Detailed operational building data for six office rooms in Denmark: Occupancy, indoor environment, heating, ventilation, lighting and room control monitoring with sub-hourly temporal resolution

The operational building data presented in this paper has been collected from six office rooms located in an office building (research and educational purposes) located on the main campus of Aalborg University in Denmark. The dataset consists of measurements of occupancy, indoor environmental quality, room-level and system-level heating, ventilation and lighting operation at a 5 min resolution. The indoor environmental quality and building system data were collected from the building management system. The occupancy level in each monitored room is established from the computer vision-based analysis of wall-mounted camera footage of each office. The number of people present in the room is estimated using the YOLOv5s image recognition algorithm. The present dataset can be used for occupancy analysis, indoor environmental quality investigations, machine learning, and model predictive control.

Climate projections of human thermal comfort for indoor workplaces

Climate models predict meteorological variables for outdoor spaces. Nevertheless, most people work indoors and are affected by heat indoors. We present an approach to transfer climate projections from outdoors to climate projections of indoor air temperature (Ti) and thermal comfort based on a combination of indoor sensors, artificial neural networks (ANNs), and 22 regional climate projections. Human thermal comfort and Ti measured by indoor sensors at 90 different workplaces in the Upper Rhine Valley were used as training data for ANN models predicting indoor conditions as a function of outdoor weather. Workplace-specific climate projections were modeled for the time period 2070-2099 and compared to the historical period 1970-1999 using the same ANNs, but ERA5-Land reanalysis data as input. It is shown that heat stress indoors will increase in intensity, frequency, and duration at almost all investigated workplaces. The rate of increase depends on building and room properties, the workplace purpose, and the representative concentration pathway (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, or RCP8.5). The projected increase of the mean air temperature in the summer (JJA) outdoors, by + 1.6 to + 5.1 K for the different RCPs, is higher than the increase in Ti at all 90 workplaces, which experience on average an increase of + 0.8 to + 2.5 K. The overall frequency of heat stress is higher at most workplaces than outdoors for the historical and the future period. The projected hours of indoor heat stress will increase on average by + 379 h, + 654 h, and + 1209 h under RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5, respectively.

Ammonia and methane emissions from small herd cattle buildings in a cold climate

Ammonia (NH3) and methane (CH4) emission measurements that reflect local production conditions are required to track progress in national emission policies and verify emission factors. The findings can also be used to better understand key factors influencing emissions. This is especially important in Norway, which has long cold winters, and small cattle herds in mechanically ventilated buildings. However, until now, NH3 and CH4 emissions from Norwegian cattle buildings have not been reported in literature. Moreover, in other cold climates, NH3 and CH4 emissions are often taken from large dairy herds in naturally ventilated buildings, with less focus on suckler cows. The objectives were to assess indoor climate, report NH3 and CH4 emissions and examine the impact of climatic factors on NH3 and CH4 emissions in three small herd dairy and suckler cow buildings over three seasons. Three of the buildings had mechanical ventilation, while one was naturally ventilated. The suckler building had higher relative humidity (RH > 90 %) and NH3 concentrations (> 25 ppm) due to lower minimum air change rate (ACH = 1.2 h-1). The suckler building also had the highest NH3 emissions (2.04 g Livestock Unit (LU)-1 h-1) followed by the mechanically ventilated dairy building (1.92 g LU-1 h-1) with the highest ACH. These two buildings had the lowest stocking densities and floor areas. In contrast, the suckler building had the lowest CH4 emissions (6.8-10.7 g LU-1 h-1). Methane emissions from the dairy building with the supply-exhaust air mixing system (16.4-19.3 g LU-1 h-1) was higher than the other dairy buildings (11.7-13.8 g LU-1 h-1). Temperature influenced NH3 emissions however, the direction of association between temperature and NH3 emissions differed among buildings. Relationship between RH and NH3 emissions was positive, but the correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.67) was strongest in the building with the highest RH.

