Question

Scanrio3: Evaluate the performance of a given building(anywhere in Hong Kong) in respect of its human comfort requirements.

P7 Define a material selection strategy with regard to human comfort requirements.

P8 Identify materials for a selected area within a building and explain how these contribute to a balanced indoor environment.

Answer 1

Comfort is a very important requirement in any kind of building whether it is a residential or any professional office. By providing comfort, many other criteria and the performance of the building is improved. We will discuss about the material requirements for the comfort as well as the balanced indoor environment.

(P7) The comfort provided in the buildings may be of many types. The most important among all is to provide better efficiency and thermal comforts. Thermal comfort means that the atmosphere within the building is different from that of outside and is pleasant. For providing these kinds of specialty in the comfort we need to adopt some strategies regarding the building materials and need to be very selective in the field. The required materials are listed below :

• Phase change materials
• Hydrophilic mineral wool panels
• Humidity absorbing paints
• Thermocromic materials
• Radiant and thermal barrier materials

(P8) Let's take the example of the coastal region in Hong Kong. The area near the Pearl River.is being considered in the context as the coastal region is very humid in day time and the materials required for construction would be in such a manner that they provide balanced indoor environment to the people residing there. The cast stone being used in the buildings should be of waterproof nature as possibility of interaction with water is increased and humidity is also there which contain high water content in the air. The roofing materials should also be well furnished and it is preferred that the roofs should be slant in nature as rainfall is also very high in these areas. Corrosion resistant steel is preferred so that the reinforcement is in good condition. Here also the comfort will include the thermal behaviour as humidity is high in day time and due to that it seems to be uncomfortable in day time so it is suggested to have wall paints of the nature that would absorb the humidity and provide pleasant indoor environment that is balanced both in day as well as night time.