title: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Cooling Vest in a Hot and Humid Environment.
abstract: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a newly designed hybrid cooling vest for construction workers in alleviating heat stress.
  
  
  
  Two types of cooling vests, namely, a commonly worn Vest A and a newly designed Vest B, were tested in a climatic chamber environment (34.0°C temperature, 60% relative humidity, and 0.4 m s-1 air velocity) using a sweating thermal manikin. Four test scenarios were included: fan off with no phase change materials (PCMs) (Fan-off), fan on with no PCMs (Fan-on), fan off with completely solidified PCMs (PCM + Fan-off), and fan on with completely solidified PCMs (PCM + Fan-on).
  
  
  
  Test results showed that Vests A and B provided a continuous cooling effect during the 3-h test. The average cooling power for the torso region of Vest B was 67 W, which was higher than that of Vest A (56 W). The addition of PCMs offered a cooling effect of approximately 60 min. Ventilation fans considerably improved the evaporative heat loss compared with the Fan-off condition.
  
  
  
  The newly designed hybrid cooling vest (Vest B) may be an effective means to reduce heat strain and enhance work performance in a hot and humid environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Building and Real Estate, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Department of Building and Real Estate, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Yijie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Building and Real Estate, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Albert P C
authors.initials: APC
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D060389:Construction Industry; D004777:Environment; D006358:Hot Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008348:Manikins; D011481:Protective Clothing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013546:Sweating / Q000502:physiology; D014691:Ventilation / Q000379:methods*
keywords: construction workers; hybrid cooling vest.