Chapter 3A: THERMAL COMFORT

Agami Reddy (rev- Dec 2017)

1. Indoor environment quality

2. Basics of comfort: Definition and categories of factors
3. Thermal balance of human body
4. Metabolic rates: met
5. Environmental indices: Direct and Indirect
6. Mean radiant and operative temperatures
7. Clothing insulation: clo
8. ASHRAE Thermal sensation scale model: PMV and PPD
9. ASHRAE comfort chart- graphical method
10. Adjustments to ASHRAE comfort chart
11. Adaptive comfort model
12. Other considerations

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 1

 Indoor Environment Quality

• What is Indoor Environment Quality?

– Thermal Comfort
– Indoor Air Quality
– Other Environment Issues
• Visual, Acoustic, Access to daylight,…
• Why do we need to care?
– 90 % of our lives are spent indoors
– 70 % of US work force (90 million persons)
– Comfort -> Productivity
– Comfort -> Health

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 2

 From Kolderup, 2009
HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 3
Factors influencing human comfort

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 4

Objective criteria

From Kolderup, 2009

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 5

 Basics of Thermal Comfort

- Definition: ASHRAE 55-2013

Thermal comfort is that condition of

mind that expresses satisfaction
with the thermal environment

Task of AC system is to maintain a

thermally comfortable environment
by simultaneous control of
temperature, humidity, cleanliness
and air circulation.

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 6

 Thermal Balance of Human Body

• Thermal comfort is maintained by heat/mass transfer

– Human body generates heat (about 100 W under sedentary
conditions with body area = 1.5 to 2 m2)
– For comfort to be maintained:
heat generated = heat loss
– Fundamental trends:
• Heat flows from body to ambient air (generally)
• Heat flow rate is proportional to temperature difference which is
affected by clothing
More layers of clothing=more insulation= less heat loss
• More activity = More heat generated

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 7

 Metabolic Rates: unit of “Met”
Table 3.1 1 M = 1 met = 58.2 W/m2 =18.4 Btu/h.ft2
Metabolic Rate M for Various Activities

Activity met W/m2 Btu/(h • ft2)

Sleeping 0.7 40 13
Reclining 0.8 45 15
Seated, quiet 1.0 60 18
Standing, relaxed 1.2 70 22
Walking (0.9 m/s, 3.2 km/hr, 2.0 mph) 2.0 115 37
Walking (1.8 m/s, 6.8 km/h, 4.2 mph) 3.8 220 70
Office- reading, seated 1.0 55 18
Office, walking about 1.7 100 31
House cleaning 2.0-3.4 115-200 37-63
Pick and shovel work 4.0-4.8 235-280 74-88
Dancing, social 2.4-4.4 140-255 44-81
Heavy machine work 4.0 235 74
Source: Courtesy of ASHRAE, Standard 55-2013: Thermal Environmental Conditions for
Human Occupancy, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
Engineers, Atlanta, GA, 2010. With permission.

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 8

 Heat Balance Network
1/hconAcl Ta

Heat flow can be represented Tcl

Tsk Tmrt
by a thermal network diagram:
. . . 1/hradAcl
Q  W  M . Ask (3.1) 2.2.2
Wsk
.
Wcl
wi
where Q =heat production rate Surface
. of skin
1/hevapAcl,w
W=rate of work Surface of
. clothing
M= metabolic rate Fig. 3.2 Thermal network model of sensible
and latent heat flows from a human body
Ask=total surface area of skin.
. .
Skin temperature conducive Tskin  35.7  1.60  ( M  W ) o C
to comfort (Eq. 3.14): . .
where M and W are in
Watts
HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 9
 Importance of different heat transfer mechanisms at diff temperatures

Convection
Conduction
Radiation
Evaporation

Fig. 3.3 Variation of heat generated and individual heat losses

from a human at rest (RH fixed at 45%)

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 10

 Environmental Indices for Measuring Comfort-
Direct Indices
(a) Dry-bulb temperature: single most important index, especially influential when
RH is in the range 40-60%
(b) Moisture: three measures
- Dew point temperature: good single measure but is of limited
usefulness for comfort
- Wet bulb temperature: useful for describing comfort conditions in
regions of high temperature and where dry-bulb has less significance
- Relative humidity: has no real meaning in terms of comfort unless
accompanying dry-bulb temp. is also known,
(very low or very high values associated with discomfort)
(c) Air movement: most difficult of the direct indices to describe. It affects only
convective heat exchange from body.

