Thermal comfort in naturally ventilated buildings in hot-humid area of China

Abstract Human responses to thermal environments in naturally ventilated (NV) buildings in hot-humid area of China were systematically investigated in the present study. Thirty local inhabitants long-time living in NV buildings participated in the study and reported their thermal sensations and perceptions and adaptive behaviors while all physical and personal variables were collected. Based on a year-long survey, a close match of indoor physical variables and occupants’ clothing insulation with outdoor climate was found as an important feature of NV buildings. Integrated indices can capture more thermal contexts in the NV buildings in hot-humid area of China than simple indices. Thermal sensation was found to be a good linear function of SET* with the thermal neutrality of 25.4 °C and the 90% (80%) acceptable range of 23.5–27.4 °C (22.1–28.7 °C) in SET*. The adaptive evidences were obtained for clothing adjustment, window opening and using fan respectively and the modified PMV model was validated to be applicable in NV buildings in hot-humid area of China with an expectancy factor of 0.822. Comparisons with other field studies indicate that people can develop various human-environment relationships through thermal adaptation to local climate, resulting in different thermal neutral temperatures in various climates. The subjects in hot-humid area of China are more acclimated and tolerable with hot and humid environments and more uncomfortable and intolerable with cold environments while compared with those in temperate climates.

[1]  Tzu-Ping Lin,et al.  Thermal perceptions, general adaptation methods and occupant's idea about the trade-off between thermal comfort and energy saving in hot–humid regions , 2009 .

[2]  Hiroshi Yoshino,et al.  Long-term field survey on thermal adaptation in office buildings in Japan , 2007 .

[3]  R. J. Dear,et al.  Thermal comfort in the humid tropics: Field experiments in air conditioned and naturally ventilated buildings in Singapore , 1991 .

[4]  R. Dedear.  Developing an adaptive model of thermal comfort and preference , 1998 .

[5]  Liwei Tian,et al.  Field study on occupants’ thermal comfort and residential thermal environment in a hot-humid climate of China , 2007 .

[6]  Cinzia Buratti,et al.  Adaptive analysis of thermal comfort in university classrooms: Correlation between experimental data and mathematical models , 2009 .

[7]  K. W. Mui,et al.  Adaptive comfort temperature model of air-conditioned building in Hong Kong , 2003 .

[8]  D. J. Harris,et al.  Thermal comfort in sub-Saharan Africa : Field study report in Jos-Nigeria , 2008 .

[9]  Ruey Lung Hwang,et al.  Field Experiments on Thermal Comfort Requirements for Campus Dormitories in Taiwan , 2008 .

[10]  Gail Brager,et al.  Operable windows, personal control and occupant comfort. , 2004 .

[11]  R. Dear,et al.  Thermal adaptation in the built environment: a literature review , 1998 .

[12]  Jianing Zhao,et al.  Estimating natural-ventilation potential considering both thermal comfort and IAQ issues , 2007 .

[13]  Bassam Moujalled,et al.  Comparison of thermal comfort algorithms in naturally ventilated office buildings , 2008 .

[14]  J. F. Nicol,et al.  Climatic variations in comfortable temperatures: the Pakistan projects , 1999 .

[15]  Standard Ashrae.  Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy , 1992 .

[16]  Guoqiang Zhang,et al.  Natural ventilation potential model considering solution multiplicity, window opening percentage, air velocity and humidity in China , 2010 .

[17]  Gail Brager,et al.  Developing an adaptive model of thermal comfort and preference , 1998 .

[18]  N. Wong,et al.  Thermal comfort for naturally ventilated houses in Indonesia , 2004 .

[19]  Tri Harso Karyono,et al.  Report on thermal comfort and building energy studies in Jakarta—Indonesia , 2000 .

[20]  Demetrios J. Moschandreas,et al.  Thermal Comfort Investigation of Naturally Ventilated Classrooms in a Subtropical Region , 2007 .

[21]  J. Busch.  A tale of two populations: thermal comfort in air-conditioned and naturally ventilated offices in Thailand , 1992 .

[22]  S. Sharples,et al.  A comparative analysis of short-term and long-term thermal comfort surveys in Iran , 2002 .

[23]  Nyuk Hien Wong,et al.  Thermal comfort in classrooms in the tropics , 2003 .

[24]  Maria K. Koukou,et al.  Natural cross-ventilation in buildings: Building-scale experiments, numerical simulation and thermal comfort evaluation , 2008 .

[25]  Haralambos Sarimveis,et al.  Development of a computational tool to quantify architectural-design effects on thermal comfort in naturally ventilated rural houses , 2010 .

[26]  Ruey Lung Hwang,et al.  Field experiments on thermal comfort in campus classrooms in Taiwan , 2006 .

[27]  H C Bazett,et al.  A PRACTICAL SYSTEM OF UNITS FOR THE DESCRIPTION OF THE HEAT EXCHANGE OF MAN WITH HIS ENVIRONMENT. , 1941, Science.

[28]  Povl Ole Fanger,et al.  Thermal comfort in the future - excellence and expectation , 2001 .

[29]  Yufeng Zhang,et al.  Overall thermal sensation, acceptability and comfort , 2008 .

[30]  L. Berglund,et al.  A standard predictive index of human response to the thermal environment , 1986 .

[31]  Qingyan Chen,et al.  Ventilation performance prediction for buildings: A method overview and recent applications , 2009 .

[32]  Rongyi Zhao,et al.  Relationship between thermal sensation and comfort in non-uniform and dynamic environments , 2009 .

[33]  Michael A. Humphreys,et al.  ADAPTIVE THERMAL COMFORT AND SUSTAINABLE THERMAL STANDARDS FOR BUILDINGS , 2002 .

[34]  Kwok-wai Mui,et al.  A Field Survey of the Expected Desirable Thermal Environment for Older People , 2009 .