Papers on ventilation and air tightness and on how users adapt to temperature in buildings in tropical climates have won annual awards from the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. 

YH Yau and BT Chew, both of the University of Malaysia, have won the Carter Bronze medal for their paper entitled A review on predicted mean vote and adaptive thermal comfort models, which examined the effectiveness of the standard international measure of comfort in the tropics. This concluded that the PMV (predicted mean vote) model is not adequate for buildings in such climates, and that a new adaptive model needs developing to balance comfort and energy use.

SG Howieson, T Sharpe and P Farren, of the University of Strathclyde, have won the Napier Shaw Bronze Medal for their work on the effect of air tightness on air quality in buildings, entitled Building tight – ventilating right? How are new air tightness standards affecting indoor air quality in dwellings? They found that current Building Regulations and Standards don’t take ‘real life’ ventilation scenarios into account, and that modern air-tight buildings are more likely to suffer from poor air quality.

The Carter and Napier Shaw Bronze Medals have been awarded by CIBSE for over 30 years, and are presented to the highest rated papers of the year on application and research respectively, published in CIBSE’s Building Services Engineering Research and Technology journal (BSERT). 

BSERT editorial panel member Professor Tim Dwyer said: “The annual award of these two prizes is a celebration of the high quality research that goes on in the building services industry, and published in BSERT. This year’s winners are notable in that they both challenge the status-quo, and are a fine example of what CIBSE can bring to its membership by publishing BSERT and Lighting Research and Technology Journal online.”

The winners of this year’s Napier Shaw and Carter Bronze medals will receive their prizes at this year’s CIBSE President’s Dinner on 9 October, alongside the winners of the Institution’s other prizes.

The journals Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, and Lighting Research and Technology Journal are CIBSE’s two technical journals, published by Sage. They are available free of charge online to CIBSE members.