BIM- and IoT-based virtual reality tool for real-time thermal comfort assessment in building enclosures

Despite their vast potential for delivering rich and intuitive visualizations of live building monitoring data, digital twins have been rarely studied in the context of thermal comfort. To narrow this gap, this study investigates the synergistic benefits of Building Information Modeling (BIM), the Internet of Things (IoT) and Virtual Reality (VR) for developing an immersive VR application for real-time monitoring of thermal comfort conditions. A system architecture was proposed for live calculation of the PMV/PPD indices based on ASHRAE standard 55 and enrichment of BIM-based representations of building spaces in VR environments with live IoTenabled monitoring data. Openly available software tools were used to make the geometric and sensory data accessible within a VR application and calculate the PMV/PPD indices. Using a semi-automated method, raw thermal images streaming from a cost-effective non-intrusive sensor were processed on an affordable edge computing device to enable near real-time calculation of Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT). A prototype of the system was implemented and used in a series of experiments where a dynamic thermal environment was created in a mechanically conditioned space. The results support the consistency between the system's output and the actual thermal sensations observed under various conditions.

Automated summary

This study investigates the application of digital twins in the field of thermal comfort monitoring and develops an immersive VR application for real-time monitoring of thermal comfort conditions by integrating BIM, IoT, and VR technologies. Through the use of open software tools and a semi-automated method, the real-time calculation of thermal comfort indices and processing of thermal images in real building spaces were successfully achieved.