Fanning as an alternative to air conditioning – A sustainable solution for reducing indoor occupational heat stress

Ollie Jay; Roman Hoelzl; Jana Weets; Nathan Bradley Morris; Timothy English; Lars Nybo; Jianlei Niu; Richard de Dear; Anthony Capon

doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.03.037

Fanning as an alternative to air conditioning – A sustainable solution for reducing indoor occupational heat stress

Ollie Jay^*, Roman Hoelzl, Jana Weets, Nathan Bradley Morris, Timothy English, Lars Nybo, Jianlei Niu, Richard de Dear, Anthony Capon

^*Corresponding author for this work

The August Krogh Section for Human Physiology

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We assessed whether increasing airflow with an electric fan is similarly effective as decreasing air temperature with air cooling (AC) in preventing heat-related reductions in productivity, and elevations in body temperatures and discomfort in a warm/humid indoor environment. In 48 experimental trials, we compared the reduction in the human heat stress response of sixteen participants during 135 min of intermittent arm ergometry at a fixed heart rate of 110 beats min ⁻¹ , from a simulated tropical environment (HOT; 30 °C, 70%RH; wind < 0.2 m s ⁻¹ ) to that observed with either a, (i) 7 °C reduction in air temperature (AC; 23 °C, 70%RH, wind < 0.2 m s ⁻¹ ); or (ii) facilitated airflow (FAN; 30 °C, 70%RH, wind = 4.2 m s ⁻¹ ). Cumulative work was similarly improved (+11%) by FAN compared to AC. Likewise, reductions in rectal temperature, thermal sensation, and thermal discomfort were similar with the two different cooling strategies. Sweat losses in the FAN trial were higher compared to AC but lower than HOT without fanning. In conclusion, fanning offers an effective method for alleviating thermal stress and preventing productivity losses for workers exposed to environmental heat. Moving air instead of chilling it may require a little more sweating, but it can save electricity and hence lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to AC.

Original language	English
Journal	Energy and Buildings
Volume	193
Pages (from-to)	92-98
Number of pages	7
ISSN	0378-7788
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.03.037
Publication status	Published - 2019

Keywords

Climate
Convection
Energy conservation
Evaporation
Occupational heat stress

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.03.037

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@article{ea51d7171e374454a5ceb2d50108511c,

title = "Fanning as an alternative to air conditioning – A sustainable solution for reducing indoor occupational heat stress",

abstract = " We assessed whether increasing airflow with an electric fan is similarly effective as decreasing air temperature with air cooling (AC) in preventing heat-related reductions in productivity, and elevations in body temperatures and discomfort in a warm/humid indoor environment. In 48 experimental trials, we compared the reduction in the human heat stress response of sixteen participants during 135 min of intermittent arm ergometry at a fixed heart rate of 110 beats min −1 , from a simulated tropical environment (HOT; 30 °C, 70%RH; wind < 0.2 m s −1 ) to that observed with either a, (i) 7 °C reduction in air temperature (AC; 23 °C, 70%RH, wind < 0.2 m s −1 ); or (ii) facilitated airflow (FAN; 30 °C, 70%RH, wind = 4.2 m s −1 ). Cumulative work was similarly improved (+11%) by FAN compared to AC. Likewise, reductions in rectal temperature, thermal sensation, and thermal discomfort were similar with the two different cooling strategies. Sweat losses in the FAN trial were higher compared to AC but lower than HOT without fanning. In conclusion, fanning offers an effective method for alleviating thermal stress and preventing productivity losses for workers exposed to environmental heat. Moving air instead of chilling it may require a little more sweating, but it can save electricity and hence lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to AC. ",

keywords = "Climate, Convection, Energy conservation, Evaporation, Occupational heat stress",

author = "Ollie Jay and Roman Hoelzl and Jana Weets and Morris, {Nathan Bradley} and Timothy English and Lars Nybo and Jianlei Niu and {de Dear}, Richard and Anthony Capon",

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T1 - Fanning as an alternative to air conditioning – A sustainable solution for reducing indoor occupational heat stress

AU - Jay, Ollie

AU - Hoelzl, Roman

AU - Weets, Jana

AU - Morris, Nathan Bradley

AU - English, Timothy

AU - Nybo, Lars

AU - Niu, Jianlei

AU - de Dear, Richard

AU - Capon, Anthony

N1 - CURIS 2019 NEXS 139

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - We assessed whether increasing airflow with an electric fan is similarly effective as decreasing air temperature with air cooling (AC) in preventing heat-related reductions in productivity, and elevations in body temperatures and discomfort in a warm/humid indoor environment. In 48 experimental trials, we compared the reduction in the human heat stress response of sixteen participants during 135 min of intermittent arm ergometry at a fixed heart rate of 110 beats min −1 , from a simulated tropical environment (HOT; 30 °C, 70%RH; wind < 0.2 m s −1 ) to that observed with either a, (i) 7 °C reduction in air temperature (AC; 23 °C, 70%RH, wind < 0.2 m s −1 ); or (ii) facilitated airflow (FAN; 30 °C, 70%RH, wind = 4.2 m s −1 ). Cumulative work was similarly improved (+11%) by FAN compared to AC. Likewise, reductions in rectal temperature, thermal sensation, and thermal discomfort were similar with the two different cooling strategies. Sweat losses in the FAN trial were higher compared to AC but lower than HOT without fanning. In conclusion, fanning offers an effective method for alleviating thermal stress and preventing productivity losses for workers exposed to environmental heat. Moving air instead of chilling it may require a little more sweating, but it can save electricity and hence lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to AC.

AB - We assessed whether increasing airflow with an electric fan is similarly effective as decreasing air temperature with air cooling (AC) in preventing heat-related reductions in productivity, and elevations in body temperatures and discomfort in a warm/humid indoor environment. In 48 experimental trials, we compared the reduction in the human heat stress response of sixteen participants during 135 min of intermittent arm ergometry at a fixed heart rate of 110 beats min −1 , from a simulated tropical environment (HOT; 30 °C, 70%RH; wind < 0.2 m s −1 ) to that observed with either a, (i) 7 °C reduction in air temperature (AC; 23 °C, 70%RH, wind < 0.2 m s −1 ); or (ii) facilitated airflow (FAN; 30 °C, 70%RH, wind = 4.2 m s −1 ). Cumulative work was similarly improved (+11%) by FAN compared to AC. Likewise, reductions in rectal temperature, thermal sensation, and thermal discomfort were similar with the two different cooling strategies. Sweat losses in the FAN trial were higher compared to AC but lower than HOT without fanning. In conclusion, fanning offers an effective method for alleviating thermal stress and preventing productivity losses for workers exposed to environmental heat. Moving air instead of chilling it may require a little more sweating, but it can save electricity and hence lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to AC.

KW - Climate

KW - Convection

KW - Energy conservation

KW - Evaporation

KW - Occupational heat stress

U2 - 10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.03.037

DO - 10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.03.037

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85063406374

SN - 0378-7788

VL - 193

SP - 92

EP - 98

JO - Energy and Buildings

JF - Energy and Buildings

ER -

Fanning as an alternative to air conditioning – A sustainable solution for reducing indoor occupational heat stress

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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