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 11

 Environmental Indices for Measuring Comfort-
Derived Indices
(a) Mean radiant temperature (MRT): surface temperature of an imaginary
black body (or enclosure) to which a person, also assumed to be a
black body, exchanges the same amount of heat by radiation as in the
actual environment
(b) Operative temperature (OT): uniform temperature of a radiantly black
enclosure in which an occupant exchanges the same amount of heat
by radiation plus convection as in the actual non-uniform indoor
environment. Numerically, it is close to the average of indoor dry-
bulb and mean radiant temperatures
(c) Effective temperature (ET): the operative temperature of an enclosure at
50% RH that would cause the same sensible plus latent heat
exchange from a person as would the actual environment
(combines temperature and humidity in one index)

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 12

 (a) Mean radiant temperature (MRT): surface temperature of an imaginary
black body (or enclosure) to which a person, also assumed to be a
black body, exchanges the same amount of heat by radiation as in the
actual environment
Basic index to describe
radiative conditions in space
(cold walls, sunlight walls)

Recall concept
of view factor Simplified
methods

From Bobenhausen, 1994

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 13
 Instrument to Measure MRT

Vernon’s globe thermometer

(Hollow sphere 6” diameter
painted black with a
thermocouple at the center)

One measures globe temperature Tg, ambient temperature Ta

and the air velocity v (which determines hcon - Table 3.2)

from which Tmrt can 4be deduced

4
(globe emissivity close to 1) from:
 . .(Tmrt  Tg )  h con .A(Tg  Ta )

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 14

TABLE 3.2
Correlations for Calculating Average Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient

Type of Correlation Applicable Units Units of Equation

activity range of convective number
velocity coefficient
Seated IP hcon  0.55 0  v  40 ft/min Btu/(h.ft2.oF) 3.4 IP
person units 40  v  800 ft/min Btu/(h.ft2.oF)
hcon  0.061  v 0.6
SI hcon  3.1 0  v  0.2 m/s W/(m2.oC) 3.4 SI
units 0.2  v  4.0 m/s W(/m2.oC)
hcon  8.3  v 0.6
Active IP 
0.39
 ft/min Btu/(h.ft2.oF) 3.5 IP
hcon  ( M  0.85) 1.1  M  3.0
person in units
still air
SI 
0.39
 m/s W/m2. oC 3.5 SI
hcon  5.7  ( M  0.85) 1.1  M  3.0
units

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 15

 (b) Operative Temperature
Inside buildings, the temperature differences are often small enough that Tmrt can be
approximated by
Tmrt   FclnTn (3.8)
n
For example, if one-half of the surroundings is at 30°C and the other half at 20°C, the
difference between these two expressions is only 0.1°C in terms of the mean radiant temperature
Tmrt. The radiative heat loss of the body can then be written as
Q rad  Aclhrad Tcl  Tmrt  (3.9)
where hrad is the radiative heat transfer coefficient. A numerical value of 4.71 W/m2. oC (0.83
Btu/hr.ft2.oF) is suggested for this coefficient for normal non-metallic clothing.

One defines a total heat transfer coefficient

hc  r  hcon  hrad (3.10)
and a so-called operative temperature Top
h T  hradTmrt
Top  con a (3.11)
hc+r
Then, neglecting the last three terms in Eq. (3.2), we get

Q con  Q rad  Acl hc  r Tcl  Top  (3.12)

The radiative and convective heat transfer coefficients are often close to each other, and
Eq.(3.11) can be approximated such that Top is simply the arithmetic average of Ta and Tmrt.

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 16

Example 3.1: Mean radiant and operative temperatures

Consider a room 3 m × 3 m × 3 m (≈10 ft × 10 ft × 10 ft) all but one of whose surfaces are at
19°C (66.2°F) while the remaining 3 m × 3 m surface is a window at 10°C (50 oF); the dry-
bulb temperature is Ta = 21°C (70 oF). Find the mean radiant temperature and the operative
temperature for an active person at the center of the room whose met level is 2.6. The air
velocity is 0.1 m/s (19.7 ft/min).


