Essay On Thermal Comfort

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3.7 Thermal comfort and bioclimatic design: Thermal comfort for human occupants is the primary objective of most buildings’ heating and cooling system designs. There are numerous studies regarding thermal comfort in different climates around the world. Providing a thermally comfortable environment is one of the key factors to satisfy overall Indoor Environmental Quality of a building. A thermally comfortable environment would increase the performance and productivity of the occupancy there are numerous studies regarding thermal comfort in different climates around the world. Scientific studies of thermal comfort were only possible after the development of the capacity to measure temperature with certain precision. 3.7.1. Definitions of Thermal Comfort Thermal comfort …show more content…

Some factors are difficult to control such as one’s state of mind, behavioral conditions, culture, age, etc. The most important variables that influence the condition of thermal comfort that can also be measured are: 1) activity level, 2) clothing (clo-value), 3) air temperature, 4) mean radiant temperature, 5) relative air velocity, and 6) the water vapor pressure in the ambient air or the humidity level (Fanger, 1970). Thermal comfort is an individual perception; thus it indicates the balance between the energy produced, received and lost by the human body. Factors influencing this state of physical thermal wellbeing are: activity level, age, clothing, culture and human acclimatization. The following modes of energy transfer, which can be influenced by building design, affect the feeling of thermal comfort as well: Although satisfying thermal comfort for each occupant should be considered as ideal design requirement; individual factors, activity and clothing level or personal expectations leads the designers to provide comfort for the majority of the occupancy. This definition is only depends on relative humidity and temperature (Sensirion,

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