Using fans alone or in coordination with HVAC systems to cool people offers several significant enhancements compared to conventional HVAC systems, including improved thermal comfort, indoor air quality, air distribution, energy savings, and initial cost savings. Despite the numerous benefits of fans and fan-integrated systems, comprehensive resources have previously been unavailable to guide engineers and architects in designing and implementing such systems. The purpose of this guideline is to address this gap and provide practitioners with valuable materials and answers to common questions.

The CBE Clima Tool (Clima) is a free and open-source web application that offers easy access to publicly available weather files and has been created for building energy simulation and design. It provides a series of interactive visualizations of the variables contained in the EnergyPlus Weather Files and several derived ones like the UTCI or the adaptive comfort indices. Our tool is poised to revolutionize climate-adaptive building design, transcending geographical boundaries and fostering innovation in the architecture and engineering fields. 

This study assessed the influence of having a window with a view on thermal and emotional responses as well as on cognitive performance. Positive emotions (e.g., happy, satisfied) were higher and negative emotions (e.g., sad, drowsy) were lower for the participants in the window versus the windowless condition. Working memory and the ability to concentrate were higher for participants in the space with versus without windows, but there were no significant differences in short-term memory, planning, and creativity performance.

This paper presents data collected from a widely used online POE tool: The Center for the Built Environment’s (CBE) Occupant Survey (more than 90,000 respondents from approximately 900 buildings) in order to summarize its database and evaluate the survey’s structure and benchmarking metrics. Satisfaction is highest with spaces’ ease of interaction (75% satisfied), amount of light (74%), and cleanliness (71%). Dissatisfaction is highest with sound privacy (54% dissatisfied), temperature (39%), and noise level (34%).