Given: Radiation temperatures of surfaces and Ta, M =2.6, v=0.1 m/s
Find: Tmrt, Top
Assumption: hrad = hcon
Lookup value: We need the shape factor F from the center of the room to the window. In
the present case the solid angle is easy to determine because of the symmetry of the room:
seen from the center the window fills one-sixth of the total field of view, and therefore,
1
shape factor F   0.167 .
6
SOLUTION
The convective heat transfer coefficient h con is determined from Eq. (3.4 SI):
hcon  3.1 W/m2. oC
HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 17
In this case, the MRT has only two terms because there are only two different surface
 Lookup value: We need the shape factor F from the center of the room to the window. In
the present case the solid angle is easy to determine because of the symmetry of the room:
seen from the center the window fills one-sixth of the total field of view, and therefore,
1
shape factor F   0.167 .
6
SOLUTION
The convective heat transfer coefficient hcon is determined from Eq. (3.4 SI):
hcon  3.1 W/m2. oC

In this case, the MRT has only two terms because there are only two different surface
temperatures, with corresponding shape factors F and (1 –F). Then from Eq. (3.8)
Tmrt  F  10 C  (1  F )  19 C  17.5 C

We use the standard value for the radiative heat-transfer coefficient of 4.71 W/(m2.oC)- see Eq.
(3.9). Thus, from Eq.(3.11), the operative temperature is

(3.1  21  4.71  17.5)

Top   18.9 o C (66 o F)
(3.1  4.71)

If we had used the simple arithmetic average: Top =(21+17.5)/2=19.25 oC

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 18

 TABLE 3.3
Typical Clothing Insulation values for different clothing ensembles. Icl is the thermal insulation
resistance value for the clothing alone, while IT is that for the total between skin and ambient air.

Ensemble Icl IT Acl

Clothing
clo clo Askin Insulation
Walking shorts, short-sleeved shirt 0.36 1.02 1.10
Trousers, short-sleeve shirt 0.57 1.20 1.15
Trousers, long-sleeved shirt 0.61 1.21 1.20
Trousers, t-shirt, long-sleeved shirt, suit jacket 0.96 1.54 1.23
Trousers, long-sleeve shirt, long-sleeved sweater 1.01 1.56 1.28
Sweat pants, sweat shirt 0.74 1.35 1.19
Knee-length skirt, short-sleeve shirt, pantyhose, 0.54 1.10 1.26
sandals
Knee-length skirt, long-sleeve shirt, full slip 0.67 1.22 1.29
pantyhose
Knee-length skirt, long-sleeve shirt, half slip, 1.10 1.59 1.46
pantyhose, long-sleeve sweater
Long-sleeve coveralls, t-shirt 0.72 1.30 1.23

1 clo = 0.88 ft2.h.°F/Btu = 0.155 m2.K/W.

The insulation value of clothing is measured in unit: clo

(1.0 clo is equivalent to the typical American Man’s Business suit in
1941) 1 clo = 0.88 ft2.h.oF/Btu (0.155 m2.K/W)
HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 19
Example 3.2: Sensible Heat Loss

Consider the same conditions as in Example 3.1. The person is active (met level
of 2.6) wearing trousers and a long-sleeve shirt. Calculate the total (convective
plus radiative) sensible heat loss.

Given: Top = 18.9°C (66°F)

Assumption: Steady-state condition;

skin area Ask = 1.8 m2 (19.6 ft2) (DuBois skin surface area)
and work rate = 0; M = 2.6

Lookup value: From Table 3.3, the total thermal resistance

IT = 1.21 clo and Also, Acl/Ask = 1.20.

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 20

 Find: Qsen
Assumption: Steady state condition; Skin area Askin = 1.8 m2 (19.6 ft2), work rate is zero
Lookup value: From Table 3.3, the total thermal resistance IT = 1.21 clo, where 1 clo =
0.155 m2. oC/W. Also, Acl/Ask = 1.20.

