Influence of Passive Design Parameters on Thermal Comfort

of an Office Space in a Building in Delhi

Sana Fatima Ali1; Lakshya Sharma2; Dibakar Rakshit3; and Bishwajit Bhattacharjee, M.ASCE4

Abstract: Energy efficiency measures in buildings, along with maintaining indoor thermal comfort, are increasingly drawing attention.
The most widely accepted indices, Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Percentage People Dissatisfied (PPD), have been used in this study
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for evaluating thermal comfort of a small office room in Delhi. Various parameters influencing thermal comfort have been measured for
two months and the observations have been used for assessing the PMV and PPD, which have then been compared with the simulation results
from IDA ICE 4.7 Beta software, and found to be in agreement. Moreover, a comparison of the PMV values has been done with other indices
such as Tropical Summer Index (TSI) and Corrected Effective Temperature (CET). Parametric study for the office room has also been per-
formed to predict the shifts in the comfort levels by changing types and thicknesses of wall as well as roof insulations, provision of blinds, and
types of window glazing, using which, the best possible solution to enhance the thermal environment of the office room has been proposed.
DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)AE.1943-5568.0000406. © 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Predicted Mean Vote (PMV); Mean Radiant Temperature; Thermal comfort; Percentage People Dissatisfied (PPD);
IDA ICE Simulations; Passive Design Techniques.

Introduction conditioning systems, which is an imperative task of the HVAC de-

With increasing population, there is also a tremendous growth in
residential and commercial buildings. A study conducted by India’s
National Statistical Organization (NSO) in 2013 established that the
building sector utilizes approximately 40% of the electrical power.
Two major factors responsible for this are lighting and maintaining
thermal comfort (air-conditioning) (CSE (Centre for Science and
Environment) 2014; Saxena et al. 2018; Sharma et al. 2018).
Energy efficiency measures in buildings, along with maintain-
ing indoor thermal comfort, increasingly draws attention. An
energy efficient building can be called effectual only when its
occupants remain at thermal ease. If occupants of the building
are uncomfortable, this would not only be a risk to their health,
but also lead to a decrease in their productivity. Such buildings
would use a major share of energy since the occupants would
tend to opt for alternate methods of space conditioning to maintain
a thermally acceptable environment. Thus, as far as possible, pas-
sive techniques should be implemented for lowering the energy
consumption, along with sustaining the required thermal comfort.
If the necessary requirement is not met even after this, then artificial
methods need to be adopted such as heating, ventilation, and air-
1 of which may vary from one individual to another (ASHRAE
Ph.D. Scholar, Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology
Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000
-0003-0817-8041. Email: esz178538@ces.iitd.ac.in
2
M. Tech. Alumnus, Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Tech-
nology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India. ORCID: https://orcid
.org/0000-0002-4090-8633. Email: lakshyasharma1207@gmail.com
3
Associate Professor, Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Tech-
nology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India (corresponding author).
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8469-5924. Email: dibakar@iitd.ac.in
4
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India. Email: bishwa@civil.iitd.ac.in
Note. This manuscript was submitted on April 23, 2019; approved on
November 26, 2019; published online on April 22, 2020. Discussion period
open until September 22, 2020; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Architectural Engi-
neering, © ASCE, ISSN 1076-0431.
sign and energy engineers.
Thermal Comfort
Thermal comfort is an equilibrium condition between humans and
their surroundings, established when the generated heat by the me-
tabolism of humans is allowed to be dissipated into the environ-
ment. Several models for assessing thermal comfort have been
devised, giving the mathematical relationship between its values
and various factors affecting it, the most widely accepted of them
being Fanger’s model of thermal comfort having Predicted Mean
Vote (PMV) and the Percentage People Dissatisfied (PPD) indices,
which is also accepted as a standard for evaluating comfort levels
(ASHRAE 2010; ISO 2005). The PMV scale, ranging from −3.0
(cold) to 3.0 (hot), depends on six primary variables: metabolism
(M), clothing insulation ( fcl), relative humidity (RH), temperature
(ta), velocity of air (var), and mean radiant temperature (tr). The
standards (ASHRAE 2010; ISO 2005) recommend the allowable
PMV range for thermal comfort to be −0.5 to +0.5 for an indoor
space. Moreover, the PPD relates the PMV values with the satisfac-
tion of the occupants. According to the standards, at least 80% of
the occupants need to feel thermally comfortable, the conditions
2010; ISO 2005).
Studies Based on Fanger’s Model
Various researches have been done on predicting the thermal com-
fort of spaces using Fanger’s model-based PMV and PPD indices,
such as for a typical secondary school in Cyprus (Katafygiotou and
Serghides 2014), traditional dwellings in Western Hunan (Liu et al.
2018), and fully air-conditioned and mixed-mode office buildings
in Brazil (Forgiarini Rupp and Ghisi 2017), and for analyzing the
performance of air-conditioning systems in Iran (Pourshaghaghy
and Omidvari 2012), Singapore (Azad et al. 2018), etc. Studies
have been carried out to find out a comfortable temperature range
for indoor spaces by making the use of Fanger’s comfort indices.

