Evaluation and visualisation of perceived thermal conditions

Area of Science:

• Building Science
• Environmental Psychology
• Human-Thermal Interaction

Background:

• Occupant thermal comfort is influenced by interactions with building elements like windows, heating, and ventilation systems.
• Visualizing the thermal environment alongside human thermal sensation provides valuable insights.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and visualize the perceived thermal climate using thermal manikins and human subject data.
• To develop improved "comfort-zone diagrams" for assessing local thermal environments.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing thermal manikins to measure local climate disturbances under various conditions.
• Correlating manikin measurements with thermal sensation data from human subject panels.
• Developing comfort diagrams based on equivalent temperature (t(eq)) limit lines.

Main Results:

• Thermal manikin measurements showed strong correlation with human thermal sensation.
• Individual and experimental variations necessitate comfort diagrams with a range of t(eq) values, not absolute lines.
• The proposed "comfort-zone diagrams" offer a more appropriate assessment of complex local thermal climates.

Conclusions:

• Thermal manikins are effective tools for evaluating perceived thermal climate.
• Revised comfort diagrams incorporating ranges of equivalent temperature improve thermal environment assessment.
• Further validation with diverse methods and subjects will enhance the generalizability of the evaluation concept.