SOLUTION
The total thermal resistance
RT  IT  (0.155 m2 . o C/W)  1.21 clo  0.155 m2 . o C/W  0.188 m2 . o C/W
 
From Eq. (3.14), Tskin  35.7  1.60  (2.6  0)  31.54 C 0
Tskin  35.7  1.60  ( M  W ) o C
The total external clothing area is then determined:
A
Acl  Ask ( cl )  1.8  1.2  2.16 m2
Ask

Finally, the total sensible heat transfer is given by:

(Tsk  Ta ) 2 (31.54  21) o C

Qsen  Acl .  2.16
2.16mx (31.54
 – 18.9)
2 o / 0.188
.9
 121.1 WW
= 145.2 (413 Btu/h)
RT (0.188 m . C/W)

The sensible heat loss is somewhat high due to the low MRT for this space.
(similar analysis to be done for humidity effects- section 3.2.4)
HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 21
 Perception of Comfort
ASHRAE Thermal Sensation Scale
• This is an alternative approach to the thermal environmental
analysis approach discussed previously
• The ASHRAE Thermal Sensation Approach is an empirical
approach which captures occupant psychological aspects, i.e.,
subjective differences between individuals.
• Developed from extensive test chamber studies with humans

Recall
• Thermal comfort is characterized by:
air temperature, MRT, air humidity and air velocity
with M and Clo kept constant

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 22

 A thermal sensation index, called the predicted mean vote
(PMV), has been proposed to represent occupant
acceptability of the indoor environment.

- It can be calculated through a complex mathematical correlation

A thermal sensation index, called the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) has been proposed to
represent occupant acceptability of the indoor environment. This index can be calculated through
a complex mathematical function of the above six parameters, and relates the imbalance between
- The PMV index is used to quantify the degree of discomfort and
the actual heat flow from the human body in a given environment and that required for optimum
rangesThe
comfort. from
PMV+3 indextois−3,
usedwith zerotheindicating
to quantify neutralandorranges
degree of discomfort comfort
from +3 to -3,
with zero indicating neutral or comfort condition. This scale is called the ASHRAE thermal
condition.
sensation scale, and is represented as follows:

+3 +2 +1 0 -1 -2 -3
Hot Warm Slightly neutral Slightly Cool Cold
warm cool

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 23

 Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) Model

Test chamber tests with actual subjects are finally the most reliable approach and were conducted
by Fanger (1970). Studies on 1600 college-age students revealed certain interesting trends
between comfort level, temperature, humidity, sex and length of exposure. An empirical
correlation has been subsequently developed:

PMV  a  Ta  b  pv  c (3.19)
(3.18)
where the numerical values of the coefficients a, b and c are given in Table 3.4. The temperature
Ta is in oC or oF, and the partial pressure of water vapor in the air (pv) is in kPa or in psi. In
general, a change of 3 oC (5.4 oF) in temperature or a 3 kPa (0.44 psi) change in water vapor
pressure is necessary to change a thermal sensation vote by one category.

Since women prefer slightly higher temperatures than men (some attribute this to
metabolism rate while others to differences in clothing), separate correlations are provided for
both the sexes and also for a typical combined set of people. Note that duration of occupancy
(expressed as “exposure period”) is an additional factor
(see Table 3.4)
HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 24
Table 3.4 Coefficients for use in Eq.(3.19) to compute PMV
Coefficients for use in Eq. 3.18 to compute PMV

Exposure Sex SI Units IP Units

Period
a b c a b c
1.0 Male 0.220 0.233 5.673 0.122 1.61 9.584
Female 0.272 0.248 7.245 0.151 1.71 12.080
Combined 0.245 0.248 6.475 0.136 1.71 10.880
3.0 Male 0.212 0.293 5.949 0.118 2.02 9.718
Female 0.275 0.255 8.622 0.153 1.76 13.511
Combined 0.243 0.278 6.802 0.135 1.92 11.122

The PMV has some experimental uncertainty.

-0.5 < PMV < 0.5

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 25

Example 3.4: Difference in PMV due to exposure period

Consider the same conditions as in Examples 3.3.Calculate the difference in PMV for a
combinated group of men and women when exposed to 1 hr and 3 hr.
Given: Ta = 21 oC, Tdp = 12 oC
Find:
PMV
Lookup values: The partial pressure corresponding to Tdp = 12 oC is pv = 1.402 kPa

SOLUTION

Eq.(3.19)
Using Eq. (3.18) with the appropriate coefficients from Table 3.4 yields:

1 hr exposure: PMV  0.245x21  0.248x1.402  6.475  0.98 (slightly cool)

3 hr exposure:
PMV  0.243x21  0.278x1.402  6.802  1.31 (slightly cool to cool)

Thus, subjects tend to feel cooler as their exposure period is increased.

