Multi-criteria decision making of integrating thermal comfort with energy utilization coefficient under different air supply conditions based on human factors and 13-value thermal comfort scale

Abstract This study investigates the influence of the supply vane angles and supply air temperature on the ventilation performance which is described by thermal comfort and EUC (energy utilization coefficient). And the performance optimization is investigated based on human factors (gender and metabolic rate) with a 13-value thermal comfort scale. Firstly, this study conducts the experiments on the supply vane angles and supply air temperature to research ventilation performance with both consideration of human factors and the application of a 13-value thermal comfort scale to vote. Secondly, Nishi's 8-point method is used to calculate thermal comforts which are applied to validate the reliability of thermal vote results. Then, the SPA-TOPSIS (technique of order preference by similarity to an ideal solution based on the set pair analysis) method is used to optimize the performance and get objective weights of thermal comfort and EUC. Finally, there is a discussion on the effect of gender and metabolic rate on ventilation performance based on the calculated objective weights. The results of the experiments show that the thermal comfort votes have a significant relationship with the supply vane angle, supply air temperature, gender and metabolic rate, and for human factors, the metabolic rates have a greater effect on the ventilation performance than gender.