Thanks for developing this nice tool. For a quick going-through, I tried using the comfort_models.py to calculate the PMV value in such condition:

Air Temp: 25
Mean Ra Temp: 25
Air speed: 0.1
humidity (relative humidity): 50
met rate: 1.1
clothing: 0.5

this is the example values shown on the http://comfort.cbe.berkeley.edu/ page, if choosing "temperature - Relative humidity chart" option. the result provided on the webpage is
PMV -0.13
PPD 5 %
Sensation Neutral
SET 24.6°C

I used the comfPMVElevatedAirspeed() function in the comfort_models.py script. This function requires one more input wme, from the comments of codes it mentioned that this value is usually around 0, so I chose wme = 0. it derived results as:
PMV -0.13201636244868287
PPD: 5.361054624642392,
SET: 24.523854581903315 C

the PMV , PPD are in accordance with result from the web page, considering rounding the digits. However, the SET temp has slight difference, considering rounding, the 2 results still don't agrees. So I am wondering :
Is this due to my choice of WME(=0) is not a default value? if so, what is the default value of wme to make sure the python script's result is exactly equal to the web page result?

What addenda to ASHRAE 55 2020 are included in your version 2,5.3 of the Thermal Comfort Tool? Is there a later version that includes the addenda related to the formulas for the calculations? If so, how do I get access to it?

Would like to see the LEED Documentation button that was featured in previous versions installed in this version.

The standard is updated every ~3 years. Right now, we keep it update to the newest version including all the published addenda. Sometimes the designers needs to perform the thermal comfort calculations according to a previous version, for example 2013. This is not a priority

Can you display the neutral temp somewhere in the results pane.
Or maybe add a button next to the "use operative temperature" button that says something like "lock (or fix) to neutral temperature"?

8 out of 10 times I use the tool I want to see what the neutral temperature is since this is usually out design target for sizing equipment.

Might be nice to think about how to display the max/min temp also since that is the second thing I want to know. You already do this with the pop-up red lines when using the compare tool.

Maybe you can just use those pop-up lines for neutral/max/min on the default tool and then I can just take a screen shot of the chart. Would be cool.

Right now I iterate operative temp for all three of those numbers and waste a ton of time.

One of the most requested features that we had in the past and then removed was the LEED documentation. We remove it because it was broken. We received many emails asking it back. We may add it back.
A simpler option would be to have the saving/restore/share feature available in the CBE fan tool
https://centerforthebuiltenvironment.github.io/fan-tool/

Describe the bug
ASHRAE 55 page - Adaptive method - the button/checkbox to switch between air temperature and the operative temperature doesn’t load. We just learned that the only way to get that option to appear is to change the chart type, say use “Psychrometric (air temperature)”.

Screenshots

Dear contributors,

where can I find the code for the SolarCalc tool? I am currently working with the CBE tool and would love to get a look at it. Love your tool! :-)

Looking forward to your response.

Greetings from Munich
Laura

"The value you entered is outside the tool's applicability limits. Air speed is limited between 0.3 and 4.5 m/s; metabolic rate between 0.7 and 1.9 met; and clothing level between 0 and 0.6 met."

FYI the help page for this tool is directing people to post support questions on Stack Overflow. However, Stack Overflow is for programming-related questions only. Please update the community support section of the help webpage to direct people here, to open proper GitHub issues, or to a specific support site that can handle general product support. Also, it really is not a good idea to have people conform to a very specific title format, and then have to send an email with a link to their question. It's important to realize that Stack Overflow is Community driven, and doesn't exist for a specific company's product support.

Non-programming support questions will just end up being closed as off-topic, which will likely result in several users ending up frustrated.

It appears that the initial value for the clothing surface temperature may be incorrect. Since this iterates, then I'm not sure it matters. It would be nice to have it be the same as ASHRAE Std 55 2017 Normative Appendix B (screenshot below).

CBE has several design tools
CBE Fan Tool: https://centerforthebuiltenvironment.github.io/fan-tool/. Potential label: Ceiling fan
CBE UFAD Tool: https://cbe.berkeley.edu/ufad-designtool/online.htm, Potential label: UFAD
CBE Rad Tool: http://radiant.cbe.berkeley.edu/ Potential label: Radiant
It may be valuable to add them to the bar on top, maybe just a dropdown menu.