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 26

 Percentage of People Dissatisfied (PPD)
• Due to individual preferences, one would expect a distribution of votes for
the PMV. An index meant to characterize this variability is PPD.
• It has been found that PPD is empirically correlated to PMV.

Acceptable comfort range

Acceptable
With experimental in view of exp.range
comfort uncertainty
uncertainty in PMV
being 0.5, even when
PMV =0, one can PPD=10%
expect PPD =10%,
i.e, upto 10% of the
occupants may be
uncomfortable
Figure 3.4 PPD as a function of PMV
Method widely used in studies investigating tradeoffs between energy use
and human comfort HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 27
 ASHRAE Comfort Chart
Valid for: At least 80% of occupants
-Sedentary or slightly active person will be comfortable
-Summer: light slacks & Short sleeve
shirt (0.5 clo)
-Winter: Heavy slacks & long sleeve
& sweater or jacket (1.0 clo)
- Air motion: < 30 ft/min in winter
< 50 ft/min in summer
- No direct solar or other radiation

When application conditions are not

standard, use eq. (3.21) given in a later
slide

For example:
-Why two regions?
For each 0.1 clo increase, decrease the
- Why tilt in comfort regions?
comfort zone borders by 1 °F and visa-
versa HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 28
 (ASHRAE comfort chart)

Fig. 3.5 Acceptable ranges of operative temperature and humidity

for sedentary activity with typical summer and winter clothing
HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 29
 ASHRAE Standard Comfort Conditions

• Comfort Standard applies to sedentary conditions:

• Temperature - Dry Bulb Temperature (70 – 750 F)
• Humidity – Relative Humidity (Up to 60%)
• Air Motion – air velocity
– 0 – 50 ft/min: Still
– 50 – 250 ft/min : Noticeable
– > 250 ft/min Drafty
– Activity plays a role (metabolic or met level)
M=1 (sedentary) to M=5 (heavy activity)
– Clothing plays a role (Table of clo): 0.5 (summer) to 1.0 (winter)

– ASHRAE Standard 55-2013: Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human

Occupancy

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 30

TABLE 3.5
Optimal Operative Temperature and Acceptable Range for Light Sedentary Activity at 50%
Relative Humidity and at Mean Airspeed ≤ 0.15 m/s (30 ft/min)

Season Typical Clothing Icl Optimum Operative Acceptable

[clo] Temperature Range
Winter Heavy slacks, long-sleeve shirt, 0.9 22°C 20–23.5°C
and sweater
71°F 68–75°F
Summer Light slacks and short-sleeve shirt 0.5 24.5°C 23–26°C
76°F 73–79°F
Minimal 0.05 27°C 26–29°C
81°F 79–84°F
Source: Courtesy of ASHRAE, Standard 55-2013: Thermal Environmental Conditions for
Human Occupancy, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
Engineers, Atlanta, GA, 1992. With permission.

Note: Instead of using direct indices, comfort stated in terms of

Operative temperature

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 31

 Corrections to Standard Conditions
For different clo values and met values between 1.2 and 3,
ASHRAE 55 (2013) recommends that the comfort operative
For different
temperatureclo values and
be determined met values between 1.2 -3, ASHRA
from:
recommends that the comfort operative temperature be determined as:

Top,comf =27.2-5.9  clo-3.0  (1.0+clo)  (M-1.2) o C

o
Eq. 3.21
Top,comf =81.0-10.6  clo-5.4  (1.0+clo)  (M-1.2) F
where clo=clothing insulation, and M=metabolic value

