The objective of this challenge is to improve occupant indoor thermal comfort in buildings in the United States located in extreme climates or locations prone to extreme weather events by focusing on the environmental factors that determine individual satisfaction within indoor atmospheres.

Background

Have you ever had to wear a sweater indoors in the middle of summer because of a cold building? In winter, do you feel too warm inside because of the interior temperature? These reactions point to your indoor thermal comfort, or the personal perception of being too hot or cold in a building which is also “inextricably linked to health”.1 Thermal comfort can be assessed qualitatively by polling occupants (e.g., using the ASHRAE seven-point thermal sensation scale)2 or quantitatively via measurements (e.g., infrared coupled with computer vision)3, and is often determined by six elements. These include environmental factors such as air temperature, the temperature of surrounding surfaces, relative humidity, and air movement, along with personal factors like clothing level and level of activity.4

Source: GettyImages

 Thermal comfort goes beyond having a properly sized heating/cooling system that meets a temperature setpoint in a room. Thermal gradients in a “well-conditioned” space (e.g., due to poor air mixing, the exterior façade, or outdoor environmental conditions) as well as occupant-specific characteristics can result in discomfort.5 The degree of discomfort varies depending on climatic and weather conditions, as well as the innate resilience of a building or an energy grid. The U.S. is composed of eight climate zones ranging from very hot-humid regions (e.g., Hawaii, Southern Texas) to subarctic (e.g., Alaska).6 In extreme cold climates where the use of hydronic heating systems are common, thermal imbalance can reach as high as 48 °F (56 °F – 104 °F) leading to significant occupant discomfort.7 Extreme weather events, or the occurrence of unusually severe weather conditions compared to historical distributions, can also cause conditions found in extreme climates to occur in traditionally mild environments.5,8 The Great Texas Freeze9,10 and the 2021 Northwest Heat Dome11, which ravaged regions in the U.S., are two such examples. With heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems already taxed, failure of the electric grid and the lack of resilient building design (e.g., use of walls as thermal storage, lack of radiant slab heating/cooling, or dedicated conditioned rooms) made it very difficult for communities to withstand and recover from these stresses.12

Negative health outcomes are a result of poor indoor thermal comfort. Excessive exposure to heat can exacerbate underlying illnesses including cardiovascular disease and asthma and resulted in ~500,000 deaths globally each year between 2000-2019.13 Similar risks are faced by occupants experiencing extreme cold, resulting in an estimated 38,000 deaths yearly.14 Though causal research is ongoing, many studies indicate that children and elderly population over 65 years of age are especially vulnerable to poor indoor thermal comfort conditions.15 It is vital to identify resilient solutions that address occupant needs for indoor thermal comfort.

Currently, personal comfort devices such as space heaters or tabletop fans are commonly used. In some cases, advanced equipment controls (e.g., enhanced humidity control16, IoT-based comfort control17) are implemented or mechanical heating and cooling systems are oversized to address the need. These existing solutions can be difficult to implement due to cost, installation logistics, effectiveness, or practicality. A tiered approach is recommended and should first prioritize basic building design (e.g., site location, form, shape, orientation, window sizes, etc.), followed by passive strategies appropriate for local climate (e.g., use of thermal mass, dedicated solar rooms, and natural ventilation), and lastly mechanical heating and cooling systems.4 Care must be taken not to increase the operational cost of buildings as a result of the proposed technology since major challenges to adoption typically include upfront costs and long payback periods.18 It is essential that solutions are  affordable and address needs for all communities, especially ones that are historically vulnerable and suffer disproportionate harm.19  

Video Introduction

The Challenge

This challenge asks student teams to improve occupant indoor thermal comfort in U.S. buildings (residential, commercial, new, or existing) located in extreme climates or locations prone to extreme weather events by focusing on the environmental factors that determine individual satisfaction within indoor atmospheres. Teams should first build out a focused problem statement for a specific stakeholder group (i.e., by climate zone) and then develop a technical solution that meets the needs of the population. For example, students may consider solutions that can measure real-time thermal comfort in subarctic climates and adjust environmental controls accordingly. Innovative solutions should also prioritize grid and building resilience, especially for occupants in vulnerable communities. Teams must develop technical and holistic solutions to address the problem and should include at least one nontechnical component (e.g., an economic, policy, commercialization, codes, or standards component). However, solutions only considering stand-alone nontechnical components will not be considered.

Suggestions for the student teams include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Real-time sensing and response to occupant indoor thermal comfort needs.
  • Advanced humidity control and measurement of occupant comfort in high humidity climates.
  • Passive approaches such as solar spaces and radiant slabs that extend the period of thermal comfort following an extreme weather event.

