Psychological and Physiological Thermal Effects of Biophilic Built Environment using Virtual Reality: A Pilot Study for Certified Green Building

Datasets used in the manuscript titled “Psychological and Physiological Thermal Effects of Biophilic Built Environment using Virtual Reality: A Pilot Study for Certified Green Building”. This study conducted a controlled experiment testing the psychological and Physiological thermal effects from visual stimuli of indoor environments incorporating natural elements (biophilic design) in certified green offices. This study used a virtual reality (VR) image of a certified green office emphasizing biophilic design, while measuring the physical environmental parameters, the participants’ subjective thermal perceptions, and physiological parameters (heart rate: HR, heart rate variability: HRV, salivary alpha-amylase activity: sAA) in the neutral and high temperature greenhouses (NTG and HTG, respectively). Air temperature, air velocity, relative humidity, globe temperature, and outdoor temperature were measured and used for calculating other thermal environmental indices (SET*, operative temperature, mean radiant temperature). The thermal perceptions were measured with self-report questionnaires (thermal sensation: TS, hot-cold sensation: HC, warm-cool sensation: WC, humid sensation: HS, thermal comfort: TC) in the Likert scale and the visual analog scale (VAS). HR, HRV (RMSSD, nHF, LF/HF), sAA were used as the indices of autonomic nervous activity. A total of 47 participants were recruited first, then two participants were excluded due to recording equipment failure, which makes the final number of participants 45. Participants were divided into two groups such as the control group only viewing VR images of the non-biophilic office, and the treatment group viewing VR images including the image for a biophilic office. Each participant stayed in greenhouses for 4 times: (1) NTG aiming at SET* 24℃ first (NTG1), followed by (2) HTG aiming at SET* 30℃ (HTG1), followed by (3) NTG for the second time (NTG2), then (4) HTG for the second time (HTG2). The control group viewed the same non-biophilic VR image in all 4 greenhouse sessions. The treatment group viewed the same non-biophilic VR image in NTG1, HTG1, NTG2, then the biophilic VR image in HTG2. The subjective thermal evaluation in the high temperature condition indicated that participants’ group viewing a biophilic VR image felt significantly cooler and more comfortable than the control group. By using the hot-cold sensation evaluation values, we estimated that the psychological cooling effect of the biophilic VR image was equivalent to 1.66℃, saving HVAC cooling energy up to 12.6% among thermal climate zones ranging from Cold Humid to Very Hot Humid. In this study, however, the physiological parameters were not different between the control and treatment groups. This study demonstrated the potential benefits of practical biophilic design improving occupant’s thermal comfort levels and saving building energy.本数据集来自题为《基于虚拟现实的亲生物建筑环境心理与生理热效应：认证绿色建筑试点研究》的手稿。本研究开展对照实验，测试融入自然元素的室内环境（亲生物设计）视觉刺激对认证绿色办公室的心理与生理热效应。研究使用一款突出亲生物设计的认证绿色办公室虚拟现实（Virtual Reality, VR）影像，同时在中性温度温室（NTG）与高温温室（HTG）中，同步测量物理环境参数、受试者主观热感知以及生理参数：心率（heart rate, HR）、心率变异性（heart rate variability, HRV）、唾液α-淀粉酶活性（salivary alpha-amylase activity, sAA）。研究测量了空气温度、空气流速、相对湿度、黑球温度与室外温度，并用于计算其余热环境指数：标准有效温度（SET*）、操作温度（operative temperature）、平均辐射温度（mean radiant temperature）。热感知通过李克特量表（Likert scale）与视觉模拟评分法（Visual Analog Scale, VAS）的自评问卷进行测量，问卷维度包括热感觉（thermal sensation, TS）、冷热感觉（hot-cold sensation, HC）、暖凉感觉（warm-cool sensation, WC）、潮湿感觉（humid sensation, HS）与热舒适（thermal comfort, TC）。HR、HRV（RMSSD、nHF、LF/HF）与sAA被用作自主神经活动（autonomic nervous activity）的评估指标。本研究最初招募47名受试者，后因记录设备故障排除2名，最终有效受试者人数为45名。受试者被分为两组：对照组仅观看非亲生物办公室的VR影像，实验组则观看包含亲生物办公室影像的VR影像。每名受试者需在温室中完成4轮实验：首先是针对标准有效温度24℃的中性温度温室实验（NTG1），随后是针对标准有效温度30℃的高温温室实验（HTG1），接着是第二轮中性温度温室实验（NTG2），最后是第二轮高温温室实验（HTG2）。对照组在全部4轮温室实验中均观看相同的非亲生物VR影像；实验组在NTG1、HTG1、NTG2中均观看相同的非亲生物VR影像，仅在HTG2中使用亲生物VR影像。高温环境下的主观热评估结果显示，观看亲生物VR影像的受试者组相较于对照组，感知到显著更低的温度与更高的舒适度。通过冷热感觉评估值，研究估算出亲生物VR影像的心理降温效应等效于1.66℃，在从冷湿气候区到极热湿气候区的热气候带中，可将暖通空调（Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, HVAC）的制冷能耗降低最多12.6%。不过本研究中，对照组与实验组的生理参数并无显著差异。本研究证实了实用型亲生物设计在提升使用者热舒适水平与降低建筑能耗方面的潜在价值。