Silverfish (Zygentoma) in Austrian Museums before and during COVID-19 lockdown

The lockdowns that came with policies to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in 2020 required some 90% of museums and historic properties across the globe to be closed. Lowered visitor numbers and reduced staffing levels allowed a range of fauna to make their way indoors, bringing an increase in birds, rodents and insect pests. Silverfish are shy, so benefit from low occupancy in museums and present a potential vector for damage to books and paper. This study is the first to report changes in insect populations in museums and examines six years (2015-2020) trapping data for silverfish and similar insects (Lepismatidae): Lepisma saccharinum, Ctenolepisma calvum, Ctenolepisma longicaudatum and Ctenolepisma lineatum from: (i) the Technisches Museum Wien, (ii) Schönbrunn Palace, (iii) Hofburg Museum and a shorter record from (iv) Weltmuseum Wien. Analysis of the trap contents gives an impression that the number of insects caught had increased over time, but 2020 was distinctive and gave typically higher insect numbers during the COVID-19 lockdown compared to other years, especially for Lepisma saccharinum. Individual traps caught up to 100 silverfish in only a few weeks. Because silverfish usually need between four months to one year to become mature, we assume that it was increased activity during museum closure and not higher reproduction which led to higher numbers. The parts of the museums showing increased populations under lockdown were similar to the areas where they were more frequent in earlier years. This means that such areas deserve continued monitoring even when the museum is closed. No damage to paper objects were reported in the museums investigated.

Impacts of global warming on confined livestock systems for growing-fattening pigs: simulation of heat stress for 1981 to 2017 in Central Europe

In the mid-latitudes, pigs and poultry are kept predominantly in confined livestock buildings with a mechanical ventilation system. In the last decades, global warming has already been a challenge which causes hat stress for animals in such systems. Heat stress inside livestock buildings was assessed by a simulation model for the indoor climate, which is driven by meteorological parameters. Besides the meteorological conditions, the thermal environment inside the building depends on the sensible and latent energy release of the animals, the thermal properties of the building and the ventilation system and its control unit. For a site in Austria in the north of the Alpine Ridge, which is representative for confined livestock buildings for growing-fattening pigs in Central Europe, meteorological data between 1981 and 2017 were used for the model calculations of heat stress measures. This business-as-usual simulation over these 37 years resulted in an increase of the mean relative annual heat stress parameters in the range between 0.9 and 6.4% per year since 1981. In order to minimise the negative economic impact as the consequence of this positive trend of heat stress, adaptation measures are needed. The calculations for growing-fattening pigs show that such a simulation model for the indoor climate is an appropriate tool to determine the level of heat stress of livestock inside confined livestock buildings.

Assessment of indoor heat stress variability in summer and during heat warnings: a case study using the UTCI in Berlin, Germany

Humans spend most of their time in confined spaces and are hence primarily exposed to the direct influence of indoor climate. The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) was obtained in 31 rooms (eight buildings) in Berlin, Germany, during summer 2013 and 2014. The indoor UTCI was determined from measurements of both air temperature and relative humidity and from data of mean radiant temperature and air velocity, which were either measured or modeled. The associated outdoor UTCI was obtained through facade measurements of air temperature and relative humidity, simulation of mean radiant temperature, and wind data from a central weather station. The results show that all rooms experienced heat stress according to UTCI levels, especially during heat waves. Indoor UTCI varied up to 6.6 K within the city and up to 7 K within building. Heat stress either during day or at night occurred on 35 % of all days. By comparing the day and night thermal loads, we identified maximum values above the 32 °C threshold for strong heat stress during the nighttime. Outdoor UTCI based on facade measurements provided no better explanation of indoor UTCI variability than the central weather station. In contrast, we found a stronger relationship of outdoor air temperature and indoor air temperature. Building characteristics, such as the floor level or window area, influenced indoor heat stress ambiguously. We conclude that indoor heat stress is a major hazard, and more effort toward understanding the causes and creating effective countermeasures is needed.