Rather than using the interactive model, can I pass a JSON string to the python code and get a ASHRAE reply? If so how.

Hello. Whenever I change values for local discomfort evaluations nothing happens. It was working nicely before. Changing browsers or devices did not help, so I believe there is a problem from your side. Please fix. Thank you.

Currently we rely on the global namespace and have to know which files are needed for a given feature. Ideally we'd have modules (maybe ES6, or node.js require or some other module system) that we can import cleanly.

https://exploringjs.com/es6/ch_modules.html

The units above the chart do not change if I toggle between SI and IP

Hi CBE,

I have used your Comfort Indices Upload Tool and got some potential errors.

The conditions I have are quite extreme, an indoor assembly factory for seated workers during summer.

Below is the outputs from just a few of the time points. The PMV values I get for some of these more extreme conditions exceed 3.0.

Is that an error within the calculation? Should I simply round down to 3 as it should be the maximum of the scale?

ta | tr | vel | rh | met | clo | clo_dynamic | pmv
33.5 | 34.6 | 0.21 | 70.2 | 3.1 | 1.21 | 0.882 | 3.25
35.7 | 35.8 | 0.56 | 62.7 | 3 | 0.91 | 0.667 | 3.24
36.3 | 37.4 | 0.23 | 59.6 | 3 | 0.54 | 0.396 | 3.32

Thanks :)

Hi,
There is a bug in Ranges which is triggered when Clothing level is selected (in the top drop down menu) and the user wants to modify the Metabolic rate. The code seem to end up in a loop/hanging.
Best,
Csilla

Steps to recreate bug:

1. select a clo or met from dropdown
2. change manually the value of the relative constant
3. select the same value from the dropdown as in point 1 and the value does not change

The user needs to select another value from the dropdown then the same value as selected in point 1

From a user:

I was using the CBE Thermal Comfort Tool for some ASHRAE 90.1 work and noticed an issue when uploading an excel file using IP units.

It appears that the calculations are correct, but the units shown on the chart for each point are not. See below for an example.

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
The PHS page is not clear

Describe the solution you'd like

• Change x-axis from minutes to hours
• explain the three time limits
• remove humidity dropdown converted
• add documentation to gitbook

Using the python code provided, the comfPMV results have an error at the low velocities. The error results in a different PMV value compared to the javascript local calculator or online calculator. This error originates from a float / integer division issue within that function. In two places, a value is divided by 100. By changing this divisor to 100.0, the number returned is a float and follow on calculations are correct and match the javascript implementation and online tool results.

These two lines need to be modified adding the .0 as shown in the corrected lines below:
p5 = (308.7 - 0.028 * mw) + (p2 * math.pow(tra / 100.0, 4))
hl5 = 3.96 * fcl * (math.pow(xn, 4) - math.pow(tra / 100.0, 4))

1. An experimental mean radiant temperature calculation tool using graphical methods. (Tyler, almost done)
2. Heat loss vs air temperature chart: color coded areas display the different components of heat loss using both the PMV and the SET models. The representation is updated by changing the RH, mean radiant temperature, air speed, met and clo values.
3. Visualization of annual data using the adaptive comfort model. The goal is to upload a weather file and display the hourly data on a time-temperature chart throughout the year, to see the distribution of the adaptive comfort zone compared to the outdoor conditions. (the code already exists, but the upload has to be implemented)
4. Develop a chart that shows air speed (x-axis) vs cooling effect (y-axis) as a function of Tair with MRT=Tair only for v=0.2 m/s. PMV should be an input and the default should be 0.5. The set of lines should change with met, clo, and RH.
5. Interoperability and visualizations of data from external sources: a user may be interested in visualizing simulated or empirical data within the psychrometric chart. This will allow a designer to explore conditions that will provide a high level of comfort. The prevailing outdoor air temperature may also be calculated from a weather file. Add possibility to download the calculated values. (Tyler)
6. Upload a weather file from internet and calculate:
   Adaptive comfort prevailing mean temperature (Alberto has already the file working with weather file)
   Clothing model
   Compare different climates. This can be done both in the adaptive and PMV/PPD method.
7. Monte carlo markov chain simulation of PMV (Tyler, Atsunori, Toby)
8. Give an option (check box) to plot the PPD value for each point in the graph. Legend should be displayed
9. Add the psychrometric variables to the RH-dry-bulb chart
10. Develop and new reppresentation of the the humid air, e.g. dry-bulb temperature vs enthalpy or dry-bulb vs wet-bulb
11. Add the Nicol's graph (difference between outdoor and comfort temp). Useful to understand the need of heating and cooling. Look at email from Sue Roaf on July 22 2016

