Development of control systems for VRF indoor units responds to individual thermal preferences

Keiichiro Taniguchi, Yosuke Kamiya, Daisuke Sato, Takashi Nishimoto, Ruizi Zhang, Shohei Miyata, Hiroaki Murakami, Nobuki Matsui, Yasunori Akashi, Yoshihiro Kawahara

Proceedings of the 10th ACM International Conference on Systems for Energy-Efficient Buildings, Cities, and Transportation 310-311, November 2023

https://doi.org/10.1145/3600100.3626274

Abstract

Thermal distributions within indoor environments are heterogeneous, and thermal preferences are subjective. Therefore, creating an environment that is comfortable for each occupant remains a challenge. This study examined and verified a feedback method for the control system of a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) indoor unit, which responds to individual thermal preferences, by using a developed data-utilization platform. We also revealed that real-time thermal distribution visualization significantly improved subjects’ thermal comfort/satisfaction and work productivity.