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 One such experimental as well as subjective study was for hospitals
and shopping centers in Madagascar Island which provided com-
fortable temperature range of 24.5°C–26.2°C (Nematchoua et al.
2017). Another such study was held in a university classroom in
the Aegean region, which predicted the comfortable temperature
as 24.1°C for summer season and 26.6°C for winters, while as
per the actual mean votes, the values were 23.2°C and 26.6°C re-
spectively. There was also a higher occupant satisfaction value ob-
served in the case of winters (93%) than in the summers (53%)
(Calis and Kuru 2017). A similar experiment as well as a survey
study was conducted on predicting and comparing the thermal
comfort of the occupants for air-conditioned as well as naturally
ventilated classrooms of a school in Japan, where it was found
that the air-conditioned classrooms had a comfortable thermal en-
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vironment, although it was inclined toward the slightly cool side
of the thermal sensation scale, while the naturally ventilated class-
rooms were 3°C warmer than the air-conditioned classrooms, and
in this case too, it was observed that the PMV range lay between
−1 and 1 (Kwok and Chun 2003).
In addition, several researchers have carried out CFD analysis
for envisaging the comfort conditions of buildings employing
Fanger’s model of thermal comfort, such as for a library in
Thailand, where it was found that the PMV values range from
−1.5 to 1 (Aryal and Leephakpreeda 2016). Another study carried
out the numerical study for an indoor stadium of the Athens 2004
Olympic Games, where different arrangement were provided for
the angle of the wall jets and the temperature of the incoming air,
and for which a 30° angle of wall jet and a stadium temperature
of 16°C was proposed for the best thermal comfort conditions
(Stamou et al. 2007).
Studies on Energy Efficiency Measures and Their Impact
on Thermal Comfort
In order not only to benefit from maintaining the comfort, but also
to save energy, many investigations have been carried out to
employ energy efficient measures in buildings and to analyze
their impact on the thermal comfort. There has been a numerical
study on thermal comfort assessment in an enclosed courtyard,
demonstrating the effect of wind and shading on the thermal com-
fort, thus proposing a specific configuration and orientation of the
building, while also reporting that if a constant building tempera-
ture is assumed (25°C), adding galleries can be the most beneficial
(Berkovic et al. 2012). The PMV-PPD values have been estimated
for an office room in hot and humid climate for 14 windows–door
opening arrangements, along with a survey study on the thermal
comfort sensation, which suggested that the occupants tend to
open the windows when the outside wind velocity is high or the
outside temperature is comparatively lower in order to feel satisfied
with their thermal environment (Daghigh et al. 2009). Natural ven-
tilation and building orientation were kept as the prime parameters
for the study of their potential in achieving the optimum comfort-
able environment in warm and humid climates in another research,
which demonstrated that by designing a climate responsive build-
ing with proper natural ventilation, 9%–41% of improvements
can be seen in terms of comfort for tropical regions, while it is
only 3%–14% in the case of subtropical climate (Haase and
Amato 2009). Traditional dwellings of Western Hunan were ana-
lyzed and optimized for the best thermal performance using
10 mm polyurethane foam insulation layer for external wall,
12 mm hollow layer ordinary insulating glass, 0.2 window-to-wall
ratio, and 80 mm reed foil for roof insulation, leading to energy
savings as well (Liu et al. 2018). In another study, dimensions of
the openings of an office room in Tamil Nadu, India, were varied
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to analyze thermal comfort using the CFD approach, where 0.125
was proposed as the optimum window-to-wall ratio (Ravikumar
and Prakash 2009). A CFD analysis was carried out to examine
an occupancy-based HVAC control system by evaluating the ther-
mal comfort in terms of the PMV and PPD indices (Pazhoohesh
and Zhang 2018). While one study proposed that provision of par-
tition walls improve the comfort conditions of a building, and
hence, should be promoted (Aryal and Leephakpreeda 2016).
These studies establish that the PMV index can be used as an
effective tool for thermal comfort evaluation in a building and
that individual effects of different passive techniques have also
been studied in terms of the enhancement of comfort, however,
the scope of improvement in comfort could have been augmented
by employing another passive technique in conjunction with
the other.
Studies on Alternative Thermal Comfort Models
PMV has certain limitations as well, rendering it unsuitable to be
applied everywhere, and thus, certain modifications have been
made in the model to provide the best results in each fitting case.
In a study, the possible origins of the biasedness in the values of
PMV, both for air-conditioned and non air-conditioned rooms,
based on its affecting parameters have been discussed, along with
suggesting ways to modify it to reduce the difference between
the PMV value and the actual mean vote (Humphreys and Fergus
Nicol 2002). A new design of the PMV model was developed in
a research to compare the neutral temperatures with the real indoor
conditions, which included the indoor temperature and the indoor
relative humidity (Orosa and Oliveira 2011). An extension of the
PMV model was proposed in a study by introducing an expectancy
factor, for non air-conditioned buildings in warm climates (Ole
Fanger and Toftum 2002). Researchers have also used an adaptive
thermal comfort model that predicts the neutral operative tempera-
ture based on the mean monthly outdoor temperature (Hwang et al.
2010). A review of literature on the PMV model and the adaptive
thermal comfort model concluded that Fanger’s models cannot be
applied globally owing to different physiological factors of each in-
dividual, and hence, an internationally acceptable model should be
developed which can accurately predict the thermal comfort of a
larger number of people. However, since the perception of the com-
fort temperature is different for different individuals, it is also re-
ported that a global model cannot be applied (Yau and Chew
2014). An investigation on naturally ventilated buildings for differ-
ent climatic zones of north-east India concluded that a generalized
comfort model is not viable for different regions, and hence, com-
fort models based on the local parameters affecting the thermal en-
vironment as perceived by people was developed considering
indoor and outdoor temperatures, clothing value, and relative hu-
midity (Singh et al. 2015). From the literature survey, it can be con-
cluded that it is important to study the conditions in which the PMV
model is valid and gives the best results, and also to provide a better
prospective to increase the thermal comfort along with the indoor
environment quality.
The objective of this study is to analyze the thermal comfort
conditions in a building both by measurements and simulation-led
analysis, and to study the effects of various parameters on the
thermal comfort. The PMV and PPD indices have been used as
tools for assessing the indoor thermal comfort conditions, which
have also been compared with other comfort indices such as
TSI and CET. This is followed by a best possible solution prop-
osition for maintaining the thermal comfort of the occupants of
the office room.
J. Archit. Eng.
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Fig. 1. Plan of the office room (metric units).

Methodology Table 1. Construction details of the office room

Specific
Experimental Setup Thermal heat
Thickness Density conductivity capacity
A small office room, located in New Delhi, has been selected for this Elements Layers (mm) (kg/m3) (W/m K) (J/kg K)
study. The design conditions include the time zone, latitude and lon- Walls Gypsum plaster 12 970 0.22 1,090
gitude, being GMT +5.5 h, N 28° 36′ and E 77° 12′ respectively. The Bricks 228.6 1,500 0.58 840
dimensions, in metric units, and plan of the room are shown in Fig. 1. Gypsum plaster 12 970 0.22 1,090
The Active Space Indoor Environmental Quality Sensor was
used for the measurements and data acquisition of desired parame- Floor Concrete slab 127 2,300 1.70 880
Gypsum plaster 12 970 0.22 1,090
ters, which was installed in December. The experiment lasted for a
Marble tiles 38.1 2,300 3.00 880
period of two months, from December to February, and the data
collected were filtered on the basis of the occupancy days of the of- Roof Gypsum plaster 12 970 0.22 1,090
fice, that is, all weekdays, and on the basis of the occupancy hours, Concrete slab 127 2,300 1.70 880
from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Cement mortar 100 1,648 0.72 920
slurry
Mud phuska 101.6 1,622 0.52 880
Measurements and Data Acquisition Brick tiles 38.1 1,892 0.79 880
The Active Space Indoor Environmental Quality Sensor is a WiFi Door Wood 38.1 2,300 0.14 500
enabled device, with industry sensors for examining the indoor en-
vironment of a space. The IEQ sensor was placed at the working
IDA Indoor Climate Energy, a building simulation software, is
desk of the occupant, as shown in Fig. 1, and the readings of tem-
established on a general system simulation platform with a modular
perature (ta) and velocity (va) of air, mean radiant temperature (tr),
system. The multidomain physical systems are described in the
and relative humidity (RH) were continuously measured and
logged into a workstation at intervals of every 1–2 min for the IDA using representative equations starting with a simulation
two months. The accuracy of the instrument in the measurements language Neutral Model Format (NMF–Neutral Model Format).
of the temperature, velocity, and relative humidity were ±0.3°C, To control the accuracy of the solution, the user defines tolerances,
±0.15 m/s, and ±2% RH respectively. However, the measurements thus allowing the isolation of numerical modeling approaches
from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays only (office hours) were (EQUA 2013).
taken into consideration for the analysis. To assess the thermal The building geometry with outer dimensions 7.62 × 6.1 m2 has
comfort conditions of the occupants, PMV and PPD values have been modeled, where two windows are located in the west direction
been obtained analytically for each of the measurements. and one window is located in the east direction. The room also has
two doors, where one opens in the north-west direction, while the
entrance lies in the north-eastern direction. Each surface of the
Simulation Study building has a thickness of 0.23 m, and the height of the room is
For analyzing the influence of various parameters on the office 3 m. Construction details and material properties of the room
room, a simulation study has been carried out in IDA ICE 4.7 and the properties of the single pane windows used (BIS 1987)
Beta software to model the room, as close to its actual working en- are listed in Tables 1 and 2. Figs. 2(a and b) show the north-western
vironment as possible. and north-eastern 3D views of the office room.

