole space can be grasped seamlessly, the results of psychological evaluation with whole sky image is closer to the one with real space compared with the one with photograph.
     · Because the field of view is limited in photograph, it is impossible to grasp the part that is not captured, the luminance difference in the photograph becomes smaller than real space and whole sky image, and brightness and color tone are regarded as a similar element. In addition, since photograph presented in two directions as a pair, it was confirmed that when the difference between them is remarkable, it is difficult to be felt as one space. From these characteristics, it was suggested that photograph is evaluated based on individual factors such as furniture and miscellaneous goods aspects.
     · Since the viewpoints of evaluation are similar in real space and whole sky image, the results of evaluation structures in factor analysis and determinants for image evaluation and overall satisfaction in multiple regression analysis are closer to the real space than photograph.
     · In the real space, there was a possibility that people grasp the space including the surroundings. Therefore, it was suggested that the influence of the outside of the evaluation space cannot be reproduced in photograph and whole sky image.

     From the above results, it is confirmed that the whole sky image can be substituted in real space, since it is possible to obtain a result close to the psychological evaluation of the real space than the conventional photograph. However, characteristic distortion of whole sky image may influence the evaluation on the extent of the space.
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  • Shoei MARUYAMA, Taro MORI
    2018Volume 83Issue 748 Pages 515-521
    Published: 2018
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     Introduction
     Recently, a construction technique for highly insulated houses has been advanced in Hokkaido. As a result, many houses exceeding a standard for energy efficiency are being built. Several municipalities encourage a construction of highly insulated houses by granting subsidies to owners. One of the projects is Sapporo ban zisedai zyuutaku. The project began in 2013 and Sapporo city has implemented subsidies to about 40 houses per year. The purpose of this research is to analyze the design method of these highly insulated houses and actual consumption of energy consumption, to give insights on future housing administration and dissemination awareness, and to lead to future development of housing performance in the future.

     Questionnaire survey
     The target housings are 120 high-insulated housings supported by Sapporo city with the grant in 2013-2015. The standard for energy efficiency was regulated by Q value in 2013 - 2015. After that, it is regulated by UA value from 2016. The target housings match the old standards. A questionnaire survey was conducted on the residents of target housings. More than 90% housings use a central heating system. About half of the housings in the basic level use gas as the heating source. But the housings above the standard level use electricity. The housings under the standard level use several types of heating equipment such as a gas boiler with latent heat recovery system and heat-pump system with natural refrigerant. On the other hand, the housings at the high grade or higher grade use AC system separately from hot water supply system. 59% of residents were motivated with "warm (not cold) house" and 21% of residents were motivated with "subsidies".

     Analysis of Calculation Sheet for Heating Load
     The average of the ratio of window area is 19%. The ratios of the housings below the standard level were scattered, but those of housings above the high level were not scattered, 12 - 22%, and lower than the ratios of housings over the high level. In addition, the ratios of window area tended to be lower, when the Q values are lower. The average of the ratio of south window area was 41%. The ratios tend to be higher when the Q value is lower. The housings in the top runner level and the high-level houses have small window area to keep the level, but the designer intends to install the windows on south walls even in that situation. The average of solar heat gain is 5.5 W/m2, and the plots for housings below the standard level have the wide range, but those for housings over the high level are in the narrow range which is as low as 1.7 to 4.9 W/m2. 66% of all housings and all housings under 1.0 W/m2K with Q value use Class I Ventilation system (heat exchange type).

     Comparison of an actual condition with a designed condition
     To clarify the energy efficiency in actual housing, the design value and the actual value of the heat loss coefficient and th e annual energy consumption were compared. The actual value of the heat loss coefficient was calculated from the temperature difference and the energy consumption. Especially, the housings with Class I ventilation are lower than the housings with the other types of systems. It indicates that the efficiency of the heat exchanger is largely estimated in Class I ventilation and the volume of ventilation is bigger than the designed value. Design values from Web program were compared with the actual values of annual energy consumption.
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  • Shodai TANAKA, Kimiya MURAKAMI
    2018Volume 83Issue 748 Pages 523-532
    Published: 2018
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     Planning a heating system for a district heating and cooling system requires estimation of the heat and electricity loads of multiple buildings receiving heat and electricity. A database of heat or electricity load per unit area (referred to as “unit load”) is often used in the planning stage, when the specifications and uses of individual buildings are unclear. The load per unit area is a measured and statistically analyzed value, such as the amount of heat produced by a heating system. The load per unit area consists of the annual load per floor area depending on a building's use, the monthly proportion of load, and the hourly proportion of load and by season. The value of a load per unit area that is currently in wide used was derived about 20 years ago, and this value differs from actual current loads. Therefore, the current study surveyed customers of a district heating and cooling system, and this study used data on the amount of heat purchased to analyze the loads of recent buildings from 2008 to 2014. This study defined loads listed in techniques to design and assess cogeneration systems devised by the Society of Heating, Air Conditioning, and Sanitation Engineers of Japan as “conventional loads.” This study then compared conventionally determined load per unit area and load per unit area of recent buildings to identify discrepancies in those values.
