1

THEORY REFERENCE NOTES

COURSE: B.Arch
SEMESTER: SEMESTER – 3
AUTHOR NAME: Ibrahim sir

CLIMATOLOGY
CONTENT

S.No CHAPTERS PAGE#

1. PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION PAPERS 01
2. NOTES – UNIT:
UNIT:3 02-05

CREDITS

Source: Internet, Civil Content contributors:

contributors
engineering textbooks,
architectural textbooks,
JNAFAU library
Editor: Ibrahim sir
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IBRAHIM SIBGATULLAH’S ARCHITECTURAL ACADEMY
FOR ADMISSIONS, ENQUIRIES AND COLLABORATIONS CONTACT
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 1

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION PAPERS (2013 – 2019)

 What is thermal comfort? What are the environmental
parameters on which human thermal comfort depends?
Elaborate each factor with illustrations.
 Write short notes on body heat balance.
 What do you understand by thermal comfort factors? Explain
the effect of humidity on thermal comfort and the rationale for
humidification.
 How thermal comfort can be achieved in buildings?
 Write short notes on physiological aspects of thermal comfort.
 What is thermal comfort? With the help of neat sketch explain
body heat exchange processes and thermal balance of human
body.
 Write short notes on comfort charts.
 Describe in detail the various processes that maintain the heat
balance of the human body and explain how each depends on
the climatic environment.
 Define the thermal balance equation for the human body
indicating all the heat loss and heat gain factors. What are the
subjective variables which influence human comfort?

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IBRAHIM SIBGATULLAH’S ARCHITECTURAL ACADEMY
FOR ADMISSIONS, ENQUIRIES AND COLLABORATIONS CONTACT
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 2

UNIT-3
SYLLABUS:
Thermal Comfort: Thermal comfort factors, Physiological
aspects, Body heat balance, comfort range, comfort charts.

THERMAL COMFORT:
Thermal comfort is defined as the state of mind in humans that
expresses satisfaction with the surrounding environment. It is a
complex entity and achieving it is a dominant issue for tropical
climates. Optimal thermal comfort requires the heat loss of the
human body to be in balance with its heat production.
Thermal comfort is affected by heat conduction, convection,
radiation, and evaporative heat loss. It is maintained when the
heat generated by human metabolism is allowed to release, thus
maintaining thermal equilibrium with the surroundings.
With advent of industrialization and industrial housing accidents
and illness due to heat and humidity, stress became quite
common in early 19th century. This led to interest in establishing
thermal comfort criteria. Much work was done to determine what
constitutes “thermal comfort”.
PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THERMAL COMFORT:
Clothing Insulation: Thermal comfort is very much dependent
on the insulating effect of clothing on the wearer.
Clothing is both a potential cause of thermal discomfort as well as
a control for it as we adapt to the climate in which we live and
play. Clothing interferes with our ability to lose heat to the
environment.

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IBRAHIM SIBGATULLAH’S ARCHITECTURAL ACADEMY
FOR ADMISSIONS, ENQUIRIES AND COLLABORATIONS CONTACT
79 9393 7711 | www.ibrahimsacademy.com | sibgatullahibrahim@gmail.com
 3

Metabolic Rate: The metabolic rate is essential and critical for a

thermal risk assessment on thermal comfort. It describes the heat
that we produce inside our bodies as we carry out physical
activity.
The more physical work we do the more heat we produce. The
more heat we produce, the more heat needs to be lost. When
considering these factors, it is also essential to consider a person's
own physical characteristics.
Environmental parameters on which human thermal comfort
depends:
There are four environmental parameters which are believed to
establish the human comfort condition. They are as follows:
1. Air temperature,
2. Mean radiant temperature,
3. Relative humidity,
4. Air velocity,
Air temperatures: This is the temperature of the air surrounding
the body. It is usually given in degrees Celsius (°C) or degrees
Fahrenheit (°F).
Mean Radiant temperature: Thermal radiation is the heat that
radiates from a warm object. Radiant temperature has a greater
influence than air temperature on how we lose or gain heat to the
environment.
Relative Humidity: Relative humidity is the ratio between the
actual amount of water vapour in the air and the maximum
amount of water vapour that the air can hold at that air
temperature. Relative humidity between 40% and 70% does not
have a major impact on thermal comfort.

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IBRAHIM SIBGATULLAH’S ARCHITECTURAL ACADEMY
FOR ADMISSIONS, ENQUIRIES AND COLLABORATIONS CONTACT
79 9393 7711 | www.ibrahimsacademy.com | sibgatullahibrahim@gmail.com
 4

Air Velocity: Air velocity is an important factor in thermal

comfort because people are sensitive to it. Still or stagnant air
present in indoor environments (that are artificially heated) may
cause people to feel uncomfortable. It may also lead to a build-up
in odour.
BODY HEAT BALANCE:
Heat is continuously produced in the body since most of the
biochemical processes involved in tissue building; energy
conversion and muscular work are exothermic.
The body maintains a constant temperature of 98.6°F and it is
very important that this body temperature be maintained. Since
there is a continuous heat gain from internal body processes,
there must also be a continuous loss to maintain body heat in
balance.
The process that allows the human body to maintain its core
internal temperature is called as thermoregulation. Only 20% of
the heat produced in the body is utilized and surplus heat must be
released. The human body releases heat to the environment by
the following processes:
1. Conduction: Conduction is the process of losing heat through
physical contact with another object or body.
2. Radiation: Radiation is the process of transmitting energy
through the space without the presence or movement of matter
in or through this space.
3. Convection: Convection is the process of losing heat through
the movement of air or water molecules across the skin.
4. Evaporation: Evaporation is the process of losing heat through
the conversion of water to gas

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IBRAHIM SIBGATULLAH’S ARCHITECTURAL ACADEMY
FOR ADMISSIONS, ENQUIRIES AND COLLABORATIONS CONTACT
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 5

COMFORT RANGE:
The human body has ways to adjust (increase or decrease) its
heat loss. This is possible by bringing more or less blood to
vessels right under the skin or by changing the total amount of
blood in the body, with more blood produced under warmer
conditions to expel heat more effectively.
Sweating and the resulting evaporation is another physiological
mechanism to expel heat.
We can feel thermally comfortable within a range of
temperatures, but that this range is limited. Experience reveals
that the comfort range for most people extends from 20°C to 25°C.
COMFORT CHART:
Temperature is the most significant component to the experience
of comfort in a space. And the Comfort Chart is a psychrometric
chart that shows temperature on the X-axis and humidity index
on the Y-axis. Since humidity index is fairly unknown, relative
humidity curves are also shown. On the psychrometric chart, a
comfort zone is identified to indicate the comfort limits defined
for this zone.
The comfort chart is the result of research made on different
kinds of people subjected to wide range of environmental
temperature, relative humidity and air movement. This chart
allows engineers to choose most economical room conditions
from a zone of suitable comfort conditions for summer and
winter.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IBRAHIM SIBGATULLAH’S ARCHITECTURAL ACADEMY
FOR ADMISSIONS, ENQUIRIES AND COLLABORATIONS CONTACT
79 9393 7711 | www.ibrahimsacademy.com | sibgatullahibrahim@gmail.com