by Brianna Crandall — October 2, 2015—Papers on ventilation and air tightness and on how users adapt to temperature in buildings in tropical climates have won annual awards from the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), according to a recent announcement.
Y.H. Yau and B.T. Chew, both of the University of Malaysia, won the Carter Bronze medal for their paper entitled “A review on predicted mean vote and adaptive thermal comfort models,” which examined the effectiveness of the standard international measure of comfort in the tropics. This concluded that the PMV (predicted mean vote) model is not adequate for buildings in such climates, and that a new adaptive model needs developing to balance comfort and energy use.
S.G. Howieson, T. Sharpe and P. Farren, of the University of Strathclyde, won the Napier Shaw Bronze Medal for their work on the effect of airtightness on air quality in buildings, entitled “Building tight — ventilating right? How are new air tightness standards affecting indoor air quality in dwellings?” They found that current Building Regulations and Standards do not take “real life” ventilation scenarios into account, and that modern air-tight buildings are more likely to suffer from poor air quality.
The Carter and Napier Shaw Bronze Medals have been awarded by CIBSE for over 30 years, and are presented to the highest rated papers of the year on application and research respectively, published in CIBSE’s Building Services Engineering Research and Technology (BSERT) journal. Lighting Research and Technology Journal is CIBSE’s other technical journal. Both are published by Sage.
The awards are considered a celebration of the high-quality research that goes on in the building services industry. This year’s winners are notable in that they both challenge the status quo, says CIBSE. The winners of this year’s Napier Shaw and Carter Bronze medals will receive their prizes at this year’s CIBSE President’s Dinner on October 9, along with the winners of the Institution’s other prizes.