     Heat loads changed before and after the Great East Japan Earthquake that struck in March 2011. This study examined buildings for which actual data from 2009 and 2013 were available. Annual loads before and after the Earthquake and changes in loads by month and time of day were compared.
     According to the current study, the annual cooling load per unit area for office buildings was about the same as the conventionally determined load, but the annual heating load was 32% lower.
     According to the current study, the monthly proportion of the heating load for office buildings was about the same as that of the conventionally determined load. The monthly cooling load decreased in the summer, but that load was generated in the winter.
     According to the current study, the hourly proportion of the cooling load for office buildings in the summer decreased during working hours from 8 AM to 5 PM in comparison to the conventionally determined load, but a cooling load was generated at night. In addition, a cooling load was generated in the winter.
     Cooling and heating loads were compared for office buildings for which heat load data were available before and after the Great East Japan Earthquake. The cooling load decreased by 5% annually and the heating load increased 20% in comparison to respective loads prior to the Earthquake. In addition, the proportion of the load by month and by time of day was almost the same.
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  • Health performance evaluation of detached houses using heat load simulation
    Mao SERIKAWA, Takashi AKIMOTO, Shin-ichi TANABE
    2018Volume 83Issue 748 Pages 533-542
    Published: 2018
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     Since a number of residential houses in Japan have built before 1980, they have very poor thermal insulation. With poor thermal insulation specification, the indoor thermal environment in winter could be so uncomfortable. The low temperature in houses could cause occupants' common cold, higher blood pressure, heat shock, and many other diseases.
     Chapter 1 comprised previous studies, including ones about CASBEE Housing Health Checklist, and introduced the purpose of this research.
     CASBEE Housing Health Checklist by Japan Sustainable Building Consortium (JSBC) is a type of software used to assess the health of residences. Answering 50 questions allows residents to identify the aspects of their home that affect their health. The score on the warmth is the sum of points for 7 questions about warmth in the checklist. The perfect score for each question is 3 points, therefore the perfect score for 7 questions is 21 points. Questions about warmth are intended to evaluate the thermal environment of both living rooms and non-living rooms. The first question is about the coldness of living room, the 2nd is about the coldness of bedroom, the 3rd is about the dryness of the bedroom, the 4th and the 5th are about the coldness of sanitary spaces, the 6th is about the coldness of toilet, and the last question is about the coldness of Corridor/Stairs/Closet. Examples of questions are as follows: “Do you feel cold during heating the living room?”, “Do you feel cold in the toilet in winter?”
     The purpose of this research is proposing a method to calculate the score on the warmth, and making it possible to evaluate health performance of detached house by using room temperatures of simulation results. As using this method, it could be possible to indicate the necessity of thermal insulation of houses or help the occupants to consider an improvement of thermal insulation performance.
     The calculation method to calculate the score on the warmth in a house is proposed in Chapter 2. Score on the warmth in CASBEE Housing Health Checklist is calculated from the temperatures that are simulated in the previous case study using a heat load simulation. The method to calculate the scores from temperatures is based on other studies about thermal sensation, health, dwelling performance and so on. For example, the score to the question of “Do you feel cold in the toilet in winter?” is calculated from operative temperature (OT), floor surface temperature of the toilet, and the OT difference between the bedroom and the toilet at late-night. Regarding converting OT into scores, 8°C corresponds to 0 points, and 15°C corresponds to full points. This allocation is decided based on the study that indicates the average toilet temperature that occupants felt cold was approximately 8°C, and the average temperature that does not feel cold was approximately 15°C.
     Using the score on the warmth, it is possible to predict the crisis rate of catching a cold in winter. The predicted crisis rates are indicated in Chapter 3. The temperatures calculated in the case study simulation of houses with various thermal insulation levels are used to predict the crisis rates. For example, if a house with no insulation is replaced with a house which insulation performance meets the Japanese energy saving standard (so-called “H25 Standard”), the score raises approximately 6 points, and the rate of catching a cold in winter decreases approximately 15 %.
