Research to reduce energy consumption and minimize environmental impacts in the building sector, particularly for new buildings or those undergoing upgrading, has taken on a central role in the international political agenda in recent decades. In this context, air conditioning is of considerable importance both from the energy point of view and because proper and efficient distribution of air in rooms are indispensable factors for ensuring good conditions of healthiness and well-being in inhabited spaces. Consistent with this viewpoint, the research work undertaken aims to analyze the issue of air conditioning with a multidisciplinary approach, thus paying attention to both energy aspects and the issue of end-user comfort.
The activity focused on the level of thermal comfort obtainable from radiant floors and experimental comparison with two different heat diffusion terminals: a classic aluminum radiator and a fancoil. The aim is to analyze the temperature distribution in air-conditioned rooms and occupants’ subjective perception of comfort to improve building energy performance. This will help find a balance between indoor comfort, renewable energy integration, and energy cost reduction for end-users.
Thermofluidodynamic simulations supported the experimental analysis. This approach provided detailed descriptions of velocity and temperature fields in the analyzed environment, allowing evaluations to be extended to environments with different geometries and boundary conditions.

The study provided an in-depth understanding of thermal and fluid-dynamic flows, allowing a detailed evaluation of the performance of different heat diffusion systems. In summary, radiant systems achieved the best performance in terms of both global and local comfort, followed by radiators and fancoils.