Insights on critical parameters and conditions for personalized ventilation

The need for an efficient ventilation system that improves thermal comfort and indoor air quality as well as reduces energy usage, is increasingly urgent. Personalized ventilation systems present great potentials with individual control of thermal comfort in the occupied zone, improved quality of inhaled air by reducing contaminant/virus spreading, and significant decrease of building energy usage. This paper categorizes and compares the design, performance and study of prevalent personalized ventilation systems with two main objectives: (1) to summarize the pros and cons of each system type; (2) to identify critical design and performance parameters and their suitable conditions. The findings are produced upon analysis and digestion of elemental existing studies with consistent conclusions. The research further reviews the recent progress and discusses the research directions on personalized ventilation systems, laying a valuable ground for further studies on personalized ventilation with less repeated tryouts and lessons.