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  • Keita YAMAZAKI, Shigeo SUGA, Kouhei KUWABARA, Yasuhiro HAMADA, Soki SY ...
    2018Volume 83Issue 748 Pages 543-553
    Published: 2018
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     To extract the effects of air-conditioned wear (ACW) and other factors on heat stroke, we carried out experiments to measure the physiological and psychological responses of workers simulating construction work in an artificial climate chamber at two fixed temperatures (29, 34°C), which simulate the environmental temperature at indoor and outdoor construction sites, respectively. There were two types of workers in the experiment: reinforcing bar placers (RBPs) and form workers (FWs), and they were tested with and without ACW. Physiological responses, such as the distribution of skin temperatures on the body, sublingual temperature, heart rate measured on wrist and breast, overall activity, three-directional (X, Y and Z) acceleration, body weight with and without clothing were measured; and the subjects were surveyed to assess their psychological responses. There were six RBPs and six FWs.
     For the workers wearing the ACW, skin temperatures at the abdomen and back were significantly lower than those without ACW: 0.4°C and 0.4°C at 29°C, 0.5°C and 1.0°C at 34°C, respectively (P<0.001). On the other hand, the skin temperature at the forearm was significantly higher for workers wearing ACW at 29°C. These numbers indicate that the mean skin temperature is reduced mainly by cooling the abdomen and back using airflow. But the arm part of the ACW is so long and thin compared with the body part that airflow driven by fans cannot arrive at the forearm due to high resistance. Additionally, heat dissipation from the forearm is reduced by the ACW. Thus, the skin temperature at the forearm of workers wearing ACW was higher than that of workers without ACW.
     Skin temperatures and sublingual temperatures of subjects wearing ACW were significantly lower than those without ACW at 34°C (P<0.001, P<0.05). ACW reduces skin temperatures and sublingual temperatures by 0.4°C and 0.1°C at 34°C, respectively. It does not have the same effect at 29°C. Furthermore, quality of sweat content of clothing with ACW was significantly less than that without ACW only at 34°C, not at 29°C. Heart rate measured on the wrist with ACW was significantly lower than that for subjects without ACW at 34°C, but not at 29°C. From these results, we can infer that the heart rate varies with the amount of sweat due to dehydration which varies significantly depending on the ambient temperature and whether the subject is wearing ACW.
     On the other hand, the acceleration of RBPs in the X-direction was significantly higher than that of FWs since rebar work on low walls was done in a squatting position in this simulation. It was supposed that, in this position, the knees press against the abdomen so that the cooled air driven by the fans cannot arrive at the abdomen. Thus, the differences in skin temperatures at the abdomen between RBPs with ACW and those without were significantly lower than for FWs and for the backs of RBPs. We believe this explains why there were no significant differences in comfort and thermal sensation between RBPs with ACW and those without.
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  • Motoya HAYASHI, Hoon KIM, Haruki OSAWA, Mikiko TAKEKUMA, Yoshinori HON ...
    2018Volume 83Issue 748 Pages 555-563
    Published: 2018
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     The aim of this study is to verify a simple examination method on airtight level “single point method”. In this method, equivalent leakage areas: C and exponents on leakage characteristic: n were measured using a pressure-sensor, a CO2-analyzer, a gas range and a range food fan which is installed in houses. An inside-outside pressure difference and an air flow rate through the range fan was measured when the range fan and the gas range are used. The air flow rate is calculated using the generation rate of carbon dioxide from combustion gas and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the exhaust air. C and n were calculated from the pressure difference and the air flow rate, using a characteristic of n toward C. The characteristic was prepared from former measurements data on airtightness in the similar houses.
     In order to verify this simple method, airtightness was measured using a general method according to JIS and using this simple method in ten wooden detached houses. The results showed the followings.
     1. The equivalent leakage area per its floor area of the investigated houses varied from 0.4 to 3.0 cm2/m2 and the exponent of leakage characteristic: n was from 1.1 to 1.6. The characteristics of n toward C was similar to the former studies.
     2. The results of the simple method (single-point method) were very similar to those of general airtight test (JIS). However, the results of the simple method is rather than those of general method. One of the reason was thought to be that the collection efficiency of the range hood was higher than 85% which was used in order to calculate C-value.
     3. Both the measurements results of this study and the measurement results of former study showed that the accuracy of single point method was very high in the case of C-value, however rather low in the case of n-value.
     These results showed that when the measurements data of airtightness are obtained, it is easy to examine the airtight revel of houses. It is desired that this simple method is used and contribute for the improvement of airtightness, development of ability for airtight and the performance guarantee.
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