Fice Accommodation Essay - 1688 Words

Task 1A There are three main factors that will influence human comfort in the office accommodation: 1. Thermal 2. Visual 3. Acoustic 1. Thermal Thermal comfort is everything to do with heat, if we are too hot or too cold in the office or shop we will not be comfortable. First of all you have to take into consideration the activity level of the workers in the building to decide what temperate is best suited for them to work at their optimum level. In the case of the office workers who are sitting for most of the day at their desks, their activity level is low and they aren’t generating much heat. In the case of the shop, workers are on their feet all day, their activity level is high and they are generating quite a significant amount of heat. Activity Example Heat output Immobile Sleeping 70 W Seated Watching TV 115 W Light Work Office 140 W Medium Work Factory, Dancing 265 W Heavy Work Lifting 440 W Air temperature is another factor affecting thermal comfort. As people in an office space are sitting for most of the day they will rely on the heating system of the office to regulate their body temperature whereas in a shop, people are on the move generating heat so they do not have to rely on the heating system as much. Air Movement will affect the rate at which the body loses heat by convection and evaporation of sweat from the skin. Air movement is both good and bad for example when the temperatures are high in summer, air movement will give relief to a person by cooling