Effect of changing window type and ventilation strategy on indoor thermal environment of existing garment factories in Bangladesh

This paper presents two workable solutions that can significantly improve the indoor thermal environment within workspaces in existing ready-made garment (RMG) factories in the tropical climatic context of Bangladesh. The research involved field studies in three multi-storey factory buildings, interviews with workers and owners and simulation studies. Field data indicated that the existing window configurations and limiting the ventilation strategy to occupied hours caused overheating of the indoor environment. Among a list of proposals, the building owners saw value in implementing two solutions (i.e. altering existing window type to one with a higher effective opening area and adopting a night-time ventilation strategy) in their existing buildings as well as proposed new buildings. To quantify the benefits, a validated simulation study was conducted. The findings confirm that these two interventions can provide reductions of up to 23% in overheated working hours and in so doing, improve workers’ thermal comfort and well-being.

本文提出两种可行解决方案，可显著改善孟加拉国热带气候背景下，现有成衣（ready-made garment, RMG）工厂作业空间的室内热环境。本研究包含三座多层厂房的实地调研、对工人与工厂主的访谈，以及模拟实验。实地监测数据显示，现有窗户配置，以及仅在作业时段启用通风策略的设置，导致室内环境过热。在一系列提案中，工厂主认可在现有厂房及拟建新厂房中落实两项解决方案的价值：即改造现有窗型为有效开口面积更大的款式，并采用夜间通风策略。为量化方案效益，本研究开展了经过验证的模拟实验。研究结果证实，这两项干预措施可将过热作业时长最多降低23%，从而改善工人的热舒适状况与健康福祉。