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 Since the office consisted of a large single room, so only one the RHS can be calculated by:
zone was created, for which, the number of occupants, that is,
seven, their schedule, along with the equipment and lighting sched- H = 3.96 × 10−8 × fcl × [(tcl + 273)4 − (tr + 273)4 ] − fcl hc (tcl − ta )
ule, that is, weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., have been spec- (3)
ified as an input into the software. Eleven large PCs were present in
the office, while three tube-lights and four bulbs were present as Ec = 3.05 × [5.73 − 0.007 × (M − W ) − pa ] − 0.42[(M − W ) − 58.15]
equipment and lighting respectively. Several other system settings
need to be given as an input to the software, such as location setting (4)
and infiltration of the office room, along with the number and the
list of holidays. The same study period of December to February Cres = 0.0014 × M × (34 − ta ) (5)
has been provided as an input to the software to carry out the
simulations. Eres = 0.0173 × M × (5.87 − pa ) (6)
fcl can be obtained by:
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Mathematical Model fcl = 1 + 1.29Icl ; If Icl ≤ 0.078 m2 K/W (7)

PMV fcl = 1.05 + 0.645Icl ; If Icl > 0.078 m2 K/W (8)

The equation given by P. Ole Fanger for finding the PMV value of a where, Icl can be found out from Annexure B of ASHRAE Standard
zone, based on the heat transfer balance equations, and adopted by 55 (ASHRAE 2010) for winter type of work clothing, from
standards (ASHRAE 2010; ISO 2005), has been used for obtaining where a constant value of 0.1953 m2 K/W has been taken into
the results as follows: consideration.
Here, hc and pa written in the previous equations can be attained
PMV = (0.303e−0.036M + 0.028) × L (1) from:
 √



hc = 2.38 × |tcl − ta |0.25 ; If (2.38 × |tcl − ta |0.25 ) > 12.1 × var
where, L = the thermal load on the body of an occupant, and can be (9)
found out from:
√


 √



hc = 12.1 × var ; If (2.38 × |tcl − ta |0.25 ) ≤ 12.1 × var (10)
L = (M − W ) − H − Ec − Cres − Eres (2)
RH
Here, W = 0 W/m2, whereas the value of M can be found out pa = 1000 × × ps (11)
100
from Annexure A of ASHRAE Standard 55 (ASHRAE 2010),
from where, a constant value of 63.8 W/m2 has been taken into  
consideration for normal office work. The rest of the terms on 16.6536 − 4030.183
ps = e ta +235 (12)
Table 2. Properties of windows of the office room var in the previous equations can be attained from:
 
Properties Values M
var = va + 0.005 − 58.15 (13)
Thickness (mm) 12 ADu × 58
Solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) 0.68
Solar transmittance (τ) 0.60 Here, ADu is calculated from:
Visible transmittance (τvis) 0.74
Glazing U-value (W/m2 K) 1.90 ADu = (Ht.)0.725 × (Wt.)0.425 × 0.007184 (14)
Internal emissivity 0.84
External emissivity 0.84
The values of Ht. and Wt. have been expressed as 165 cm and
65 kg, taken as the average height and weight of a person.

(a) (b)

Fig. 2. 3D view of the office room: (a) north-west side; and (b) north-east side.

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 The surface temperature of clothing (°C), tcl, can be found out different passive strategies on the thermal comfort of the occupants
by iterative solution of the equation: through the software, the results provided by the software need to
be validated. Hence, the PMV and PPD indices received from the
tcl = tsk − Icl × 3.96 × 10−8 × fcl × [(tcl + 273)4 − (tr + 273)4 ]
actual conditions were compared with the results of the simulation
− Icl × fcl × hc × (tcl − tr ) (15) carried out for the base case.
The PMV values obtained analytically were observed to range
tsk = 35.7 − 0.028(M − W ) (16) from −1.21 to 1.08 and the PPD values ranged from 5% to
36.01%, which is not within the acceptable range given in the stan-
PPD dards (ASHRAE 2010; ISO 2005). Through the simulation study, it
The equation for finding PPD for each measurement depends upon was observed that the values of PMV for the study period range
the PMV values, and is shown as from −1.22 to 1.11, while the PPD values range from 5.00%
to 36.61%.
4
+0.2179 PMV2 )]
PPD = 100 − 95 × e[−(0.3353 PMV (17) There are three categories of thermal environment which is pre-
ferred by the occupants, as given in Table 3 (ASHRAE 2010; ISO
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Validation of Base Case
In order to successfully carry out a simulation study, it is imperative
to check whether the software provides the desired outcome or not.
Hence, to be able to carry out the analysis of the influence of the
Table 3. Thermal environment categories
Category PMV
A −0.2 < PMV < 0.2
B −0.5 < PMV < 0.5
C −0.7 < PMV < 0.7
2005). A graph between the frequency and the range of the PMV
as well as PPD values obtained through measurements have been
plotted, as shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 3(a) indicates that the maximum
frequency of readings is between −0.5 and −0.2 PMV values,
which indicate, though ideal, a slightly cooler environment.
While it can be observed that most of the values are falling in cat-
egories A (−0.2 < PMV < =0.2), B (−0.5 < PMV < +0.5), and C
(−0.7 < PMV < 0.7) (ASHRAE 2010; ISO 2005), there are still in-
PPD (%)
stances where the thermal environment lies even beyond the not
<6 ideal, but acceptable category, C. Similarly, Fig. 3(b) indicates
<10 that the frequency of PPD values lying below the acceptable
<15
range (ASHRAE 2010; ISO 2005) is significant, however, a

(a)

(b)

Fig. 3. Frequency plots for validation: (a) frequency of PMV index; and (b) frequency of PPD index.

