An Investigation of Thermal Comfort and Adaptive Behaviors in Naturally Ventilated Residential Buildings in Tropical Climates: A Pilot Study
نویسندگان
چکیده
This article presents a pilot study of thermal comfort and adaptive behaviors of occupants who live in naturally ventilated dormitories at the campus of the National University of Singapore. A longitudinal survey and field measurement were conducted to measure thermal comfort, adaptive behaviors and indoor environment qualities. This study revealed that occupants living in naturally ventilated buildings in tropics were exposed to higher operative temperatures than what American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) comfort standards recommend for naturally conditioned spaces. However, they still felt that such conditions were acceptable. Two behavioral adjustments were found to have profound impacts on occupants’ acceptance of the imposed heat stresses: (1) increasing the indoor air velocity by turning on mechanical fans and opening the door/windows for cross ventilation, and (2) reducing clothing insulation by changing clothes and dressing in fewer clothes. Higher indoor air velocities were also associated with greater satisfaction with indoor air quality. The future study should develop a statistical model to correlate adaptive behaviors with temperature variations for tropical climates.
منابع مشابه
Investigating the role of high-rise building shell elements in reducing energy consumption (case example: Isfahan Cascade doctors' residential towers)
Significant energy is used to provide and maintain environmental conditions for thermal comfort in high-rise residential buildings, which largely depends on the components of the shell design. Therefore, to achieve high amounts of energy savings in buildings, high-impact design measures must first be defined and then optimized. This study seeks to answer the question of how the components of th...
متن کاملThe Impact of Different Thermal Comfort Models on Zero Energy Residential Buildings in the Hot Climates
The selection Selecting the right of a thermal comfort model for establishing optimal indoor optimal hygrothermal conditions during the hot period has a major impact on energy consumption of Net Zero Energy Buildings in hot climates. The objective of this paper is to compare the influence of using different thermal comfort models for zero energy buildings in hot climates. The paper compares the...
متن کاملVentilated hollow core slab as a thermal mass strategy and its effect on thermal comfort; (case study: lotion college, England)
Thermal mass is the material's ability to store heat and release it after an amount of time and concrete is considered one of the best thermal mass material. Since concrete has been used widely in many building constructions, by considering the capability of concrete in terms of thermal mass, it is worthwhile to use this ability of concrete in order to build buildings more healthy and comfortab...
متن کاملVariability of Thermal Stratification in Naturally Ventilated
Building energy simulation programs often use standard thermal comfort indices and thresholds as boundary conditions. However, most of them focus on comfortable indoor hydrothermal levels, rather than spatial distributions. This paper investigates internal temperature vertical stratification in naturally ventilated residential buildings. To evaluate this effect, a field study was carried out in...
متن کاملBringing Simulation to Application : Presentation of a Global Approach in the Design of Passive Solar Buildings under Humid Tropical Climates
In early 1995, a DSM pilot initiative has been launched in the French islands of Guadeloupe and Reunion through a partnership between several public and private partners (the French Public Utility EDF, the University of Reunion Island, low cost housing companies, architects, energy consultants, etc...) to set up standards to improve thermal design of new residential buildings in tropical climat...
متن کامل