Numerical modeling of impact of radiation exchanges between wood and building thermal comfort

There are several engineering applications of wood material in buildings. In addition to mechanical and environmental qualities which are already its reputation, the wood material is a part of sustainable construction since wood store carbon. Particularly, it is used as an inner coating within buildings. Humans spend 80% of their time within buildings. For improving the indoor comfort, it is necessary to control the heat transfer between the occupants and its surrounding environments. The radiation heat transfer exchanges have particularly a significant impact on human thermal comfort in buildings. However, the impact of wood inner coating on thermal comfort is not yet well modelled. A part of the work described the impact of adding wood coating on the radiation exchanges with the human body. A calculation tool has been created for modelling these heat transfer exchanges and their influences on human thermal comfort. The numerical indicators are based on international normative references about ergonomics of the thermal environment, using an analytical calculation of predicted mean vote and predicted percentage dissatisfied. This tool is tested in the case of an experimental cell in a research laboratory. Five coatings scenarios have been assessed: inner wall without wood, floor wood coating, floor and ceiling wood coating, all walls wood coating, and all inner sides wood coatings. The results indicate the best thermal comfort concerning radiation exchanges. This paper presents in the first part the numerical modeling of the radiation heat transfer effects on human thermal comfort in buildings. Then, the experimental cell is described with the five scenarios of wood inner coatings. The calculation tool is presented with an analysis of results.