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Fig. 4. Validation graph of simulation results with experimental results.

large percentage of people were dissatisfied by their thermal envi- Table 4. TSI values for various thermal sensations
ronment during the study period. Thermal sensation Range (°C) Optimum value (°C)
The results obtained through simulation too have been plotted in
Fig. 3, which show that the frequency of occurrence of the range of Slightly cool 19–25 22
Comfortable 25–30 27.5
PMV and PPD values is almost the same, with very minute differ-
Slightly warm 30–34 32
ences. This indicates that the simulation results were in close con-
formance to the actual measurements taken.
A graph between PMV and PPD obtained experimentally was conditions of northern India, shows the temperature of still air at
also compared with the graph obtained using simulation results, 50% relative humidity, which induces a similar thermal perception
shown in Fig. 4, which exhibited that the two curves matched as the provided environmental conditions. It considers the effects of
closely with each other. four environmental factors, that is, air temperature, humidity, air
In order to validate the simulation results, the percentage devia- motion, and radiation, on the thermal sensation of the occupants.
tion of the simulation results from the analytical values was deter- The ranges and values of these are given in Table 4, and their val-
mined using the root mean square percentage deviation for both ues can be obtained for each of the measurement from the follow-
PMV and PPD values. The percentage deviations were obtained ing (Sharma and Ali 1978):
using the following relations (Saxena et al. 2018):




















TSI = 0.308tw + 0.743tg − 2.06 va + 0.80 (20)
2
(ei )
e= (18) A normal distribution curve of the TSI values represented in
N
terms of PMV values has been plotted, along with the normal dis-
where tribution curve of the PMV values, shown in Fig. 5, to compare the
 
(Xi − Yi )
ei = × 100
Xi
Using the above equation, the root mean square percentage de-
viation obtained for the case of PMV values was 1.27, while for the
case of PPD values, the percentage deviation was found to be 1.07.
This validated the simulation results with the actual environment,
rendering the software suitable to study the influence of various pa-
rameters on the thermal comfort indices.
Comparison with Other Indices
two thermal comfort indices.
(19) Since the comfortable range for TSI is 25°C–30°C, with the op-
timum comfortable temperature being 27.5°C (Sharma and Ali
1978), while on the other hand, the ideal comfortable PMV range
is −0.5 to +0.5, with a neutral environment at 0 PMV value,
hence the 3-sigma values of these means and ranges have been
compared with each other to obtain TSI values in terms of PMV
values. Considering, 27.5°C as the mean comfortable temperature
for TSI, it would yield 25°C as −3-sigma and 30°C as +3-sigma.
Likewise, for PMV, 0 being the mean comfortable value, −0.5
would serve as −3-sigma limit and +0.5 would serve as
+3-sigma limit. Hence, for a particular TSI value obtained, corre-
sponding PMV value can be obtained by comparing these values,
using the following:
Tropical Summer Index  
(27.5 − TSI) × (0 − (−0.5))
The Tropical Summer Index (TSI), developed at the Central Build- PMVTSI = − (21)
(27.5 − 25)
ing Research Institute, India, for hot and dry, and warm and humid

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 Corrected Effective Temperature
Corrected Effective Temperature (CET) came from the concept of
Effective Temperature (ET), developed by the American Society of
Heating and Ventilating Engineers (ASHVE), and is the tempera-
ture of a still, saturated atmosphere, which would yield a similar ef-
fect in the absence of radiation as that produced by the given
environment. ASHVE then included the effects of air velocity in
the assessment of ET, while Vernon also considered the effect of
heat from radiation. The values of the CET can be obtained for
each of the measurement using the following (Auliciems and
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Szokolay 2007):
CET = (1.21tg − 0.21tw )/[1 + 0.029(tg − tw )] (22)
For the purpose of comparison, a normal distribution curve has
also been plotted for the PMV values and the CET values represented
in terms of PMV values, as shown in Fig. 6. Similar to the procedure
mentioned for the TSI values, the mean comfortable PMV value
along with its ±3-sigma values have been compared with the
mean comfortable CET as 24.5°C, with the ±3-sigma values ranging
from 22°C to 27°C (Auliciems and Szokolay 2007). Hence, the CET

Fig. 5. Comparison graph of PMV and TSI results.

Fig. 6. Comparison graph of PMV and CET results.

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 values in terms of PMV values can be represented as graph between the PMV and CET in terms of PMV shows lesser
differences as compared to that with the TSI.

(24.5 − CET) × (0 − (−0.5))
PMVCET = − (23)
(24.5 − 22)
Results and Discussion
Comparison with Other Indices
TSI
The TSI values obtained lay in the range of 14.7°C–24.1°C,
suggesting that cooler conditions were persisting, which is in accor-
dance with the fact that the experiment was performed during the
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winter season. Fig. 5 illustrates a very small intersecting portion
of the curves, while a larger portion of the TSI values lie in the re-
gion of the thermal sensation of a cooler environment, which
should be the case, since the study was done on a naturally condi-
tioned building during the winter season. It shows a difference be-
tween the two curves which might be due to the fact that TSI takes
into account only environmental factors and the clothing insulation
of the occupant, as can be seen from Eq. (20), while PMV takes into
account both environmental and physiological factors, since it also
includes the metabolic rate of the occupants. The difference is due
to the mean comfort perceived by the occupants, which might be
because of the adaptation process and genetics of people, their be-
havioral action, expectation and perception for their thermal envi-
ronment, as well as their clothing and social condition. Since TSI
was developed in Roorkee, the subjects belong to a tropical region
and are used to higher temperatures, hence, the temperature at
which they would feel comfortable would be higher too. Thus,
for an index based on such subjects, for a comfortable range of
PMV, their TSI should be higher. However, since the study was
done in the winter months, the TSI came out low, making the ther-
mal environment uncomfortably cold for them and, hence, large
differences in the two curves were obtained.
CET
The CET values were found to be in the range of 18.2°C–27.3°C,
indicating that the environmental conditions ranged from a cooler
environment to a thermally neutral environment, while for most
of the time, cooler conditions persisted, agreeing with the experi-
mental conditions. A normal distribution curve of the CET values
represented in terms of PMV values was plotted, along with the
normal distribution curve of the PMV values, as shown in Fig. 6.
The figure establishes that a major portion of the curves intersect
and match with each other, and indicates persistence of a cooler en-
vironment. This conforms to the experimental conditions, where
the measurements were taken in the winter season for a naturally
conditioned building. It shows a difference between the two curves,
since similar to the case of TSI, CET also takes into account the
environmental factors and the clothing insulation, as shown in
Eq. (22). The difference in the two curves is due to the mean com-
fort sensed by the occupants. This could be because CET was de-
veloped in the UK, while this study has been done for New Delhi,
India, hence the behavioral action, expectation, and perception of
people for their thermal environment are location specific, and
their adaptation process and genetics are different. The social con-
dition and clothing of the occupants could also have an impact on
this. Moreover, for the subjects who live in the temperate zones,
slightly lower temperatures are comfortable for them since they
are accustomed to such environments. Thus, for CET index, com-
fortable PMV values can correspond to slightly lower temperatures.
Consequently, for the study done during the winter season, the
© ASCE 04020017-8
J. Archit. Eng., 2020, 26(3): 04020017
Influence of Passive Parameters on Thermal Comfort
A simulation-led analysis, well validated with the experimental re-
sults, has been carried out to observe the effect of different passive
technology parameters on the thermal comfort of the occupants.
For the purpose of this study, four parameters have been chosen,
that is, type and thickness of wall insulation, type and thickness
of roof insulation, provision of blinds, and type of glazing.
Types and Thicknesses of Wall Insulation
Five of the commonly used wall insulation materials have been
chosen for the analysis, that is, fiber glass, polyurethane foam, cel-
lulose foam, mineral wool, and expanded polystyrene (EPS), with
their properties listed in Table 5 (Greenspec 2016).
In the existing construction of the office exterior walls, a layer of
fiber glass with 20 mm thickness has been added to check its im-
pact on the variation in the comfort indices from the base case.
The results indicate that PMV values have reduced on both sides
of the thermal sensation scale, from −1.22 to −0.42 and from
1.11 to 0.99, as shown in Table 6, while the PPD value, though
has reduced from 36.61% to 25.90%, but is still depicting thermal
discomfort to the occupants. This is due to the fact that the heat flow
is resisted by the insulating material.
The thickness of the insulation has then been varied from 20 to
100 mm, with gap intervals of 20 mm each, to check their influence
on comfort levels. It was observed that with increasing thickness,
minimum PMV value first increases, but after 40 mm of thickness,
it starts decreasing, thus, moving away from the ideal thermal com-
fort range. A possible explanation for this could be that initially
when thickness is increased, that thickness was still not sufficient
to resist the heat to flow from inside to the outside, thus increasing
the thermal sensation of the occupants toward a colder side. How-
ever, on increasing thickness beyond 40 mm, the heat flow could
have been adequately counteracted by the insulation, as depicted
by the decrease in the minimum PMV values toward a thermally
neutral environment. On the other hand, it can be observed that
the maximum PMV value constantly increases throughout the dif-
ferent thicknesses considered, hence, suggesting that as the thick-
ness of the insulation is increased, it blocks the heat from the
inside of the room to flow outside, resulting in maintaining a
warmer environment. It can also be observed that by the application
of the fiber glass wall insulation, the maximum PMV value has re-
duced in all the cases, which could be because when the conditions
of a warmer ambient atmosphere persists, the insulation is able to
block the heat to enter inside the room. Likewise, when the thick-
ness is increased, initially the PPD value reduced, suggesting that
the overall PMV range was closer to the ideal range for a comfort-
able environment. However, when the thickness of the insulation is
increased beyond that, since the maximum PMV value is moving
Table 5. Thermal properties of insulation materials
Fiber Polyurethane Cellulose Mineral Expanded
glass foam foam wool polystyrene
Density (ρ) 48 30 57 40 15
(kg/m3)
Specific heat 843 1,800 2,020 840 1,300
(Cp) (J/kg-K)
Thermal 0.04 0.026 0.035 0.038 0.038
conductivity
(k) (W/m-K)
J. Archit. Eng.
 away from the ideal range, it could have led to the increase in the
maximum value of PPD. Fig. 7 shows the PMV v/s PPD curve for
each of the thickness considered for the same.
A frequency plot of the PMV and PPD values has also been ob-
tained for the different thicknesses of the fiber glass wall insulation,
as shown in Fig. 8. The shift of the lower limits of the PMV index
from category C to category B is evident from the frequency plot,
as shown in Fig. 8(a), indicating that all the thicknesses are able to
block the heat flow through the room to the outside. It can also be
seen that throughout the PMV range for category B, for each of the

