Case Study: University of Nottingham achieves improved garment factory thermal comfort with Integrated Environmental Solutions

University of Nottingham improves thermal comfort with Integrated Environmental Solutions’ calibrated DT and CFD simulations

The customer, the University of Nottingham, was engaged in doctoral research to quantify the indoor environmental benefits of retrofitting a garment factory in a tropical climate. The challenge was to develop a valid simulation model of the existing building to predict the impact of various retrofitting solutions on worker thermal comfort using Integrated Environmental Solutions' IES Virtual Environment software.

Integrated Environmental Solutions' software was used to create an accurate 3D model of the factory. The solution involved calibrating the model with real-world data and then using Dynamic Thermal and Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations to test several retrofitting strategies. The results confirmed that the IESVE-produced models closely represented the real site and demonstrated that the proposed strategies could significantly improve worker comfort through enhanced indoor airflow. This validated the IESVE software as an effective tool for building designers and researchers aiming to improve thermal comfort in similar workspaces.

University of Nottingham