AUTOMATED GENERATION OF SHAPE FACTORS FOR MEAN RADIANT TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT.

Thermal radiation is a significant factor affecting thermal comfort in many types of artificial environments, such as passive solar architecture and radiant panel systems in buildings. Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT) is a measurement of this thermal radiant exchange. The term Operative Temperature (OT) combines the effects of both MRT and air temperature to reflect better the human perception of thermal comfort within an environment. This paper discusses the theory and computer program that calculates the MRT of a person standing anywhere within a rectilinear enclosure for a particular period of time. The use of this program can help the designer achieve optimum thermal comfort conditions and reduce initial and operating costs of heating equipment. (Author abstract. )