Table 6. Thermal comfort indices with varying thicknesses of different wall insulations
Thickness

Insulation materials 20 mm 40 mm 60 mm 80 mm 100 mm

Fiber glass PMV −0.42–0.99 −0.45–0.97 −0.44–1.01 −0.42–1.03 −0.40–1.06
PPD (%) 25.90 24.82 26.43 27.53 28.53
Polyurethane foam PMV −0.47–0.95 −0.41–1.01 −0.39–1.05 −0.37–1.07 −0.36–1.09
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PPD (%) 24.13 26.54 28.23 29.23 30.20

Cellulose foam PMV −0.48–0.93 −0.43–0.98 −0.41–1.01 −0.39–1.04 −0.37–1.06
PPD (%) 23.32 25.24 26.74 27.81 28.74
Mineral wool PMV −0.49–0.93 −0.46–0.97 −0.41–1.01 −0.39–1.04 −0.38–1.06
PPD (%) 23.29 25.13 26.67 27.87 28.79
Expanded polystyrene PMV −0.49–0.92 −0.44–0.98 −0.41–1.01 −0.39–1.04 −0.38–1.06
PPD (%) 23.23 25.19 26.72 27.92 28.76

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e)

Fig. 7. PMV-PPD curves for different thicknesses of fiber glass wall insulation: (a) 0.02 m; (b) 0.04 m; (c) 0.06 m; (d) 0.08 m; and (e) 0.1 m.

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(a)

(b)

Fig. 8. Frequency plots for different thicknesses of fiber glass wall insulation: (a) frequency of PMV index; and (b) frequency of PPD index.

interval range considered, the frequency of PMV index is higher for
the fiber glass wall insulation of lower thickness, while beyond the
category B, the frequency of the higher thicknesses has increased.
This again indicates that the higher thicknesses are able to suffi-
ciently resist the heat flow from the inside to outside, as compared
to the material with lesser thickness. However, having a very warm
environment is also not acceptable to the occupants, and hence,
keeping too much thickness of the fiber glass insulation will not
be very beneficial. For almost all of the thicknesses considered,
most of the PMV index frequency lies in category B, however, a
large percentage of the PMV values have now shifted to the warmer
side, beyond category C.
Similarly, a frequency plot of the PPD index for different thick-
nesses has been obtained, as shown in Fig. 8(b). This plot too de-
picts that maximum frequency of the PPD index lies in the category
B, however, a large percentage of the frequency also falls beyond
the category C. The possible reason for this is that since the trend
of the plot has shifted from a cooler environment to a zone of
warmer environment because of the restriction in the heat flow,
this has resulted in the occupants becoming dissatisfied with their
thermal environment. It can be observed that till the PPD index
lying in category B, there is a trend of having lower PPD values
for higher thicknesses of fiber glass wall insulation, which could
be owing to the fact that the occupants were originally in a cooler
environment, and because of the obstruction to the heat flow by the
material of higher thickness, the environment started to become
slightly warm, thus providing satisfaction of the occupants with
their thermal environment. However, beyond a certain point,
dues to excessive heat trapped, the warmth inside the room started
to increase, thus making the occupants dissatisfied with the warmer
environment.
In a similar manner, analysis has been carried out for the remain-
ing four insulation materials, and their results are shown in Table 6,
wherein similar trends were observed for each of the materials

