Significance of air movement for thermal comfort in warm climates : A discussion in Indian context

Thermal comfort research is yet to gain momentum in India. Indian designers follow verbatim the ASHRAE standard when designing the indoor environments. This only leads to over design/ energy wastage and in environments inappropriate to the local climates and customs. Our earlier study in 2008 highlighted the wide gulf between the actual comfort temperature recorded on field and that specified in the National Building Code2005. Therefore, comfort studies are exigent in India. Addressing this need, the authors are conducting a field study in warm-humid and composite climates of India from January 2012. The current paper highlights the significance of air movement for comfort at elevated temperatures as observed in our Hyderabad study. Subjects using fans had higher comfort temperature than those without. The occupants successfully achieved higher air velocities through the use of various personal environmental controls in order to comfortably offset the discomfort during the warm-humid months.

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