Models and theories of the environmental control system

Concepts and modes of the environmental control system in buildings have been reviewed, and their strengths and weaknesses have been identified. The paper reports on the criticism levelled against conventional models of environmental control for considering only the passive mode of control and ignoring active control, which results from the interaction of users with the building. The paper argues that further development in theory and practice can be made by studying the ‘thermal system’ alongside other building systems such as the ‘behaviour-activity’. The paper argues the need for a new model of environmental control that takes into account recent innovative developments in the technologies of lighting, heating and acoustics.