The Determination of Key Parameters in Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model

Abstract

The adaptive thermal comfort model is a model to predict the temperature at which occupants feel comfortable on the premise of considering their adaptability to the indoor thermal environment in naturally ventilated buildings. In the adaptive thermal comfort model, the mean outdoor temperature is an important and unique parameter for calculating the neutral temperature of occupants in naturally ventilated buildings. In this paper, the determination of two important parameters (time constant and time length) in the adaptive thermal comfort model was the focus of this work. A survey was conducted from April to December in 2016 in six naturally ventilated buildings located in Xi’an, China. During the survey, the thermal sensation of the subjects was investigated, and the indoor temperature was measured in the meantime. Based on the field data, the best values of time constant and time length were determined through the correlation analysis. This study provides two reliable values to calculate adaptive thermal comfort model based on the running mean temperature for Xi’an, China.