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 with minute differences in the magnitudes of results in each case. It
was observed that the minimum PMV value constantly decreases
throughout the thicknesses considered, hence suggesting that the
wall insulation reduces the slight coldness in the thermal environ-
ment, and tends toward the ideal thermal comfort range, while the
maximum PMV constantly increases with increasing thickness,
thus, moving away from the ideal thermal comfort range. This sug-
gests that as the thickness of the insulation is increased, it blocks
the heat flow from the inside of the room to outside, resulting in
a warmer environment. Similarly, it was observed that the maximum
PPD constantly increases with increasing thickness, indicating that a
greater percentage of people would start to feel discomfort if insula-
tion with a larger thickness is provided. However, each case is still an
improvement over the base case. Moreover, out of all the cases stud-
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blocking the heat in the inside of the room from flowing outside, re-
sulting in the maintenance of a warmer environment. A similar var-
iation pattern can be seen in the case of minimum PMV values in the
context of a colder environment, as well as in the case of PPD values.
This implies that the thickness of the insulation material is a key fac-
tor for maintaining a comfortable thermal environment in buildings,
which is also suggested in the literature. Fig. 9 shows the PMV v/s
PPD curves for each of the thicknesses considered for the same.
Similar to the case of fiber glass wall insulation, frequency plots
of the PMV and PPD indices for the different thicknesses of fiber
glass roof insulation are shown in Fig. 10. Fig. 10(a) suggests
that the environment zone has shifted from a negative PMV scale
to a positive PMV scale, with most of the frequency lying in cate-
gory B. There is a varying trend of frequency plots with the increas-

ied, 20 mm thick expanded polystyrene wall insulation yields a max-
imum reduction in the PMV range, dropping it to −0.49 to 0.92 and
the PPD reduction of up to 23.23%.
Types and Thicknesses of Roof Insulations
The same five materials mentioned previously have also been cho-
sen for the roof insulations to analyze their effects on the comfort
levels of the occupants. Analogous to the method mentioned previ-
ously, first a layer of fiber glass roof insulation of 20 mm thickness
has been included in the existing construction of the room. The re-
sults imply that the PMV values have reduced on both the sides of
the thermal sensation scale, from −1.22 to −0.50 and from 1.11 to
0.83, as shown in Table 7, while the PPD value has reduced from
36.61% to 19.51%. This implies that the heat flow to some extent is
resisted by the insulating material, hence the range for PMV values
and the maximum PPD value have reduced. This proposes that al-
though the maximum PMV value does not lie in the range of the
ideal comfort levels, occupants are still satisfied with their thermal
environment. As the PMV values obtained are very close to the
ideal range with a little inclination toward the warmer side, the oc-
cupants are still satisfied with their thermal environment since the
study has been conducted for the winter season, wherein cooler
conditions were prevailing. This can be observed from the fact
that the PPD value was just below the maximum allowable percent-
age for the people feeling dissatisfied with their environment.
For the analysis of this case as well, the same thicknesses of the
insulation have been considered. It was observed that with increas-
ing thickness, the maximum PMV values obtained, though fluctu-
ating, lie well below the PMV value obtained in the base case, and
values corresponding to increased thicknesses, that is, 60–100 mm,
indicate that a zone of warmer environment has been created. This
suggests that as the thickness of the insulation is increased, it is
ing thickness, however, beyond the upper limit of category C, the
frequency of the PMV values increases with increasing thickness,
indicating the presence of trapped heat. This plot also suggests
that mostly the thermal environment is of category B, however,
more frequency of PMV is toward the positive side of the scale, in-
dicating a warmer environment, while at some instances, the ther-
mal environment was observed to be too warm, leading to an
increase in the frequency of the PMV beyond the category C, on
the positive end of the scale.
Fig. 10(b) also indicates the persistence of the B-type thermal
environment for most of the time, be it on the cooler side of the
scale or the warmer side. It is to be noted, however, that the frequency
of the percentage of the people dissatisfied with their thermal environ-
ment is still significant, extending beyond category C, due to the pres-
ence of warmer conditions. Nonetheless, beyond category C, the
frequency of the PPD index for each of the thickness considered
was still much less than the base case, suggesting that the insulation
is being able to block the outside heat from entering the room.
Simulations were also carried out for the remaining four insula-
tion materials, with varying thicknesses for the analysis, and their
results are shown in Table 7, where similar trends were observed
for each of the materials with minute differences in the magnitudes
of results in each case. With increasing thickness, it was observed
that the maximum as well as the minimum PMV values were con-
stantly decreasing, thus, moving toward the ideal thermal comfort
range. This suggests that the provision of this insulation reduces
the slight coldness as well as slight warmness in the thermal
environment, owing to the fact that, to some extent, the insulation
confines the heat inside the room. Similarly, it was observed that
the maximum PPD values showed either a slight decrease or re-
mained the same with increasing thickness, indicating that the per-
ception of the occupants for the thermal comfort was improving.

Table 7. Thermal comfort indices with varying thicknesses of different roof insulations
Thickness

Insulation materials 20 mm 40 mm 60 mm 80 mm 100 mm

Fiber glass PMV −0.50–0.83 −0.46–0.80 −0.64–1.04 −0.62–1.03 −0.61–1.03
PPD (%) 19.51 18.61 27.83 27.30 27.22
Polyurethane foam PMV −0.68–1.07 −0.64–1.04 −0.62–1.03 −0.60–1.02 −0.58–1.01
PPD (%) 29.25 27.92 27.26 27.69 26.38
Cellulose foam PMV −0.69–1.09 −0.63–1.08 −0.62–1.05 −0.60–1.01 −0.59–0.99
PPD (%) 30.13 29.94 28.47 26.56 25.94
Mineral wool PMV −0.68–1.09 −0.66–1.07 −0.64–1.03 −0.61–1.02 −0.59–1.02
PPD (%) 30.14 29.3 27.53 27.19 26.98
Expanded polystyrene PMV −0.69–1.09 −0.66–1.06 −0.64–1.04 −0.62–1.03 −0.61–1.03
PPD (%) 30.19 28.65 27.93 27.28 27.19

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Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by University of Exeter on 05/06/20. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
(a) (b)
(d)
Fig. 9. PMV-PPD curves for different thicknesses of fiber glass roof insulation: (a) 0.02 m (b) 0.04 m; (c) 0.06 m; (d) 0.08 m; and (e) 0.1 m.
Moreover, it is to be noted that each case is still an improvement
over the base case. Furthermore, out of all the cases studied,
40 mm thick fiber glass roof insulation yields a maximum reduction
in the PMV range, dropping it to −0.46–0.80 and the PPD reduc-
tion of up to 18.61%.
Provision of Blinds
Another passive design strategy employed was the provision of ex-
ternal and internal blinds to all the windows to analyze their effects
on the thermal comfort levels, the properties (EQUA 2013) of
which have been listed in Table 8.
The results for the case of external blinds, as shown in
Fig. 11(a), exhibit that the PMV values extend from −0.77 to
0.61, as against the base case, where the range is −1.22–1.11, indi-
cating an improvement in the thermal perception of the occupants
with respect to their environment toward the warmer and the colder
sides. This is due to the fact that the blinds provide shading from the
direct solar radiations and can help improve the thermal environment
of a building by controlling heat gain or loss. The results also indicate
an appreciable decrease in the percentage of people feeling discom-
fort, with a PPD reduction from 36.61% to 17.52%, which is even
within the acceptable limits, as specified by the standards (ASHRAE
2010; ISO 2005).
Whereas in case of internal blinds, results show that PMV values
are extending from –0.51 to 0.93, as against the base case; indicating
© ASCE 04020017-12
J. Archit. Eng., 2020, 26(3): 04020017
(c)
(e)
a similar behavior as the previous case, but shifting the thermal envi-
ronment of the room towards warmer side, as shown in Fig. 11(b).
A possible explanation for this could be that the internal blinds emit
the absorbed radiation inside the room only, thus making the internal
environment warmer. Similar to the previous case, the PPD value has
decreased here as well, to a value of 23.26%, however, this value
crosses the threshold provided by the standards (ASHRAE 2010;
ISO 2005). Moreover, out of all the cases studied, provision of exter-
nal blinds yields a maximum reduction in the PMV range, dropping to
−0.77–0.61 and a PPD reduction of up to 17.55.%.
The frequency plots of the PMV index for different blinds, as
shown in Fig. 12(a), suggest that though there were improvements
in the thermal environment in both the cases as compared to the
base case, the external blind shows better enhancement with respect
to the internal blinds. The provision of external blinds maintained
the environment in a slightly cooler zone while the internal blinds
led to a zone of warmer environment, owing to the reasons men-
tioned above. The provision of both types of blinds enhanced the
thermal environment, but were still beyond the desired thermal en-
vironment categories.
Plotting the frequencies of the PPD index for both types of
blinds, shown in Fig. 12(b), depict that the highest PPD frequencies
were found in category C, while a large proportion of the values
extended beyond the acceptable category, indicating that the PPD
values could be at the borderline of crossing category C, and
J. Archit. Eng.
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(a)