Where

clo is the clothing insulation

M is the metabolic value

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 32

 Example 3.6: Operative Temperature for Other Conditions

Consider
Example a gymnasium
3.6: Operativewhere the metabolic
temperature for rate
otherof the occupants is
conditions
3.0 andathe
Consider clothing level
gymnasium is 0.3.
where theIfmetabolic
the occupants
rateare
of tothe
experience
occupants is 3.0 a
0.3.the
If same level of comfort as when sedentary, what should be the
the occupants are to experience the same level of comfort as when
operative temperature in this space?
be the operative temperature in this space?
Given: M = 3.0, clo = 0.5
Given:
Find: Topt,active M=3.0, clo=0.5
Find:
Topt,active
Solution
SOLUTION
From
FromEquation 3.21:
Eq. (3.20):
Top,active =27.2-5.9  0.3-3.0  (1.0+0.3)  (3.0-1.2)=18.4 o C (65.1o F)
Note that the gymnasium need not be kept at this low temperature since
Note that the
typically gymnasium
people do not stayneed notthan
longer be about
kept at
anthis
hourlow
andtemperature
do not exercisesince typica
longer than about
continuously, anthe
while hour while the
ASHRAE ASHRAE
comfort chartcomfort chart
applies to applies to steady sta
steady-state
conditionsof
(occupancy (occupancy
3 hr), andoffurther
3 h) people do not exercise vigorously for the entire
HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 33
order to save energy, an alternative is to increase the temperature by about 1.5
Corrections
to ASHRAE
Comfort
Chart
Conditions:

(a) Change in
Clothing
Figure 3.6 Clothing insulation necessary to be within ASHRAE 80% acceptability limits

• The effect of clothing insulation on the ASHRAE comfort recommendations.

• Note the rather wide uncertainty bands (about +-2 oF) reflective of the large
uncertainties inherent in the comfort relations.
• For more than an hour, the minimum operative temperature should not be
below 18°C (65°F).

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 34

 (b) Change in
Activity level

(ASHRAE Fundamentals, 2013)

Figure 3.7 Recommended operative temperatures for active people

- Note inverse relationship between operative temperature and

activity level

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 35

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 36
 (c) Change in
Airspeed

Fig. 3.8 Airspeed required to increase the air temperature above the summer comfort zone

• Air movement plays a role because the convective heat transfer from the body
depends on air velocity.
• An excess may be perceived as draft, and too little as stuffiness.

• In hot weather, upper range of temperatures could be extended if the airspeed is

increased (upper limit 160 ft/min (0.8 m/s)- loose paper can be blown away
HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 37
Other Considerations: Local temperature variations

Additional criteria for

discomfort:
local draught, high
turbulence, high radiant
temperature asymmetry and
unacceptably high vertical
air temperature difference

ASHRAE allows an
additional 10% PPD for such
considerations –
So upto 20% people can be
dissatisfied
Fig. 3.10 PPD of seated occupants as a function of air temperature difference
between the head and ankles
(ASHRAE Fundamentals, 2013)
HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 38
Adaptive Comfort Model for Naturally Ventilated Buildings

Fig. 3.11

(ASHRAE Fundamentals, 2013)

In naturally ventilated spaces, larger deviations from the ASHRAE recommendations can be
tolerated. People are able to adapt to the thermal environment by means of behavioral
adjustments such as:
(i) changing clothing level,
(ii) (ii) relaxation of expectations,
(iii) (iii) acclimatization of the conditions to which exposed.

This model, referred to as the adaptive model, allows a wider range of comfort conditions.
The relationship between indoor comfort operative temperature Top,comf and mean monthly
outdoor air temperature To:

Top,comf = 17.8 + 0.31xTo (oC) (3.22 SI) (3.21

SI)
HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 39
 Relationship between Loss of Productivity and PPD

Fig. 3.12 Illustration of how loss of indoor office occupant productivity tracks PPD.
Field study results (Roelofsen, 2001)
HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 40
 This is important for O&M staff

Fig. 3.14 Variation of rate of unsolicited thermal complaints with

mean indoor environment temperature (based on filed study of six
commercial buildings in 3 cities) (ASHRAE Fundamentals, 2013)

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 41

 Outcomes
• Understand the basics of human comfort & health and the various factors which
affect them
• Familiarity with the metabolic rates, unit of "met", unit of "Clo“
• Be able to analyze simple cases to predict response of the human body to
different environments using the thermal network model
• Familiarity with the various environmental indices for measuring comfort:
direct and indirect indices
• Understanding of the concepts of mean radiant and operative temperatures
• Familiarity with the ASHRAE thermal sensation scale and the concepts of PMV
and PPD
• Be able to use the standard ASHRAE chart to determine acceptable range of
comfort temperature and relative humidity
• Be able to use correlations and associated charts to analyze non-standard indoor
conditions
• Understanding of the applicability of the adaptive comfort model
• Familiarity with how occupant productivity and complaints rate are affected by
indoor conditions

HCB-3 Chap 3A: Thermal Comfort 42