Student submissions should:

  • Describe the scope and context of the chosen problem.
  • Identify affected stakeholders, making sure to research stakeholder backgrounds and understand the stakeholders’ needs, especially regarding the problem.
  • Develop a technical solution to the chosen problem for the targeted stakeholder group. The solution may also include policy solutions, supply chain and manufacturing processes, economic solutions, or other aspects critical to identified stakeholder barriers, but a technical solution must be proposed.
  • Discuss appropriate and expected impacts and benefits of the proposed solution. This should include expected carbon reduction analysis, a cost/benefit analysis, a market adoption analysis, and should also consider non-economic costs and benefits, such as occupant health, productivity, well-being, and others.
  • Develop a plan that describes how the team envisions bringing its idea to scale in the market, including sales or distribution channels, outreach mechanisms, stakeholder engagement, and other relevant details.

Downloadable Challenge Description

Additional Challenge Resources

Submission Template

Requirements

Competing in this challenge is open to student teams currently enrolled in U.S. universities and colleges. See the Terms and Conditions and Rules document for eligibility requirements and rules. Please note that you must begin your Building Technologies Internship Program (BTIP) application before or at the same time as you submit your idea in order to compete in the JUMP competition.

Please submit the following as a single-spaced PDF document that is a written narrative of the team’s proposed solution. PowerPoint decks or submissions in presentation format the submission paper requirement. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. The quality of writing will be considered, so review by peers is strongly encouraged.

  • Project Team Background (up to 2 pages, single-spaced)
    • Project name, team name, and collegiate institution(s)
    • Team mission statement
    • A short biography for each team member. This should include information such as major, level (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate), and other relevant background information such as experience with building science, future career goals, and formative experiences that shaped each individual’s contribution to the challenge.
    • Diversity statement (minimum 1 paragraph, 5‒7 sentences): One of JUMP into STEM’s key objectives is to encourage diversity of thought and background in students entering the building science industry. A diversity gap exists in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, meaning that certain groups are underrepresented or have been historically excluded from STEM fields. These groups include those based on race, ethnicity, and gender—and this gap needs to be addressed. Diversity of thought can be achieved through teams consisting of students from different majors and minors. If there are barriers that affect the racial, ethnic, or gender breakdown of your team, please elaborate. The diversity statement is your opportunity to describe your team’s diversity of background and thought both generally and as applicable to your chosen challenge.
  • Project Challenge Submission (up to 5 pages, single-spaced)
    • Select and address one of the three challenges published for the current competition.
    • Investigate the background of the challenge and consider related stakeholders. Stakeholders include those who are affected by the problem, part of the supply chain, or manufacturing the technology product(s), as well as those who may have decision-making power and are able to provide solutions (technical or nontechnical solutions, such as policies). For example, you could include stakeholders who have previously experienced environmental pollution or a high energy burden.
    • Write a 1- to 2-paragraph problem statement, focusing on a specific aspect of the problem and the stakeholder groups affected by or involved in the problem. The stakeholder groups can be from a specific location, socioeconomic status, age, or demographic (e.g., people living in subsidized housing).
    • Develop and describe a novel solution that addresses or solves the specific problem from your problem statement. The solution must be technical and also incorporate one or more of the following components as appropriate: economic impact, policy, commercialization, codes, standards, and other.
    • Address the requirements for your selected challenge as written in its description. Include graphs, figures, and photos. Discuss the feasibility of your solution and how it will affect your stakeholder
  • Technology to Market (included in the 5-page maximum limit)
    • For market characterization, the descriptions of the market throughout the technology-to-market plan and market adoption barrier analysis should establish the team’s overall understanding of the market.
    • Develop a technology-to-market plan. A technology-to-market plan describes how the team envisions bringing its idea from concept to installation on real buildings or integrated into the design of real buildings and includes a cost/benefit analysis.
      • The cost/benefit analysis does not need to be exhaustive and should include a comparison of the solution with current or existing technologies or practices. Benefits such as building energy reductions, improved occupant health or productivity, and lowered energy cost burden should be evaluated.
      • The plan should also discuss which key stakeholder(s) should be involved to commercialize the technology and then sell and install the technologies with your target market(s).
    • Perform a market adoption barrier The team should identify at least one key market adoption barrier for implementation and specifically address how the proposed solution will overcome that barrier. Barriers should align with key stakeholder(s) identified by the student team.
  • Include references. (References will not count toward the 5-page maximum.)
  • Appendix (optional, no page limit)
    • Teams may wish to add an appendix. This is optional and might not be reviewed by the judges.
    • The appendix has no page limit.

Evaluation Criteria

Solution (40%)

  • Solution: Please rate the solution and its ability to address the problem statement. The solution must be a technical solution. It should address the stakeholder needs. It may include one or more of the following components, as appropriate: economic, policy, commercialization, codes, standards, or other.
  • Feasibility: Please rate the solution’s overall feasibility. For example, solutions that are not technically possible or that lack a technical feasibility discussion will receive lower scores.
  • Novelty: Please rate the originality and creativity of the solution and how significant the contribution will be to the building industry.
  • Impact: Please rate the overall scalability of the team’s solution. For example, can the solution be extended to communities, similar stakeholder groups, or a nationwide solution?