@Article{Jay2015,
abstract = {Heat waves continue to claim lives, with the elderly and poor at greatest risk. A simple and cost-effective intervention is an electric fan, but public health agencies warn against their use despite no evidence refuting their efficacy in heat waves. A conceptual human heat balance model can be used to estimate the evaporative requirement for heat balance, the potential for evaporative heat loss from the skin, and the predicted sweat rate, with and without an electrical fan during heat wave conditions. Using criteria defined by the literature, it is clear that fans increase the predicted critical environmental limits for both the physiological compensation of endogenous/exogenous heat, and the onset of cardiovascular strain by an air temperature of {~{}}3-4°C, irrespective of relative humidity (RH) for the young and elderly. Even above these critical limits, fans would apparently still provide marginal benefits at air temperatures as high as 51.1°C at 10{%}RH for young adults and 48.1°C at 10{%}RH for the elderly. Previous concerns that dehydration would be exacerbated with fan use do not seem likely, except under very hot ({\textgreater}40°C) and dry ({\textless}10{%}RH) conditions, when predicted sweat losses are only greater with fans by a minor amount ({~{}}20-30mL/h). Relative to the peak outdoor environmental conditions reported during ten of the most severe heat waves in recent history, fan use would be advisable in all of these situations, even when reducing the predicted maximum sweat output for the elderly. The protective benefit of fans appears to be underestimated by current guidelines.},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
arxivId = {arXiv:1011.1669v3},
author = {Jay, Ollie and Cramer, Matthew N. and Ravanelli, Nicholas M. and Hodder, Simon G.},
doi = {10.1016/j.apergo.2014.07.013},
eprint = {arXiv:1011.1669v3},
file = {:C$\backslash$:/Users/sbbfti/Documents/Mendeley Desktop/Jay et al. - 2015 - Should electric fans be used during a heat wave.pdf:pdf},
isbn = {1872-9126 (Electronic)$\backslash$r0003-6870 (Linking)},
issn = {18729126},
journal = {Applied Ergonomics},
keywords = {Air flow,Extreme heat events,Hydration},
number = {Part A},
pages = {137--143},
pmid = {25134988},
publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},
title = {{Should electric fans be used during a heat wave?}},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2014.07.013},
volume = {46},
year = {2015}
}

I found an issue in CBE Thermal Comfort Tool – ASHRAE 55 Adaptive method.

This issue appears only if the prevailing mean outdoor temperature is 20 °C (whatever the air speed is)

If you set the operative temperature at 21.5 °C, it shows “Too warm” below the “90% acceptability limits”, which is not right.

Also, if you set the operative temperature at 20.5 °C, it shows “Too warm” below both “90% acceptability limits” and “80% acceptability limits”

In both cases aforementioned, it should show “Too cool” not “too warm”

In the "thermal heat losses vs air temperature" chart, it may happen that the mean radiant temperature cannot be changed if in the "psychrometric (air temperature)" chart, the "use operative temp" option is selected. It would be nice to automatically deselect it when someone select the "thermal heat losses vs air temperature" chart. The same behavior happens in the "SET outputs chart"

Describe the bug
You do not explicitly disclaim rights (copyrights etc) in the outputs of your (online) tool.

Expected behavior
My legal understanding is that you as authors and CBE probably do not have rights in the computer generated outputs. But it is uncertain unless you are explicit, at least to non-lawyers such as me.

