Comfort Temperatures for Naturally Ventilated Buildings in Hong Kong

The subtropical climate of Hong Kong has resulted in a significant amount of energy use for comfort cooling in summer.The situation is getting even worse because of the widespread use of household air-conditioners in high-rise residential buildings in the last two decades. To improve the situation, it is believed that thermal comfort has to be made an important agenda in building design. This paper discusses the adaptive model in thermal comfort, which has been included in the new revision of ASHRAE Standard 55-2004. Furthermore, it demonstrates the development of a comfort temperature chart for naturally ventilated buildings in Hong Kong. Based on the findings of this study, indoor natural ventilation to airspeed of about 1.0—1.5 m/s would likely satisfy the thermal comfort requirements of 80% of occupants during the hot summer period in Hong Kong.