Sensory evaluation of heating and air conditioning systems

Existing standards and models, such as ISO 7730 or the work of Fanger [Thermal Comfort], are not sufficient to characterise the satisfaction and pleasantness of end-users provided by heating or air conditioning systems. For this reason Electricitie de France (EDF) has initiated a project with the aim of using sensory evaluation techniques in the design of HVAC systems. Sensory evaluation has been used for more than 30 years in the food industry, and now involves the cosmetics, the phone and the automotive industries. It is based on a dual evaluation: sensation measurements carried out by a small panel of trained expert assessors; preference studies performed by a large panel of representative consumers. A correlation between the data of both studies is then used to explain the preferences in terms of sensations (preference mapping). The first experiments performed in 1999 and 2000 have provided lists of descriptors of thermal sensation and acoustic sensation associated with heating and air conditioning appliances. They show that it is possible to define discriminative descriptors, to train a panel and to reliably quantify these descriptors. It is then possible to draw the sensory profiles of different HVAC systems. The future experimental laboratory that EDF has decided to build is also presented, where the trained panels and end-users will evaluate the sensations and the preferences of real systems in eight "realistic environmental chambers" designed, furnished and decorated like offices and flats. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.