(b)

Fig. 10. Frequency plots for different thicknesses of fiber glass roof insulation: (a) frequency of PMV index; and (b) frequency of PPD index.

Table 8. Properties of blinds analysis, the properties of which have been listed in Table 9
(Vitro Architectural Glass 2015; EQUA 2013; WINDOWS 2016).
External Internal
blinds blinds
Results for the case of double pane-clear glass windows, as
shown in Fig. 13(a), exhibit that PMV values are stretching from
Multiplier for g (solar gain factor) 0.14 0.65 −0.61 to 0.85, indicating an enhancement in the comfort level of
Multiplier for t (short-wave shading 0.09 0.16 occupants. In addition, the percentage of dissatisfied people has
coefficient)
Multiplier for U-value 1.0 1.0
also reduced, though it barely reaches the allowable threshold
Diffusion factor 1.0 1.0 value. Subsequently, the results of remaining types of glazing
were attained, shown in Figs. 13(b–d), wherein similar trends
were witnessed. The PMV and PPD values were found to have re-
hence, most of the percentages of people dissatisfied with their ther- duced in each case, hence, shrinking the curve toward an ideal
mal environment are extended beyond the C category, owing to the range. Moreover, out of all the cases studied, low-e glass windows
performance of the two blinds. yield a maximum reduction in the PMV range, dropping to −0.64–
0.77 and a PPD reduction of up to 17.53.%.
Types of Window Glazing Fig. 14 represents the frequency plots of the PMV and PPD
Glazing can affect the amount of heat transfer through windows of indices for the different types of window glazing. Similar to the
the buildings, thus affecting the thermal comfort of the occupants. observations made in the case of different types of blinds, it can
Windows with double pane-clear glass, triple pane-clear glass, be noticed that the thermal environment of the room has enhanced,
low-e glazing, and tinted glass have been considered for the as shown in Fig. 14(a), but PMV values beyond the acceptable

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 (a) (b)

Fig. 11. PMV-PPD curves for different blind types: (a) external blinds; and (b) internal blinds.
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(a)

(b)

Fig. 12. Frequency plots for different blind types: (a) frequency of PMV index; and (b) frequency of PPD index.

thermal environment category still have large frequencies, owing to
windows being directly exposed to the sun’s radiation, and thus
affecting the heat transfer through the room and creating a zone
of warmer environment. The highest improvement can be seen
in the case of low-e glass, which still lies in the category C of
the thermal environments. However, considering the frequency
plot of the PPD index for the different types of glazing, shown
in Fig. 14(b), low-e glass also represents a thermal environment
extending beyond category C, as is the case with other types of
glazing.
Maximization of Thermal Comfort for Given Parameters
The thermal environment of an enclosed space can be affected by
different passive techniques, therefore, a combination of parame-
ters studied previously have been used to obtain a maximized sol-
ution to bring the thermal comfort index of the office room within
the acceptable range defined by the standards (ASHRAE 2010; ISO
2005). The objective function for the maximization was
fx = maximize PMV (if PMV ≤ 0) and minimize PMV(if PMV > 0)
(24)

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 Using a combination of all the parameters considered, simula-
tions were run and the PMV values were obtained for the cases.
The combination that conformed closest to the ideal range of the
comfortable thermal environment would be the best solution
amongst the parameters studied. Some of the combinations of the
parameters that were run for the simulation for maximization
have been shown in Table 10 for reference.
The types of roof insulations studied showed a similar trend
to each other, hence, out of these, fiber glass roof insulation was
chosen for initial simulation with 40 mm thickness as it showed
maximum improvement, which was then combined with other
types of wall insulations, and finally its combination with fiber
glass wall insulation with 40 mm thickness was selected. In combi-
nation, scheduling of external blinds was also done according to
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the sun’s movement, but that resulted in a decrease in comfort.
This was then replaced with internal blinds, which resulted in an
improved thermal environment. Glazing types were also varied
with this combination, which finally led to the best possible solu-
tion of improved thermal comfort conditions, within the parameters
studied above, by providing windows with low-e glass. This led to
a decrease in the PMV values, on both the negative and the positive
sides of the PMV scale, with respect to the base case. The PMV
range obtained using the maximized solution was from −0.89
to 0.95, thus tending toward the ideal thermal comfort range,
along with a decrease in the percentage of thermally dissatisfied
occupants. Although the decrease in the values on the positive
side of the PMV scale is less in comparison with the decrease
on the negative side, out of all the possible combinations ex-

plored, this was the best possible solution for improving the ther-
mal comfort conditions within the office room. Fig. 15 shows the
Table 9. Properties of window glazing PMV-PPD curve of the base case combined with the maximized
solution. Frequency plots of the PMV and PPD indices of the
Double pane Triple pane
windows windows Low maximized solution as well as the base case were also obtained,
with clear with clear emissivity Tinted as shown in Fig. 16(a), where it can be realized that most of the
glass glass glass glass frequencies lie in category C of the thermal environment, how-
Solar heat gain 0.76 0.68 0.62 0.60 ever, small percentages of frequencies are seen extending beyond
coefficient (SHGC) the acceptable thermal environments. Nonetheless, the combination
Solar transmittance (τ) 0.70 0.60 0.58 0.47 of parameters shows an enhancement of the thermal environment as
Visible transmittance 0.81 0.74 0.67 0.50 against the base case. Fig. 16(b) also suggests that the majority of fre-
(τvis) quencies lie within category C of the thermal environment, with the
Glazing value, 2.9 1.9 3.8 5.7 highest percentage of frequency observed to lie in category B. Some
U (W/m2-K) percentage of dissatisfied occupants still exist due to the PMV range
Internal emissivity 0.84 0.84 0.1 0.5
of the maximized solution not being within the ideal comfortable
External emissivity 0.84 0.84 0.1 0.5
limits (ASHRAE 2010; ISO 2005).

