Roelof Kooistra
Building Technology Graduation Studio
Interactive Breezemaker: A Design Framework for Personal Environmental Control Systems Utilizing Elevated Airspeed
Offices often use central air conditioning systems to regulate temperature, which consumes a lot of energy and gives employees little control over their thermal comfort. A more sustainable solution is to locally increase airspeed, which consumes less energy and gives employees more control. What is often missing in such adaptive measures is a holistic perspective that considers all relevant factors and actors.
The research consists of interviews with end-users and experts, combined with a literature review, which has led to a framework that defines design criteria, requirements and considerable elements. Using this framework, various design methods were applied and each design was tested through different variations. The designs were continuously evaluated by using different design methods in combination with the framework, ultimately leading to an effective 'breezemaker'—a device integrated into an acoustic partition on the desk, allowing users to locally control their thermal comfort.