Thresholds for indoor thermal comfort and perceived air quality

This paper examines comfort zone boundaries (thresholds beyond which environmental conditioning is required) using field studies in which acceptability votes were obtained from occupants. Air-conditioned and ventilatively-cooled buildings are examined separately, since the degree of occupant adaptation has been found to differ for these types of buildings. The acceptable zones between the thresholds are found to be 8 – 10 K wide. The paper also analyzes laboratory studies of air movement to find the positions of warm-side comfort thresholds when different levels of air movement and personal environmental control are added to the environment. These broaden the acceptable temperature range. Perceived air quality (PAQ) is shown to be most closely correlated to thermal comfort, so that as long as comfort is maintained, they will be satisfactory even at high temperatures (28oC).

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