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 13. PMV-PPD curves for window glazing types: (a) double pane windows with clear glass; (b) triple pane windows with clear glass; (c) tinted
window glass; and (d) low-e window glass.

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(a)

(b)

Fig. 14. Frequency plots for window glazing types: (a) frequency of PMV index; and (b) frequency of PPD index.

Table 10. Sample maximization results

Min. Max. PPD
S. No. Parameter combination PMV PMV (%)
1. 20 mm cellulose foam wall insulation +20 mm cellulose foam roof insulation + external blinds + double Pane −0.74 1.04 30.48
clear glass
2. 20 mm cellulose foam wall insulation +40 mm cellulose foam roof insulation + external blinds + double pane −0.69 1.01 29.54
clear glass
3. 20 mm cellulose foam wall insulation +40 mm polyurethane foam roof insulation + external blinds + double pane −0.59 0.98 29.14
clear glass
4. 20 mm cellulose foam wall insulation +40 mm polyurethane foam roof insulation + external blinds + triple pane −0.72 0.99 29.37
clear glass
5. 20 mm cellulose foam wall insulation +40 mm cellulose foam roof insulation + internal blinds + triple pane clear −0.85 1.05 30.93
glass
6. 60 mm mineral wool wall insulation +40 mm cellulose foam roof insulation + external blinds + double pane clear −0.51 1.08 31.06
glass
7. 60 mm mineral wool wall insulation +40 mm expanded polystyrene insulation + internal blinds + tinted glass −0.59 0.96 27.82
8. 80 mm polyurethane foam wall insulation +40 mm fiber glass roof insulation + external blinds + low-e glass −0.89 0.76 20.05
9. 100 mm cellulose foam wall insulation +20 mm cellulose foam roof insulation + internal blinds + triple pane −0.41 1.13 34.91
clear glass
10. 40 mm fiber glass wall insulation +40 mm fiber glass roof insulation + internall blinds + low-e glass (maximized −0.89 0.95 25.39
solution)

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Fig. 15. Comparison graph of PMV and PPD between base case and maximized solution.

(a)

(b)

Fig. 16. Frequency plots for maximized case: (a) frequency of PMV index; and (b) frequency of PPD index.

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J. Archit. Eng., 2020, 26(3): 04020017

 Conclusions
PMV and PPD indices, being the most widely accepted (ASHRAE
2010; ISO 2005), have been used for the present study of obtaining
thermal comfort indices within an office room in Delhi, both by
measurements and by using software. The effects of various param-
eters on thermal comfort have also been studied, and the best pos-
sible solution for maintaining the comfort of occupants of the office
room has been proposed. The following inferences can be drawn
from the present work:
• PMV within the office room lies in the range −1.22 to 1.11, sig-
nifying a slightly cold environment for most of the instances,
while PPD values range from 5% to 36.61%, depicting that in
some instances more than 20% of the people are dissatisfied
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with their thermal environment.
• Experimental results are in agreement with the simulation
results, with the root mean square percentage deviations
of 1.27 and 1.07 for the PMV as well as PPD values,
respectively.
• A comparison of the PMV results with the TSI as well as CET
exhibited that in both the cases most of the values lay in the zone
of a cooler environment, which is in accordance with the fact
that the experimental study was done on a naturally conditioned
building during the winter season.
• A difference between the curves of TSI and PMV, and CET and
PMV have been observed, which might be because of the adap-
tation process and genetics of people, the location specific be-
havioral action, expectation, and perception of people toward
their thermal environment and the social condition and clothing
of the occupants.
• The influence of various passive parameters on comfort indices
was also analyzed, which showed that those parameters either
improved the overall thermal environment very slightly, or im-
proved the thermal environment on one side of the scale, while
degrading it on the other side of the scale.
• Out of all the parameters studied for the room considered,
maximum improvement in thermal comfort has been observed
in the case when a fiber glass roof insulation of 40 mm thickness
is used, along with fiber glass wall insulation thickness of
40 mm, internal blinds with scheduling according to the sun’s
movement, and low-e glass used in windows.
• This maximized solution resulted in the PMV range of −0.89–
0.95, with percentage improvements of 27.05% on the
colder side and 14.41% on the warmer side respectively,
which indicates that the solution has resulted in producing a
thermal environment very close to the ideal range of thermal
comfort.
• The PPD value also drastically reduced from 36.61% to 25.39%,
leading to a percentage improvement of 30.65% in the values of
PPD, indicating a larger percentage of people being satisfied
with their thermal environment.
Scope for Future Research
In addition to the work presented, obtaining the subjects’ vote for
their perception of their thermal environment is vital. Hence, actual
mean votes of the occupants can be taken by carrying out a survey
study along with the experimental measurement of data for the
evaluation of comfort in enclosed spaces. Moreover, it can be
investigated whether the thermal comfort indices and models
being used to assess the thermal environment of the occupants
are being validated or not with the actual results. Furthermore,
the adaptive model of comfort can be looked into to study the
© ASCE 04020017-18
J. Archit. Eng., 2020, 26(3): 04020017
adaption behavior of an occupant and its impact on the thermal
comfort. Optimization of the comfort requirement can be carried
out by considering active devices as well as the passive condition-
ing of the building. Apart from this, since the comfort perception
varies from one location to another, a country-specific study can
also be carried out.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this
study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable
request (data, experimental and simulation result dataset).
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Global Evolutionary Energy Design
(GEED), New Delhi, India, where the experimental work for the
study was conducted. The authors are also thankful to Yardi Soft-
ware Pvt. Ltd. for providing the funding and IIT Delhi for provid-
ing necessary facilities and support for this research.
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
ADu = dubois area (m2);
CET = corrected effective temperature (°C);
Cres = heat exchange by convection in breathing (W/m2);
Ec = heat exchange by evaporation on skin (W/m2);
Eres = evaporative heat exchange in breathing (W/m2);
e = root mean square percentage deviation;
fcl = clothing surface area factor;
H = sensitive heat losses (W/m2);
Ht. = height of a person (cm);
hc = convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K);
Icl = clothing insulation (m2 K/W);
L = thermal load on the body of an occupant (W/m2);
M = metabolic rate (W/m2);
N = number of readings;
PMV = predicted mean vote;
PMVTSI = TSI values in terms of PMV;
PMVCET = CET values in terms of PMV;
PPD = percentage people dissatisfied;
pa = water vapor partial pressure (kPa);
ps = partial vapor pressure of saturated air (kPa);
RH = relative humidity;
TSI = tropical summer index (°C);
ta = air temperature (°C);
tcl = surface temperature of clothing (°C);
tg = globe temperature (°C);
tr = mean radiant temperature (°C);
tsk = external skin temperature (°C);
tW = wet bulb temperature (°C);
va = velocity of air (m/s);
var = relative velocity of air (m/s);
W = effective mechanical power (W/m2);
Wt. = weight of a person (kg);
Xi = values of parameters obtained through simulations;
and
Yi = values of parameters obtained analytically.
J. Archit. Eng.
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