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  4. Personalized environmental control systems (PECS): A systematic review of performance evaluation methods for thermal comfort, air quality and energy
 
review article

Personalized environmental control systems (PECS): A systematic review of performance evaluation methods for thermal comfort, air quality and energy

Al-Assaad, Douaa
•
Pigliautile, Ilaria
•
Shinoda, Jun
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October 1, 2025
Building and Environment

Personalized Environmental Control Systems (PECS) can improve both comfort and energy efficiency by shifting indoor climate control toward localized, occupant-tailored comfort, unlike conventional systems that condition entire, partly unoccupied spaces uniformly. Despite their potential, the absence of standardized assessment and reporting methods, and the diversified PECS technical specifics hinder consistent performance evaluation practices. Conducted in the framework of IEA EBC's Annex 87, this review, based on the PRISMA statement, provides a comprehensive overview of existing methods and indicators used to evaluate the performance of PECS, specifically targeting thermal and air quality domains. A novel three-layered classification approach was applied to categorize PECS types, and reviewed studies were grouped into four methodological categories: building simulation, CFD, chamber, and field studies. The review identifies methods’ usage trends, benefits, and limitations. Among 302 reviewed papers, more than half (61 %) adopt controlled laboratory tests, while CFD is the most used simulation method (68.6 % of simulation studies). Field studies are a minority, highlighting the limited implementation of PECS in real-world scenarios. Simulations are cost effective in rapidly prototyping and developing PECS. However, the insights they provide into PECS performance are limited by either model resolution constraints or high complexity. Comfort evaluations do not consider individual occupant differences nor behavior inherent to PECS. It is through experiments that knowledge can be gained on realistic occupant responses. However, they can be resource intensive and require careful planning. This review provides best practice guidelines to assist researchers in improving quality reporting of their methods.

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Type
review article
DOI
10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.113471
Scopus ID

2-s2.0-105011829832

Author(s)
Al-Assaad, Douaa

KU Leuven

Pigliautile, Ilaria

eCampus University

Shinoda, Jun

Technical University of Denmark

Rawal, Rajan

CEPT University

André, Maíra

The University of Sydney

Vashi, Siddhi

CEPT University

Rugani, Roberto

Università di Pisa

Torriani, Giulia

Eurac Research

Pasut, Wilmer

University of Venice

Gupta, Akshit

Eurac Research

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Date Issued

2025-10-01

Published in
Building and Environment
Volume

284

Article Number

113471

Subjects

Building simulations

•

Chamber and field studies

•

Computational fluid dynamics

•

Personalized environmental control systems (PECS)

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
ICE  
ETHOS  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

IEA-EBC

FWO

134–22005

Available on Infoscience
August 20, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/253087
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