Tech-to-Market (30%)

  • Market Characterization: Please rate the team’s description and understanding of the market.
  • Technology-to-Market Plan: Please rate the team’s proposed plan to bring the solution from a paper concept to installation or integration with real buildings or building designs, as well as the team’s cost/benefit analysis. The cost/benefit analysis may include benefits such as energy reductions, improvements to occupant health and productivity, and lowered energy cost burden.
  • Overcoming Adoption Barriers: Please rate the team’s identification of and plan for overcoming at least one key market adoption barrier for the proposed solution. This section includes how the solution will create value, both economic and other, to drive industry adoption.

Team Diversity and Understanding Stakeholders (20%)

  • Diversity Statement and Project Team Background: Please rate how well the team addresses the diversity gap in the building science industry in its diversity statement. This section includes how the team brings perspectives from a variety of backgrounds, including students from groups that are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This section also includes students from many different disciplines ensuring diversity of thought. See the diversity statement in the challenge requirements. This section also includes how well the team connects their mission statement and biographies to their problem statement.
  • Understanding Stakeholders: Please rate how well the team communicates their understanding of the stakeholder group or community and how they are affected by the problem. This rating also includes how well the team defined the problem that needs to be solved by considering the needs of the stakeholder group or community.

Submission (10%)

  • Submission Requirements: Please rate how well the student team followed all submission requirements. See the submission requirements at the bottom of each challenge description.

How to Create a Successful Submission

Student webinar will be provided.

Citations

  1. Ormandy, D. and Ezratty, V. 2012. Health and thermal comfort: From WHO guidance to housing strategies. Energy Policy 49, 116–121.
  2. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). 2022. Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy – ANSI/ASHRAE Addendum h to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2020.
  3. Ghahramani, A., Xu, Q., Min, S., Wang, A., Zhang, H., He, Y., Merritt, A., and Levinson, R. 2022. Infrared-Fused Vision-Based Thermoregulation Performance Estimation for Personal Thermal Comfort-Driven HVAC System Controls. Buildings 12.
  4. Chow, D.H.C. 2022. Indoor Environmental Quality: Thermal Comfort. in Encyclopedia of Sustainable Technologies (Second Edition) (ed. Abraham, M. A.) 283–295 (Elsevier, Oxford, 2024). doi:10.1016/B978-0-323-90386-8.00006-1.
  5. Easterling, D.R., Evans, J.L., Groisman, P.Y., Karl, T.R., Kunkel, K.E., and Ambenje, P. 2000. Observed Variability and Trends in Extreme Climate Events: A Brief Review. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 81, 417–425.
  6. U.S. Energy Information Administration (USEIA). 2023. Climate Zones – DOE Building America Program. https://atlas.eia.gov/datasets/eia::climate-zones-doe-building-america-program/about.
  7. Ruch, R., Ludwig, P., and Maurer, T. 2014. Balancing Hydronic Systems in Multifamily Buildings. https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1149225.
  8. Squire, C. How to design for extreme temperatures | The American Institute of Architects. American Institute of Architects https://www.aia.org/aia-architect/article/how-design-extreme-temperatures.
  9. Ferman, B.M.C., Douglas, E., and Mitchell, F. 2022. How Texas’ power grid failed in 2021 — and who’s responsible for preventing a repeat. The Texas Tribune https://www.texastribune.org/2022/02/15/texas-power-grid-winter-storm-2021/.
  10. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 2023. The Great Texas Freeze. National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/great-texas-freeze-february-2021.
  11. Thompson, V., Kennedy-Asser, A.T., Vosper, E., Lo, Y.T.E., Huntingford, C., Andrews, O., Collins, M., Hegerl, G.C., and Mitchell, D. 2022. The 2021 western North America heat wave among the most extreme events ever recorded globally. Science Advances. 8.
  12. Winfield, E.C., Rader, R.J., Zhivov, A.M., Dyrelund, A., Fredeen, C., Gudmundsson, O., and Goering, B. 2021. HVAC Best Practices in Arctic Climates. E3S Web of Conferences. 246, 08004.
  13. World Health Organization (WHO). 2024. Heat and health. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-heat-and-health.
  14. World Health Organization (WHO). 2018. Low indoor temperatures and insulation. in WHO Housing and Health Guidelines. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241550376.
  15. Hughes, C., Natarajan, S., Liu, C., Chung, W.J., and Herrera, M. 2019. Winter thermal comfort and health in the elderly. Energy Policy 134, 110954.
  16. Mallay, D. 2024. Advanced HVAC Humidity Control for Hot-Humid Climates. https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2339946.
  17. O’Neill, Z., Tao, Y., Jin, W., Richard, K., Hai, X., Ningxuan, W., and Danny, T. 2024. IoT-Based Comfort Control and Fault Diagnostics System for Energy-Efficient Homes. https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2338244.
  18. Leung, J. 2018. Decarbonizing U.S. Buildings.
  19. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). 2021. CLIMATE CHANGE AND SOCIAL VULNERABILITY IN THE UNITED STATES: A Focus on Six Impacts. https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-09/climate-vulnerability_september-2021_508.pdf.