It would be best if you would explicitly state on the Web interface and in your README or elsewhere here in the code base that you do not claim any rights over the outputs (with appropriate restrictions on reuse of the logos etc) so that people can freely use such screenshots in their own reports, papers, etc, without contacting you.

i have noticed that filling metabolic rate with values higher than 1.3met or filling clothing level with values higher than 0.7 the application stops working.

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
A clear and concise description of what the problem is. Ex. I'm always frustrated when [...]

Describe the solution you'd like
A clear and concise description of what you want to happen.

Describe alternatives you've considered
A clear and concise description of any alternative solutions or features you've considered.

Additional context
Add any other context or screenshots about the feature request here.

1. It would be good to make an actual help page for solarcal rather than just link to the paper. I think this is really key to making people start to use this feature because right now no one understands how to use this. Perhaps we even put in a graphic directly in the pop-up window that graphically explains what each parameter is. Also, the help button should open a new window, not go directly to the paper.
2. Short of graphics explaining each parameter, the variables (e.g. [Tsol]) should be made into tool tips where a user can hover over them and get an explanation of what they mean. I think the same thing should also be done for the local discomfort popup.
3. While I don’t think it is terribly important, it would be nice to have a location selector field, where a user inputs zip code or city name or latitude and the Idir is automatically determined and populated from the location
4. I’m wondering if “solar gain on occupants” should be a check box or if we have some more direct way of alerting users that they need to consider solar gain in order to comply with Std 55—so they need to actually input whether it is a factor or not. Same for local discomfort. I think both of these sections get ignored and they are requirements of the standard, so I think we should find a way to make people notice them.
5. Eventually it would also be nice to build in the solar addendum prescriptive approach tables to the tool. So instead of entering all the solarcal inputs, you would enter your glass properties and shade type and the tool would do a lookup to determine if you comply

The input fields all have limits that are imposed by the spinner buttons. However you can always just type in whatever you want in the field, which can sometimes cause the tool to crash if the value is either (a) very large, causing NaNs to be output by the comfort models or (b) invalid (e.g. a metabolic rate of "cat").

Two possible solutions:

1. Strictly validate the input. If a number can't be parsed or is out of range, give a warning and replace the input with the default. (easier)
2. Allow inputs out of range, but if NaNs are encountered during the computation, quit safely.

Deleted

First, thanks for providing this great tool

I really can't say if this is a bug or a feature request. The issue is that you include sleeping as an activity with a metabolic rate of .7. However, there aren't any clothing selections that would correspond to light blanket, heavy blanket, comforter, sheet, etc. that would relate to what a person would be insulated with at night while sleeping.

In a residential setting when trying to look at what air temperature would provide comfort at night these "clothing" options are critical.

Can these options be added to the drop-down for the calculator? Alternatively could you just include a link to a larger list of possible clothing values so the proper clo value can be entered.

Thanks

The red line in the Ranges page does not changes if the user selects humidity ratio in the drop down menu. This needs to be fixed and it needs to be checked if the rages displayed below are correct. In addition the selection of humidity ratio, dew-point, etc. should be disabled when the RH vs air temperature chart is selected.

I am trying to use your python implementation of the Comfort Tool, however I have been obtaining different results compared to the CBE Interface when using PMV method on the interface and the comfPMVElevatedAirspeed function of your Python implementation.

Would you have any leads to why this is happening?

Aloha!

The ASHRAE adaptive thermal comfort model has an adjustment if elevated air movement is present. This feature is not present in the EN15251 standard. There is an error in the EN15251 adaptive comfort in the tool because there is the elevated air speed adjustment

.

Switching between IP/SI using the button bottom left of the interface changes units and labels in the inputs and in the axis title but the discrete temp values on the y-axis remain unchanged (they hold celsius values vs increasing for Fahrenheit). Thanks!

I’m wondering if “solar gain on occupants” should be a check box or if we have some more direct way of alerting users that they need to consider solar gain in order to comply with Std 55—so they need to actually input whether it is a factor or not. Same for local discomfort. I think both of these sections get ignored and they are requirements of the standard, so I think we should find a way to make people notice them.

The SET values calculated by the CBE tool do not correspond to the validation values for the last 2 lines of the validation table provided by ASHRAE-55 Table D3 with Met=2.0 and Met=4.0.