Impact of personalized ventilation combined with chilled ceiling on SBS symptoms intensity

This paper presents the influence of the environment created by personalized ventilation (PV) combined with the chilled ceiling (CC) on Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) symptoms intensity reported by occupants. Twenty-four human subjects participated in four 3-hour experiments in climate chamber. Performance of PV combined with chilled ceiling system (CCPV) and mixing ventilation (MV) combined with chilled ceiling (CCMV) was studied at room air temperature of 26°C and 28°C. Supply air temperature (by PV and MV) was 3 K lower than room air temperature. During sessions with PV subjects were provided with individual control of supplied personalized air flow rate and its’ direction. After 45 min of acclimatization subjects performed sedentary tasks at workstations with computers and walking exercises. Subjective responses were collected through questionnaires. Subjects reported on intensity of SBS symptoms 6 times throughout each experiment. Results reveal building up of symptoms intensity in time at all studied cases. PV decreased intensity of most of analysed symptoms at 28°C compared to MV. The ability to concentrate and fatigue was also improved at 26°C with PV.